By Stuart Walker, Research Fellow in Sustainabilty Assessment, University of Sheffield
It’s a Wednesday evening in a town hall in Penryn in Cornwall, and my friend Pete and I are volunteering at our local repair cafe. We set up tables, get our tools ready, put up a sign outside and wait for people to arrive.
By the time we pack up three hours later, along with two other volunteers we have helped repair three vacuum cleaners, a pair of jeans, a laptop, a desk lamp, a clock and an electric skateboard, as well as replacing many buttons, zips, fuses, and bulbs. Some products have returned home with their owners, either to come back next time to fit a part we’ve ordered,…
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By Tom Yarrow, Professor of Anthropology, Durham University
“Let’s face it, we’re just not that into emotions,” Brian tells me with a smile talking with other volunteers at a heritage steam railway in northern England. They are discussing a popular TV restoration show. Allan grimaces, parodying the presenter: “He’s always jumping around, shoving the microphone in their faces, like, ‘How do you feel?’ ‘Does this make you sad?’ You can almost see his glee when people actually cry!”
This parody of emotional disclosure captures something important about the values of…
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By Biswash Chepang
This article examines the implications of this designation, assessing its effectiveness and relevance for the Chepang Community in Nepal following the declaration of Chepang Landscape as an OECM.
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By Elizabeth A. Logan, Associate Director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and The West, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
William Deverell, Professor of History, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Managing fire risk is about more than regulations and rules. It’s also about caring for neighbors and taking steps on your own property and in your community to help keep neighbors safe.
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By Farshid Vahedifard, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University
Levees protect more than 7 million buildings in the US today, yet they got a D-plus grade in 2025. A new study found 487 cases where rising water overtopped levees in the past 15 years.
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By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
Howard Manns, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, Monash University
Australians love a nickname, and certain jobs are no exceptions. So whether you’re a journo, brickie, shrink or cop, there’s a rich history behind the slang.
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By Kim Dovey, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, The University of Melbourne
US President Donald Trump spent much of 2025 doing up the White House with gold bling. He’s the latest in a long line of leaders to use buildings for power.
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By Camilla Brockett, Professor of Sport Systems Development, Victoria University
Xu He, PhD Candidate, Victoria University
Sport is one of the most climate-sensitive aspects of Australian life, yet still sits largely outside the national conversation on climate exposure.
Sport attracts around 14 million participants annually in Australia. According to national data from July 2023 to December…
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By Konstantine Panegyres, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, The University of Western Australia
“All I want is an income of 20,000 sesterces from secure investments”, proclaims a character in a poem by Juvenal (1st-2nd century CE), the Roman poet.
Today, 20,000 sesterces would be equivalent to about A$300,000 in interest from investments. Anyone would be very happy with this much passive annual income.
Like today, people in ancient times understood that investing money…
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By Amy Peden, NHMRC Research Fellow, School of Population Health and Co-founder UNSW Beach Safety Research Group, UNSW Sydney
It’s summer so kids’ playdates and birthday parties might start moving from the playground to the pool.
I research how to prevent drowning. I’m also a mum of two kids living in a house with a pool. So water safety is always front of mind.
Drowning deaths are at a record high in Australia. For pre-schoolers, this often happens in backyard pools. Although school-aged children have a much lower…
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