Success for Andy Burnham’s national care service will depend on home essentials
For a national care system to be successful, people need a home where they are happy and comfortable. fizkes / Shutterstock With Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s plans for adult social care reform in England, including a move towards a national care service, much of the focus has been on who receives care and who provides […]
Prosecution of Kosovan leader Hashim Thaçi illustrates the challenges of bringing war criminals to justice
More than 27 years after the end of the Kosovo war, former prime minister and president Hashim Thaçi and three other leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) have been found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. Thaçi and his fellow defendants faced charges including arbitrary detention, cruel […]
Can picking up a book really improve your brain?
Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB/Shutterstock Picking up a book for half an hour may feel like simple downtime, but reading for pleasure appears to do more than just entertain us. Research suggests it can support aspects of cognition and wellbeing, while also helping us understand and connect with other people. Reading for pleasure, also called “leisure reading” or […]
Smokers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s – we may have found out why
olesea vetrila/Shutterstock Smoking is one of the biggest causes of ill health and early death. Yet smokers seem to have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than non-smokers – by around half according to some studies. This surprising link was first reported more than 50 years ago, when researchers in the UK and the […]
Digger channels Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove for the climate crisis – until its twist
Warning: this article contains major spoilers for Digger. In director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film Digger, the eponymous Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) puts on his Stetson first thing in the morning. It’s an embodiment of his credo: “Rise early, work hard, strike oil.” He is rarely without it as he rides roughshod through the extinction-level […]
How geopolitical tensions tainted the 2026 Asian Games
The 2026 Asian Games in Japan drew to a close on October 4 following two weeks of competition between 45 countries and territories across 43 sports. Despite the official slogan “imagine one Asia”, fragmented regional politics came to the fore as the event unfolded. Just days before the games officially began, tensions between Japan and […]
HIV treatment has transformed lives in the UK, but stigma lingers
Maxim Studio/Shutterstock Nearly half a century has passed since the first recognised case of Aids in the UK in December 1981. During that time, perceptions of HIV and people living with HIV have been transformed by medical advances and changing cultural attitudes. Yet the stigma created during the early years of the epidemic has proved […]
From food to fuel, AI helps pinpoint how to grow ‘microalgae’ at scale
bastera rusdi/Shutterstock Microalgae (microscopic organisms that use light and carbon dioxide to grow) can be used to make ingredients and food for animals, pigments and potentially renewable fuels. But growing microalgae efficiently at an industrial scale is difficult. My own research with microalgae began with their potential for biofuel production. I have been exploring how […]
Measles is spreading across the US – and officials can’t agree on the death toll
Habanero Pixel/Shutterstock New York has just declared a state of emergency as measles cases continue to rise. So far this year, the US has recorded 3,887 cases of measles, the highest annual total since 1991. That is about 70% more cases than were recorded during the whole of 2025. In November, the Pan American Health […]
Did the hot summer make more people worry about climate change? Here’s what the latest indications show
Wales saw weeks of wildfires during summer 2026. Richard Whitcombe/Shutterstock This summer broke records around the UK for maximum temperatures and dry weather. According to the UK’s Met Office, while it was rare to hit 35°C in the 20th century, that temperature has been surpassed in six out of the past ten years. And it’s […]