By Christina Morin, Professor in School of English Irish & Communication, University of Limerick
Seeing the cover of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981) has a powerfully Proustian effect on me: my stomach drops a little bit and a shiver of twinned fear and delight runs down my spine, even now, some 35 or so years after I first encountered it as a precocious pre-teen. At the time, I was a voracious and omnivorous reader with an appetite for books that my parents fully encouraged.
My tastes were wide and varied: some of my favourite books from this period included L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series, the Sweet Valley High and The Baby-Sitters Club…
(Full Story)
|
By Léonie de Jonge, Professor of Research on Far-Right Extremism, Institute for Research on Far-Right Extremism (IRex), University of Tübingen
Esmee Bakker, PhD Candidate at the Institute for Research on Far Right Extremism (IRex), University of Tübingen
Prime Minister Dick Schoof called fresh elections following the first collapse of his government, which would go on to fall a second time within a few months.
(Full Story)
|
By Marc Roscoe Loustau, Affiliated Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, Central European University
The US president, Donald Trump, has said he will meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the Hungarian capital of Budapest “within two weeks or so” for more talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
While plans for the summit are still developing, scepticism that any progress will be made towards peace is probably the right response. Putin’s own actions have shown how little stock he places in summits and negotiations.
Within hours of his August meeting…
(Full Story)
|
By Anna Murray, Professor of Human Genetics, Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Exeter
A new study has shown the ovary’s tissues and cells play a bigger role than previously thought in how fertility wanes.
(Full Story)
|
By John Flint, Professor of Town and Regional Planning, University of Sheffield
The winner of the 2025 RIBA Stirling prize offers an inspiring blueprint for addressing some of our current housing crises. It is also an opportunity to reflect on long-standing dilemmas in providing appropriate accommodation for all.
Architects Witherford Watson and Mann won the prize, for the second time, for the Appleby Blue development. Run by the United St Saviours Charity in Bermondsey, South London, it provides 57 units of…
(Full Story)
|
By Mike Duggan, Lecturer in Digital Culture and Technology, King's College London
One of the most prolific science-fiction writers of the last century, Ursula K. Le Guin was revered for her inventive, genre-defying novels. Exploring humanity through philosophy, gender, race and society, her stories were rooted in fantasy worlds for which she often created original maps. Now a new exhibition in London is celebrating the cartographic imagination of this groundbreaking American author.
The Word for World: The Maps of Ursula K. Le Guin reveals how maps were central to…
(Full Story)
|
By Pietro Micheli, Professor of Business Performance and Innovation, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
Electric cars made by the Chinese car firm BYD are now a familiar sight on British roads. In September 2025, the company sold 11,271 vehicles in the UK – ten times as many as in the same month last year.
This level of growth means the UK is now BYD’s largest market outside of China. In an industry once dominated by long established brands, the company has become the biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles in the world. So how have they done it?
Generous subsidies from the Chinese government have certainly played…
(Full Story)
|
By Elliot Honeybun-Arnolda, Senior Research Associate, Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
A new version of Minecraft gives players the chance to make decisions about tackling coastal erosion in scenarios based on Bude in Cornwall.
(Full Story)
|
By Lisa Lazard, Professor in Psychology, The Open University
A leaked video of an online meeting between members of the Reform-led Kent county council showed shocking exchanges. There was shouting, swearing and repeated interruptions. At one point, council leader Linden Kemkaran mutes another member of the council.
Councillors Paul Thomas, Oliver Bradshaw, Bill Barret and Maxine Fothergrill have been suspended pending an investigation over their conduct. Reform has, at the same time, defended the aggressive…
(Full Story)
|
By Amnesty International
Responding to Russia’s latest attacks on Chernihiv’s energy infrastructure, which have left the entire city and parts of the region without electricity, Veronika Velch, Amnesty International Ukraine’s Director, said: “This morning, Chernihiv — a city of nearly 280,000 people just two hours from Kyiv — woke up to a complete blackout after a series of […] The post Russia/Ukraine: Blackout in Chernihiv exposes Russia’s unlawful attacks on civilian infrastructure appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
(Full Story)
|