By Poornika Ananth, Assistant Professor in Strategy and Organisations, School of Management, University of Bath
Regardless of how you spent the final days of summer, the return to work can mean coming face to face once again with any sticky problems you pushed aside previously. Now though, they’re looming and demanding fresh solutions.
This may be a good time to try something different. Whatever the nature of the problems that come with your job – production or staffing issues, a difficult product launch or disgruntled customers – instead of focusing all your efforts on coming up with solutions, it may be helpful to spend some time understanding the problems better.
As Albert Einstein…
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By Katie Crosson, Postdoctoral Research Associate (Curation), University of Exeter
Channel 5 has a lot to live up to, but research into the original BBC drama series has inspired nine principles the new Play for Today should live by.
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By Heiko Balzter, Director of Institute for Environmental Futures, University of Leicester
Planting trees is seen as a cornerstone of efforts to avert climate breakdown. But a major new study in Science finds their potential has been drastically overstated – and relying on forests to offset carbon emissions could distract from the urgent need to cut fossil fuel use.
The researchers, a team of scientists mostly based in China, looked at both afforestation (creating new forests) and reforestation (restoring cleared ones). Unlike earlier studies, they carefully limited the land assumed to be available…
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By Ahmed Elbediwy, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Biochemistry / Cancer Biology, Kingston University
Nadine Wehida, Senior Lecturer in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Kingston University
A new study on animal protein and cancer risk has been widely interpreted as a green light for eating more meat. Not so fast, says expert.
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By Francesco Rigoli, Reader in Psychology, City St George's, University of London
Ukraine and its western allies are losing ground in the war against Russia. A possible Russian victory will be costly and is likely to be followed by years of exhausting low-intensity conflict while the country remains ostracised from the western economic system.
So, all parties fighting in Ukraine need badly a diplomatic solution. The meeting…
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By Craig Jackson, Professor of Occupational Health Psychology, Birmingham City University
They have been promoted as a remedy for anxiety and sleeplessness, with celebrities and influencers swearing by their calming effects. Weighted blankets – heavy throws filled with glass beads or plastic pellets – have gone from a niche therapeutic tool to a mainstream wellness must-have, promising better sleep and reduced stress for anyone struggling to unwind.
But do they deliver on these bold claims, or are we simply paying premium prices for an expensive placebo?
Occupational therapists…
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By Rebecca Day, PhD Candidate in Bilingualism (Linguistics), Bangor University
Eirini Sanoudaki, Reader in Linguistics (Bilingualism), Bangor University
Sarah Cooper, Lecturer, Bangor University
Rett syndrome is a rare neurological condition that disrupts physical and linguistic development, affecting around one in 10,000 women and even fewer men. For decades, researchers assumed that people with the condition, many of whom lose speech during early childhood, were confined to a limited range of cognitive and linguistic abilities.
But in Wales, where many families are bilingual and speak both English and Welsh at home, our…
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By Kristina van Kuyck, PhD Candidate in the School of History and Geography, Dublin City University
As I was photographing Soviet-era monuments in the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda in May 2022, I heard a woman shout at me: “You are a young Nazi who wants to remove and destroy everything”. She was triggered by my presence, taking notes around the monuments and carrying a couple of professional-looking cameras.
I was in the middle of a research trip to document Soviet monuments in the Baltic states. The past few years had seen some former Soviet bloc countries debate the future of these monuments, many of which were originally erected to mark the role of Soviet forces in the second…
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By Lauren Eckert, Postdoctoral research fellow, Centre for Indigenous Fisheries, University of British Columbia
In the waters of the Salish Sea, endangered southern resident killer whales and the struggling Chinook salmon they depend on are at the centre of one of Canada’s most visible conservation conflicts.
Since 2019, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has implemented area-based restrictions on Chinook fishing…
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By Kristina K. Castaneto, Ph.D. Candidate in Social Psychology, Simon Fraser University
Lara B Aknin, Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology, Simon Fraser University
Most people have treasured old friends they’ve failed to remain in contact with, but only a small percentage are willing to reach out. Why?
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