Wall Street isn't a casino – it's way too important

+ a new weekly podcast from The Conversation network US Edition - Today's top story: Wall Street isn't just a casino where traders can bet on GameStop and other stocks – it's essential to keeping capitalism from crashing [View in browser]( US Edition | 4 February 2021 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair Reddit day traders who ganged up on hedge funds to beat them at their own game – sending shares of money-losing GameStop and AMC soaring in the process – portray themselves as Davids to Wall Street’s Goliaths. The stock market is seen as a giant casino that the hedge funds have been gaming for years. Why can’t the little guys get a turn at the wheel? This betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of markets, explains Alexander Kurov, a professor of finance at West Virginia University. As GameStop and other stocks were soaring, they severed their relationship with the fundamental value of their companies. [This threatens what capital markets are designed to do](, with potentially disastrous consequences for the economy overall, he writes. Today we’re launching [The Conversation Weekly](, a new podcast featuring some of the best academic research and analysis from around our global network. The first episode explores why February is going to be [such a busy month for Mars](. Three different space missions – from the United Arab Emirates, China and the U.S. – are due to arrive at the red planet within a few weeks of one another. The show features [Jim Bell](, who is leading the team behind one of the cameras on board NASA’s Perseverance rover. There’s also an interview with Félix Krawatzek about a new survey of public opinion in Belarus about the ongoing protests there, and their links with protests in Russia following the detention of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. You can subscribe to The Conversation Weekly via [Apple Podcasts](, [Spotify]( or listen wherever you usually get your podcasts. Also today: - [Why the federal vaccine sign-up system is failing]( - [Citizen scientists fill key data gaps during the pandemic]( - [The story behind a very sophisticated cyberattack]( Bryan Keogh Senior Editor, Economy + Business Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1955. AP Photo [Wall Street isn’t just a casino where traders can bet on GameStop and other stocks – it’s essential to keeping capitalism from crashing]( Alexander Kurov, West Virginia University Market prices are supposed to reflect a company's fundamental value. When they no longer do, bad things can happen. Podcast An artist’s illustration of the aeroshell containing NASA’s Perseverance rover guiding itself towards the surface of Mars. NASA/JPL-Caltech [Mars: The Conversation Weekly podcast explores why three missions are about to reach the red planet]( Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Daniel Merino, The Conversation Plus what protesters in Belarus want to happen next. Episode 1 of The Conversation's new weekly podcast. Science + Technology - [North Korea targeted cybersecurity researchers using a blend of hacking and espionage]( Paulo Shakarian, Arizona State University Sophisticated fake social media personas created by North Korean hackers offered to collaborate with cybersecurity researchers. Several US researchers fell for it. - [Bringing Mars rocks back to Earth – Perseverance Rover lands on Feb. 18, a lead scientist explains the tech and goals]( Jim Bell, Arizona State University NASA's Mars 2020 mission arrives at the red planet on Feb. 18. On the rocket is the Perseverance Rover. The rover's goal is to collect rock and soil samples to be brought back to Earth in the future. Politics + Society - [Why disputes between Congress and the White House so often end up in court]( Sarah Burns, Rochester Institute of Technology When presidents have tried to address pressing issues through executive action, members of Congress are quick to ask the courts to step in. Education - [Amanda Gorman’s poetry shows why spoken word belongs in school]( Kathleen M. Alley, Mississippi State University; Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Cornell University; Wendy R. Williams, Arizona State University The rise in the popularity of Amanda Gorman, the nation's first National Youth Poet Laureate, represents a prime opportunity for educators to use spoken word poetry in the classroom. - [These are the students free community college programs help the most]( Amy Li, Florida International University; Denisa Gandara, Southern Methodist University New research shines a light on which students are most likely to enroll in community college when they find out it is free. Health - [How some drugs can turn into a cancer-causing chemical in the body]( C. Michael White, University of Connecticut A probable carcinogen known as NDMA can be created in a patient's drug or body even if there was no NDMA in the manufactured drug as it left the factory. - [What a squeezed rubber ducky suggests about the lingering effects of vaccine misinformation]( Xingru Chen, Dartmouth College; Feng Fu, Dartmouth College Vaccine hesitancy will not go away fast. In fact, there are parallels in the physical world to how quickly or slowly an object returns to its normal state. Environment + Energy - [Citizen scientists are filling research gaps created by the pandemic]( Theresa Crimmins, University of Arizona; Erin Posthumus, University of Arizona; Kathleen Prudic, University of Arizona COVID-19 kept many scientists from doing field research in 2020, which means that important records will have data gaps. But volunteers are helping to plug some of those holes. Trending on site - [Could a human enter a black hole to study it?]( Leo Rodriguez, Grinnell College; Shanshan Rodriguez, Grinnell College If you are a sci-fi junkie you've probably wondered what would happen if you were unlucky enough to fall into a black hole. How well you'd fare all depends on the type of black hole. - [Congress could use an arcane section of the 14th Amendment to hold Trump accountable for Capitol attack]( Gerard Magliocca, IUPUI Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was first used against Confederate leaders after the Civil War to expel seditionist politicians. Now it could be used against Donald Trump. - [A healthy microbiome builds a strong immune system that could help defeat COVID-19]( Ana Maldonado-Contreras, University of Massachusetts Medical School The microbes in your gut influence how your immune system reacts to bacteria and viruses. A severe immune reaction is deadly; a small one lets the virus win. The right balance may depend on your diet. 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