Plants can actually take care of their offspring – here’s how
Plants may not have the will to protect their offspring, but they have nevertheless evolved some ways to do it.
UK
United Kingdom
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Analysis and Comment
How to use your pension fund to hold big business to account
Our pension fund savings offer a route to responsible capitalism, if only enough of us would rise to the challenge.
Boko Haram announces truce to release kidnapped schoolgirls but deal is plagued by doubts
This is just the latest in a long line of supposed ceasefires in the vicious insurgency that has seen so much horror in Nigeria.
Everyone loves Warren Buffett, but will they love his Berkshire Hathaway?
As Warren Buffett rolls out his Berkshire Hathaway investment company internationally, will investors put the same trust in it as they do in him?
Interdisciplinary research must sit at the heart of universities
Breaking through the silos of different academic disciplines is tougher than it should be.
Why Converse has filed 31 lawsuits over century-old sneaker design
Converse is suing firms it claims has copied its famous Chuck Taylor design.
Ukraine steels itself for winter as Putin forges ahead with Novorossiya
Ukraine, Europe’s most fragile state, is just about holding together – but meanwhile in the east of the country, Russia’s own state-building project has nearly come to fruition.
NHS: lessons from New Zealand on how to integrate care
New Zealand has been pioneering integrated care and what it’s doing is worth a look.
Statistics can kill: how Ebola treatment is being slowed by the drug trials process
Standards of probability applied to clinical trials are a questionable dogma which can put lives at risk.
The International Criminal Court must fix its anti-African image
With Uhuru Kenyatta more popular than ever in Kenya after being indicted by the ICC, the Court has to face up to its serious reputation problem.
Hit fossil fuel firms where it hurts and support divestment
The University of Glasgow has pledged to dump its investments in polluting energy firms. Lots of other organisations talk about going green – now it’s time for action.
Outside the cities and towns, rural Britain’s internet is firmly stuck in the 20th century
Despite BT’s fibre optic and now microwave radio links, outside towns and cities Britain is stuck in the slow lane.
Metal detector Viking find a reminder of how migration and trade shaped British Isles
The discovery of Viking treasure in Dumfriesshire gives us fresh insights into how cosmopolitan they were.
Celebrate the truces – because World War I must not be an excuse for militarism
It’s proper to remember Britain’s military heroes, but the anniversary must not turn into a glorification of war.
Deep aversion to regicide means Labour is stuck with Ed Miliband
The Labour party just isn’t cutthroat enough to get rid of Ed Miliband – and now it’s run out of time.
Climate change: it’s only human to exaggerate, but science itself does not
A former climate minister claims scientists “widely exaggerate” global warming – think of it as advocacy.
Why an $80 barrel of oil is bad
If the sharp drop in oil prices continues, it becomes increasingly likely that the UK’s producers will prioritise cheaper projects elsewhere.
Hint of proper funding for cycling, but we must fight for it – with evidence
As politicians debate cycling, there’s been too much over-simplification and spin. It’s time to look closer at the research.
Could crowd-sourced policing turn us into vigilantes – or bedroom super sleuths?
Involving the public with crime investigations is good for PR but runs the risk of creating a country of snoopers.
Lord Freud was wrong about disabled workers, but at least he’s got us talking
The welfare minster’s comments were offensive but his gaffe raised an issue that needs discussion.
Panic over Ebola echoes the 19th-century fear of cholera
The history of epidemics has a lot to tell us about the acute feelings outbreaks still spark today.
New iPads, no surprises: Apple may struggle in competitive tablet market
After all the froth of Apple’s iPhone 6 launch, its iPad keynote seems a bit of a let down.
Why Ebola wasn’t stopped by huge investment in African healthcare
United Nations and medical charities may have indirectly helped the spread of Ebola.
Who owns the moon?
We need to decide who can and does own extraterrestrial real estate before a new Cold War kicks off in space.
Come together, right now: countries are working with neighbours like never before
We’re about to miss many of the development targets we set for 2015. Is it time to try a new kind of international co-operation?
Is sending shoppers ads by Bluetooth just a bit creepy?
Our obsession with abstraction, then and now at London’s Frieze
Karma may have a role to play in career progression, but it won’t break glass ceilings
Russia’s borders: Romania strengthens ties with NATO as old anxieties return
Inspire children with good careers advice and they do better at school
Why climate ‘uncertainty’ is no excuse for doing nothing
Albania-Serbia football drone farce shows Balkan nationalism is still a dangerous powder keg
Research and News
Infographic: how UK health spending compares to other countries
How UK health expenditure, access to care and health outcomes compare with seven other OECD countries.
Ig Nobel prizes 2014: from Jesus on toast to baby faeces in sausages
The annual scientific prize that “first makes people laugh and then makes them think” has lived up to expectations.
Universities may seek more EU students once controls lifted
But plans on how to fund the removal of cap on student numbers remain unclear, according to new report.
Hard Evidence
Hard Evidence: are tech shares undervalued or is there a bubble that’s about to burst?
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are trapped in the glare of the headlights as a huge share price correction looms.
Hard Evidence: who will reap rewards from Russia farm sanctions?
All the talk is about US and European farmers being put to the sword by Putin, but there are winners too.
Ebola
Panic over Ebola echoes the 19th-century fear of cholera
The history of epidemics has a lot to tell us about the acute feelings outbreaks still spark today.
Why Ebola wasn’t stopped by huge investment in African healthcare
United Nations and medical charities may have indirectly helped the spread of Ebola.
Ebola: bats get a bad rap when it comes to spreading diseases
Bats are the second most diverse mammal group after rodents and host over 65 known human pathogens. But they also serve us well.
Bat’s immunity may hold key to preventing future Ebola outbreaks
Ebola regional fund shows growing solidarity in West Africa
How are nurses becoming infected with Ebola?
Take bushmeat off the menu before humans are served another Ebola
Nine months into Ebola crisis it’s sad we’re taking more notice because of ‘threat’ to West
We still don’t know if domestic animals can spread Ebola
World War I
World War I shaped a century of air combat and it still influences modern missions
A century of innovation in air power followed because of the events of World War I.
Women volunteers: first to the war zone in 1914
The volunteer is at the heart of British perceptions of the World War I. We are all familiar with images of young men leaving home, standing in long queues at recruiting stations, and being examined by…
Columnists
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The trouble with exploring other planets is that you have to avoid comets there too
Monica Grady -
The message to academics is simple: they have to engage in public debate
Dennis Hayes -
Jordan Gaines Lewis — “It’s easy to procrastinate when we need to brag, but we’re the experts on ourselves”
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Laura Swift — “Putin might be vexed to know that Hercules’ love affairs involved other men”
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Eunice Goes — “Kowtowing to anti-immigrant rage is risky. But does Ed Miliband have a choice?”
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John Keane — “A canopy of deadening silence: Beijing’s media assault on Hong Kong citizens”
Editors’ Picks
Will there be enough fish to go around? Not if we follow healthy eating guidelines
Globally, we still catch enough fish to eat – just about. But numbers of fish caught from the sea haven’t kept up with human population growth and unsustainable fish farms have filled the gap. So why are…
Islamic State: no-one wants to talk to terrorists, but we always do – and sometimes it works
The Islamic State (IS) now occupies significant swaths of Iraq and Syria, has pushed as far as the border with Turkey, and has succeeded in dragging “the West” into two civil wars in the Middle East. The…
Twin Peaks was a hit because it was so of its time – but the return is welcome
So the cryptic teasers posted on Twitter by Mark Frost and David Lynch have substance: Twin Peaks will be returning to television screens 25 years after its cancellation. The new series will be a nine-episode…
Banksy mural in Clacton-on-Sea knocked from its perch – but no tears from me
Banksy is back. Back in the heart of Blighty (deepest Essex to be precise), spraying his musings on our walls. Cue the (now) habitual headlines and opinions. Cue the hysteria. This time, however, things…
How your brain decides who to make friends with when you start university
Over the next few weeks there will be many nervous people across the country ready to embark upon a new chapter in life: university. For many young people going to university means moving away from home…
Northern soul trademark win shows music subcultures belong to fans
Some good news for soul music lovers from an unlikely source: a recent trademark decision by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) sent a strong message that the iconography of the “northern soul…
How to be a world leader when you grow up – pick the right country to study in
What do the prime ministers of Singapore, Malaysia and Finland have in common with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón and King Abdullah II of Jordan? They…
US starts air strikes on Syria as shadowy new threat emerges
The United States has commenced major air operations against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Aircraft from bases in the Gulf, supported by air-to-air refuelling, struck a substantial range of targets…
BICEP2 ‘gravity wave’ finding clouded by interstellar dust
In March, scientists working on the BICEP2 experiment, a microwave telescope based at the South Pole, announced that they had seen ‘gravity waves’ from the early universe, created just after the Big Bang…
How technology, not spades, revealed what lies beneath Stonehenge
The recent discoveries at Stonehenge, including ritual monuments, burial mounds and a long barrow, are wonderful examples of how archaeological geophysics can be used in areas where excavation is hard…
Events
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TCCE in partnership with the British Academy presents ‘Artists in the Academy’ —
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In conversation: The man who opened the Berlin Wall — University of Liverpool
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