The US Environmental Protection Agency’s retreat from science endangers the health of people and the planet: Andromeda stock/Shutterstock Pollution causes more illness and early death than any other environmental threat, accounting for one in six deaths worldwide. For decades, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) has driven many of …
Babies born with DNA from three people hailed as breakthrough – but questions remain: Ten years after the UK became the first country to legalise mitochondrial donation, the first results from the use of these high-profile reproductive technologies – designed to prevent passing on genetic disorders – have finally been published. So far, eight children …
The online world comes with risks – but also friendships and independence for young people with disabilities: Kleber Cordeiro/Shutterstock “In the real world, I’m a coward. When I’m online, I’m a hero.” These words, paraphrased from a conversation with a young man with autism, have stayed with us throughout the years of research that underpin …
Kenya’s brutal police have been exposed again – why the system fails people: The recent killing in Kenya of a young man in police detention highlights a string of systemic failures to hold the country’s security officers accountable for their actions. Despite public outrage and protests, Kenyan police officers continue to use inhumane, brutal and …
From M&S to Duolingo: banter between brands on social media gets people buying – but there’s a catch: The owl that came back from the dead. daily_creativity/Shutterstock The line between entertainment and advertising is increasingly blurred thanks to social media. People no longer just consume content, they experience it – laughing, sharing and commenting. And …
Cameroon’s Baka people say they are part of the forest: that’s why they look after it: The Congo Basin’s hunter-gatherer people have the secret to living well with the forest. While doing fieldwork in 2020, I remember walking with Indigenous elders Ferdinand Mbita and Félix Mangombe up the small, winding path into their forest in …
Rwanda has moved people into model ‘green’ villages: is life better there?: After the devastating 1994 genocide, Rwandans returning from the violence established homes and began farming where they could find land. Since then, the Rwandan government has aimed to bring people scattered across rural parts of the country into grouped settlements which they have …
Moving graves and people for coal mines: the devastating costs of mining in South Africa: About 80% of South Africa’s electricity still comes from burning coal. The country’s 108 coal mines have resulted in many communities being forced off their land from the 1970s to date. They have not only lost their homes and land, …
Apprenticeships aren’t designed for young people any more: BigPixel Photo/Shutterstock The number of people in England choosing to enrol in an apprenticeship has declined markedly over the past decade. Apprenticeship participation has fallen overall from 908,700 in 2016-17 to 736,500 in 2023-24. Particularly notable has been a shift away from apprenticeships providing introductory skills for …
Coughing won’t save you if you’re having a heart attack, despite what people claim on social media: P.Kasipat/Shutterstock A recent trend on social media has revived a curious technique from the late 1970s called cough CPR. A post claims that this method can help people, if they are alone, to survive a heart attack by …
Economic policies encourage the careless use of people and the planet. Creating caring economies is the answer: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change includes a Gender Action Plan, adopted in 2017. The plan aims to “enhance the gender responsiveness” of climate policy and climate action. It outlines specific actions and strategies to promote …
People do care about extinct species, but not for long – new study: Lonesome George was discovered motionless in his enclosure, one morning in June 2012. Overnight, George had taken not only his final breath but the final breath of his entire species, the Pinta Island tortoise, as it faded into extinction. Obituaries for George …
Post-flood recovery: lessons from Germany and Nigeria on how to help people cope with loss and build resilience: Extreme climate events — floods, droughts and heatwaves — are not just becoming more frequent; they are also more severe. It’s important to understand how communities can recover from these events in ways that also build resilience …
Rock painting is the oldest image of an African rail, a bird that may have had a special meaning for the San people: The African rail (Rallus caerulescens) is a handsome bird, with a blueish breast, red legs, eyes and bill, prominent barring on the flanks, chestnut upper parts, and long toes. It also has …
Can a new access scheme get more working-class people into the TV industry?: “TV was everything to me,” said British playwright James Graham at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival’s MacTaggart lecture on August 20. The dramatist used his recollections of the television he watched in his youth together with tales of his working-class background to …
A double whammy of winter fuel payment cuts and scrapping a planned cap on social care costs is set to hit older people: Many older people will lose out financially under the government's policies. PeopleImages.com – Yuri A Before the general election, former prime minister Rishi Sunak was asked on TV why he “hated pensioners”. …
How autistic and non-autistic people can understand each other better: Autistic people often experience difficulties with social communication. It’s so common, in fact, that it’s one of the central criteria for an autism diagnosis. For as long as we have been diagnosing autism, doctors and researchers have regarded social communication difficulties as autistic “impairments”. But …
Young people led surge for smaller parties but no Reform ‘youthquake’, says UK election survey: One of the defining features of contemporary electoral politics in Britain is the age divide. Young people are far more likely to support Labour, and older people to support the Conservatives. This divide is still apparent following the 2024 election …