By Amnesty International
The expanded use of surveillance technologies in Argentina during the first two years of the Javier Milei’s administration has served to expand states surveillance capabilities, profiling and reprisals in the country, creating a chilling effect on rights to privacy and freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, Amnesty International said in a new report today. The report, Sensing the Surveillance State, documents how the government implemented sweeping institutional reforms to expand its intelligence capabilities and therefore surveillance mechanisms, through executive decrees and…
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By Jeff Punch, Professor, School of Engineering, University of Limerick
Water is an amazing substance. The human body is made up of more than 50% water. Approximately 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water. We drink it, bathe in it, cook with it, clean with it. It is also used to cool data centres, which is an increasing draw on what is a scarce resource in many parts of the world.
The boom in artificial intelligence (AI) has been fuelling the construction of new data centres worldwide. This is driven by the massive computing workloads required to train and run generative AI models. AI data…
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By Saman Sobhani, PhD Candidate in Environmental Economics, Aberystwyth University
On a warm evening in May, swifts scream over rooftops, chasing insects above the traffic. A fox slips along a garden wall while gulls squabble on a supermarket roof. We tend to treat these animals as visitors. But they’re residents too, living alongside us in places designed for people.
My recent research argues this needs to change. Instead of asking how nature can make cities better for humans, urban planners should consider what cities owe the many species that already live in them.
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By Danielle Schoenaker, Associate Professor of Preconception Health and Care, University of Southampton
Keith Godfrey, Professor of Epidemiology and Human Development, University of Southampton
Fewer than one in five women in England now take folic acid before pregnancy. This is down from one in four just five years ago.
The decline is worrying because it could undermine the progress that has been made in recent years to prevent serious birth defects linked to low folic acid intake.
Although the UK government has mandated that from December 2026 all non-wholemeal wheat flour must…
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By Catherine Clarke, Professor in the History of People, Place and Community, School of Advanced Study, University of London
In 1804, William Blake wrote in his poem Jerusalem of England’s “green and pleasant” land. This idealised vision of English pastoral has resonated through two centuries, fusing the character of the nation with its landscape – those “mountains green” and “pleasant pastures”.
Turned into a hymn by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916, Jerusalem is sung annually at the Last Night of the Proms. It has been adopted by various English…
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By Heather L. Robinson, Research Associate - Creative Industries, Flinders University
It’s a library’s duty to balance representing its community with providing a broad range of books – including those that may challenge or discomfort.
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By Amnesty International
The expanded use of surveillance technologies in Argentina during the first two years of the Javier Milei’s administration has served to expand states surveillance capabilities, profiling and reprisals in the country, creating a chilling effect on rights to privacy and freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, Amnesty International said in a new report today. The report, Sensing the Surveillance State, documents how the government implemented sweeping institutional reforms to expand its intelligence capabilities and therefore surveillance mechanisms, through executive decrees and…
(Full Story)
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By Malka Older
This issue fascinates me because of its near-invisibility: As many of our Spotlight articles observe, citizenship is easy to take for granted when you receive it automatically and never have to defend it.
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By Trevor Mazzucchelli, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, Curtin University
Do you hear ‘psychotherapy’ and imagine lying on a couch, talking about dreams? Here’s where that image comes from – and why it might be time for an update.
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By Becky Freeman, Professor in Public Health, University of Sydney
Christina Watts, Research Fellow at The Daffodil Centre, University of Sydney
Sam Egger, Senior Biostatistician at the Daffodil Centre, Cancer Council NSW, University of Sydney
A 75% cut in tobacco tax won’t make cigarettes as cheap as you might think. Here’s what really helps smokers in a cost of living crisis.
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