Why Labour’s plan to ‘rewrite Brexit’ might not be as politically risky as it sounds: Labour leader Keir Starmer has committed to rewriting the UK’s Brexit deal with the European Union when it comes up for review in 2025, if his party is elected to government. He has said he wants a closer trading relationship …
Hip-hop at 50: how the sights, sounds and moves of the music spread across the world: Rapper's Delight was one of the first hip-hop tracks ever released. Granamour Weems Collection/Alamy On August 11 1973, DJ Kool Herc and his sister Cindy threw the now legendary Back To School jam in the recreation room of 1520 …
Thirsty tomatoes emit ultrasonic sounds – and other plants may be listening: Tobacco plants produce sounds at a frequency outside the human hearing range. S.Phoophinyo/Shutterstock Plants may appear silent, indifferent organisms to us, but recent research has found they make high-pitched clicking sounds when they are struggling to find water. In principle, neighbouring plants could pick …
Misophonia: nearly one in five UK adults have the condition causing extreme reactions to certain sounds: Around 18% of the people in our study were likely to have misophonia. silverkblackstock/ Shutterstock Many of us have sounds that we find to be annoying. But for some people, certain sounds actually trigger extreme reactions. It’s a disorder …
State of the Union: ‘bipartisan’ Biden’s landmark speech sounds like a campaign launch for 2024: The US president Joe Biden delivered his second State of the Union address with a message of optimism, declaring – as is customary – that “the state of the union is strong”. With newly elected Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy and …
Children and teens aren’t doing enough physical activity – new study sounds a health warning: Regular physical activity helps to prevent and manage many chronic diseases. Amorn Suriyan/Shutterstock Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. It’s also associated with chronic illness and disability. Recent research estimates that the world could see close …
Noise pollution: how the sounds of the city were redefined as ‘urban music’ in 1920s Japan: Cash machines, elevators and escalators that talk. Jingles in department stores, train stations, supermarkets and shopping arcades. Loud speaker warnings about the dangers of riding on the bus or train, overlayed by sirens, car horns, traffic and pedestrians. “For …
Labour sounds like the Tories on immigration – but its policy goes back to its trade union roots: Keir Starmer has given a glimpse of what immigration policy could look like under a Labour government. Speaking to the Confederation for British Industry, the party leader’s key message was about reducing the UK’s dependency on migrant …
Green hydrogen sounds like a win for developing countries. But cost and transport are problems: Getty Images Hydrogen is used mainly to make chemicals such as fertiliser, and in oil refineries. Most hydrogen in the world today is made from natural gas or coal – methods associated with large carbon dioxide emissions. Developed countries are …
Posh Spice sounds posher, but changing your working-class accent isn’t a ticket out of discrimination: Even one of the UK's most famous couples isn't free from accent discrimination. Bakounine / Shutterstock Accentism – discriminating against someone because of their accent – has a long history in the UK, where the way someone speaks is often …
Doric: the Scots dialect spoken by the Queen – what it sounds like and where it comes from: In the aftermath of her passing, it was reported that Queen Elizabeth could speak the local dialect of Balmoral and the region around it. This dialect of the north-east of Scotland – called the Doric by local …
Babies can learn language sounds in the first few hours of being born – new research: They are soaking up everything your say. Art_Photo/Shutterstock We often think of babies as blank canvases with little ability to learn during the first few weeks of life. But babies actually start processing language and speech incredibly early. Even …
A nice Cape Town image: Cape Town sounds Image by yumievriwan at the V&A there were several groups performing. This group had some amazing performances Image automatically curated and published by www.free-mail.co.za – CLICK HERE to learn more about WP Robot for WordPress. Have you tried: Travelling to South Africa?
A nice Kings Beach image: The smooth sounds of Aja Image by gwen I wanted to post this because it’s the beach I am always going to and talking about. Where I’m standing is the beginning of Crown Beach, which stretches out behind me, around a curve that’s always crowded with kitesurfers, then a few …
Why Ed Sheeran’s court victory sounds good for the music industry: There’s a good chance you’ve heard a song by Ed Sheeran called Shape of You. It’s been streamed over 3 billion times on Spotify and viewed over 5 billion times on YouTube. The song Oh Why, by Sam Chokri, is less well known. But …
We studied the sounds of mosquitoes’ mating rituals – our findings could help fight malaria: mycteria/Shutterstock In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that almost half the world’s population was at risk of malaria, while some 627,000 people died from the disease. Although a malaria vaccine may soon be available (the WHO recommended one …
South Africa in the news: Six countries added to red list as UK sounds alarm over new Covid variant: A travel ban is to be imposed on six African nations due to rising concerns over a new variant of the virus which causes Covid-19 which officials have dubbed “the worst one we’ve seen so far”. …
Do the northern lights make sounds that you can hear?: John A Davis/Shutterstock It’s a question that has puzzled observers for centuries: do the fantastic green and crimson light displays of the aurora borealis produce any discernible sound? Conjured by the interaction of solar particles with gas molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, the aurora generally occurs …