Change is certain. How do we harness it?
While some countries such as the UK are experiencing a loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, others like Brazil are being gripped by rampaging outbreaks that show no signs of abating. At the time of writing, there have been nearly 140 million cases and 3 million...
Microplastics are one of the biggest threats to our rivers and oceans – they're everywhere and hard to get rid of. So what can be done to tackle the problem?A couple of years ago an Irish teenager won a science prize worth £38,000 for inventing a way to extract...
The UN estimates that around 4 billion people experience severe water shortages for at least one month a year and around 1.6 billion people - almost a quarter of the world's population - have problems accessing a clean, safe water supply.The UN's Sustainable...
There has been a cryptocurrency feeding frenzy this year. As well as the already rich and famous like Elon Musk, millions of ‘normal’ people have piled into the market. With Bitcoin having increased in value by nearly 700 per cent over the past 12 months, some have...
Beavers have been released into British countryside to combat the effects of climate changeThe image of a beaver gnawing on the bark of a tree in the wilderness seems a long way from the British countryside. Any likelihood of witnessing such a scene virtually...
It may not be too long before the familiar, droning diesel-engine roar of delivery trucks disappears from our city streets. Fully electric trucks have been seen as too costly and inefficient by many hauliers, but that is changing.A new study by the Stockholm...
As if we haven’t all got enough to worry about, the cost of food is continuing to rise across the world.The United Nations food agency has reported that world food prices rose for the tenth month in a row in March, hitting their highest level since June 2014....
The pace of sales of electric cars is accelerating across the world. Last year, around 3.24 million electric cars were sold in comparison with 2.26 million in 2019.Europe pulled ahead in terms of uptake, overtaking China, with nearly 1.4 million battery electric...
Coffee, green tea and other caffeinated drinks are a popular way to start the morning. Not only does it give many people a much-needed boost, but caffeine can also help when it comes to fitness.Studies show it can help people exercise harder and for longer, and...
OVER half of adults simply don’t understand the meaning of common recycling symbols found on everyday household products, researchers have found in a recent UK study.Eight key symbols appearing on thousands of supermarket items instructing buyers how to dispose of...
A turning point for Rafael Yuste, a neuroscientist at New York's Columbia University, came when his lab discovered it could activate a few neurons in a mouse's visual cortex and make it hallucinate.The mouse had been trained to lick at a water spout every time it...
Europe needs to pump €300 billion ($355 billion) into its telecoms infrastructure by 2025 if it wants to roll out super fast 5G across the 27-country bloc to boost economic growth and tap the potential of the technology, a report said on Thursday.The study by...
In 2019, the UK Parliament declared a Climate Emergency but a proposed Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill is being delayed, with no firm timescale for debate.Drafted by scientists, legal experts, ecological economists and environmentalists, the CEE Bill...
Policy responses to COVID-19 from different governments across the world have varied wildly. Decisions have been made at different times, with varying degrees of severity.A new resource has been created by Oxford University to collate these responses into one...
Men are primarily responsible for violence against women and girls. All men, including those who are not perpetrating violence or abuse, have a responsibility to play a part in helping to end it.More men are starting to reflect on their own role in the problem and...
Wales has extended the prohibition on smoking at hospitals, schools, and playgrounds, with violators to face a £100 fine. Wales is the first of the UK nations to introduce this ban.This is in addition to various restrictions on the practice, including a ban on...
As governments around the world roll out COVID-19 vaccine programmes and seek to kickstart their economies back to life, recovery seems to be within reach. However, hard questions must not be sidestepped. How did this pandemic happen? And how resilient are we to...
On March 11 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the COVID-19 public health emergency had become a pandemic: 114 countries were affected, there were 121,500 confirmed cases and more than 4,000 people had succumbed to the virus. One year on, we have now...
A fundamental change in how we think about and approach economics is needed if we are to reverse biodiversity loss and protect and enhance our prosperity, an independent, global review on the economics of biodiversity has found.Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta’s...
A new list of hope-inspiring people under the age of 40 has been published by The World Economic Forum. The world’s most promising 112 ‘Young Global Leaders’ are involved in activities ranging from advocating for public healthcare to campaigning for inclusivity in...
