Belfast violence: an uncomfortable reminder of the innocent people ‘burnt out’ during the Troubles
The images coming out of Belfast overnight on Tuesday were shocking. Violent unrest erupted in the north of the city after a man was seriously injured in a knife attack and a Sudanese migrant was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. British far-right agitators including Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (also known as Tommy Robinson) wasted no time […]
Belfast unrest shows the power of social media as far‑right views on immigration enter the mainstream
Footage of a horrific knife attack in Belfast began to circulate on social media on Monday evening. A Sudanese asylum-seeker in his 30s, who entered the UK in 2023, has been charged with attempted murder. Meanwhile, the far-right was quick to exploit the situation to further an anti-immigration agenda. Violent unrest followed on the streets […]
Farmers in a national park are turning down lights at night to help wildlife – it could be good for crops too
Some farms are looking at how best to use their lights at night. MillaF/Shutterstock Growing evidence suggests that excessive outdoor lighting at night may be harming wildlife. For generations, rural communities worked to the rhythms of daylight and darkness. Today, the amount of harsh light switched on at nightime is having profound consequences for many […]
The Milky Way was rewired by a cataclysmic collision billions of years ago. Now it is on course for another
Composite image of the centre of the Milky Way, created by the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Nasa/JPL-Caltech/Esa via Wikimedia Commons Vasily Belokurov is one of three winners of the 2026 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics. The award is for “uncovering the fossil evidence of past mergers proving that the Milky […]
Savage House’s filth and farce are closer to the real bawdiness of the 18th century
Although critics have praised the performances in Savage House, the film itself has received a frosty reception. Tim Robey in the Telegraph described its “putrid stylings” as making it “impossible to enjoy”, dismissing it as a “rancid” and “rotten” period drama. Yet this allegedly “lowbrow” film captures the spirit of 18th-century culture more effectively than […]
Message drift: why things get taken out of context online and why it matters
Paper Trident/Shutterstock You are scrolling through your feed when a screenshot appears showing a public figure saying something surprising or controversial. Within minutes, it is everywhere. Some are angry, others defend it, memes parody it, and arguments spread across platforms. Later, you discover the person never quite said that exact quote. The words came from […]
I ran the Thames from source to sea – here’s what I discovered
In 2021, as the UK began to emerge from the third COVID lockdown, I embarked on a slow, long-distance run from the source of the River Thames to the sea. The run was a live artwork I called Thames Run: Source to Sea, as part of the Estuary 21 Festival Associated Programme. Following the course […]
Breaking free from fossil fuels is urgent but hard – Colombia shows why
Javier Crespo / shutterstock Colombia’s outgoing president Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla and the country’s first leftist leader, came to power in 2022. He promised something few leaders of fossil fuel-producing countries have seriously attempted: to reduce his country’s dependence on oil, gas and coal. Together with his vice-president Francia Márquez, a former environmental activist, […]
US and Iran’s exchange of strikes shows how far diplomacy has changed
A US Army Apache helicopter was downed near the Strait of Hormuz on June 8, with the two crew members rescued by an American sea drone. Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock The US military launched strikes against Iran on June 9 in response to the downing of a US Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz a […]
Footballer Christian Eriksen’s ICD kept his heart beating after he collapsed on the pitch – here’s how these devices work
Eriksen was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator after suffering a cardiac arrest in 2021. Vitalii Vitleo/ Shutterstock When Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsed during a friendly match recently, many people would have been surprised to see the footballer walk off the pitch after regaining consciousness. The event brought back memories of Eriksen’s cardiac arrest […]