By Tom Harper, Lecturer in International Relations, University of East London
Due to its position of influence over Iran, China will be a leading factor in whether the war ends or spills back into open conflict.
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By Amy Wilcockson, Research Fellow, English Literature, Queen Mary University of London
A recent trip to Haworth, in West Yorkshire, got me thinking about Anne Brontë, who died 177 years ago this month. Stepping into St Michael and All Angels’ Church, a carved stone pillar prominently declares the location of the Brontë family vault. All members of the Brontë family – parents Patrick and Maria, sisters Elizabeth and Maria who died young, the rebellious brother Branwell, and Emily and Charlotte – are all listed. Yet, not mentioned is Anne Brontë, who is buried in Scarborough, almost 100 miles away.
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane…
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By Rhys Dafydd Jones, Senior Lecturer, Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University
Immigration is receiving much attention in the run-up to the Welsh election. This might seem odd at first because the Welsh parliament (the Senedd) has no power over immigration. It can’t make laws on who enters the country, how asylum claims are handled or who gets citizenship. All of that is controlled by the UK government in Westminster.
But since 2019, Wales has considered itself a “nation of sanctuary”. This means the Welsh government…
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By Thomas Timberlake, Senior Research Associate in Pollination Ecology, University of Bristol
Jane Memmott, Professor of Ecology, University of Bristol
In Nepal’s remote mountain district of Jumla, preparation for a family meal begins long before food reaches the cooking pot. It starts in terraced fields of beans, buckwheat, apples and pumpkins that must be ploughed, planted, tended and harvested before a family can eat.
But other workers often go unseen: the pollinating insects. By moving pollen between flowers, pollinators ensure that crops bear healthy, nutritious fruit to eat and sell.
Most people don’t think about insects when they eat. But in farming systems like this one, the link is direct and stark. If
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By Puleng Segalo, Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair, University of South Africa
Jacob Owusu Sarfo, Associate professor (Clinical Psychology and Health Promotion), University of Cape Coast
About 10% of births – that’s about 15 million babies – are born prematurely worldwide each year, making preterm births a major global health concern. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines preterm birth as delivery before 37 completed weeks of gestation.
Estimates suggest that the preterm figure is much higher in low-income countries. Preterm births are a danger…
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By Jabulani Sikhakhane, Editor, The Conversation
Over the past 11 years, The Conversation Africa has published 12,961 articles by 8,257 authors, making the expertise of academics and researchers in Africa and other parts of the world accessible to the public, national and global policymakers, and other stakeholders. These articles are also republished by other media, making our work an important pillar of the media ecosystem.
It’s sometimes tough to gauge the true impact of the articles we publish. Replication by other news outlets – and readership on our site – help put numbers on their reach, but not how they might influence policy…
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By Chloe Brimicombe, Postdoctoral Researcher, Climate Science, University of Oxford
Ben Garrod, Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Science Engagement, University of East Anglia
Jean-Baptiste Gouyon, Head of Department, Science and Technology Studies, UCL
Saffron O'Neill, Professor of Geography, University of Exeter
Attenborough has influenced everything from conservation and documentary production to the communication of the biggest story of all – climate change.
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By Justin Stebbing, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University
From Nobel laureate Linus Pauling’s dismissed vitamin C crusade to modern trials, a once-ridiculed idea in cancer research is getting a cautious second look.
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By Giulia De Togni, Chancellor's Fellow, School of Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh
The robot pauses at the edge of the room as an engineer checks its sensors. Then, with a soft mechanical hum, this humanoid machine begins to move. It lifts a mannequin from a bed, slowly and carefully. The engineers hold their breath.
I am in a robotics lab in Tokyo, Japan, as part of my Wellcome research fellowship. The engineers have repeated this test hundreds of times…
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By Chris Rapley, Professor of Climate Science, UCL
Four humans recently looped around the Moon. Their vessel, an Artemis capsule, was a thin metal shell whose life-support system kept them alive: it provided a carefully balanced atmosphere, a closed water loop, a finite supply of food and a means for disposing human waste. The life support was not optional. It was a necessity.
Consider this: not once in the history of human spaceflight has an astronaut been known to tamper with their life support system. No one has ever decided to vent some oxygen for fun. No one has argued for a personal right to increase their CO₂…
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