This year’s Labour conference was the party that delegates should have had in 2024
“The mood of the party?” A reliable opening question between news presenter and political journalist. Necessarily imprecise, the answer can still transport the listener or viewer to where they aren’t. Doing so from Liverpool this week invokes the other meaning of the word party. This was the conference that should have taken place in 2024 […]
Confronting demons: how acoustic and AI technology brought ancient Etruscan tombs back to life
A demonic figure painted on the wall of the Tomba dei Demoni Azzurri (Tomb of the Blue Demons, 420-410BC). Sailko via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-ND Although it not always obvious, sound guides how we experience the world around us. And the latest archaeoacoustic techniques show that even the world’s earliest architects understood this. The ancient […]
Covid fatigue linked to reduced brain blood flow
Starocean/Shutterstock Playing with your children or meeting a friend for coffee are everyday activities that many people move between without giving much thought to how much mental or physical energy they take. For many people living with long COVID, things are different. Reading, working at a computer or concentrating on a conversation can require far […]
Digger tries to mock powerful older men – but can’t escape 64-year-old millionaire Tom Cruise
Civilisations are often remembered not for their politics or their leaders, but for the figures they worshipped. Ancient Greece is as known for Achilles and Odysseus as for its achievements in democracy and philosophy. Medieval England is remembered less for the Plantagenets than for the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood. The wild west […]
Long-acting medicines could make daily tablets a thing of the past for some patients
Daniel Hoz/Shutterstock For millions of people around the world, managing a long-term health condition means remembering to take medicines every day, often for years. But advances in long-acting medicines mean that some treatments now need to be taken only once a month, every few months or even twice a year. Long-acting medicines are designed to […]
RAF Fairford: the power (and risks) of making the public the ‘eyes and ears’ of counter-terrorism
The events around RAF Fairford offer a timely reminder of a less visible part of Britain’s counter-terrorism system: the role of the public. In the early hours of September 27, armed officers responded to a report of suspicious vehicles near the base and arrested five men. A local farmer had found a road blocked late […]
The end of endless summer: why cheap winter veg is under threat
British supermarkets have trained us to expect tomatoes, cucumbers and asparagus throughout the year. Their year-round presence can make seasonality seem obsolete. But the seasons have not disappeared. When British weather cannot provide the light and warmth a crop needs, growers must recreate those conditions or retailers must bring the crop from somewhere that has […]
Our research measures the real cost of coal mines to people and planet
An above-ground open coal pit in Africa. Fiona Barclay Smith/Shutterstock The longer it takes to transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, the more costs accrue as climate change accelerates. Climate change caused at least US$2.8 trillion (£2.1 trillion) in global costs known as loss and damage between 2000 and 2019, according to the […]
From equations to Instagram feeds: how ‘algorithm’ changed its meaning
Collagery/Shutterstock Algorithms are central to modern mathematics and computer science. They are explicit procedures valued for their clarity, efficiency and beauty. Beyond these fields, however, the word “algorithm” is most likely to evoke social media feeds, targeted advertising or a combination of the two of the two. Through algorithms, mathematics has become culturally visible as […]
Stoicism isn’t just for men – despite what the manosphere would tell you
Stoicism has attracted all sorts of fans over recent years, but one group whose interest in this ancient philosophy has attracted a good deal of comment is the “manosphere”. In her 2018 book Not all Dead White Men, on classics, misogyny and the digital age, the American classicist Donna Zuckerberg noted with some concern that […]