What makes a national atmosphere? An expert explains the mood surrounding the Queen’s death: Loredana Sangiuliano / Shutterstock A national mood, ambience, community spirit, a feeling in the air. There are many ways people might describe the collective sense of an intangible something that occurs around major events. My research explores what makes a national …
Anti-monarchy protesters arrested – an expert on what the law says: DaLiu / Shutterstock For many, the week following the death of the Queen has been a time of mourning. It has also been one of tension around the question of free speech and protest. There have been several instances of police arresting or questioning …
Cameroon’s ‘exploding lakes’: disaster expert warns deadly gas release could cause another tragedy: The waters of Lake Nyos, Cameroon, turn a murky brown following a deadly release of toxic gas. Photo by Thierry Orban/Sygma via Getty Images A sudden change on 29 August 2022 in the colour and smell of Lake Kuk, in north-west Cameroon, …
Zaporizhzhia: proposals for demilitarised zone around Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant are unprecedented – expert reveals: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed an international proposal for a demilitarised zone around Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, currently occupied by Russia. In a much-anticipated September 6 update, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommended this safety and …
Five ways to tell if someone is an expert, or just confident – from an actual expert: Not every 'expert' has the expertise to back up their argument. Pressmaster / shutterstock Have you ever listened to a talk by somebody who came across as an expert, only to find that they had no clue after …
Shelling of Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant exposes multiple risks – a nuclear expert tells us what they are: Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in March, and now have taken it over. It's the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. American Photo Archive/Alamy Shelling has recently intensified at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia …
Why are gas prices still high despite oil getting cheaper – and what will happen next? Energy expert Q&A: While Putin reduces Russian gas supplies, Europe has become more dependent on shipments of LNG. Bill Chizek Photography/Alamy While thermometers have been well into the red across the northern hemisphere, people are panicking about the cost …
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak want to crack down on migration – an expert reviews their plans: Immigration is an ideological headache for the UK’s Conservative party, caught between its neoliberal new right that champions free markets, and its social conservatism, which immigration is said to threaten. But a restrictive immigration stance has been a …
Polio vaccine boosters offered to London children – an expert explains what’s going on: Studio Romantic/Shutterstock In June, the UK Health Security Agency reported that poliovirus had been detected in sewage in north and east London between February and May 2022. Following this, people were advised to ensure their children were up to date with …
Monkeypox: an expert explains what gay and bisexual men need to know: Monkeypox is from the same virus family as smallpox. Kateryna Kon/ Shutterstock Since early May, more than 23,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide. This is the largest ever global outbreak of the disease. Cases have now been reported in 78 countries …
Persuasion: why the Netflix adaptation is actually worth a watch, according to a romantic literature expert: Nick Wall/Netflix SPOILER ALERT: this article contains plot references to Persuasion. So, the jury’s in. People really, really hate Netflix’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Austen’s last novel, the book follows the story of 27-year-old Anne Elliot eight years …
What is gentle parenting? An expert explains: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock In the past decade, the concept of “gentle” or “respectful” parenting has gained considerable traction. The foundation of the idea is in being a parent who is emotionally attuned to their child, and tries to understand the reasons behind their behaviour. There is great value in this, …
COVID vaccines: our current shots could soon be updated to target new variants – an immunology expert explains: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock More than two years into the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continues to challenge us. Its ability to rapidly mutate has seen the evolution of increasingly infectious variants that are getting better at hiding …
Shopping: the cost of living crisis is hitting people ‘urgently and directly’ – retail expert Q&A: On top of rampant inflation, strikes, business gloom and rising interest rates, bad news about our shopping habits was all but inevitable. The volume of goods being sold in the UK is now falling, according to the latest monthly …
Grooming: an expert explains what it is and how to identify it: Nadya Eugene / Shutterstock The word “grooming” has become synonymous with sexual abuse of children. High-profile cases such as the allegations by cyclist Bradley Wiggins have raised public awareness of how grooming can go unnoticed. To stop grooming before it takes place, we …
Eurovision: If Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra triumph it won’t be a sympathy vote, says an expert: Voting in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest on May 14 in Turin may look different for one specific reason – neither Russia or Belarus are taking part. Ukraine’s folk-rap band Kalush Orchestra has qualified for the final. But the European …
The standard model of particle physics may be broken – an expert explains: The storage-ring magnet for the Muon G-2 experiment at Fermilab. Reidar Hahn/wikipedia, CC BY-SA As a physicist working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern, one of the most frequent questions I am asked is “When are you going to find …
Does Tanis reveal the last day of the dinosaurs? An expert explores the evidence: Buried in the rocks in North Dakota lies evidence of the exact day the dinosaurs were obliterated from the planet, some 66 million years ago. That’s the claim of palaeontologist Robert DePalma and colleagues, whose work was captured by the BBC …