By Andrew Barron, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University
Humans are creatures of rhythms. As far as we know, humans have always sung and always danced. We can recognise a song by its rhythm alone, regardless of whether it is played fast or slow.
We seem to have an almost effortless capacity to pick up on rhythmic patterns, and we have presumed this ability to require the very large and powerful human brain.
But our new research, published today in the journal Science, shows humans are not alone in mastering rhythm. Even the bumblebee, which has a brain the…
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By Luke Parry, Associate Professor of Palaeobiology, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
Frankie Dunn, Senior Researcher of Natural History, Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford
Gaorong Li, China Scholarship Council Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford
Animal life is extraordinarily diverse and complex, having colonised almost all environments on Earth – from hostile hydrothermal vents in the deep sea to the skies across our continents.
But the planet was not always teeming with complex animal life. For the first 3.7 billion years after it originated, life was small, simple and largely confined to the oceans. This microbe-dominated world was a tumultuous place, with several major…
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By Henri Chevalier, PhD student at School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo
Fuel shortages are rising worldwide, and some countries have started rationing fuel. Wartime rationing offers a model for managing scarcity more fairly.
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By Andrew Kolodny, Medical Director of Opioid Policy Research, Brandeis University
Proposals to ban or regulate kratom, a plant-based substance sold in gas stations, convenience stores and vape shops, are making headlines in local newspapers across the United States. But as lawmakers debate whether to regulate or ban kratom, public health problems associated with the drug continue to rise.
In late March 2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
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By Andrew Urbaczewski, Professor of Business Information and Analytics, University of Denver
In an era of billion-dollar TV deals and million-dollar payments to players, the tax code continues to treat university athletic departments as organizations that promote education and amateur sports.
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By Roxane Razavi, Visiting scholar in contemporary Middle Eastern history, Princeton University
Once a strong force after the Iranian Revolution, the office of the president slowly diminished over time as power centralized under the supreme leader.
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By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor, The Conversation
Donald Trump and his senior advisers have threatened to leave Nato over alliance members’ reluctance to join the war in Iran.
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By Amnesty International
As humanitarian and human rights organisations that have worked for years in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, we are appalled by the Israeli Knesset’s decision to approve a bill that makes death penalty effectively mandatory in the West Bank and which will de facto apply exclusively to Palestinians. On 30 March, the Knesset approved […] The post EU/Israel: Adoption of death penalty law by the Israeli Knesset requires urgent EU measures – Joint statement appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Stacey Pope, Professor in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Durham University
It’s one of the clearest things about me. I’m black and white … I think I cried for a month when we lost the FA Cup Final in 1974. I was only ten and it was near my birthday as well. I was absolutely gutted. [Jo, Newcastle fan since the 1970s]
Sexism in football, according to a recent BBC report is “a problem that isn’t going away”. When working on my book…
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By Alastair Bonnett, Professor of Geography, Newcastle University
Speculative and futuristic visions of environmental calamity are being imagined globally through environmental fiction. Eco-dystopian novels can help people process their fears or mourn the loss of a more stable climate.
My forthcoming book, Nature’s Return, shows that while anti-environmentalism is gaining traction in the west, the diversity and urgency of environmental visions from across Africa and Asia are coming into view.
Here are my favourite examples from China and Taiwan, Nigeria and India.
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