By Ronell R Klopper, Extraordinary Lecturer, University of Pretoria
Hester Steyn, Plant taxonomist at the National Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute
Marianne Le Roux, e-Flora Coordinator, South African National Biodiversity Institute
Universities and biodiversity institutes have hidden treasures: their collections of pressed plant specimens. These are plants that have been flattened, dried and mounted on special cardboard sheets. Some of them were collected centuries ago. They hold information about where species occur and how ecosystems changed over time.
Yet for many researchers and policymakers, that information remains invisible. The collections are filed in cabinets and the data mostly only accessible if seen in person, one specimen at a time.
This is the central challenge facing African herbaria…
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By Richard Hargy, Lecturer in International Studies and Politics, Ulster University; Queen's University Belfast
The official campaign for the US midterm elections usually begins after America celebrates Labor Day on September 7. But over the summer, the battle for votes has intensified between Donald Trump’s Republican party and a freshly emboldened Democratic party.
In November’s elections, all the seats in the House of Representatives will be contested, as will one-third of the Senate. Throughout the year, Republican and Democratic hopefuls have…
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By Steve Iafrati, Assistant Professor in Social/Public Policy, University of Nottingham
Alastair Munro, Teaching Associate in Human Geography, University of Nottingham
Nick Clare, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Nottingham
Andy Burnham has placed housing inequality, council house building and eradicating rough sleeping at the top of his priority list as prime minister. He has now announced plans to get rough sleepers in England into accommodation by Christmas.
While this is a worthy goal, homelessness is not just…
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By John Read, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of East London
Electroconvulsive therapy is supposed to be used only in extreme circumstances, such as when a patient is suicidal or when other treatments have failed.
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By Jennifer Donnelly, Doctoral Researcher, Meditation-based Interventions in Clinical Settings, Centre of Positive Health Sciences, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
If you want to improve yourself, your health or your lifestyle, you need to do it to the “maxx” – according to social media, at least.
If you want to better your appearance, you need to try “looksmaxxing”. If you want to fix your diet and look after your gut, you should be “fibremaxxing”. And if you want to improve your social skills and be more charming, you really ought to be “personality-maxxing”.
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By Catherine Clarke, Professor in the History of People, Place and Community, School of Advanced Study, University of London
They weren’t always enemies. Before William of Normandy and Harold Godwinson were deadly adversaries on the battlefield at Hastings in 1066, vying for the throne of England, they were comrades and brothers in arms.
It’s a tragic journey from unlikely allies to mortal enemies. And it’s one of the lesser-known stories in the Bayeux tapestry, which opens for viewing at the British Museum in London this September.
As a medieval historian, I’ve seen the tapestry several times in Bayeux, and…
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By Nathan Abrams, Professor of Film Studies, Bangor University
Forty years on, James Cameron’s transformation of Ridley Scott’s horror classic remains a masterclass in how to make a sequel.
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By Ross Walker, Lecturer in Sports Management, University of Stirling
A humanoid robot running 100 metres in 9.39 seconds sounds extraordinary. At this week’s World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, one machine reportedly beat the world record held by Usain Bolt, while another jumped higher than Javier Sotomayor’s long-standing high jump mark.
On the surface, these achievements appear to represent a new frontier in sport. But comparing robotic and human performance is fundamentally flawed. The World Humanoid Robot Games brought together more than 2,000 robots competing…
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By Adriana Marin, Lecturer in International Relations, Coventry University
For decades, discussions about Latin America’s cocaine trade have tended to focus on the same places. Colombia and Peru produce much of the world’s coca, while Mexico’s cartels dominate trafficking into the US. But between these known parts of the supply chain, another country has quietly become…
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By Taha Rezaei, Postdoctoral Researcher, Environment and Civil Engineering, University of Exeter
Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science, UCL
Major flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border have destroyed homes, roads, bridges and local hydropower projects. The flooding of the Bhote Koshi river is affecting 50,000 residents. More than 380 tourists are missing. At least 95 people have already died.
This region of the Himalayas had not yet recovered from the Bhote Koshi flooding in 2025 that killed nine people as it washed away a “friendship bridge” linking…
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