By Janine Mendes-Franco
By the end of the year, the U.S. and Venezuela, on opposite ends of the Caribbean archipelago, would have the region caught in the middle of an unfolding geopolitical standoff.
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By Bienvenu Gael Fouda Mbanga, Research fellow, Nelson Mandela University
In South Africa, discarded pineapple leaves can now be turned into a low-cost, eco-friendly solution for both cleaning polluted water and forensics.
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By Javier Brazo-Sayavera, Profesor del área de Educación Física y Deportiva, Universidad Pablo de Olavide
Javier Molina García, Catedrático de Universidad. Área: educación física, Universitat de València
Mario Jordi Sánchez, Profesor Titular de Antropología Social, Universidad Pablo de Olavide
Palma Chillón Garzón, Profesora Titular de Universidad; área de Educación Física y Deportiva, Universidad de Granada
Electric scooters have become a common sight in our cities. They are often touted as an emblem of modern micro-mobility, a solution that promises to ease congestion, reduce travel times and cut emissions. However, behind their promise and modernity lies a hidden danger: these vehicles pose a threat to the health and safety of young people.
The World Health Organisation has identified physical inactivity as a “silent threat to global…
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By Estrella Montolío Durán, Catedrática de Lengua Española. Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona
Social media and mobile phones are major disruptors of face-to-face conversations. Recent research has conclusively demonstrated that the indiscriminate (and borderline addictive) use of mobile phones has a direct impact on the quality of our interactions.
Our compulsive relationship with these devices drains our attention, preventing us from listening and sustaining meaningful conversation. Studies have found that the mere presence of a mobile…
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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 Damien Pollard, Assistant Professor in Film, Northumbria University, Northumbria University, Newcastle
VJs sit at the front of the cinema with a microphone and a sound mixer. Talking over the film, they explain its plot in the local language.
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By Yangang Xing, Associate Professor, School of Architecture Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University
On winter mornings in Harbin, where the air outside could freeze your eyelashes, I would wake up on a bed of warm earth.
Harbin, where I grew up, is in northeast China. Winter temperatures regularly dip to -30°C and in January even the warmest days rarely go above -10°C. With about 6 million residents today, Harbin is easily the largest city in the world to experience such consistent cold.
Keeping warm in such temperatures is something I’ve thought about all my life. Long before electric air conditioning…
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By Janina Steinmetz, Professor in Marketing, Bayes Business School, City St George's, University of London
Every year, many of us bravely announce our resolutions for the new year. A glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve might add to our confidence in our ability to do better in the coming year and save more, spend less, eat better, work out more, or binge-watch less.
But most of our resolutions fail. Even within the first weeks after New Year’s Eve, the
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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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