Coronavirus: are cases in the UK rising?

With the slated reopening of schools in the UK around the corner, it’s critical to know if cases of coronavirus are going up. If so, further loosening restrictions could significantly exacerbate the problem. Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, told the press on July 31 that “we haveContinue Reading

Alcohol addiction: could the brain's immune system be the key to understanding and treating alcoholism?

Even moderate alcohol consumption changes the brain's structure. Syda Productions/ Shutterstock Alcohol abuse is a serious problem worldwide. In England alone, over 350,000 alcohol-related hospital admissions – and over 5,000 alcohol-related deaths – were reported in 2018. Long-term alcohol abuse can have many harmful effects on our body. But oneContinue Reading

Universities should learn from assessment methods used during the pandemic – and cut down on exams for good

sakkarin sapu/Shutterstock Timed written examinations continue to dominate university assessment. In most professions, the need to recall and write down specific information from memory under timed conditions is rare. Yet every year across the world students are crammed into exam halls to do just that. The coronavirus pandemic gave universitiesContinue Reading

Meet the artist embroidering Belarus’ protests · Global Voices

For Rufina Bazlova, if the revolution can’t be live-tweeted, it must be embroidered instead A clash between riot police and protesters, embroidered in traditional Belarusian style by Rufina Bazlova. Image (c): Rufina Bazlova, used with permission. At first glance, no two words may seem as far removed as protest andContinue Reading