By Fay Bound-Alberti, Professor in Modern History and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, King's College London
The tragic death of Jason Arday has provoked strong feelings across academia and beyond. The former University of Cambridge professor was found dead nine days after resigning from his post amid allegations of plagiarism and doubts over his life story. At the time of his resignation, he issued a statement saying: “I no longer wish to feel as though I am living under a constant spotlight, where every aspect of my life is subject to public examination and judgement.”
Debate has continued with the publication…
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By Sarah Ward, Lecturer in Education, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Edge Hill University
Trauma-informed approaches have become increasingly prominent within education policy and guidance, although the term is not always explicitly used.
Trauma-informed practice is the recognition and understanding that trauma – an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by a person as harmful or life-threatening – can impact a person’s wellbeing.…
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By Kylie Thomas, Senior Lecturer (Radical Humanities Laboratory, University College Cork), University College Cork
The influential veteran photojournalist Ian Berry passed away on 13 September 2026. He covered conflicts across the world, but is best known for the photographs he made that documented the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa.
The massacre took place on 21 March 1960 when police opened fire without warning on a crowd of…
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By Michael Greenstone, Professor in Economics; Director, Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago
The super El Niño could cause 31,400 extra heat deaths in Nigeria alone. Heat warnings, cooling centres and worker protections could help save lives.
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By Marc Hye-Knudsen, PhD Candidate in the Department of Management, Aarhus University
We all like to laugh. Not only is it entertaining and helpful for social bonding, but it also makes us feel good. When we laugh at something we find funny, our bodies release feel-good hormones.
Dopamine floods our system, which has an uplifting effect, and endogenous opioids, which are also naturally released by the brain, can make us feel euphoric.
But humour is…
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By Kevin Daly, Associate Professor, University College Dublin
Louis L'Hôte, PhD Candidate in ancient pathogen genetics, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin
Humans and domesticated animals have lived together for millennia, and this relationship has shaped their destinies in countless ways. Animals offered people food, companionship, traction (pulling ploughs), clothing and transport.
They also provided something less obvious but extraordinarily important: parchment to write on. This robust, plentiful and portable material enabled many people to record and store their histories in the days before mass-produced paper.
Parchment was made with the skins of a range of animals. From first-hand experience in a workshop…
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By Shaun Phillips, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Physiology, University of Edinburgh
If you’ve ever pushed yourself through a hard workout, you’ve probably “felt the burn.” It’s that familiar sensation of pain and exhaustion in the muscles, where they almost feel like they’re on fire.
This feeling has long been said to be caused by a build-up of lactic acid in the muscles. In fact, this remains a common explanation from recreational exercisers to elite athletes.
But this belief is wrong –…
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By Stephan Blum, Research Associate, Institute for Prehistory and Early History and Medieval Archaeology, University of Tübingen
When Egyptian archaeologists announced the discovery of a “lost golden city” near Luxor, Egypt, in 2021, headlines erupted around the world: Treasure. Revelation. A once-in-a-century find.
For archaeologists, however, the most notable feature was not the gold that had yet to materialise, but how quickly the story became framed as adventure. Years of survey, stratigraphic mapping and ceramic analysis barely registered.
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By Ross Cameron, Professor of Environmental Horticulture, University of Sheffield
Climate change is bringing extreme summer heat to many more countries, but using the right plants in your garden could help keep your home that bit cooler next summer.
As the autumn planting season begins, this is a great time to plan ahead for next summer. Planting at this time of year can also help your climbers and shrubs get settled ahead of spring.
After the 2026 heatwaves,…
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By Human Rights Watch
Niger has rejected key recommendations raised by United Nations member countries during its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) earlier this year, including calls to address arbitrary detention, discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and accountability for serious human rights violations. The UPR is a UN Human Rights Council process in which the human rights records of member states are reviewed by other member countries every five years. Click to expand Image Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani of Niger attends the Alliance of Sahel States…
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