Nanobubbles cleaned up the Lincoln reflecting pool: here’s how they could be used on dying seas and lakes
Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in the US, an ozone nanobubble system has been used to keep the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool clear. Months before the celebrations a massive clean up of the pool had taken place, but despite this an algae bloom had turned the water bright green. To […]
The politics of feeling: why did ‘boring’ prime minister Keir Starmer provoke such visceral reactions?
Keir Starmer resigned as Labour leader with opinion polls indicating he was the most unpopular prime minister in modern times. This is despite the fact he had secured the second-highest postwar parliamentary majority only two years earlier. But over those two years, “Keir Starmer is a wanker” was chanted at anti-asylum protests, in football grounds, […]
Why Antarctica froze millions of years before the Arctic – new research
East Antarctica hosts the largest ice sheet on Earth, containing enough water to raise global sea levels by 52 metres, were it to fully melt. Yet it has puzzled scientists for decades how and why this ice sheet formed. In fact, there are two interlinked mysteries. First, Antarctica became covered in ice around 34 million […]
70 years on from the killer smog: what clean air laws teach us about power, pollution and profit
MagicBones/Shutterstock Seventy years ago, London choked. For five days in December 1952, a toxic smog smothered the city. Visibility collapsed. Transport failed. Thousands died. It was not a natural disaster. It was the product of policy failure. Out of that catastrophe came one of the most important environmental laws in UK history: the Clean Air […]
New research challenges the idea that memories of childhood maltreatment can’t be trusted
New Africa/Shutterstock.com People are often treated as unreliable narrators of their own past, and this scepticism runs especially deep around emotionally charged early experiences. Researchers have long worried that memories of abuse and neglect might shift depending on someone’s mood, mental health or current circumstances, meaning what someone tells a researcher, doctor or social worker […]
Are we finally about to get decent wifi on trains and planes?
Wifi on the go is often unreliable – on buses, trains and, increasingly, planes. Whether via cellular or satellite systems, connectivity at speed suffers from highly variable signal coverage and strength. This leads to delays, degraded data speeds and service interruptions. To address these issues, the UK government has announced a major upgrade to wifi […]
How creative maps make air pollution more visible
York city centre. Clare Louise Jackson/Shutterstock Air pollution is often portrayed as something that affects entire cities. In fact, levels can vary enormously over just a few metres. Our research shows that one of the greatest challenges for academics is not simply measuring air pollution, but making it visible and meaningful enough for people to […]
Having a bad hair day? Don’t worry. My research will help you understand the problem
Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock.com Think about the last time you looked in the mirror and sighed at the sight of your hair. Maybe it was frizzing, flattening, greying, thinning or simply refusing to do what you wanted. For many people, hair comes with a running commentary – a private, near-constant negotiation that we rarely stop to notice, […]
How radical Victorian nuns pioneered education for poor girls
Nuns as teachers are historically associated with anything but progress. Often stereotyped as exactors of cruel discipline, nuns in the classroomv are thought of as wielding rulers – and worse – ready to rap disobedient children’s knuckles. And yet, during the 19th century, Catholic sisters were, in their own way, radicals as they engaged in […]
How economic pressures are damaging Britain’s ‘zombie firms’
Maka S/Shutterstock The UK’s borrowing costs are higher than the government would like them to be. Economic growth remains weak, and public finances are under constant pressure. All of this make things difficult for pretty much everybody. But one particularly vulnerable group are the small businesses which survive mainly through continued borrowing. Known as “zombie” […]