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The Conversation

A carbon tax in waiting: we're not adapting as fast as climate is changing

  • Written by The Conversation
imageObama made a trip to Alaska to steer the national conversation to the effects of climate change.Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Although football and fall are in the air, it’s worth the time to reflect back to President Obama’s two trips he took just before Labor Day to New Orleans and Alaska. The locations are thousands of miles apart and the...

Read more: A carbon tax in waiting: we're not adapting as fast as climate is changing

Arne Duncan's legacy: growing influence of a network of private actors on public education

  • Written by The Conversation
imageArne Duncan opened the gates to a powerful network.House Committee on Education and the Workforce Dem, CC BY-NC-ND

Arne Duncan is leaving the US Department of Education in December. Reactions to his legacy have been mixed. Some see him as a heroic reformer, and others a well-intentioned but overreaching bureaucrat. He has been called the third...

Read more: Arne Duncan's legacy: growing influence of a network of private actors on public education

They won a Nobel for what? Why good science communication counts

  • Written by The Conversation
imageUm, you figured out what by doing which?Woman image via www.shutterstock.com.

When I was a newspaper science editor, I approached Nobel Prize season with mixed glee and anxiety. Glee, because I knew that, without even an argument, I would get space in the paper for stories about research too arcane to make it into print the other 51 weeks of the...

Read more: They won a Nobel for what? Why good science communication counts

Is the Kunduz hospital strike a war crime? Don't jump to conclusions

  • Written by The Conversation
imageMedecins Sans Frontieres Twitter campaign.Twitter

A hospital bombed in the midst of intense fighting. Patients and staff killed and wounded, the facility destroyed. An unspeakable tragedy – and unfortunately one seen before in recent and current conflicts.

The US airstrike that hit the Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz,...

Read more: Is the Kunduz hospital strike a war crime? Don't jump to conclusions

Why wearing sagging pants on a college campus becomes a criminal offense

  • Written by The Conversation
imageWhy are there so many escalations with the police on campus?Paul A. Hernandez, CC BY

A disciplinary board at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi, has ruled that a student arrested earlier this month for failing to show his student ID to campus police officers when asked to do so will not face punishment from the school.

Officers...

Read more: Why wearing sagging pants on a college campus becomes a criminal offense

The new battleground for same-sex couples is equal rights for their kids

  • Written by The Conversation
imageFamily game night. Chicago 2012Jim Young/REUTERS

When the Supreme Court invalidated same-sex marriage bans in June, the Justices acknowledged they had the kids in mind.

In the majority opinion, Justice Kennedy cited the infringement of the interests of children being raised by same-sex couples as one reason for the Court’s ruling.

Who are these...

Read more: The new battleground for same-sex couples is equal rights for their kids

The psychological origins of procrastination – and how we can stop putting things off

  • Written by The Conversation
imageNow or later?Jay Malone/flickr, CC BY

“I love deadlines,” English author Douglas Adams once wrote. “I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”

We’ve all had the experience of wanting to get a project done but putting it off for later. Sometimes we wait because we just don’t care enough about the project,...

Read more: The psychological origins of procrastination – and how we can stop putting things off

Australia’s war on feral cats: shaky science, missing ethics

  • Written by The Conversation
imageFeral cat with galah, mounted specimen. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC-SA

In July 2015, the Australian government announced a “war on feral cats,“ with the intention of killing over two million felines by 2020. The threat abatement plan to enforce this policy includes a mix of shooting, trapping and a reputedly “humane” poison.

S...

Read more: Australia’s war on feral cats: shaky science, missing ethics

How neutrinos, which barely exist, just ran off with another Nobel Prize

  • Written by The Conversation
imageNeutrinos, we're looking for you!Amber Case, CC BY-NC

Neutrinos take patience. They’re worth it, and the announcement of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes that, following related prizes in 1988 and 2002. Ironically, these near-undetectable particles can reveal things that cannot be seen any other way.

I could begin by telling you that...

Read more: How neutrinos, which barely exist, just ran off with another Nobel Prize

More Articles ...

  1. The secret Maoist Chinese operation that conquered malaria – and won a Nobel
  2. Why women aren't getting long-acting contraception when they need it most
  3. With a shaky legal foundation, are daily fantasy sports a billion-dollar house of cards?
  4. How Snapchat is scooping 'The Boys on the Bus'
  5. Why new US ozone standards aren't enough to protect health and the environment
  6. Combating 'neglected' diseases using nature's apothecary
  7. Is the 2015 Nobel Prize a turning point for traditional Chinese medicine?
  8. Who you gonna trust: how power affects our faith in others
  9. A somber message on World Teachers' Day 2015: our teachers are at risk
  10. Do teachers in Finland have more autonomy?
  11. What fewer women in STEM means for their mental health
  12. Permafrost-eating bacteria: a new twist on thawing Arctic and global warming
  13. From Sophocles to Sherlock: economics, literature and the detective story
  14. The Umpqua, Oregon shootings: portrait of the killer as a young man
  15. What public health researchers want you to know about gun control
  16. The University of Texas faculty are watching Oregon uneasily
  17. How do libraries get away with banning books?
  18. Jobs market is stuck in neutral – it's time candidates talk about how to fix it
  19. Plain cigarette packaging: healthier citizens, sicker state finances?
  20. The Martian: a space epic that explores ordinary human decency
  21. Is 'The Slants' racist? Court ruling on band name could upend trademark law
  22. Could Iran continue its nuclear program in Syria?
  23. Corporate climate scientists: advocates for science or protectors of status quo?
  24. I'm a librarian who banned a book. Here's why.
  25. The problem with rating people on the new app Peeple
  26. Do brain interventions to treat disease change the essence of who we are?
  27. A genetic test could predict future troubles for kidney donors – why not use it?
  28. Children who understand emotions become more attentive over time
  29. Does nature have value beyond what it provides humans?
  30. Forget the antioxidant pills; just stick with veggies
  31. Homeschooled children do not grow up to be more religious
  32. Chip-enabled cards may curb fraud, but consumers will be picking up the tab
  33. How close are we to actually becoming Martians?
  34. Free speech is no excuse for Muslim-baiting
  35. Mining for metals in society's waste
  36. Shell's abandoned well and the myth of the Arctic oil land grab
  37. What happens when you try to read Moby Dick on your smartphone?
  38. Pakistani drone strikes should worry Obama
  39. The not-so-invisible damage from VW diesel cheat: $100 million in health costs
  40. Is cyberbullying all that goes 'over the line' when kids are online?
  41. Banks will help ensure Iran keeps promises on nukes
  42. Why do female comedians disappear after dark?
  43. Safer chemicals would benefit both consumers and workers
  44. Should older Americans live in places segregated from the young?
  45. Beer behemoths struggle to fend off craft brew craze
  46. The pope, the premier, the president – and the retreat of globalization
  47. Despite Shell's about-face, interest in Arctic oil grows
  48. Antibiotic overuse might be why so many people have allergies
  49. For the Islamic State, music is the 'alcohol of the soul'
  50. Graduate education is a mess. Shouldn't universities fix it?