By Steve Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Leeds Beckett University
A few years ago I climbed over a gate and found myself gazing down at a valley. After I’d been walking for a few minutes, looking at the fields and the sky, there was a shift in my perception. Everything around me became intensely real. The fields and the bushes and trees and the clouds seemed more vivid, more intricate and beautiful.
I felt connected with my surroundings. What was inside me, as my own consciousness, was also “out there”. Within me, there was a glow of intense wellbeing.
This is an example of a higher state of consciousness – or, in my preferred term, an…
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By Laura O'Brien, Associate Professor in Modern European History, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Much of the immediate reaction to the audacious theft has concentrated on the Louvre’s security problems, rather than on the jewels themselves.
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By Paul Palmer, Professor of Quantitative Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh
Liang Feng, Research Associate, Data Assimilation, University of Edinburgh
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) rose faster in 2024 than in any year since records began – far faster than scientists expected.
Our new satellite analysis shows that the Amazon rainforest, which has long been a huge absorber of carbon, is struggling to keep up. And worryingly, the satellite that made this discovery could soon be switched off.
Systematic measurements of CO₂ in the atmosphere began in the late 1950s, when the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii (chosen for its remoteness and…
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By Adam Taylor, Professor of Anatomy, Lancaster University
The trendy Taiwanese drink has become a high-street staple, but recent findings on lead levels and choking risks suggest it warrants closer scrutiny.
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By Robert Wyss, Professor Emeritus of Journalism, University of Connecticut
The situation had to get pretty bad before people really forced the government to act. But the effort was ultimately successful.
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By James Higgins, Professor of Aviation, University of North Dakota
Data analytics, putting safety out of bounds for competition, and collaboration among industry, labor and government are key to reducing a technology’s risks.
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By David W. Lawson, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Simplistic stories about the dangers of polygamy can be compelling and intuitive. But new research suggests some arguments about its harms don’t hold up.
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By Taylor Lonner, Ph.D. Candidate in Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder
Torin Clark, Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder
Astronauts generally can’t look out the window like you might in a car – a ‘virtual window’ could instead serve that purpose.
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By Shannon Gibson, Professor of Environmental Studies, Political Science and International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
A review of countries’ new climate pledges shows who is leading efforts to protect the climate their economies were built on and who is sliding.
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By Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh
Folklore suggests that a full moon has a strong effect on sleep. But the reality is more complex, and lifestyle habits like screen use before bedtime are likely to have a larger effect.
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