Digger channels Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove for the climate crisis – until its twist
Warning: this article contains major spoilers for Digger. In director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film Digger, the eponymous Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) puts on his Stetson first thing in the morning. It’s an embodiment of his credo: “Rise early, work hard, strike oil.” He is rarely without it as he rides roughshod through the extinction-level […]
How geopolitical tensions tainted the 2026 Asian Games
The 2026 Asian Games in Japan drew to a close on October 4 following two weeks of competition between 45 countries and territories across 43 sports. Despite the official slogan “imagine one Asia”, fragmented regional politics came to the fore as the event unfolded. Just days before the games officially began, tensions between Japan and […]
HIV treatment has transformed lives in the UK, but stigma lingers
Maxim Studio/Shutterstock Nearly half a century has passed since the first recognised case of Aids in the UK in December 1981. During that time, perceptions of HIV and people living with HIV have been transformed by medical advances and changing cultural attitudes. Yet the stigma created during the early years of the epidemic has proved […]
From food to fuel, AI helps pinpoint how to grow ‘microalgae’ at scale
bastera rusdi/Shutterstock Microalgae (microscopic organisms that use light and carbon dioxide to grow) can be used to make ingredients and food for animals, pigments and potentially renewable fuels. But growing microalgae efficiently at an industrial scale is difficult. My own research with microalgae began with their potential for biofuel production. I have been exploring how […]
Measles is spreading across the US – and officials can’t agree on the death toll
Habanero Pixel/Shutterstock New York has just declared a state of emergency as measles cases continue to rise. So far this year, the US has recorded 3,887 cases of measles, the highest annual total since 1991. That is about 70% more cases than were recorded during the whole of 2025. In November, the Pan American Health […]
Did the hot summer make more people worry about climate change? Here’s what the latest indications show
Wales saw weeks of wildfires during summer 2026. Richard Whitcombe/Shutterstock This summer broke records around the UK for maximum temperatures and dry weather. According to the UK’s Met Office, while it was rare to hit 35°C in the 20th century, that temperature has been surpassed in six out of the past ten years. And it’s […]
Why antidepressants can stop working after initially helping
Symptoms can return despite continued antidepressant treatment, but this does not necessarily mean the body has become tolerant to the medicine. Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Shutterstock Antidepressant use continues to rise. In England, 96 million antidepressant prescription items were dispensed to an estimated 9.1 million patients in 2025 to 2026. These medicines are prescribed for depression and other […]
The ick: the psychology of why a romantic partner can suddenly repulse you
The ick can strike without warning. Prostock-studio/Shutterstock Ever felt a sudden wave of cringe toward someone you were into – all because they wore questionable shoes or chewed a bit too loudly? Congratulations, you’ve caught “the ick”. That instant flip from attraction to total repulsion is everywhere on TikTok and Instagram, with singletons and couples […]
Rebel Rebel the Musical stages David Bowie’s dystopian vision
“If you can listen to Rebel Rebel and not be a tiny bit glad you’re alive,” the Irish writer Joseph O’Connor once claimed, “you’ve got an answering-machine for a heart”. O’Connor was of course referring to David Bowie’s 1974 song, which provides the title of a new musical directed by Belgian theatre director Ivo van […]
Nobel physics prize awarded for discovery of ‘ghostly messengers’ from the cosmos
With a colleague, Halzen came up with the vision for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. Christopher Michel, CC BY-SA The 2026 Nobel prize for physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen for his discovery of high energy neutrino particles from space. The Nobel committee said Halzen has made “decisive contributions” to the […]