Loved The Uprising? Discover the real story of the peasants’ revolt in these ten reads
Just as Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster The Odyssey sent sales of Homer’s original text surging, cinematic epics have a way of reigniting our appetite for the history behind the drama. Paul Greengrass’s medieval epic The Uprising, starring Andrew Garfield, brings the chaos, tension and raw fury of the peasants’ revolt straight to the screen. The film […]
American military bases in the UK – controversial, but seen as vital
RAF Fairford was recently home to a number of American B-52 bomber planes. Shutterstock/sam_whitfield1 The recent incidents concerning RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire have highlighted that fact that the US military does have quite a significant presence on UK soil. What this presence fully amounts to, though, is unclear. According to news reports there are “at […]
How military exercises help the UK and its allies prepare for a future war
The past few weeks have seen aerial duels being fought over the North Sea and a naval vessel being sunk off Scotland’s west coast. Fortunately this was not a case of hostile combat – these episodes took place during two major multinational military exercises: Exercise Atlantic Thunder and Exercise Cobra Warrior 26-2. Further north, across […]
‘Tenzing biopic made me wonder what he would think if he could return to the mountain today’ – glaciologist and mountaineer
Seventy three years ago Tenzing Norgay stood on top of Everest, known as Chomolungma in Tibetan, which roughly translates as “Goddess Mother of the World”. A new biopic of Norgay’s life and that first ascent, along with Edmund Hillary, of the highest mountain in the world portrays beautifully, and with compassion, his humility, and intimate […]
Women are more emotionally intelligent than men, and that’s a problem – landmark study
PeopleImages/Shutterstock Who comes to mind when you think of someone emotionally intelligent? Someone who can read a room, defuse an argument, and who knows exactly what to say when a friend is struggling? For many people, that person is a woman. It’s such a widely held belief that popular psychology treats it as fact. We […]
How to meal prep safely: a microbiologist’s step-by-step guide
amenic181/ Shutterstock Meal prepping is a great way to save money, spend less time in the kitchen and stick to a meal plan. But while cooking meals for the week ahead may be convenient, there can be real risks associated with eating bulk-cooked meals. It’s not that bulk-cooked meals are inherently a food safety issue. […]
How much noise should we put up with? London and Copenhagen have different answers
Videnskab.dk/Lærke Slot Traffic, trains, nightlife – in cities everywhere, there is a near constant background hum that most people simply get used to. But research shows that this background noise can affect your sleep, stress levels and even increase your risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. Indeed, noise is now considered the second […]
Some climate tipping points are being studied far more than others – new research
The potential collapse of Greenland’s ice sheet is the most studied tipping point – by far. Goldilock Project / Shutterstock Parts of the Earth’s climate system can change abruptly once warming pushes them beyond critical thresholds. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, the Amazon rainforest, coral reefs and major ocean currents are all among the […]
Almost 300,000 people now live in flood-prone areas in the Nepalese Himalayas – new research
AP Tolang / Shutterstock On August 26, a rock and ice avalanche triggered a huge flood that swept through a steep valley in Nepal, leaving thousands dead and missing. It was an extreme example of a growing problem across the Himalayas. As glaciers melt, glacial lakes expand, and mountain permafrost thaws, the risks from floods, […]
Robert Ryman: The Real Thing at the Barbican – these mesmerising paintings must be seen in person
Robert Ryman: The Real Thing is the American artist’s first major retrospective in the UK for over 30 years. The show, at London’s Barbican Centre, brings 68 works together from the mid-1950s to the early 2010s. It is arranged thematically, without traditional wall text. There are no labels, even to identify the paintings. The exhibition […]