By Ahmed Elbediwy, Senior Lecturer in Cancer Biology & Clinical Biochemistry, Kingston University
Nadine Wehida, Senior Lecturer in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Kingston University
When South Korean doctors launched a nationwide thyroid cancer screening programme, diagnoses shot up 15 fold. Yet the death rate from thyroid cancer didn’t budge. More patients were being created than lives were being saved.
It is a clear illustration of a problem that is quietly reshaping how doctors think about cancer: overdiagnosis. Not misdiagnosis but the accurate detection of tumours that would not actually harm the patient.
Modern cancer screening is rightly…
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By Lisa McNally, Honorary Professor and Director of Public Health, University of Birmingham
Anyone born after January 1 2009 will never be able to legally buy tobacco in the UK thanks to the tobacco and vapes bill, which is expected to become law in March 2026. When it does, it will mean that the legal age for tobacco sales will rise by one year every year from 2027 onwards.
I have spent much of my career working on smoking cessation and prevention, including supporting the roll out of England’s indoor smoking ban and leading local health improvement programmes. In 2006, a man once called…
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By Gordon Osinski, Professor in Earth and Planetary Science, Western University
NASA’s new plans for its Artemis moon exploration program reduces risks and increases the likelihood of a successful human mission to the moon’s surface in 2028.
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By Atheena Johnson, Docteure en linguistique appliquée, Université Paris Nanterre
In today’s classrooms, pens and exercise books are increasingly having to make way for screens and keyboards. Does technology help pupils write as efficiently?
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By Danielle Turton, Senior Lecturer in Sociolinguistics, Lancaster University
Imagine time-travelling to Manchester, England in the late 1700s. What do you think people would sound like?
That’s the challenge facing Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee: portraying a working-class Mancunian accent from three centuries ago.
When historical linguists reconstruct past speech, it is an interpretative process. It relies on…
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By Alex Ford, Professor of Biology, University of Portsmouth
A new three-part factual drama, Dirty Business, highlights the murky world of the English water industry. This Channel 4 docudrama follows the lives of two concerned citizens from Oxfordshire in south-east England: a retired police detective called Ash Smith and a retired university professor called Peter Hammond, who is an expert in deciphering patterns in big data sets. Together, they have been investigating sewage discharges into their local river for more than a decade.
The series spotlights their…
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By Maryam Lotfi, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Cardiff University
The escalating conflict between Iran, the US and Israel has taken a critical turn. The strait of Hormuz – one of the most important shipping routes for oil and gas – is facing significant disruption. The strait is the main route connecting Persian Gulf ports in Iran and some of the region’s other oil producers to the open ocean.
The strikes on Iran are already having tangible…
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By Geraint Hughes, Reader in Diplomatic and Military History, King's College London
The British government confirmed on Monday that the RAF base at Akrotiri, Cyprus, had been hit in a drone strike. The resumption of US and Israeli air attacks on Iran – and Iranian reprisal strikes on its neighbours – also highlights the risks to around 300,000 British citizens in the Persian Gulf.
And there is clearly a danger of wider, direct UK military involvement in what appears to be an escalating regional war. Following the launch of “Operation Epic Fury” – the US and Israel’s coordinated strikes across…
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By Kirk Chang, Professor of Management and Technology, University of East London
Susan Akinwalere, Senior Lecturer in Business and Management, University of East London
Reports suggest younger workers are turning to trades – but the best option may be to stick in an industry you know.
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By Dónal Mulligan, Lecturer, School of Communications, Dublin City University
For most of us, generative AI (GenAI) has moved from novelty to everyday infrastructure astonishingly fast. Many adults now use tools like chatbots at work or casually, and many children are already encountering them through homework “help”, entertainment, or social sharing.
Unsupervised use of generative AI can expose children and young people to confidently presented misinformation, manipulative “keep chatting” dynamics, and inappropriate or emotionally risky content. The tone and conversational…
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