South Africa’s destructive storm surges: geoscientist reveals the 3 factors that drove them: Tidal surges can cause enormous damage. Martha van der Westhuizen/500px A series of powerful tidal surges battered coastal areas in South Africa’s Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces over the weekend of 16 September. One person died; cars, homes and businesses …
UN invasive species report reveals scale of threat to nature and people – and how to manage it: Lionfish are an invasive species in the Caribbean. Drew McArthur/Shutterstock More than 3,500 invasive alien species are seriously compromising human wellbeing and causing irreversible damage to ecosystems, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem …
New research reveals that Ötzi the iceman was bald and probably from a farming family – what else can DNA uncover?: In 1991, hikers came across a body that was partially contained in ice high up in the Alpine province of South Tyrol, Italy. Initially thought to be from a recent death, the body was …
Net zero: direct costs of climate policies aren’t a major barrier to public support, research reveals: Amid headlines of wildfires raging across Europe and Africa and flooding in China, the UK government took the bewildering choice to expand fossil fuel extraction. Prime minister Rishi Sunak declared that more than 100 new oil and gas drilling …
Wildlife wonders of Britain and Ireland before the industrial revolution – my research reveals all the biodiversity we’ve lost: The extinction of the wolf in Britain was widely celebrated as an achievement towards the creation of a more civilised world. Biodiversity Heritage Library Travel back with me a few hundred years to before the industrial …
How the British Museum’s new exhibition reveals China’s Hidden Century through everyday lives: The face of the British Museum’s big summer show, China’s Hidden Century, is that of an elderly woman wearing jade earrings, dressed in a blue robe with ornate gold embroidery decorating its collar. It is an image painted, we discover in the …
V&A’s new centre reveals pivotal role photography plays in reflecting and shaping our world: In May, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum opened the much-anticipated second phase of its Photography Centre. Set to be the UK’s largest permanent photography display, it will survey the medium’s past, present and future. With plans to rotate displays across seven …
Sierra Leone elections: survey reveals what voters care about most: A man casts his vote at a polling station in Freetown during the 2018 general elections. Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images Sierra Leoneans go to the polls again on 24 June, in the country’s fifth post-conflict electoral contest. For more than two decades following its …
Young people are abandoning news websites – new research reveals scale of challenge to media: shutterstock Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock The crisis in journalism caused by the traditional news media’s struggles to cope with the digital revolution has been well documented over many years. But news organisations now face a much more fundamental change driven by generations who …
Loan sharks: new data reveals they are often work colleagues or ‘friends’: 'Are you sure you don't want more?' Alex Segre Malai Gambrill doesn’t sound like your typical loan shark. She was a woman in her early 50s working in a hospital in Gillingham, not far from London. She lent £3,000 to a colleague and …
Peter Howson: new retrospective reveals how Scots painter found redemption after Bosnian war: Peter Howson’s story is one of seeking dignity in human suffering and violence, and finding redemption; it is also uniquely Scottish. When The Apple Ripens, Howson’s retrospective at Edinburgh City Arts Centre (27 May-1 October), is a timely showcase to celebrate his …
Male video game characters speak twice as much as females, largest study of its kind reveals: lightningreturns Video games are played by nearly three billion people worldwide and make more money annually than the film industry. Around 50% of gamers are female but gaming has chronic problems with gender bias. Female players have recounted receiving …
Baboon bonds: new study reveals that friendships make up for a bad start in life: Two juvenile baboons passively share information about a food source when one sniffs the other’s muzzle while feeding. Susan C. Alberts Childhoods can predict a great deal about how adult lives might play out. For instance, research has shown that …
Stephen Hawking and I created his final theory of the cosmos – here’s what it reveals about the origins of time and life: Hawking and the author. Photograph: Thomas Hertog and Jonathan Wood, Author provided The late physicist Stephen Hawking first asked me to work with him to develop “a new quantum theory of the …
47% of South Africans rely on social grants – study reveals how they use them to generate more income: Informal trading is one way grant recipients use to supplement their income. shutterstock South Africa has one of the world’s most expansive social grant system: 47% of the population relies on a monthly grant. Of these, …
The power of anonymity: as Twitter celebrity Dril reveals his identity, an Elena Ferrante expert explains what he’s lost: Elena Ferrante chooses to write under a pseudonym to conceal her identity. Jelena990/Shutterstock Scrolling through US comedian and social media phenomenon Dril’s Twitter account can be a confusing experience for those, like me, who don’t share …
Beef: what your nemesis reveals about you: The Netflix series Beef is about a battle between two strangers that escalates to dramatic heights over ten episodes. What might first appear as a petty feud unravels over the series as the show deftly touches on themes of anger, frustration, abandonment and intergenerational trauma. The characters, who …
Why some terror campaigns escalate to civil war and others don’t – study reveals surprising new answers: Guerillas from the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) pictured in 1990. Richard Hoffmann/Sygma via Getty Images Most terrorist campaigns – where a group targets civilians to achieve political objectives – are short-lived. But some aren’t. In some cases, terror …