By Rebecca Willis, Chair of Energy and Climate Governance, University of Manchester
Councils have no formal duties to reduce emissions, and there is a huge temptation for local politicians to look the other way.
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By Stuart Thompson, Senior Lecturer in Plant Biochemistry, University of Westminster
Researchers at MIT have suggested that rice seeds can hear the sound of rain, according to a new study. MIT calls it “the first direct evidence that plant seeds and seedlings can sense sounds in nature”. Perhaps surprisingly, the effects reported in this new study are not as radical as they may appear.
Playing music to your plants may sound eccentric, but a few previous studies have found it has some effect. For example, a 2024 study found bok choi grew…
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By Josef Hanekom, Clinical Veterinarian and Lecturer, University of Pretoria
Dogs can be very aggressive towards one another, as many people will have witnessed in public places. But in South Africa aggression between dogs occurs more often in people’s homes.
We, a group of South African veterinary scientists including epidemiologists and a behaviourist at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, set out to understand the drivers of dog-on-dog aggression in dog bite patients. One of the reasons for doing this is that international studies rarely represent African settings, yet dog-keeping practices profoundly influence behaviour.
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By Janet Appiah Osei, Research Fellow, African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), University of Ghana
Every morning in Accra, Ghana’s capital, thousands of commuters sit in traffic while minibuses and taxis compete for limited road space.
More than 70% of Ghanaians rely on informal public transport, predominantly minibuses (trotros) and taxis, for their daily mobility. About 84% of passenger trips in Accra are made using these modes (a 2017 estimate). Precise counts…
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By Michael J. Benton, Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of Bristol
Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, The Open University
A week after the asteroid impact, rotting vegetation, smoke and sulphur create a stinky planet. Plant and animal survivors succumb to the corrosive acid rain.
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By Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
George Loewenstein, Professor of Economics and Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
Feelings of despair at the state of the world can be overwhelming. Social and environmental problems persist, but political discourse is polarised, divisive and often ineffective.
A couple of decades ago, some behavioural scientists – ourselves included – began to think there might be a better way of addressing these challenges.
Instead of relying on governments to change things, we figured, perhaps we should switch the focus to people’s own actions. And maybe improving their choices…
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By Louise Burgess, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science, Bournemouth University
An estimated 595 million people globally are living with osteoarthritis. This makes it one of the leading causes of pain and disability.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease, in which tissues in the joint break down over time. The condition can affect any joint, but most commonly the knees, hips, hands and spine.…
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By Jennifer Loudon Moxen, PhD Candidate, COPD Inflammation, University of the West of Scotland
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is one of the world’s leading causes of death, responsible for 3.5 million deaths in 2021 alone. It is often thought of as a disease of older smokers. But that picture is too simple. COPD usually develops slowly over many years, often long before symptoms become obvious.
COPD is a long-term lung condition that makes it harder to move air…
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By Lindsey McMaster, Instructor, English Studies and Academic Writing, Nipissing University
Diary-writers across history have expressed the sense of relief that writing from the heart can bring. Could English essays have the same benefits?
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By Jack Reid, PhD Candidate in Irish literature, University of Limerick
Ireland has a unique relationship to climate change. The country has always relied on its pastoral landscapes for its national character, but the escalating climate crisis threatens this tradition because of rising temperatures and sea levels, and deforestation. Given Irish literature’s continued interest in nature, contemporary Irish poets are tackling these issues in their writing.
Poetry plays a special role in times of mass environmental decline. As a literary genre that relies on flexible, open-ended and…
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