Sense and Sensibility: gen Z will relate to the Dashwoods’ complicated relationship with romance and property
As Jane Austen drafted Sense and Sensibility in the late 1790s, Britain was experiencing a huge financial crisis. Despite its publication nearly 215 years ago, the novel’s most recent screen adaptation highlights the surprising relatability for a gen Z audience of the heroines’ economic and romantic struggles. The novel follows sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood […]
Register to vote for the winner of the Vitae Three Minute Thesis competition 2026 – supported by The Conversation
The 2026 Vitae 3MT finalists, clockwise L-R: Rachel Bernasconi, Peter Akor, Akma Nazar, Yuri Jang, Jonathan Chan, Helen Norris. Vitae3MT, CC BY-ND Three minutes. One big research idea. And a chance to persuade you that they should win. That’s the challenge facing six finalists in the 2026 Vitae Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition, sponsored by […]
Devolving real power could lead to regional growth – but Andy Burnham will need to be brave
Burnley in Lancashire. Go My Media/Shutterstock Andy Burnham says he wants to change how Britain works. Part of his plan involves shifting power out of London to the regions, in the belief that economic growth for the whole country will follow. The prime minister refers to this as “rewiring the state”. He has long argued […]
AI companies could learn safety lessons from the history of nuclear weapons
Unidentified workers with the “gadget”, the first atomic bomb, shortly before the 1945 Trinity test. US Department of Energy An AI model built by US tech company OpenAI has hacked into the Australian government healthcare portal, Medicare. The news, which emerged on September 23, follows a string of similar incidents reported over the summer by […]
Millions of adults in England have high blood pressure without knowing it – so why are free pharmacy checks not solving the problem?
Me dia/Shutterstock.com High blood pressure is easy to detect – it takes only a few minutes and doesn’t require needles or laboratory tests. Relatively cheap, easy-to-use machines let people check their own blood pressure at home, and many high street pharmacies offer free checks. Yet new research suggests many adults in England are still walking […]
Brain stimulation could reshape how you learn new skills
Yiistocking/Shutterstock Whether learning a new piano piece or adapting your tennis serve, acquiring physical skills depends on your brain’s ability to strengthen and refine neural connections. Researchers are exploring whether this process can be accelerated with technology. Scientists are particularly interested in the potential of non-invasive brain stimulation – a group of techniques that can […]
BBC climate thriller The Rapture isn’t so far-fetched
Amid an unending heatwave in contemporary Wales – and increasingly violent weather around the world – a psychological thriller unfolds. Two years after an accident that killed her husband and paralysed her from the waist down, Gabrielle Fox returns to work as a psychologist at an adolescent internment unit. One patient, 16-year-old Bethany, is accused […]
Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta uses ‘desirable difficulties’ to prepare his players – is this a good coaching strategy?
Mikel Arteta talks to Arsenal player Noni Madueke during their Champions League victory over Napoli on September 9 2026. ErreRoberto/Shutterstock The former England rugby union coach, Sir Clive Woodward, once shared an anecdote about an unexpectedly delayed diving contest, after an interloper in fancy dress had jumped in the pool. Woodward described how some competitors […]
Why far-right protesters target non-political groups like lifeboat volunteers
Penny Hicks/Shutterstock On September 6 2026, two Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboats brought around 120 migrants ashore at Portsmouth. They were met by a protest, where far-right demonstrators verbally abused lifeboat crew. The crew’s names, addresses and photographs were later circulated online. The protest in the Eastney area of the city was organised by […]
Russia’s new jet-powered drones mark latest evolution in air war above Ukraine
Ukraine has been using its fighter jets to shoot down Russian Geran-5 drones. Mike Seaman / Shutterstock The air war between Russia and Ukraine has evolved constantly since the start of the conflict. The latest example is Russia’s deployment of a new type of long-range, jet-powered drone, which is having a significant effect on Ukraine’s […]