Is the tenure of a leader becoming ‘nasty, brutish and short’?
When Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham announced that they intend to challenge Keir Starmer as prime minister, it felt like the start of a depressingly familiar loop. A leader who had made many great-sounding promises failed to deliver and lost the trust of the public. The public demands he quit, and he may soon be […]
Art in exile on show at London’s Iranian Contemporary Art Biennale
With Iran’s official cultural presence on the international stage increasingly uncertain, the 6th Iranian Contemporary Art Biennale in London, With My Roots, carries significance that extends well beyond the gallery walls. Held at Mall Galleries from May 22–30, it brings together more than 100 Iranian artists from 17 countries, with over 180 works spanning painting, […]
The bogs of war: landscapes play a huge part in conflict – and restoring them can strengthen security
Koitjärve wetland in Estonia is a five-hour drive from St Petersburg in Russia. Maksim Shutov/Unsplash As geopolitical tensions rise and climate-related risks intensify, Europe is rethinking how it handles security on multiple fronts. One idea being developed relates to how nature and restoring landscapes can play a role in strengthening national resilience. Our recent study […]
Inside the Backrooms: the internet horror world built by its users
What if you could visit a place that does not exist on any map? A place whispered about online as though it sits just beyond the edges of our known world. A place known quite simply as, the Backrooms. The Backrooms are an internet-created fictional setting imagined as an infinite network of empty, fluorescent-lit rooms. […]
The TV industry still struggles with class inequality – access alone won’t fix it
Production staff described cultures where exhaustion and overwork were normalised and where saying no to work could carry professional consequences. Grusho Anna/Shutterstock For years, efforts to make the UK television industry more inclusive have largely focused on access initiatives, designed to help people from underrepresented backgrounds “get a foot in the door”. While questions of […]
Methanol, pistachios and cement: the other Iranian exports being choked by the war
The war between Iran, the US and Israel has escalated into a major global crisis, with consequences that are reaching far beyond the Middle East. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 25% of the world’s oil ordinarily passes, has rattled global energy markets. This has only been worsened by the US […]
How a remarkable trial on bedrest during the Korean war helped lead to evidence-based medicine
Catching up on the latest evidence. fizkes/Shutterstock.com In 1959, a young doctor named David Sackett stumbled on a clinical trial that would change his life – and most of ours. The study showed that conventional wisdom on bed rest in medicine was wrong. And it helped lead Sackett and others to develop evidence-based medicine, in […]
From gait analysis to fingerprint theft, how worried should we be about the latest advances in biometric technology?
GoldenDayz/Shutterstock You unlock your phone with your face, your fingerprint sends your laptop whirring into action, you pass airport security by glancing at a camera. Biometric technology has become so woven into the daily routine that for many people, it barely registers any more. That invisibility is part of the point. These systems are usually […]
Even top athletes skip stretching – what amateurs can learn from the elites who struggle with recovery routines
If you watch elite sport, it may be easy to imagine that top athletes have perfected every detail: training, nutrition, sleep, recovery. Yet even elite athletes with expert support can struggle to maintain good recovery habits, like stretching or foam rolling. Our study explored that gap between knowing and doing. We spoke to national and […]
Black detainees twice as likely as white detainees to be strip-searched in police custody – new study
AngelaAllen/Shutterstock The government has promised a new era of youth justice reform focused on protecting vulnerable children and reducing harm. At the same time, new evidence exposes uncomfortable truths about strip-searching in police custody. This is one of the most intrusive powers available to police behind closed doors, and is particularly harmful for children and […]