There are over 100 words for the noise a dog makes, in more than 60 languages, according to the work of psychologist Stanley Coren. These range from “ouah-ouah” in France to others less recognisable to English speakers, such as “hong-hong”, apparently, in Thailand. Of course, these differences only reflect theContinue Reading
Zenza Flarini/Shutterstock From Washington DC to Wall Street, 2021 has already seen online groups causing major organised offline disruption. Some of it has been in violation of national laws, some in violation of internet platforms’ terms of service. When these groups are seen to cause societal harm, the solution fromContinue Reading
How times have changed since the Apollo era. Within the space of a few days, two space missions from China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), respectively, are set to reach Mars. The UAE’s Hope mission will go into orbit around Mars on February 9. The next day, the ChineseContinue Reading
Releasing his creation for free 30 years ago, the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee, famously declared: “this is for everyone”. Today, his invention is used by billions – but it also hosts the authoritarian crackdowns of antidemocratic governments, and supports the infrastructure of the most wealthy andContinue Reading
A replica of Noah's Ark from the biblical tale at the Ark Encounter theme park in Kentucky. Lindasj22/Shutterstock Many people around the world looked on aghast as they witnessed the harm done by conspiracy theories such as QAnon and the myth of the stolen US election that led to theContinue Reading
Nasa's Perseverance. NASA/JPL-Caltech, CC BY-SA There are two planned Mars landings in 2021. First, Nasa’s Perseverance rover is due to land on the planet later this month. Then China’s Tianwen rover will follow in May. Both missions intend to search the planet for signs of life. But how do weContinue Reading
All eyes on Mars. Kevin Gill/Flickr Looking at its achievements over the past decade, nobody would doubt China is aiming to win the new space race. Not only has it been the only country to land on the Moon in about 40 years, and the first to soft land onContinue Reading
Albert Einstein photographed on a trip to America in the wake of his Nobel prize-winning discoveries. Harris & Ewing/PICRYL A century ago, an upstart German physicist by the name of Albert Einstein turned the scientific world on its head with his discovery of the photoelectric effect, which proved light toContinue Reading
Happiness is complex. Rido/Shutterstock We’re living in difficult and uncertain times, and are constantly reminded to stay resilient in the face of adversity. In fact, tips on how to stay strong and handle unexpected setbacks by recovering – and even growing as a person – are being thrown at usContinue Reading
Prixel Creative/Shutterstock It’s 7:30am on a Monday morning and you’re trying to get your little darlings out of the house for school. The week has only just begun but already you can feel your temper being tested: your children appear to be physically incapable of getting dressed. You put onContinue Reading
