Author: TheConversation

By Christopher Pollard, Tutor in Sociology and Philosophy, Deakin University Yanis Varoufakis grew up during the Greek dictatorship of 1967-1974. He later became an economics professor and was briefly Greek finance minister in 2015. His late father, a chemical engineer in a steel plant, instilled in his son a critical appreciation of how technology drives social change. He also instilled him with a belief that capitalism and genuine freedom were antithetical – a leftist politics that made his father a political prisoner for several years during the “junta”, as they called it. In 1993, when he first got the...

By Paul Lushenko, Assistant Professor and Director of Special Operations, US Army War College Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, have been central to the war in Ukraine. Some analysts claim that drones have reshaped war, yielding not just tactical-level effects, but shaping operational and strategic outcomes as well. It is important to distinguish between these different levels of war. The tactical level of war refers to battlefield actions, such as patrols or raids. The operational level of war characterizes a military’s synchronization of tactical actions to achieve broader military objectives, such as destroying components of an adversary’s army. The...

By Jordan Frith, Pearce Professor of Professional Communication, Clemson University Few objects in the world are more immediately recognizable than the bar code. After all, bar codes are all around us. They’re on the books we buy and the packages that land on our doorsteps. More than 6 billion bar codes are scanned every single day. They have become such an accepted part of our daily lives that it is hard to imagine how they could look any different. I have researched various technologies throughout my career as a media studies professor, but it was not until I began...

By Kathy L. Lee, Assistant Professor of Gerontological Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington Millions of Americans have become informal family caregivers: people who provide family members or friends with unpaid assistance in accomplishing daily tasks such as bathing, eating, transportation and managing medications. Driven in part by a preference for home-based care rather than long-term care options such as assisted living facilities, and the limited availability and high cost of formal care services, family caregivers play a pivotal role in the safety and well-being of their loved ones. Approximately 34.2 million people in the United States provide...

By Julia Wuerz, Clinical Assistant Professor of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida Have you ever been out on a walk and as you take that next step, you feel the slippery squish of poop under your foot? It is not just gross. Beyond the mess and the smell, it is potentially infectious. That is why signs reminding pet owners to “curb your dog” and scoop their poop have been joined in some places by posted warnings that pet waste can spread disease. As a small-animal primary care veterinarian, I deal with the diseases of dog and cat...