Ancient tooth proteins suggest ‘Homo erectus’ may have left a genetic legacy in people today
For most of the 20th century, the model of human origins was a tree: with the trunk dividing into branches, and then twigs. Each species of human relative (hominin) was a neat, single branch. As an undergraduate, I was taught that Homo sapiens was one of these branches that emerged in Africa, spread across the […]
Why indie sleaze feels nostalgic – even for people who never lived it
Scrolling through social media, it feels as though “indie sleaze” never went away. Grainy flash photography, smudged eyeliner and a soundtrack of early 2000s indie music are once again dominating feeds. This revival is more of a reworking than a straightforward comeback. Today’s indie sleaze – exemplified in the music video for Charli XCX’s new […]
Trump’s ‘cordial’ Beijing trip has not changed superpower rivalry
Donald Trump’s appraisal of his recent state visit to China was, typically, positive and self-regarding. At the end of the trip, the US president told reporters that it had achieved “a lot of good” and “fantastic trade deals” had been signed. He concluded that a lot of different problems were settled “that other people wouldn’t […]
Labour in crisis: whoever is prime minister, voters expect politicians to use the language of populism
Beyond the high drama surrounding the Makerfield by-election and the contest to be the UK prime minister lies a more fundamental battle. It is the struggle between the incremental pragmatism of mainstream politics and the magical thinking of populism. The great catchword of recent UK politics has been “change”. Brexit, it was said, would change […]
Xi warned Trump against the ‘Thucydides Trap’ – here’s what ancient Greece can tell us about US-China relations
Thucydides recounted how rising power Athens challenged Sparta, resulting in a destructive 30-year war. Natalllenka.m/Shutterstock In his opening remarks at his summit with Donald Trump on May 15, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, invoked the fifth-century BC Greek historian Thucydides to issue a veiled warning to the US president. “The world has come to a […]
Raghu Rai: the trailblazing photographer who documented the vast diversity of a changing India
In April, as India’s governing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ran elections in parts of the country, a visionary Indian passed away. He went quietly, much as he had lived, and left behind a vast photographic archive of the world’s most populous nation. Raghu Rai (1942-2026) was India’s foremost photographer. Born prior to independence […]
Why European households throw away so much food – and how to curb the waste mountain
ArieStudio/Shutterstock Europe is wasting huge amounts of food while millions of people globally experience hunger. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have squeezed supply chains. The cost of living crisis has pushed many families to the edge. Without strengthening environmental sustainability, supply chain resilience and household affordability, food security risks will increase significantly. Yet […]
The Pennine hills are full of holes – here’s how they’re helping fight climate change
Excavators cut shallow areas in the peatlands as part of a project to develop more wetlands. Adam Johnston, CC BY-SA Thousands of holes are appearing in the Pennine hills, as part of efforts to improve carbon storage by restoring damaged peatland. Peat itself is carbon rich and so as it grows it will help to […]
Ebola outbreak declared a global health emergency – what you need to know
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a “public health emergency of international concern”, with cases now confirmed in neighbouring Uganda. Here is what you need to know. What is Ebola? Ebola is a serious potentially fatal infectious disease. It causes fever, damage to blood […]
Sweeteners and the quest for the perfect alternative to sugar
Sweets for my sweets … Fuss Sergey Designing a series of sweetener trials seemed straightforward enough to us as behavioural scientists who specialise in human appetite and obesity. The plan was simple: replace the added sugar in a range of foods with different classes of alternative sweeteners, holding everything else constant. We would start with […]