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 …
Senegal’s remote Bassari people talk about climate change, and how their local knowledge is key to coping strategies: The Bassari people, a farming community of about 20,000 people, live in an area between Senegal and Guinea. During French colonial rule, the Bassari lost part of their communal land to a national park and were subjected …
Farming with a mixture of crops, animals and trees is better for the environment and for people – evidence from Ghana and Malawi: Moving away from intensive farming practices comes with many benefits. Nikada Farming just one kind of crop in a field at a time, and using a lot of chemicals, poses a risk …
Crypto: what you need to know about the water parasite making people ill in Devon: For the past two weeks, people in the south Devon town of Brixham have started contracting the disease known as crypto. There are now about 16,000 homes and businesses at risk of crypto infection due to contaminated drinking water. But …
Baby Reindeer: fans will always go sleuthing so real people must be better protected: Baby Reindeer, the autobiographical Netflix series about one comedian’s experience of stalking, has consistently been in the streamer’s top ten most-watched since its release. The story follows barman-cum-comedian Donny, played by Richard Gadd whose real-life experiences inform the show, as an …
How 2-Tone brought new ideas about race and culture to young people beyond the inner cities: This Town, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s latest drama for the BBC, brings to life a defining – if short-lived – era in the history of British youth culture and popular music. Set in the West Midlands against the …
El Niño drought leaves Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba only 13% full: a disaster for people and wildlife: Water levels at Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe have dropped dramatically because of the latest El Niño drought. The country’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has declared a national disaster. Historian and social scientist Joshua Matanzima grew up at Lake Kariba and …
Princess of Wales and King Charles: one in two people develop cancer during their lives – the diseases and treatments explained: B. Lenoir/Shutterstock The Princess of Wales released a moving video message on March 22 to address speculation about her health. In it, the future queen disclosed that she’d been diagnosed with cancer following tests …
Climate quitting: the people leaving their fossil fuel jobs because of climate change: Mayuree Moonhirun/Shutterstock As the climate crisis gets ever more severe, the fossil fuel industry is struggling to recruit new talent. And now a number of existing employees are deciding to leave their jobs, some quietly, some very publicly, because of concerns over …
The millions of people not looking for work in the UK may be prioritising education, health and freedom: Taking time out. pathdoc/Shutterstock Around one in five British people of working age (16-64) are now outside the labour market. Neither in work nor looking for work, they are officially labelled as “economically inactive”. Some of those …
Death doulas: helping people at the end of their life: You may have heard of a birth doula – someone who provides non-medical support and advocacy throughout pregnancy, birth and after the baby has been born. More recently, so-called death doulas – people who assist at the other end of the lifespan – have been …
Ghana’s new anti-homosexuality bill violates everyone’s rights, not just LGBTIQ+ people – expert: Ghana’s new anti-homosexuality bill infringes several rights and freedoms, not only of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people but of heterosexuals too. The bill has been in the works since 2021 when it was tabled in parliament as a …
People in the world’s ‘blue zones’ live longer – their diet could hold the key to why: Many blue zone diets are rich in plant foods. Studio Romantic/ Shutterstock Ageing is an inevitable part of life, which may explain our strong fascination with the quest for longevity. The allure of eternal youth drives a multi-billion …
Jobs in South Africa: the labour market is recovering from COVID – but unskilled and less educated people are still being left behind: For more than three decades the South African economy has had very high rates of joblessness. The country’s economy has been unable to create enough jobs for its growing army of workers. …
Wolves return to Europe: what to do about them is a people problem – podcast: Wolves are making a comeback across Europe. As their populations grow, 65,000 livestock are killed each year by wolves. Now, moves are underway to change the protection status of the wolf in the European Union. In this episode of The …
Young people took up smoking during the pandemic – how tobacco has been used for stress relief for more than a century: Lomb/Shutterstock In the UK and much of the west, smoking rates have consistently declined since the turn of the millennium. But during some of the most anxiety-ridden months of the COVID pandemic in …
Why some people don’t trust science – and how to change their minds: Nasa/wikipedia During the pandemic, a third of people in the UK reported that their trust in science had increased, we recently discovered. But 7% said that it had decreased. Why is there such variety of responses? For many years, it was thought that …
Horse skulls and harmony singing – two winter customs which bring people in Wales together: Imagine you’re having a quiet evening at home when suddenly there’s a knock on the door. You open it to find a boisterous crowd carrying a horse’s skull mounted on a pole and draped in ribbons – the Mari Lwyd …