|
Top headlines
A note from our Executive Editor
The Conversation is a vital antidote to the feeling that we live in a cloud of confusion, with news coming at us from all angles at all hours of the day and night. It can seem overwhelming, and I hear the same from family, friends and colleagues.
Here, we try to provide you with calm and context, in evidence-based journalism that we hope explains what is going on.
Today we are launching our 2025 end-of-year campaign: If you can donate, we would appreciate it. It enables us to continue to get our stories to you and to millions of people, always for free and always free for others to republish.
We are not just a publication – we are a public service. But since we are a nonprofit, we need to rely on the generosity and investment of our readers.
So if you can, please do support us. And if you can’t, we ask you to continue reading and sharing our work. Thank you.
|
|
Beth Daley
Executive Editor and General Manager
|
|
Home appraisal bias contributes to racial wealth disparities and violates the Fair Housing Act.
Jeff Fusco/The Conversation U.S.
Gregory Squires, George Washington University; Ira Goldstein, University of Pennsylvania
An unbiased appraisal is key to ensuring that homebuyers and those seeking to refinance a mortgage can do so under fair and equal conditions.
|
Economy + Business
|
-
Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology
Billions of dollars have likely been wiped off the US gross domestic product.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
C. Michael White, University of Connecticut
The drug information sheets that the FDA requires companies to produce are living documents that get updated with new information.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Farah Nibbs, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Melissa was just the latest blow, following close on the heels of Beryl. Many islands today have little time to recover before the next disaster hits.
-
Lily Hsueh, Arizona State University
While Trump scraps US climate policies, companies still face pressure from states, other countries and their customers. That pressure trickles down supply chains.
-
Tom W. Allen, Mississippi State University
When Fusarium graminearum infects wheat, it can pose a risk to humans, animals and agriculture.
|
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Nicholas Jacobs, Colby College; Institute for Humane Studies
Whether Maine’s Graham Platner wins or loses, his campaign to knock off longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins already points to a deeper question: Can Democrats do more than rent rural authenticity?
|
|
Ethics + Religion
|
-
Rizwan Virk, Arizona State University
The technology that has helped propel the simulation theory may be new, but the questions it explores are ancient.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
R. Lincoln Hines, Georgia Institute of Technology
China has created more space debris than any other country. But as its space program grows, it has more to lose from a collision than ever before.
-
Christopher Carr, Georgia Institute of Technology; Glenn Lightsey, Georgia Institute of Technology
The twin spacecraft Blue and Gold could open a new era in space exploration and planetary science, powered by commercial partnerships and innovations.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Soohyun Cho, Michigan State University
New series such as ‘Elsbeth’ and ‘Patience’ continue a long tradition of sleuths who come across as eccentric or aloof. But now there’s a name for these minds that work differently.
|
|
|
|
|
|
