shutterstock Individualistic western societies are built on the idea that no one knows our thoughts, desires or joys better than we do. And so we put ourselves, rather than the government, in charge of our lives. We tend to agree with the philosopher Immanuel Kant’s claim that no one hasContinue Reading
Tool made out of horse bone. UCL Institute of Archaeology, Author provided Boxgrove in Sussex, England, is an iconic, old stone age site. This is where the oldest human remains in Britain have been discovered – fossils of Homo heidelbergensis. Part of an exceptionally preserved 26km-wide ancient landscape of stone,Continue Reading
Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock, Author provided Young people have probably spent much more of their time than usual playing video games over the last few months thanks to the coronvirus pandemic. One report from telecoms firm Verizon said online gaming use went up 75% in the first week of lockdown in the US.Continue Reading
Aaron Hunter, Author provided The English town of Lyme Regis is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. It was here in the 1830s that William Buckland, better known for the discovery of the first dinosaur, Megalosaurus, collected fossils with another pioneering palaeontologist, Mary Anning. One of their discoveriesContinue Reading
It is unclear how well masks work. People Image Studio/Shutterstock Although political leaders have closed borders in response to COVID-19, scientists are collaborating like never before. But the coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) is novel – and we don’t yet have all the facts about it. As a result, we may have toContinue Reading
Children have reached their verdict on adults. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock Every parent knows that sometimes your child says something that stops you in your tracks. Such a moment came for one of us, Emma Maynard, when her son Oscar was approaching his year 6 SATS tests at the end ofContinue Reading
As Europe faces a resurgence of coronavirus, having loosened strict lockdowns, one of the most important policy questions is how people can safely social distance in crowded places. Our ability to accommodate maximum safety and capacity has been greatly reduced during the pandemic, raising concerns about the future layout ofContinue Reading
There are still sexist views of women's brains. Dmitry Natashin/Shutterstock In 1879, French polymath Gustave Le Bon wrote that even in “the most intelligent races” there “are a large number of women whose brains are closer in size to those of gorillas than to the most developed male brains”. HeContinue Reading
John Tyndall. wellcome/wikipedia, CC BY-SA It is surprising that the Irish scientist John Tyndall, born 200 years ago on August 2 1820, is not better known. This is despite the existence of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the Tyndall National Institute and the Pic Tyndall summit on theContinue Reading
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the world has rushed to deploy infrared thermal imaging cameras (also known as infrared radiometers) to measure people’s temperature and the technology has become big business. Since the pandemic began, thermal cameras have been deployed in areas of high-density foot traffic such as airports,Continue Reading
