Author: TheConversation

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...

By Amy Lawton, Research Manager, Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, Brandeis University In times of loss, change or other challenges, chaplains can listen, provide comfort and discuss spiritual needs. These spiritual caregivers can be found working in hospitals, universities, prisons and many other secular settings, serving people of all faiths and those with no faith tradition at all. Yet a common assumption is that chaplains themselves must be grounded in a religious tradition. After all, how can you be a religious leader without religion? In reality, a growing number of chaplains are nonreligious: people who identify as atheist, agnostic, humanist or...

By Jacqui Frost, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Purdue University Shared testimonies, collective singing, and silent meditation and baptism rituals. These are all activities you might find at a Christian church service on a Sunday morning in the United States. But what would it look like if atheists were gathering to do these rituals instead? Today, almost 30% of adults in the United States say they have no religious affiliation, and only half attend worship services regularly. But not all forms of church are on the decline – including “secular congregations,” or what many call “atheist churches.” As a sociologist...

By Sarah J. Morath, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for International Affairs, Wake Forest University Plastic pollution has spread to Earth’s farthest reaches, with widespread effects on wildlife, the environment and human health. To curb this problem, U.N. member countries are negotiating a global treaty to reduce plastic pollution, which they aim to complete by the end of 2024. That effort is well underway. In September 2023, the U.N. Environment Programme released the so-called zero draft – a first iteration of ideas and goals that emerged from the first two rounds of negotiations. And in November 2023, the...