AI laws overlook environmental damage – here’s what needs to change
Huge energy-intensive data centres are required to support growing AI demands. Make more Aerials/Shutterstock More than 200 laws have been developed to regulate AI in more than 100 countries. Many of them focus on issues such as privacy, bias, disinformation, security and cybersecurity rather than the environmental consequences of AI. AI is an energy-intensive and […]
The Samurai Detectives: Volume 2 explores money and kinship in the Edo underworld
At high noon on a scorching summer day, retired samurai Kohei finds the fearsome Kumagoro writhing around a field in agony. The stricken man’s name translates as “demon bear”, and he’s the proprietor of a bar of the same name. Kohei finds him next to a temple famous for a tragic legend of familial loss […]
The world’s supply of helium is being threatened by the Iran war
The war in the Middle East has disrupted the world’s supply of helium. Qatar produces about a third of global helium, but attacks on its gas infrastructure have forced production to stop. At the same time, Iran is blocking the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest shipping channels, through which Qatar exports both […]
Men’s wellbeing groups are growing – and helping fill gaps in mental health support
Pressure on mental health services across the UK is leaving many men without timely support when they need it most. Men in the UK die by suicide at more than three times the rate of women. There’s a link between poor mental health and suicide, which means men’s wellbeing needs urgent attention. Yet long NHS […]
The school you go to affects whether you become Neet – new research
VaLiza/Shutterstock Almost 1 million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training. These so-called Neets – aged 16 to 24 – face a significantly higher risk of long-term unemployment, poor health and involvement in crime. The proportion of 16- to 17-year-olds who are Neet is now higher than when the participation […]
Donald Trump says the US doesn’t get much out of Nato membership – but is that true?
Following the reluctance of many traditional American allies to become involved in the war against Iran, Donald Trump is once again threatening to withdraw the US from Nato. “They haven’t been friends when we needed them,” he said in an interview with Reuters on April 1. “We’ve never asked them for much … it’s a […]
Could the Middle East conflict open the door to price controls? Here’s how it works in Greece
The Athenian/Shutterstock The US-Israel war with Iran has sent shockwaves through the global economy and predictions of COVID‑era inflation are becoming hard to ignore. In many countries, these pressures are already being felt, as households struggle to afford essentials. During and after the height of the pandemic, governments across the political spectrum experimented with price […]
Nato has survived some serious rifts but the Iran war shows how the US has soured on the transatlantic alliance
The US president took the opportunity of a prime-time speech to the US public on April 1 to repeat his by now-familiar criticism of America’s Nato allies for not joining the war in Iran. He told them to “build up some delayed courage. Should have done it before. Should have done it with us as […]
Our modern vision evolved from an ancient one-eyed worm creature
LuckyStep/Shutterstock It’s easy to take our eyes for granted. But our recent research shows they took an incredible evolutionary journey to reach their current familiar form. It has long been known that our (vertebrate) eyes differ fundamentally from the ones of our distant relatives (invertebrates), because of their cell composition and how they develop before […]
There may not be a Christian revival, but Britain’s traditional churches aren’t doomed
Flystock/Shutterstock In the same week that a new archbishop of Canterbury was installed, YouGov admitted that a poll suggesting there was a “quiet revival” of Christianity was a dud. It had been inflated by fraudulent results and should be ignored. To those of us who study the bigger picture of religion in Britain, this comes […]