Defence investment plan should make the UK more secure – but it will need to find the money from somewhere
The UK government’s defence investment plan (DIP) will guide the spending decisions of the Ministry of Defence and armed forces not only for the remainder of this parliament, but also for the five years from 2029. So far, the plan has been praised and criticised in equal measure. But one element that has attracted widespread […]
Why Pope Leo has excommunicated a group of conservative Catholics
The decision by Pope Leo XIV to excommunicate members of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) is the latest twist in a long-running saga between the Vatican and this contentious traditionalist group. It is yet more evidence of the deep polarisation between conservatives and progressives within the Catholic church. The Vatican issued a statement […]
Ukraine war sparks fears of an organised crime resurgence in Russia
Following the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, Russia endured a period of violent criminal lawlessness known as the “wild 90s”. Organised crime spiked, with gangs taking control of banks, factories and other lucrative markets. Contract killings, shootings and car bombings became part of urban life. There are now fears that the Ukraine war will give […]
A brief history of human pain
To understand the roots of how we think about pain today, it helps to go back and see how earlier cultures made sense of it. Zwiebackesser/Shutterstock Pain is one of the few things all of us experience, from stubbing a toe to waking up with an aching back; we can all relate to the feeling […]
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 […]