DeepSeek claims to have cured AI’s environmental headache. The Jevons paradox suggests it might make things worse: William Stanley Jevons also invented an early computer. University of Manchester Libraries / wiki, CC BY-SA AI burns through a lot of resources. And thanks to a paradox first identified way back in the 1860s, even a more …
The problem with new claims that Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus was co-written by a forgotten dramatist: Painting of an unknown 21-year-old man, widely supposed to be Christopher Marlowe (1585). Corpus Christi College In Shakespeare’s time, about a quarter of all plays were collaboratively written by two or more dramatists. Christopher Marlowe’s classic work Doctor Faustus was …
Claims that Olympic opening ceremony ‘mocked Christianity’ ignore the long-standing connection between Jesus and Dionysus: Paris’s Olympic opening ceremony on July 26 was the cause of much online discussion. No moment more so, perhaps, than when several drag queens were shown seated at a long table. Many viewers, including Pope Francis and Ayatollah Khamanei, interpreted …
The meat and dairy industry is not ‘climate neutral’, despite some eye-catching claims: Cows and sheep produce lots of the greenhouse gas methane. Christian L Sweden / shutterstock Imagine a house is on fire, and someone is actively pouring gas on the fire. They then pour a little less gas and want credit for doing …
South Africa’s immigration proposals are based on false claims and poor logic – experts: The South African government recently issued a long-awaited policy statement – called a White Paper – outlining proposed changes to the country’s asylum and immigration system. More than 20 years after its first post-apartheid immigration legislation in 1998, immigration remains a …
Do claims that Crimean Tatars are worse off under Putin than Stalin stand up? An expert examines the evidence: The deportation of at least 240,000 Crimean Tatars to central Asia by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1944 is forever ingrained in the memory of the people of that region. Stalin used claims, later disputed by …
Online safety bill: why making the UK the ‘safest place to go online’ is not as easy as the government claims: fizkes/Shutterstock The government’s online safety bill, a reform years in the making, will now become law. Among the bill’s key aims is to ensure it is more difficult for young people (under the age …
Don’t look there: how politicians divert our attention from climate protesters’ claims: The right to protest is a distinctive feature of democratic, liberal societies. Yet the way in which many leading British politicians are currently talking about Just Stop Oil might make you think otherwise. Far from engaging with the issues at stake in these …
Physicist who found spherical meteor fragments claims they may come from an alien spaceship – here’s what to make of it: Anybody out there? Triff/Shutterstock, CC BY-SA Avi Loeb, a physicist from Harvard University in the US, has recovered 50 tiny spherical iron fragments from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that he claims may be …
Boris Johnson’s claims about being ‘forced out’ of parliament are simply false – here’s why: In characteristically dramatic fashion, Boris Johnson let the world know he would be standing down as an MP by publishing a letter claiming he was the victim of a witch hunt and establishment stitch up. Ahead of the publication of …
South Africa’s pact with Russia – and its actions – cast doubt on its claims of non-alignment: President Vladimir Putin, left, and President Cyril Ramaphosa in Sochi, Russia, in 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 South Africa has proclaimed a policy of non-alignment in that conflict. This …
Greenwashing: energy companies make false claims about sustainability – they should be held to account: A farmer walks on a marshy shore of a river polluted by oil spills in Nigeria’s Niger delta, region. Pius Utomi Ekpei/ AFP Companies implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a way to present an environmentally responsible image and therefore …
Turmeric: here’s how it actually measures up to health claims: Most of turmeric's reported health benefits are linked to compounds called curcuminoids. tarapong srichaiyos/ Shutterstock Turmeric has been used by humans for more than 4,000 years. As well as cooking and cosmetics, it’s been a staple of the traditional medicine practice of Ayurveda, used to …
Ukraine: reporter’s notes from WWII shows how Russia used claims of fascism to stem independence: Alongside the horrors of the war in Ukraine, many in the west have been confused by the insistence from Russian president Vladimir Putin that he is trying to free the country from “Nazi control”, accusing his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, …
Dominic Raab’s defence against bullying claims is that he is always ‘professional’ – but that doesn’t stack up: Is Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, a bully? This is what Adam Tolley KC, the barrister leading the investigation into Raab’s behaviour towards civil servants, is attempting to find out. Is Raab simply a tough boss …
Dominic Raab claims are more akin to ‘abusive supervision’ than bullying: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak continues to refuse to suspend the deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, from office while accusations that he has behaved inappropriately towards staff are investigated. The government has confirmed that lawyer Adam Tolley is leading an investigation into two complaints made …
Claims that foetuses are surrounded by bacteria in the womb are incorrect – new review: Turns out it is a sterile environment after all. Rawpixel/Shutterstock When a baby is born, its immune system is already developed to survive in a world full of germs. This developmental process is not only important for the baby but …
Dante was the founder of Italy’s right wing, claims culture minister – an expert explains why he’s wrong: Dante in Verona, by Antonio Cotti (1879). Bonhams “Dante was the founder of right-wing thinking in our country,” proclaimed Italy’s culture minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, at an electoral meeting of the prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia, …