By Michael La Corte, Research Associate, Curation and Communication, University of Tübingen
Annika Vosseler, Provenance and collection researcher, University of Tübingen
Restitution debates – the question of whether a cultural object should be returned from a museum or other collection to a person or community – often begin with a deceptively simple question: who owns an object?
In colonial contexts, this question rarely has a clear answer. Histories of acquisition are often incomplete, disputed and overwhelmingly recorded from European perspectives. Legal documentation, where it exists at all, usually reflects unequal power relations rather than mutual consent. As a result, many restitution claims cannot be resolved through law alone.
This…
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By Marc Hudson, Visiting Fellow, SPRU, University of Sussex Business School, University of Sussex
Last autumn, a UK government report warned that climate-driven ecosystem collapse could lead to food shortages, mass migration, political extremism and even nuclear conflict. The report was never officially launched.
Commissioned by Defra – the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs – and informed by intelligence agencies including MI5 and MI6, the briefing assessed how environmental degradation could affect UK national security.
At the last minute the launch was cancelled,…
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By Anne Schmitz, Associate Professor of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Stout
If you break open a chicken bone, you won’t find a solid mass of white material inside. Instead, you will see a complex, spongelike network of tiny struts and pillars, and a lot of empty space.
It looks fragile, yet that internal structure allows a bird’s wing to withstand high winds while remaining light enough for flight. Nature rarely builds with solid blocks. Instead, it builds with clever, porous patterns to maximize strength while minimizing weight.
Human engineers have always envied this efficiency. You can see it in the hexagonal…
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By Margaret Landis, Assistant Professor of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University
Several robotic spacecraft orbiting the Moon can take detailed pictures of its surface, so why send people around the Moon? A planetary geologist explains the benefits.
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By Thomas Morgan, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University
Social inequalities emerge in every human society. New research into how these hierarchies form suggests ‘prestige psychology’ – the tendency to defer to expertise – is at the root.
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By Christopher M. Filley, Professor Emeritus of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Isaiah Kletenik, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard University
Patricia Churchland, Professor Emerita of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego
Armed with new tools that reveal patterns of connection between brain areas, researchers are gaining clearer insights into how the brain regulates behavior.
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By David W. Stowe, Professor of Religious Studies, Michigan State University
Clergy demonstrating against ICE in Minneapolis have turned to classic ‘freedom songs’ – the music associated with protests ever since the Civil Rights Movement.
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By Nicholas Jacobs, Goldfarb Family Distinguished Chair in American Government, Colby College; Institute for Humane Studies
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By Nikki Luke, Assistant Professor of Human Geography, University of Tennessee
Conor Harrison, Associate Professor of Economic Geography, University of South Carolina
The government directed data centers to turn on backup generation in parts of the US. Expanding distributed generation could improve grid resilience.
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By Steven R. Fassnacht, Professor of Snow Hydrology, Colorado State University
Sunshine Swetnam, Assistant Professor of Natural Resources, Colorado State University
Innovations have made recent Winter Games possible, but the future climate will have a big impact on where the Olympics can be held and winter sports themselves.
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