Liz Truss may not appoint an ethics adviser – does that really matter?: Clicksbox / Shutterstock Liz Truss, who is likely to be prime minister next week, has indicated that she may not appoint an ethics adviser. She said she has “always acted with integrity”, so there is no need for an official to advise …
We don’t know if dark matter exists. So why do astronomers keep looking?: Spiral galaxies like M100, pictured here, may hold answers about the nature of dark matter. NASA Spitzer Space Telescope/NASA/JPL-Caltech Scientists know very little about the matter that makes up the galaxies in the Universe. About 20% of the matter in galaxies is …
Our atom-moving laser sculpts matter into weird new shapes – new research: MENALABA/Flickr, CC BY-ND Getting atoms to do what you want isn’t easy – but it’s at the heart of a lot of groundbreaking research in physics. Creating and controlling the behaviour of new forms of matter is of particular interest, and an active …
Why are strip-searches not a matter of public debate in the UK?: The recent story of Child Q, the 15-year-old black schoolgirl who was accused by her teachers of smelling of cannabis and subjected to a strip-search at her school in Hackney, London, without an appropriate adult present, has rightly elicited outrage. The Metropolitan Police …
Dark matter: our review suggests it’s time to ditch it in favour of a new theory of gravity: The barred spiral galaxy UGC 12158. Wikimedia , CC BY-SA We can model the motions of planets in the Solar System quite accurately using Newton’s laws of physics. But in the early 1970s, scientists noticed that this …
Dark matter: should we be so sure it exists? Here’s how philosophy can help: The galaxy cluster Abell 520, with suspected dark matter highlighted in blue. NASA It has been more than 50 years since astronomers first proposed “dark matter”, which is thought to be the most common form of matter in the universe. Despite …
Six misunderstood concepts about diversity in the workplace and why they matter: Understanding diversity concepts in the workplace is crucial. SeventyFour | Shutterstock Diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a sensitive topic. People are afraid to get things wrong or to use the wrong word. It doesn’t help that the words involved are confusing. …
Fresh insights on how to create civic spaces in authoritarian settings: small steps matter: The Bring Back our Girls Movement in Nigeria brought to the fore the power of women in mobilising around sexual harassment. EFE-EPA/Stringer Across the world citizens are grappling with the pressing questions of how to defend and renew democracy in the …
Climate finance: it’ll be cheaper in the long run if poorer countries receive it as a matter of urgency: Climate finance can help developing countries cut their emissions. Prashanth Vishwanathan (IWMI) / flickr, CC BY-NC-SA The almost mystical Green Climate Fund is back in the headlines at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. The fund …
The Electron-Ion Collider: new accelerator could solve the mystery of how matter holds together: Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US. Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory When the Nobel Prize-winning US physicist Robert Hofstadter and his team fired highly energetic electrons at a small vial of hydrogen at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in 1956, they opened …
Criminalising nitrous oxide users is no laughing matter if it distracts from more serious drug problems: In England and Wales, it is not illegal to possess nitrous oxide – but that could soon change. The UK’s home secretary, Priti Patel, has asked her scientific advisers to review the evidence on the harm associated with its …
South Africa in the news: Bridgette Motsepe vindicated: Botswana ‘Butterfly’ matter ruled ‘a case that never was’ — but tensions with South Africa continue: South African businesswoman Bridgette Motsepe has been vindicated after a Botswana judge found that the evidence in a case that connected her with alleged money laundering was fabricated.: “South Africa” – …
GCSE and A-level results have seen record grade inflation – here’s why that doesn’t matter: Exam results are upon us. After the 2020 debacle which saw exams cancelled due to COVID and the first set of algorithm-generated results quickly overturned following complaints of unfairness, what teachers and young people really needed in 2021 was confidence …
Multinationals don’t approach investing in Africa the same way: the differences matter: Miners fit a ventilation pipe in an underground platinum mine in South Africa. Shutterstock There are growing expectations across the world for companies to show their commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is especially so for large multinational companies. Their size, influence …
Eight ways to make your climate change social media posts matter – from a communication expert: Markus Spiske/unsplash, CC BY-SA Social media gives everyone the opportunity to argue with the world. So if you want to persuade people about the need to tackle climate change and how we should do it, social media is a …
Black Lives Matter: how the UK movement struggled to be heard in the 2010s: Since the sweeping international protests at the murder of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK has received a considerable amount of attention and support. Protests in Nottingham in June 2020 saw an estimated 3,000 people stand in …
South Africa in the news: Fire in our soul: When disaster strikes, protecting precious artefacts is a matter of design: What can we learn from the rare artefacts, artworks and irreplaceable volumes we have lost in the fire? The answer is, partly, to do with architecture.: “South Africa” – BingNews Absa, Investec May Back Karpowership’s …
Gaza conflict: no matter how powerful Israel’s military becomes it still can’t win: EPA-EFE/Mohammed Saber Israel is the most powerful state in the Middle East. Its military forces may not match the likes of Egypt or Turkey in numbers, but the might of its training, equipment, technologies and nuclear weapons make it unassailable. Given its …