By Lisa Sachs, Director, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Columbia University
The world’s governments will arrive in Addis Ababa in late 2027 for COP32, the first African-hosted climate summit in five years. Ethiopia’s presidency is on behalf of the African Union, the continental body. Addis Ababa has the chance to show what a Conference of Parties (COP) can deliver. But for that to happen the…
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By Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Professor of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University
John Paul Makumbi, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is defined as the ability of disease-causing microorganisms to withstand treatments like antibiotics.
Often described as a silent pandemic, it is already responsible for an estimated 1.27 million deaths each year, with the highest burden in Africa.
Efforts to tackle antibiotic resistance have largely focused on hospitals and clinics,…
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By Anthony Idowu Ajayi, Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center
Caroline W. Kabiru, Senior Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center
Vallery Obure, social scientist, African Population and Health Research Center
Pregnancy is demanding at any age. But for adolescents, it comes on top of everything else they are dealing with: school, relationships, and the passage into adulthood. Add the hormonal shifts and shock of an unplanned pregnancy, and the weight of societal disapproval, and it is little wonder that pregnant adolescents are at heightened risk of mental disorders.
Existing studies have largely focused on quantifying the
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By Mary Asirifi, Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing Foundations, MacEwan University
About 8% of Ghana’s population is disabled. A high percentage are adolescents, which could be linked to the country’s dominant population of young people (15 to 35 years).
The perspectives of adolescents with disabilities in Ghana are often overlooked, as…
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By Mickaël Bobot, Maître de Conférence Universitaire - Praticien Hospitalier en Néphrologie, Aix-Marseille Université (AMU)
Kidney disease is often associated with dialysis or transplants, but it also affects memory and concentration, and increases stroke risk.
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By Will Haynes, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, Cultural Geography, Lancaster University
Cities are getting hotter. Building materials like concrete or asphalt trap and radiate heat. Heat emissions from vehicles and air conditioning units are concentrated in urban areas, and there’s less of a breeze in built-up places.
Alongside fewer trees or the absence of cooling rivers, heatwaves can feel harsher in urban areas, where homeless people are among the most vulnerable to extreme heat.
Researchers…
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By Becky Underwood, PhD Candidate in Human Geography, Aberystwyth University
Modern life exposes us to a wide range of substances. While most exposures occur at low levels, researchers like me are increasingly interested in the potential cumulative effects of certain chemicals. These include synthetic compounds, indoor air pollutants and microplastics, which can disrupt our hormone and developmental systems. Scientists are still investigating the combined effects of different chemicals and the cumulative health effects they can have over time.
Consequently, many experts recommend a precautionary…
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By Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology, UCL
Summer can be lovely – until a wasp turns up. Whether they present as an irritating picnic visitor or an uninvited loft guest, common social wasps are as much a part of our summer as festivals, sun cream and the growing despair of how to entertain children who’ve forgotten how to be bored.
But summer 2026 is breaking the norm, and there don’t seem to be many wasps about. As a wasp biologist, I’ve noticed it acutely, because my students need wasps for their experiments, and we simply can’t find them.
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By Nadina Gómez Merino, Profesora Ayudante Doctor. Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación. Miembro de ERI-Lectura, Universitat de València, Universitat de València
Marina Pi-Ruano, Profesora ayudante doctor en Depto. Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación, Universitat de València
“I don’t understand, I don’t get it, I’m tired.” These are phrases often heard from children with dyslexia, a developmental disorder that affects their ability to read.
To reach a reading level similar to that of their non-dyslexic peers, these children need more time and more chances to practice reading. This means they can find themselves caught in a vicious circle: they struggle with reading, which causes them distress. As a result, they avoid reading and miss out on the benefits that a book can bring…
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By Oleksa Drachewych, Assistant Professor in History, Western University
Despite successful Ukrainian drone strikes, it’s unlikely either Vladimir Putin’s regime or the Russia-Ukraine war will end any time soon.
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