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A force awakened: why so many find meaning in Star Wars

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageMark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.20th Century Fox

After witnessing the overwhelming popularity of Star Wars, director Francis Ford Coppola told George Lucas he should start his own religion.

Lucas laughed him off, but Coppola may have been onto something.

Indeed, the Star Wars saga taps into the very...

Read more: A force awakened: why so many find meaning in Star Wars

Can elephants retain their social bonds in the face of poaching?

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageElephants form bonds from a very young age.Shifra Goldenberg, CC BY-ND

As highly social animals – like human beings – elephants rely on their bonds to navigate everyday life. Group living helps elephants with the difficult decisions that they make on a regular basis – what to eat, where to go when the water dries up, how to parent....

Read more: Can elephants retain their social bonds in the face of poaching?

How Charles Dickens redeemed the spirit of Christmas

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageThe title page from the first edition of A Christmas CarolJohn Leech via Wikimedia Commons

Though today regarded as the literary titan of the Victorian age, in late 1843 the 31-year-old Charles Dickens worried that his popularity was fading. His latest novel was not selling well, his finances were strained and his wife was pregnant with their fifth...

Read more: How Charles Dickens redeemed the spirit of Christmas

The day after Paris: politicians hand the baton to green industries

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imagePublic interest and peer pressure among countries are integral to enforcement of the Paris Agreement.Mal Langsdon/Reuters

A man’s reach should extend his grasp, or what’s a heaven for? – Robert Browning

The international community has been negotiating on climate change since 1989, but the Paris Agreement marks a real step forward....

Read more: The day after Paris: politicians hand the baton to green industries

Latest Star Wars film may be 'biggest movie of all time' – just not at the box office

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageSay cheese!Reuters

This weekend, the newest Star Wars movie will start playing in cinemas throughout the world. Pundits in places like Forbes and the International Business Times are already predicting it will be the “biggest movie of all time.”

The headlines and superlatives about this movie’s box office records will dominate...

Read more: Latest Star Wars film may be 'biggest movie of all time' – just not at the box office

Experts weigh in on Fed hike: it was the right call, but will it work?

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageTraders reacted to the news.Reuters

Editor’s note: The Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee decided to raise its target interest rate – known as the Fed funds rate – for the first time in nine years. It increased the rate from a range of zero to 0.25% to a range of 0.25% to 0.5%. We asked a few of our experts –...

Read more: Experts weigh in on Fed hike: it was the right call, but will it work?

Seven market signals that business needs before it embraces the Paris Climate Agreement

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageWill the Paris Agreement lead to real changes in where investment goes? petrick/flickr, CC BY

Historic! Landmark! Monumental! These are the words being used to describe the Paris climate accord, recently negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations. As an agreement, the words are apt.

But, as hard as this deal was to reach, now the real...

Read more: Seven market signals that business needs before it embraces the Paris Climate Agreement

Fat-burning fat exists, but might not be the key to weight loss

  • Written by The Conversation Contributor
imageTip the scale. Scale image via www.shutterstock.com., CC BY-NC-ND

When you think about body fat, it’s probably white fat that comes to mind. That’s where our bodies store excess calories, and it’s the stuff you want to get rid of when you are trying to lose weight.

But white fat isn’t the only kind of fat in the body –...

Read more: Fat-burning fat exists, but might not be the key to weight loss

More Articles ...

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  2. A win for air quality in Paris summit, but climate-smart agriculture still lags
  3. For pro athletes on the cusp of retirement, what psychological challenges lie ahead?
  4. Pass or fail? Profs grade GOP foreign policy debate
  5. Engaging civil society will help ensure transparent and credible review of climate pledges
  6. Heroes or scoundrels: how popular culture portrays journalists and what that means for the 2016 campaign
  7. Stretching science: why emotional intelligence is key to tackling climate change
  8. Sports history shows why playing ball with Cuba makes sense
  9. Does wearing a school uniform improve student behavior?
  10. Feeling SAD? Talk therapy gets better long-term results than light boxes
  11. Why the 'no pretty nannies' debate matters
  12. Dear Republicans: Do your patriotic duty
  13. What's the real risk from consumer drones this holiday season?
  14. Paris Agreement on climate change: the good, the bad, and the ugly
  15. Promises, promises: how legally durable are Obama's climate pledges?
  16. Why today's long STEM postdoc positions are effectively anti-mother
  17. Studying gun violence is the only way to figure out how to stop it – but we don't
  18. The rhetorical brilliance of Trump the demagogue
  19. Why Every Student Succeeds Act still leaves most vulnerable kids behind
  20. Sinatra's films shattered the postwar myth of the white American male
  21. Scholars: Trump's call to 'ban Muslims' is un-American
  22. Terror attacks in Paris and California expose modern society’s lack of resilience
  23. Rarity of Jupiter-like planets means planetary systems exactly like ours may be scarce
  24. Why scholars emphasize the need for affirmative action
  25. How the justice system fails us after police shootings
  26. Gun laws are being reformed, just not on Capitol Hill
  27. How a simple observation from the 1800s about patterns in big data sets can fight fraud
  28. What's behind Japan's moss obsession?
  29. Why China and the US have found common purpose on climate change
  30. How do we ensure the next generation of workers isn't worse off than the last?
  31. When is an aspirin a day to prevent heart attacks too risky?
  32. Should voters care about candidates' religious views?
  33. It's time to repeal the gun industry's exceptional legal immunity
  34. How much diversity can the US Constitution stand?
  35. WWII treaty of 'unconditional surrender': a model to enforce climate pledges
  36. Fed interest rate hike may have less of an impact than you think
  37. The life-changing love of one of the 20th century’s greatest physicists
  38. Why Supreme Court case on race in admissions matters more than ever
  39. The ethics of climate change: what we owe people – and the rest of the planet
  40. Scientists tend to superspecialize – but there are ways they can change
  41. Targeting black viewers: what The Wiz Live! tells us about race and TV advertising
  42. Trump is running last in one key race
  43. Obama shows the flaws in America’s efforts to combat ISIS
  44. Do gun purchases go up after mass shootings?
  45. Why treat gene editing differently in two types of human cells?
  46. Wall Street watchdog SEC can't end violence in Congo
  47. National security experts react to President Obama's speech on ISIS
  48. Climate activists take to social media for Paris summit, but who are they reaching?
  49. If you give a man a gun: the evolutionary psychology of mass shootings
  50. How pervasive anti-millennial sentiment has hurt the cause of student protesters