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The Conversation |
The local elections which took place on May 2 have provided an unusually rich set of results to pore over. Around 2,600 seats were up for election...
Former prime minister Boris Johnson was reportedly turned away on election day after arriving at his polling station to vote with only “an...
Just five years ago, the UK took the bold step of setting up a Media Freedom Coalition of 50 countries committed to protecting press freedom...
Three hundred years ago, on June 5 1724, an Anglican clergyman by the name of Henry Sacheverell died in Highgate, north London. He was 50 years...
Escherichia coli (which most of us know better as E coli) has a bit of a bad reputation. Many know it as the harmful bug that can cause a stomach...
Changes in personality following a heart transplant have been noted pretty much ever since transplants began. In one case, a person who hated...
Plastic pollution and climate change have common culprits – and similar solutions. The penultimate round of negotiations for a global pact on...
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is scheduled to make its first flight into space with astronauts on May 6, 2024. This flight and a few others will...
The UK banking regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), finds itself in a public row with the government and many City grandees over its...
The last time Labour won Blackpool South, the party won 270 other constituencies. It was 1997 and Labour took 179 more than all other parties...
This article was first published in our email newsletter Something Good, which brings you a summary every fortnight of the best things to watch,...
What did our ancestors think when they looked up at the night sky? All cultures ascribed special meaning to the Sun and the Moon, but what about...
The UK government is proposing major changes to the benefits system, in response to the increase in people claiming benefits for disability and ill...
Just over six months ahead of the US election, the world is starting to consider what a return to a Trump presidency might mean. While Americans...
The food retailer Iceland has pledged it will give its customers a voice during the UK’s upcoming election. If that sounds like a good idea, then...
In April 2024 the Department for Education announced that there were “no plans” to change single-word Ofsted judgments. These give schools...
An international agreement to end plastic pollution is due to be sealed this year in Busan, South Korea. At the penultimate round of negotiations,...
The EU recently passed a law that criminalises actions “comparable to ecocide”. It’s a revolutionary legal development – the first law of its...
Thirty years ago, while counting barnacles, limpets and seaweeds along rocky shores, I started noticing a daily tide of litter, mostly plastic. As...
Plato of Athens (429-347BC) may be one of the most famous philosophers of all times. He was the thinker who came up with the “theory of forms”...
Many Americans are gloomy about the economy, despite some data saying it is improving. The Economist even took this discussion to TikTok. When its...
Would you rather find yourself alone in the woods with a bear or a man? This is the question currently dividing social media. Based on the...
Coverage of the recent student encampments at more than 50 universities across the United States has focused on confrontations between opposing...
A personalised mRNA vaccine to treat melanoma has now reached late-stage trials in the UK. This is just the latest step in improving the cure rate...
The UK faces a significant shift in how homes are heated. To meet climate change goals, new gas boiler installations must be phased out by 2050....
The UK High Court recently dismissed the case against environmental activist Trudi Warner, who was referred for contempt of court in March 2023....
There’s a strange trend in mathematics education in England. Maths is the most popular subject at A-level since overtaking English in 2014. It’s...
Over the past few days we seem to have been hearing more about the protests roiling the campuses of some of the most prestigious universities in...
Content created with the help of generative AI is popping up everywhere, and it’s worrying some artists and content creators. They’re concerned...
All the parts of our bodies share an inherent connectivity. This goes much further than “the foot bone’s connected to the … leg bone”. For...
Speculation continues over Rishi Sunak’s position as prime minister and Tory leader. The Conservatives’ leadership rules stipulate that Sunak...
In the diplomatic manoeuvrings surrounding the conflict in Gaza, things are beginning to gather pace. Israel’s western allies are pressing the...
The recent arrest of Timur Ivanov, Russia’s deputy defence minister and close ally of defence minister Sergei Shoigu, has rocked the country’s...
Falling under the spell of a celebrity crush is a common part of adolescence. But in the age of social media and unprecedented access to our idols,...
Before you buy something, or visit a new restaurant, or see a new film, you may be tempted to check out the online reviews. Researching what...
This article contains spoilers for The Double O trilogy of James Bond books by Kim Sherwood In the first book of Kim Sherwood’s Double O trilogy,...
There is still so much we don’t understand about the origin of life on Earth. The definition of life itself is a source of debate among...
In a teaser video for her third album, Radical Optimism, Dua Lipa explained that every track has that...
UK business is beaming with pride with the recent news of the country’s emergence as the fourth largest exporter in the world based on the United...
Recently, there has been a flurry of publicity about the planned upgrades to OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI-powered chatbot and Meta’s Llama system, which...
Roman dodecahedra are something of an enigma: there is no known mention of these 12-sided, hollow objects in ancient Roman texts or images. First...
In a recent Instagram post, the actor Jameela Jamil revealed she has poor bone density, despite only being in her 30s. Jamil blamed this finding on...
One of the positive things about modern media is that artists can now get their music into the world without having to first impress industry...
As the gloves come off for election year, Britain’s would-be leaders are circling a new political punch-bag: people who are “economically...
China is attempting to recover the first ever soil and rock samples from the lunar far side. The surface mission, Chang’e 6, named after the...
Warning: this article contains minor spoilers for Love Lies Bleeding. The filmmakers behind Love Lies Bleeding (director Rose Glass and her...
The extraordinary sight of five horses galloping through London, sweating and covered in blood, caused the hashtag #Apocalypse to trend briefly on...
New import checks on foods arriving from the EU could affect supplies at Britain’s local delis, high-street greengrocers or independent cafes....
Tony Blair left Downing Street nearly 17 years ago, but in terms of his impact on the Labour party, it’s almost like he never left. After Gordon...
James, the new novel by Percival Everett, is a stunning book which I relished long after finishing. It is the sort of book you need to tell all...
Hemp could become a key tool in the fight against climate change. Like timber, hemp is a biogenic material – it’s produced by growing plants....
As hundreds of New York police officers in riot gear were called in to clear away a student protest at Columbia University on Tuesday night, the...
Though a second Trump presidency is not a foregone conclusion, Nato members are gearing up to Trump-proof the organisation and reviewing their...
James, the new novel by Percival Everett, is a stunning book which I relished long after finishing. It is the sort of book you need to tell all...
The COVID pandemic affected several aspects of children’s health and wellbeing. The number of children referred to specialist mental health teams...
A record number of people will go to polls in 2024 to vote in national elections around the world. People who came of age during the last electoral...
We often assume young people are smarter, or at least quicker, than older people. For example, we’ve all heard that scientists, and even more so...
Dressed in a mini skirt and passionate about boys, music, dance and fashion, the 1960s teenage girl is a pop culture icon, the seeming beneficiary...
In March 2024, a 39-year-old man became the first person in England and Wales to be convicted of the new offence of cyberflashing, part of the...
Climate models are some of the most complex pieces of software ever written, able to simulate a vast number of different parts of the overall...
Climate models are some of the most complex pieces of software ever written, able to simulate a vast number of different parts of the overall...
Tech startups will be enthused by the news that Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) veteran General Catalyst is on the verge of raising US$6...
Many dementia charities advise people to maintain a healthy weight to reduce their risk of dementia. But some studies have suggested that obesity...
You’ve had a long day and you’re tired. Faced with making dinner, you look in the fridge and decide to cook something that requires little...
Anyone who has served on a jury or watched a courtroom drama knows that most trials end with a verdict: guilty or not guilty. But in Scotland,...
Nasa recently asked the scientific community to help come up with innovative ideas for ways to carry out its Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. This...
The explosion of reality TV onto our television screens at the end of the last millennium is one of the major global phenomena in recent media...
Contrary to popular belief, coalition governments are generally stable and usually last their full term. What has unfolded in Scotland therefore...
A feature of the simmering tensions between the US, Israel and Iran has been not just the tit-for-tat missile and drone strikes and assassinations,...
“Deconfliction” is a term familiar to anyone involved in wars around the world. It’s an arrangement by which non-combatants, including aid...
On May 2, the Scottish Parliament will debate whether it should be a crime in Scotland to cause the loss of a partner’s or former partner’s...
By the time you have finished reading this article, at least one species on our planet will be lost forever. Humans rely on a wide range of...
Culturally speaking I’m a Christian, so I feel I’ve always known about Bethlehem. As a teenager, I travelled around the Holy Land mesmerised by...
Cowboy Carter, the latest album from Beyoncé, has sparked widespread debate about the genre of “country music”. As a musicologist, I am...
Miltary spending is surging in the face of heightened geopolitical tensions. The UK plans to hike its defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030,...
The May local elections are shaping up to be the last major test of public opinion before the much-awaited general election on the horizon at an...
Armed troops in Niger overthrew the government in July 2023, seizing power for themselves. The following months were rife with speculation that the...
In our modern society, we rarely consider books to be dangerous items. However, certain books contain elements so hazardous that they require...
One hundred and twenty years after the Entente Cordiale, Britain and France are forging a new alliance. The original 1904 agreement paved the way...
In 2022, as the world was slowly beginning to recover from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, an outbreak of mpox – then still called monkeypox...
The US and Israel have been involved in intense discussions recently about whether Washington will sanction a unit of the Israel Defense Forces...
When Conservative MP and former minister Dan Poulter announced his defection to the Labour party it came as somewhat of a surprise. It was only the...
Like many parents, the music I find myself listening to has drastically changed since having children. My young children are fans of Andy and the...
Burnout is a state of mental and physical exhaustion, usually related to your work situation. Paradoxically, the more passionate and responsible...
Mangroves are one of most important ecosystems on the world’s coasts. They absorb the impact of storms, prevent erosion, provide food and safety...
From skin to hair, scabs and even tears, the external appearance of the body can offer clues about the state of your health. But there’s another...
China’s automotive industry has revolutionised over the past decade, from producing basic western clones to making cars that equal the world’s...
Humza Yousaf’s resignation as first minister of Scotland was, in the end, expected, after a chain of events made his position untenable. It was...
Vertical farms look hi-tech and sophisticated, but the premise is simple – plants are grown without soil, with their roots in a solution...
Tensions are rising between the UK and Ireland, as asylum seekers cross into Ireland from Northern Ireland, reportedly fearing that if they remain...
With just days to go until local election day on May 2 2024, it appears that the London mayoral race may be narrowing. Our new poll suggests that...
In the high end world of luxury and heritage, many brands are still owned and managed by the original founding family. The issue of succession...
“Out, damned spot,” Lady Macbeth famously says as she wrings her hands, attempting to remove a bloodstain her guilt-ridden mind has conjured....