By Mark Volmink, Postdoctoral fellow, University of the Western Cape
As food and living costs rise, rooftop solar and rainwater harvesting could help low income South African households save money and buy more food.
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By Alyssa Morley, Assistant professor, Michigan State University
Nelson Masanche Nkhoma, Researcher, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Rachel Silver, Associate professor, York University, Canada
Over a year has passed since the Donald Trump administration dismantled USAID, cutting more than 5,000 programmes and slashing US$40 billion in funding worldwide.
The cuts have reduced access to HIV treatment, driven up severe malnutrition among children, and resulted in an estimated 700,000…
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By John Driscoll, Adjunct Professor, University of British Columbia
Edward Gregr, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia
From sea lettuce adorning tidal pools and bull kelp left in windrows at the high tide line to towering underwater forests of giant kelp providing refuge and food for countless species, British Columbia’s seaweeds are both ubiquitously prominent along shorelines as well as hidden from sight in the deep.
With iconic species like salmon, whales and bears dominating popular attention and imagination, B.C.’s seaweeds are often easy to overlook. Now, however, the province’s suitability for growing seaweed is attracting attention at a time when seaweed…
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By Amy Hughes, Research Fellow and Trial Manager for the iKids Study, Sheffield Hallam University
Liane Beretta de Azevedo, Professor in Public Health and Physical Activity, Sheffield Hallam University
In Toy Story 5, Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the gang are up against a new challenge: Bonnie’s tablet. Even Rex the toy dinosaur is worried about going extinct again.
The storyline reflects a broader shift in childhood. Traditional toys increasingly share space with digital devices as part of children’s everyday play experiences.
There is substantial evidence showing a decline in traditional free play and an increase…
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By Irene Reppa, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Swansea University
To the designer Susan Kare, designing icons was about solving ‘the little puzzle of making an image fit a metaphor’. Forty years later, that challenge remains.
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By Amanda Lloyd, Researcher in Food, Diet and Health, Aberystwyth University
Alexander Nigel William Taylor, Lecturer in Biopsychology Department of Psychology, Aberystwyth University
Courtney Davies, Early Career Researcher, Aberystwyth University
Kombucha has become part of the wider boom in gut-friendly foods and drinks. But a major heart-health charity is urging consumers to look more carefully at what these products actually contain.
The British Heart Foundation has warned that some popular gut-friendly products can come with drawbacks. Commercial kombucha may be a healthier alternative to some sugary fizzy drinks, but shop-bought…
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By Samantha Garrard, Senior Marine Ecosystem Services Researcher, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
A dip in anchovy stocks is not only vital for Peru’s economy, but also essential for supporting fish farming and food production worldwide.
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By Nadine Wehida, Senior Lecturer in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Kingston University
Ahmed Elbediwy, Senior Lecturer in Cancer Biology & Clinical Biochemistry, Kingston University
Weight-loss jabs are the latest craze for shedding a few pounds. Their effect has been dramatic with drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide) causing users to lose up to 15% of their body fat on average.
Semaglutide, which is a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1…
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By Anna Molnár, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, Late Medieval Financial History of Central Europe, University of Reading
Retirement planning might seem like a thoroughly modern concern, with pensions, investments and annuities forming part of today’s financial toolkit. But these financial tools are much older than they appear. In the later Middle Ages, people were already exchanging lump sums for steady income streams – and, in cities like Vienna, these arrangements underpinned entire urban economies.
Less expected, perhaps, is who helped make this system work. Alongside merchants and elites, communities of nuns quietly emerged…
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By Sascha Stollhans, Professor of Language Education and Linguistics, University of Leeds
When an exam board for England, Wales and Northern Ireland recently clarified that students are now permitted to use gender-inclusive or gender-neutral forms in French, Spanish and German exams, it marked more than a technical adjustment to assessment criteria.
These updates highlight an important fact about the nature of languages. They are not fixed systems but evolving, social practices.
The exam board guidance…
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