How smaller, more affordable electric cars can accelerate the green transition: New Africa/Shutterstock Norway is set to make history by becoming the first nation to sell only zero emission (electric- or hydrogen-powered) vehicles by the end of 2025. While this doesn’t mean that fossil fuel-powered cars already on the road will suddenly disappear there, it …
The global food system is owned by an ever smaller number of companies – it’s damaging our health, our communities and the planet: creativeriver/Shutterstock Across the world, over 800 million people spend their days hungry. More than 2 billion have limited access to food. Yet today’s global food system produces enough to feed every person …
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 …
Scrapping FA Cup replays has upset smaller clubs, but they could still win from being matched against the top sides: Newport County took on Manchester City in the 2019 FA Cup. Jacek Wojnarowski/Shutterstock Football fans delight in historic moments enjoyed by their club. Exeter City supporters for example, will have fond memories of the FA …
How smaller businesses can become net-zero influencers and enablers: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock What if all of the UK’s 48,000 hairdressing salons and barbershops started sharing water and energy-saving advice with their clients, alongside a clipper cut or a wash and blow dry? Previous studies have demonstrated that hairdressers can shape customers’ environmental behaviour with guidance they can …
Mercury: shrinking planet is still getting smaller – new research: Perspective view of a lobate scarp on Mercury named Carnegie Rupes, colour-coded according to surface altitude. The crater near the middle is nearly 40 km across. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington Planetary scientists have long known that Mercury has been shrinking …
Japan is paying families 1 million yen to move to the countryside – but it won’t make Tokyo any smaller: Denys Nevozhai | Unsplash The Japanese government has announced a fresh round of incentives for people to move out of the Tokyo region. From April 2023, families seeking a new life in greener pastures will …
Mussels are disappearing from the Thames and growing smaller – and it’s partly because the river is cleaner: The population of River Thames freshwater mussels has declined by almost 95% since 1964. BadPixma/Shutterstock Freshwater ecosystems, including rivers, are home to 10% of all known animal species. Yet at the same time, they are losing their …
Africa’s smaller cities are usually overlooked: they shouldn’t be: Long prices in Ghana's Cape Coast have been soaring. Photo by Cristina Aldehuela / AFP via Getty Images Often when one thinks or writes about urbanisation in Africa, mega-cities or primary cities like Lagos, Nairobi, Addis Ababa or Kampala, come to mind. Little, however, is written …
Nigeria’s fuel crisis: smaller, more flexible refineries aren’t the full answer: Fuel scarcity in Nigeria causes untold hardship to people and negatively impacts the economy Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images Nigeria’s growing population of over 200 million people is facing an ever-growing fuel crisis despite its vast oil reserves. The shortage of refining capacity …
A new exoplanet: meet GJ 367b, an iron planet smaller and denser than Earth: SPP 1992 (Patricia Klein) As our Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago, small grains of dust and ice swirled around, left over from the formation of the Sun. Through time, they collided and stuck to each other. As they grew …
Baby giant pterosaurs may have driven smaller species extinct, fossil discovery shows: An artist's representation of the hatchling pterosaurs. Megan Jacobs, Author provided Pterosaurs, the flying cousins of the dinosaurs, reached immense sizes in the late Cretaceous period (100-66 million years ago), some species with wingspans of perhaps more than ten metres. Their ancestors during …
South Africa’s stock exchange for smaller firms: some benefits, but not a magic wand: Shutterstock South Africa is home to the largest stock exchange in Africa and the 20th in the word by market capitalisation. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) was established in 1887, during the country’s gold rush. Well functioning markets are considered preconditions …
Germany election: Olaf Scholz’s social democrats come out on top but smaller parties hold the key to government: Election night in Germany proved inconclusive. There were some clear winners and losers, but not such that we can be sure of the shape of the next German government. The social democratic SPD came out on top, …
Music streaming: listening to playlists drives down the revenue of smaller artists: Playlists curated by major music streaming platforms tend to reduce the revenue of smaller artists. Tada Images/Shutterstock When music fans listen to their favourite album, there’s a certain satisfaction derived from knowing that they paid for the music they love – they’re giving …
Rebekah Kowal, Dancing the World Smaller – a Culture interest event taking place on 2021-01-28 19:00:00 in United States Please join us for a reading and conversation with Rebekah Kowal, author of Dancing the World Smaller: Staging Globalism in Mid-Century America To join this virtual event, register here. Jean-Christophe Agnew, Professor of American Studies and History, Yale …
Microplastics: tiny crustaceans can fragment them into even smaller nanoplastics: Gammarus duebeni, the shrimp-like animal that can break down microplastic. Alicia Mateos Cárdenas, Author provided Microplastics are widespread in seas and oceans, and their harmful effects on many different marine animals are well known. However, we know relatively little about the microplastics in our freshwater …
How we discovered UK shale gas reserves are at least 80% smaller than thought: Maximov Denis / shutterstock Over the past decade, the UK has tentatively begun to exploit its reserves of shale gas through a process best known as “fracking”. But according to our new research, UK shale gas reserves are substantially lower than …