By Alison Anderson, Professor of Sociology, University of Plymouth
The recent announcement that young people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have the opportunity to take a new GCSE in natural history from September 2025, driven by a campaign led by naturalist Mary Colwell, is welcome news.
The new qualification will include practical skills to pursue a career in the natural world, including observation, monitoring, recording and analysis. It will also include immersion in outdoor activities, and has support from…
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By Scott Jones, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Birmingham
Escapism through watching this kind of bleak content could be about a search for hope and rediscovering the coordinates for our existence.
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By George Ferns, Senior Lecturer in Business and Society, University of Bath
The climate activist group Just Stop Oil (JSO) has announced the end of its campaign of direct action. Many will read the group’s legacy through the lens of public hostility: the frustration caused, the angry headlines, the outrage at its tactics. Not only have JSO activists been spat at, physically assaulted and run over by angry car drivers, but 15 members are also currently serving jail sentences following
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By David Hastings Dunn, Professor of International Politics in the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham
Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham
The recently appointed US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and other top intelligence officials appeared before the Senate intelligence committee to discuss the US intelligence services’ annual threat assessment (ATA).
Most of the committee’s time and attention was focused on the revelation by the editor of the Atlantic magazine…
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By Michael Richardson, Professor of Animal Development, Leiden University
Meiru Wang, Postdoctoral Researcher at Leiden University, Associate Scientist II at Stowers Institute, Developmental Biology, Molecular Biology and Nanotoxicology, Leiden University
We are riddled with microplastics. It is in our bloodstream, in our lungs, in our liver – pretty much anywhere you look in the human body, you will find minuscule bits of plastic.
And there are many ways for us to ingest, inhale or otherwise absorb these tiny fragments. For example, a single plastic teabag sheds over 10 billion microplastic particles into a cup of tea.
And if you redecorate your home and sand down the old paintwork, the plastic binders in the paint can release…
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By Ezenwa E. Olumba, Doctoral Research Fellow, Conflict, Violence, & Terrorism Research Centre, Royal Holloway University of London
France has handed over control to the Senegalese government of two military bases in Senegal’s capital, Dakar that it has used for decades. The move follows an announcement in late 2024 by Senegal’s president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, that all foreign troops would be required to leave the country.
“Senegal is an independent country, a sovereign nation, and sovereignty does not allow for the presence of foreign military bases,” Faye told Agence…
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By Alma Larsdotter Zweygberg, Doctoral Researcher, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet
Rosaria Galanti, Professor Emerita, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet
A habit that is worrying health authorities in Sweden where increasing numbers of teenagers are taking what’s known as “snus” is also concerning football authorities in England where one-fifth of professional players are regularly indulging because they say it improves…
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By Stefano Arlaud, PhD candidate in Time Processing and Metacognition of Time Processing, SBBS, Queen Mary University of London, Queen Mary University of London
Twice a year, around a quarter of the world’s population dutifully reset their clocks. It may seem like a minor adjustment, but some people struggle with fatigue, irritability, and brain fog in the days following the transition. For others — especially night owls — the adjustment period can last for weeks.
Circadian rhythms govern many physiological processes in
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By Ross Bennett-Cook, PhD Researcher, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University
Travellers around the world are reconsidering trips to the US, as cancellations expected to create a US$18 billion dip from tourism revenues.
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By Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor in the Department of Government, University of Essex
While Turkey’s government is struggling to deal with mass protests at home (after Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was imprisoned), in foreign affairs it is in an increasingly strong position as a key power broker in deals with Europe, the US and Russia. At the crossroads between Asia and Europe, Turkey is strategically important to just about everyone, and is emerging as a clever negotiator.
Since the early 2000s, Turkey has relied on a foreign…
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