The Conversation

Electroconvulsive therapy: A history of controversy, but also of help

Written by Jonathan Sadowsky, Theodore J. Castele Professor of Medical History, Case Western Reserve University

Carrie Fisher’s ashes are in an urn designed to look like a Prozac pill. It’s fitting that in death she continues to be both brash and wryly funny about a treatment for depression.

The public grief over Carrie Fisher’s death was not only for an actress who played one of the most iconic roles in film history. It was also for one...

To honor Dr. King, pediatricians offer four tips to teach kindness to kids

Written by Nia Heard-Garris, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, Clinical Lecturer, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School, University of Michigan

From www.shutterstock.com,

Children are listening.

During the election, messages of hate, fear and intolerance were propagated across different media and into communities. And the messages continue. While parents view and listen to these ever-present messages, alongside them are their children, hearing these same messages through a lens...

In racially divided times, Obama's farewell address swings for the middle

Written by Cynthia Young, Department Head and Associate Professor of African American Studies, Pennsylvania State University

Obama arrives to give his presidential farewell address. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

On Jan. 10, President Barack Obama delivered a farewell address to the nation in his adopted hometown of Chicago. As he often did during his presidency, Obama struck a middle path, one that had moments of real power but ultimately fell short of a full-throated...

Influenza: The search for a universal vaccine

Written by Ian Setliff, Ph.D. Student, Program in Chemical & Physical Biology, Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, Vanderbilt University

No one wants to catch the flu, and the best line of defense is the seasonal influenza vaccine. But producing an effective annual flu shot relies on accurately predicting which flu strains are most likely to infect the population in any given season. It requires the coordination of multiple health centers around the globe as the virus travels from...

Does your smartphone make you less likely to trust others?

Written by Kostadin Kushlev, Research Associate in Psychology, University of Virginia

Does our dependence on smartphones harm our social fabric?Alone with phone via shutterstock.com

Imagine you are visiting a new city and get lost on your way to that famous must-see museum. In times of yore – actually just about 10 years ago – you might have had to consult a friendly local to direct you. Today, with all the friendly...

How timekeeping software helps companies nickel and dime their workers

Written by Elizabeth C. Tippett, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Oregon

If you work on an hourly basis, you may not have given much thought to what happens to your hours after you log out of your workstation. You might assume those hours are simply converted into dollars and show up on your paycheck.

However, there are a lot of ways employers can manipulate your time using timekeeping software, some of which are legal...

Free college explained in a global context

Written by Jason Lane, Chair and Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership & Co-Director of the Cross-Border Education Research Team, University at Albany, State University of New York

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced a proposal for free tuition at state colleges.AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently pledged to make undergraduate education at the the City University of New York (CUNY) and the State University of New York (SUNY) system free for families making less than US$120,000 annually....

Playing it safe: A brief history of lip-syncing

Written by Alex Lubet, Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music, University of Minnesota

By now, you’ve probably heard about Mariah Carey’s New Year’s Eve disaster. After some technical malfunctions, Carey – who was supposed to lip-sync over a vocal track for “Emotions” and “We Belong Together” – ended up neither singing nor dancing much, and mostly talked about tech issues over...

Faster approval for drugs and medical devices under the 21st Century Cures Act raises concerns for patient safety

Written by Ana Santos Rutschman, Jaharis Faculty Fellow in Health Law and Intellectual Property, DePaul University

President Barack Obama signs the 21st Century Cures Act on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, in Washington. Kevin Wolf/AP Images for Parker Foundation

President Obama signed a bill that will provide US$6 billion in federal funding for basic medical research on Dec. 13. Called the 21st Century Cures Act, it also introduces changes to how the Food and Drug...

Story on gifted children and screen violence removed

Written by Maria Balinska, Editor, The Conversation

We have removed an article entitled “Are gifted kids more sensitive to screen violence?” after being informed by two of its authors, Jonathan Wai and Brad Bushman, that they have retracted the study on which the article was based from the peer-reviewed journal, The Gifted Child Quarterly.

This is their explanation of why they took...