Frank Romeo/Shutterstock Avi Loeb, an astrophysicist at Harvard University in the US, has published a press release claiming that some of the 700 or so spherical metallic fragments (spherules) he recovered from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Papua New Guinea, are from beyond theContinue Reading
AngelaLouwe/Shutterstock Ever since their colonisation of British cities sometime during the last century, urban red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) have become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. Some people love them for their striking marmalade coats but others, including former prime minister Boris Johnson, think of them as a menace. In recentContinue Reading
Ratchat/Shutterstock Women often report that they are not listened to or given choices about what happens during their own labour. But studies have long shown that feeling heard and having choice during childbirth enhances women’s wellbeing. These findings led to changes in NHS policy and guidelines beginning with the landmarkContinue Reading
From the early days of human space activity in the 1960s, missions to the Moon have attracted significant global attention. India’s recent success in landing the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the Moon was technically demanding and occurred in a previously unexplored part of the Moon. As well as the scientific benefits,Continue Reading
Gino Gallucci/Shutterstock When London faced the bubonic plague in 1665, many people desperately sought a way to protect themselves and their loved ones from getting sick. One widely adopted method consisted of mixing two small cloves of garlic in a pint of fresh milk. People believed that drinking this cocktailContinue Reading
Evolf / Shutterstock In a recent post, the owner of X, (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, announced his plans for the social media platform to remove its blocking feature, except for in direct messages. Users are concerned that this change in the platform’s content moderation will lead to a rise inContinue Reading
shutterstock Bad data does not only produce bad outcomes. It can also help to suppress sections of society, for instance vulnerable women and minorities. This is the argument of my new book on the relationship between various forms of racism and sexism and artificial intelligence (AI). The problem is acute.Continue Reading
In 1991, hikers came across a body that was partially contained in ice high up in the Alpine province of South Tyrol, Italy. Initially thought to be from a recent death, the body was later discovered to be 5,300 years old – from a time known as the Copper Age.Continue Reading
Exploring the British countryside? Unlikely, says big cat expert. Karel Bartik/Shutterstock Rumours that there are big cats in Britain stubbornly keep cropping up. The thought of a large predator lurking in the rural landscapes of Britain is an exciting one. The most recent widely published claim of a big blackContinue Reading
pio3/Shutterstock Being a good listener means having empathy. But empathy is one of the most misunderstood listening skills. Empathy is what we feel when we are trying to understand the world from the perspective of another person. One of the common misconceptions about empathy is that you need to haveContinue Reading
