Insights 2023: from unheard voices and AI to the origin story of a very popular rabbit: An illustration by Beatrix Potter from The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies. The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-ND This year, the Insights series has covered a wide range of important topics but the themes of ‘unheard voices’, …
Stoicism on Tiktok promises happiness – but the ancient philosophers who came up with it had something very different in mind: Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor and one of TikTok's favourite Stoics. Cris Foto/Shutterstock I don’t know about you, but my TikTok is full of influencers telling me I should be a Stoic. You …
Fluoride: very high levels in water associated with cognitive impairment in children: Riccardo Mayer/Shutterstock Fluoride is one of the more abundant elements naturally found in drinking water, and levels around 0.7mg per litre have been proven to reduce tooth decay. This is why some countries add fluoride to drinking water. However, fluoride in drinking water …
Climate change is set to make our holidays look very different – here’s how: Holidays are making a comeback after several years of disruption caused by the COVID pandemic. Nearly 4 billion passengers boarded international flights in 2022, up from fewer than 2 billion in 2020. Recent research suggests that people are likely to continue …
‘Clubbing a bunny to death is very effective but it sure does look bad’: the inside stories of urban animal control: Public acceptance of killing urban wild animals varies. Elena Berd/Shutterstock In July 2022, a walrus, affectionately nicknamed Freya, was culled near Norway’s capital city in the Oslo fjord – crowds of people approaching her …
Beatrix Potter’s famous tales are rooted in stories told by enslaved Africans – but she was very quiet about their origins: An illustration by Beatrix Potter from The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies. The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA Peter Rabbit, the cute and wily bunny who wears a bright blue jacket, is …
We found long-banned pollutants in the very deepest part of the ocean: Scientists found PCBs 8 kilometres below the waves. dimitris_k / shutterstock I was part of a team that recently discovered human-made pollutants in one of the deepest and most remote places on Earth – the Atacama Trench, which goes down to a depth …
Women occupy very few academic jobs in Ghana. Culture and society’s expectations are to blame: There is a dearth of women teaching at institutions of higher education in Ghana Wikimedia Commons/Flickr In many parts of the world, men dominate the higher education sector. A 2022 UNESCO report found that, globally, fewer than two out of …
Being declared dead when you’re still alive – why these very rare events occur: Inked Pixels/Shutterstock An 82-year-old woman who was recently pronounced dead at a New York nursing home was later discovered to be alive by funeral home staff. This follows a similar incident in Iowa where a 66-year-old woman with early-onset dementia was …
Hungary and the EU are in an endless dispute that challenges the very foundations of the union: As 2022 drew to a close, Hungary and the European Union made a modicum of progress in their long-running battle of wills. The (pro-Kremlin) Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán ended his opposition to sending European funds to support …
How to keep your home warm during very cold weather (on a budget) – and avoid dangerous heating ‘hacks’: Jevanto Productions / shutterstock A cold snap of Arctic weather dubbed the “Troll from Trondheim” has hit the UK. The combination of an energy price crisis and very cold weather has left many people worrying about …
What if the dinosaurs hadn’t gone extinct? Why our world might look very different: Ajnabia odysseus lived 66 million years ago, making it one of the last dinosaurs on Earth Raul Martin Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid hit the Earth with the force of 10 billion atomic bombs and changed the course of evolution. …
Rishi Sunak faces a very different economy to the one he left as chancellor — here’s what he must tackle as prime minister: As the incoming UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak has the immediate advantage of perceived success in his two years as chancellor. His tenure ended last July when he resigned due to a …
The night is full of animal life, but scientists know very little about it: Naturalists and life scientists have long debated how insect-eating bats navigate their dark world. Sarun T/Shutterstock Human disturbance is rapidly changing the nature of the nocturnal world. Intensive farming, suburban spread, artificially lit cities, and continuously busy road systems mean daytime …
Why do we laugh? New study considers possible evolutionary reasons behind this very human behaviour: Tetra Images LLC/ Alamy A woman in labour is having a terrible time and suddenly shouts out: “Shouldn’t! Wouldn’t! Couldn’t! Didn’t! Can’t!” “Don’t worry,” says the doctor. “These are just contractions.” Until now, several theories have sought to explain what …
Inflation: why it’s very unlikely to get back below 2% for years to come: Only going up. Oleg Golovnev Inflation in the UK and eurozone is still getting worse. UK prices rose a whopping 10.1% in July compared to a year earlier, while those in the eurozone went up 8.9% – breaking longstanding records in …
Obesity: neither genetics nor social background are very good predictors of your body weight – new research: There's still much we don't know about body weight. Christian Delbert/ Shutterstock There’s long been debate about whether genetics or the environment people are raised in is the biggest cause of obesity. Obesity rates have tripled since the …
Ukraine: survey shows British people, and especially Tory voters, feel very differently about some refugees than others: As of late May, in the three months since Russia invaded Ukraine, 6.8 million refugees had fled the war into other countries. The majority, some 3.6 million people, headed to Poland, while another million went to Romania. European …