Dogs can smell people’s stress – new study: Matt Donnelly , Author provided Dogs have a long history alongside humans, giving them an amazing ability to read human cues. Dogs also possess an incredible sense of smell, which enables them to detect diseases, such as COVID and lung cancer, in humans from odour alone. Whether …
What teachers think of children and young people’s technology use: nimito/Shutterstock Mobile phones, computers, social media and the internet are part of the daily lives of children and young people, including at school. Concerns over the risks of too much screen time or online activity for children and young people have been tempered by the …
London 2012 Paralympics was not a gamechanger for disabled people’s sports participation – here’s why: This summer marks ten years since London hosted the 2012 Paralympics. It was hoped the Paralympics would have a lasting legacy on improving access to and participation in sports for disabled people. But the data shows the Games made no …
Wearable technology can change autistic people’s lives – if they’re involved in designing it: Prostock-studio/Shutterstock Many autistic people experience difficulties in expressing their emotions. This can result in increased anxiety, depression, anger and physical health problems. Research shows autistic adults are significantly more likely to experience depression an anxiety than their peers. Imagine a future, …
London 2012’s legacy boosted Paralympic sport, but disabled people’s lives have worsened: Ten years ago, London hosted the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. For London 2012 planners, a central aim was that this mega-event would change the way non-disabled people – and society at large – see disabled people in the long-term. Prominent political figures …
How news affects people’s expectations and drives economic change: Immediate reactions to announcements about the future can significantly affect the future economy. Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock News of a big pay rise might see you booking the nearest fancy restaurant for a slap-up meal to celebrate, or encourage you to go on a shopping spree even before …
How reform to the Mental Health Act should balance people’s treatment with increased autonomy: Involuntary detention under the Mental Health Act poses ethical challenges. Monkey Business Images | Shutterstock Across the world, compulsory powers are used to detain and treat people deemed to have mental health problems. In the UK, most people experiencing such problems …
How culture informs people’s emotional reaction to music – podcast: People in the Kalash valley in Pakistan during the Joshi festival. thsulemani/Shutterstock The Conversation Weekly podcast is taking a short break this week. In the meantime, we’re bringing you an extended version of one our favourite recent interviews. In this episode, we speak to a …
Ukraine: war has an impact on people’s health beyond bullets and bombs: According to the UN human rights office, 136 civilians have died in the war on Ukraine so far. But it acknowledges that the figure is probably much higher. These deaths may have occurred directly – collateral damage to the fighting – but war …
Words about mental health need to align with people’s understanding of well being: Flourishing as a concept involves what it means to live a good life. Sunshine Seeds/Shutterstock In South Africa, English is only the sixth most common language spoken within households. But it’s dominant outside the home, including health and medical contexts. Communicating information …
LGBT rights in eastern Europe: explaining financial benefits makes a big difference to people’s views – new findings: Across eastern Europe, it’s still very difficult to pass laws and policies designed to advance LGBT inclusion. With LGBT+ History Month underway, some Ukrainians are worried that their country’s fragile progress in LGBT rights will be set …
South African scientists on discovering omicron, plus how culture informs people’s emotional reaction to music – The Conversation Weekly podcast transcript: This is a transcript of The Conversation Weekly podcast episode: South African scientists on the inside story of discovering omicron – and what their experience can offer the world about future variants, published on …
Four surprising ways climate change is affecting people’s health in England and Wales: Jevanto Productions/Shutterstock When you take age out of the equation, temperature-related deaths are on the decline in England and Wales. That’s according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). But more people are going to hospital, compared with …
Nudges: four reasons to doubt popular technique to shape people’s behaviour: Can food labelling really help us make 'better' choices? AntGor/Shutterstock Throughout the pandemic, many governments have had to rely on people doing the right thing to reduce the spread of the coronavirus – ranging from social distancing to handwashing. Many enlisted the help of …
How listening to real people’s voices outside the lab gave my research new perspective: tomertu/Shutterstock As a biotechnology research scientist, I specialise in designing and creating “smart” implantable materials. These materials can control cell behaviour and enable us, for example, to grow new, replacement tissue for patients with diseased or damaged tissue, deliver drugs to …
Global energy targets don’t deal with people’s real problems in Zimbabwe: Even if additional energy production capacity was added to the national grid through renewables, questions remain about whether access will be equitable and affordable. Lou Bopp/ GettyImages Thirty years ago, ending energy poverty wasn’t among the world’s development goals. Neither the 1992 Rio Declaration …
Beyond GDP: here’s a better way to measure people’s prosperity: cktravels.com/Shutterstock When Nobel prize-winner Simon Kuznets declared in 1934 that “the welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measurement of national income”, he likely did not imagine that gross domestic product (GDP) would still be in use as shorthand for wellbeing and …
Can radicalisation be defeated? Yes, if we understand that it happens when people’s bonds are broken: Police officers parade suspected Boko Haram militants. AUDU ALI MARTE/AFP via Getty Images Radical extremism has increased by 320% in the last five years and cost the world an estimated US$ 14.1 trillion as of 2018. It’s a worldwide …