We finally know why some people got COVID while others didn’t: Throughout the pandemic, one of the key questions on everyone’s mind was why some people avoided getting COVID, while others caught the virus multiple times. Through a collaboration between University College London, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Imperial College London in the UK, we …
Mr Bates vs The Post Office depicts one of the UK’s worst miscarriages of justice: here’s why so many victims didn’t speak out: The new ITV drama about the Post Office Horizon IT scandal is an incredibly important vehicle for getting the story of what is increasingly recognised as one of the greatest miscarriages of …
A free messaging app seemed useful for disadvantaged South African students: why they didn’t agree: South African higher education is plagued by inequalities due to the social and economic legacies of apartheid. More than 50% of enrolment in higher education is from black, working-class, disadvantaged households from rural areas who depend on state-funded student aid. …
Like many women, I didn’t know I was autistic until adulthood – how late diagnosis can hurt mental health and self image: Dagerotip/Shutterstock For many women, adult diagnoses of autism are “a light in the darkness”, an epiphany of self-understanding. My “lightbulb moment” came in my late 20s. “They thought you were autistic,” my mum …
Accra’s most vulnerable residents were failed during COVID – the government didn’t understand their realities: Residents of Accra were given financial aid during the pandemic Wikimedia Commons/Flickr Containment measures, such as the lockdowns introduced to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, had devastating consequences for vulnerable urban populations globally. In response, public, private, and …
Our research shows home working didn’t harm mental health at the start of the pandemic – but things changed later on: Vera Petrunina/Shutterstock One of the key changes to our daily lives brought about by the COVID pandemic was, for those able to do so, working from home. According to UK data, almost 60% of …
Cleopatra’s skin colour didn’t matter in ancient Egypt – her strategic role in world history did: Cleopatra (centre) is played by a black actress, Adele James, in the new Netflix docudrama series. Image courtesy Netflix Cleopatra, queen of Egypt in the years 51-30 BC, is back in the news thanks to a controversial docudrama series …
Brexit didn’t trigger the mass exodus from the EU that was once feared – but nor did it leave Europeans wanting more from their union: The British vote to leave the European Union in 2016 sent a shockwave across the European continent. With a large member state turning its back on the union, it seemed …
Five important things you should have learned in sex ed – but probably didn’t: It's important to talk about sex with your partner. SeventyFour/ Shutterstock If you grew up in the 90s and 00s, you may feel that sex education didn’t teach you much of practical value. Most sex education during this time followed a “prevention” …
COVID hit companies hard. Why some kept their sustainability commitments, and others didn’t: Shutterstock Covid-19 has had profound implications for the “role of business in society”. One of them is the pandemic’s effect on companies’ sustainability strategies. These are efforts to avoid companies’ harmful impacts on the environment and communities, and to enhance the positive …
Pakistan’s floods are a disaster – but they didn’t have to be: Over 33 million people have been immediately affected by the flooding currently affecting Pakistan. Graphic_Plus/Shutterstock The devastating flooding affecting Pakistan has killed over 1,300 people, damaged over 1.7 million homes, and is disrupting food production. Over 33 million people have been affected so …
Uhuru Kenyatta and Kenya’s media: a bitter-sweet affair that didn’t end happily: Kenya's journalists have had a tumultuous relationship with Uhuru Kenyatta's government. Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime came into power in 2013. It was the first to implement most of the provisions of Kenya’s 2010 constitution. The media were eager …
Setting the record straight: Burna Boy didn’t create a music genre called Afrofusion: Burna Boy performs in Glastonbury, England, 2022. Joseph Okpako/WireImage via Getty Images Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu was born in 1991 in Port Harcourt, the largest city in Rivers State in Nigeria. He would become known as Burna Boy, a singer, songwriter and record …
Children’s physical activity dropped during COVID lockdowns but didn’t bounce back – new UK research: matimix/Shutterstock During the COVID pandemic, lockdowns and school closures brought about significant changes to children’s opportunities to be active. While the precise rules varied around the world, most countries experienced some level of restrictions for a time. Unsurprisingly, when everything …
‘I didn’t feel as if I fitted in at all’: the real life challenges of social mobility: Going up? Shutterstock/Arthimedes The benefits of social mobility seem to be widely agreed on. The idea that a person’s opportunities and earnings should not be defined by their background is supported across the political spectrum. Despite this, attempts …
Lockdown saw couples share housework and childcare more evenly – but these changes didn’t last: Halfpoint/Shutterstock It may feel like a common occurrence today, but if you cast your mind back to the first COVID lockdown, having whole families working and studying from home was a very unfamiliar situation. And it was one that had …
Curious Kids: why didn’t other creatures evolve the intelligence humans have?: Humans have big brains. Rido/Shutterstock If humans and other animals were living in the same environment, why didn’t other animals evolve like us? – Sami, aged 13, London, UK This is a brilliant question. Humans have evolved differently to other animals. We have much …
South Africa in the news: Scientists didn’t see omicron coming. And no one knows what’s next: No one knows what the next Greek letter variants will unleash. The emergence of omicron underscores the unpredictability of the pandemic’s course, even as scientists race to understand its properties.: “South Africa” – BingNews Germany tightens travel restrictions on …