Malaria scorecard: battles have been won and advances made, but the war isn’t over: Sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of malaria cases in the world. In this region 11 countries account for two-thirds of the global burden. World Malaria Day is marked on 25 April. What progress has been made against the disease, …
Dinosaur tracks, made 140 million years ago, have been found for the first time in South Africa’s Western Cape: Guy Plint examines one of the dinosaur tracks, which is above his head. Annemarie Plint, CC BY-NC-ND Dinosaurs have captured people’s imagination ever since their bones and teeth were first scientifically described in 1822 by geologist …
Delhi: how weather patterns and faraway mountains made this the world’s most polluted megacity: Delhi is perhaps the most polluted of the world’s megacities. Every winter, the city’s 30 million residents breathe air so toxic that visibility drops to mere metres. If you stand on top of one of Delhi’s monuments you can barely make …
IMF isn’t doing enough to support Africa: billions could be made available through special drawing rights: At the 2021 UN Climate Summit, Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley called for more and better use of special drawing rights (SDRs), the International Monetary Fund’s reserve asset. The special drawing right is an international reserve asset created by …
Opt-out laws designed to make organ donation easier may have actually made it harder, says research: In 2020, England introduced an opt-out system for organ donation with the aim of making it easier for organs to be donated after a person’s death. The Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019 assumed that unless someone explicitly opted …
How a currency devaluation in Kazakhstan made the country’s poor worse off: It is the job of the government to keep a country’s economy in check. But sometimes policies don’t work out as planned. Governments often take economic decisions that follow specific political agendas, and these decisions are not always beneficial for everyone. Take, for …
Ramaphosa made practical choices for South Africa’s multi-party cabinet – how this will help him down the line: South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s multi-party cabinet of national unity has been sworn in. Much of the attention leading up to the announcement of ministerial portfolios focused on the acrimonious negotiations between the Democratic Alliance and the …
A century ago, the women of Wales made an audacious appeal for world peace – this is their story: February 11 1924, on board the RMS Cedric: Saw Statue of Liberty glowing in the sunlight. Bitterly cold wind, bright sunshine. At lunch, a press man came to me and said: ‘Mrs Griffiths, I am from …
What is energy made of? The Conversation’s Curious Kids podcast: sommart sombutwanitkul/ Shutterstock Have you seen that scene from Star Wars where Yoda uses the force to lift the spaceship out of a swamp? Its energy is so powerful, but what exactly is it made of? That’s what Ela, aged ten from Melbourne, wanted to …
Weaver Press is closing – how one small, brave Zimbabwean publisher made a difference: With the news that it is to halt operations it’s a fitting time to take stock of Weaver Press in Zimbabwe. The publishing house started small in 1998 and remained small, co-managed by its two full time employees, the husband and …
PhD students’ mental health is poor and the pandemic made it worse – but there are coping strategies that can help: ESB Professional/Shutterstock A pre-pandemic study on PhD students’ mental health showed that they often struggle with such issues. Financial insecurity and feelings of isolation can be among the factors affecting students’ wellbeing. The pandemic …
How writing ‘made us human’ – an ’emotional history’ from ancient Iraq to the present day: Evidence suggests that writing was invented in southern Iraq sometime before 3000BC. But what happened next? Anyone interested in this question will find How Writing Made Us Human by Walter Stephens both an enjoyable and stimulating read. It offers …
Europe’s radical right has made challenging Brussels a winning formula – so why hasn’t the radical left made the same gains?: With roughly six months to go, the radical right looks set to make significant gains in the 2024 European elections. The biggest share of votes is still likely to go to parties of the …
Orkney’s lost tomb – how my team and I made the Neolithic discovery: Orkney in the north of Scotland is renowned for its remarkably well-preserved monuments. Many of these are Neolithic (10,000 BC to 2,200 BC) and consist of stone circles and chambered tombs, which are still highly visible in the landscape. Chambered tombs are …
Israel, Palestine and the Labour party history that has made Keir Starmer’s position so difficult: I said: “I found the British still very emotional about Palestine. Why?” And he said: “It’s associated, don’t you think with partisanship with one side or the other. I can’t think of any colony or mandate that was as demanding …
Energy prices: shipping hold-ups made the 2022 spike worse – and could do so again: The Ukraine war has made the EU much more dependent on liquefied gas. Wojcieck Wrzesien Germany and some other EU countries are hastily setting up new floating gas terminals at their ports to help cope with the severe reduction in …
Concrete crisis: officials thought asbestos in schools was safe too – the same mistakes have been made over Raac: The decision to close some schools and erect emergency structural supports in others just days before the start of a new term appeared to come about suddenly. The announcement followed three recent failures of reinforced autoclaved …
Niger’s resource paradox: what should make the country rich has made it a target for predators: A month after the coup in Niger that toppled the democratically elected civilian government of Mohamed Bazoum, the country’s neighbours are still debating the possibility of military intervention. The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) – a coalition …