How Venezuela has – and hasn’t – changed since Maduro’s capture
Four months have passed since US forces captured Venezuela’s sitting president, Nicolás Maduro, and ousted him from power. Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, quickly moved into the top job and has, under US tutelage, begun a process of reversing her country’s experiment with socialism. Venezuela’s pivot towards socialism began under the leadership of Hugo Chávez. After […]
How the evolution of blockchain is changing our ideas about trust
Sutthiphong Chandaeng/Shutterstock In the shadow of the 2008 global financial crisis, trust in the financial system was at a historic low. Banks had failed, markets had collapsed, and confidence in central institutions had been deeply shaken. It was in this moment of uncertainty that an anonymous figure, Satoshi Nakamoto, published the Bitcoin white paper – […]
Pet loss is difficult for people – what about for other pets?
PBXStudio/Shutterstock I recently lost one of my cocker spaniels, Bobbi. She was fit, healthy and active, but had a catastrophic diagnosis of oral melanoma two months before I had to make the decision that anyone with deeply loved pets dreads. It is easy to presume that only humans have a true concept of death and […]
When your workplace doesn’t match your ethical outlook – the problem of ‘moral injury’
KieferPix/Shutterstock When earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria in February 2023, more than 50,000 people were killed and thousands more were injured. One month after the disaster, a bank employee named Efe Demir died by suicide in İstanbul. Before his death, he had sent an email to colleagues questioning the actions and motivations of his employer, […]
A bird flu vaccine for humans is being trialled – here’s how it works
SvetikovaV/ Shutterstock The first ever avian influenza vaccine recently started trials in the UK. This marks a milestone in the prevention of bird flu infections in humans. The vaccine targets the H5N1 flu strain, which causes severe infections in bird populations worldwide. However, this strain of bird flu virus is also able to spread to […]
Why do heights make your feet feel strange?
Anton Gvozdikov/Shutterstock.com I wouldn’t say that I’m afraid of heights. I can stand on a cliff path or look out from a tall building without the rush of panic people often associate with vertigo. What I really dislike is something much harder to explain: the peculiar feeling in my feet. It’s a sensation that’s difficult […]
Meet the mosquito terminator – a spider that likes us and eats our enemies
Mosquito terminators are a type of jumping spider. Fiona Cross, CC BY-NC-ND As a child, the mere glimpse of a spider used to send me screaming and running for cover. I was convinced that spiders were my enemies. I thought they were out to get me. These days, I run towards spiders, not away from […]
How super-skinny red carpet trend at Met Gala clashes with own its body-positive Costume Art show
Organised by Vogue, the Met Gala this year was based around the theme of “costume art”. An accompanying exhibition of the same name opens at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 10, with a focus on the dressed body. Responses to the Met Gala – the US fashion event of the year – […]
Five reasons to add peas into your diet
Peas are seriously underrated. masa44/ Shutterstock Peas aren’t often seen as a particularly exciting vegetable. They tend to be treated as a basic side dish or something people eat out of habit, rather than choice. But they’re also cheap, widely available and contain a combination of nutrients that can have a positive impact on our […]
A handpicked history of floral art, kabuki on screen and a poetry competition – what to see, do and create this week
Caroline Walker is one of my favourite working artists. The observations in her work are so exquisitely rendered that they often feel almost uncanny. Such was the case when I encountered her 2025 painting Kitchen Table. It shows a young girl, perhaps five or six, drawing with quiet concentration, a pink felt tip gripped firmly […]