By Craig Jackson, Professor of Occupational Health Psychology, Birmingham City University
They have been promoted as a remedy for anxiety and sleeplessness, with celebrities and influencers swearing by their calming effects. Weighted blankets – heavy throws filled with glass beads or plastic pellets – have gone from a niche therapeutic tool to a mainstream wellness must-have, promising better sleep and reduced stress for anyone struggling to unwind.
But do they deliver on these bold claims, or are we simply paying premium prices for an expensive placebo?
Occupational therapists…
(Full Story)
|
By Rebecca Day, PhD Candidate in Bilingualism (Linguistics), Bangor University
Eirini Sanoudaki, Reader in Linguistics (Bilingualism), Bangor University
Sarah Cooper, Lecturer, Bangor University
Rett syndrome is a rare neurological condition that disrupts physical and linguistic development, affecting around one in 10,000 women and even fewer men. For decades, researchers assumed that people with the condition, many of whom lose speech during early childhood, were confined to a limited range of cognitive and linguistic abilities.
But in Wales, where many families are bilingual and speak both English and Welsh at home, our…
(Full Story)
|
By Kristina van Kuyck, PhD Candidate in the School of History and Geography, Dublin City University
As I was photographing Soviet-era monuments in the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda in May 2022, I heard a woman shout at me: “You are a young Nazi who wants to remove and destroy everything”. She was triggered by my presence, taking notes around the monuments and carrying a couple of professional-looking cameras.
I was in the middle of a research trip to document Soviet monuments in the Baltic states. The past few years had seen some former Soviet bloc countries debate the future of these monuments, many of which were originally erected to mark the role of Soviet forces in the second…
(Full Story)
|
By Lauren Eckert, Postdoctoral research fellow, Centre for Indigenous Fisheries, University of British Columbia
In the waters of the Salish Sea, endangered southern resident killer whales and the struggling Chinook salmon they depend on are at the centre of one of Canada’s most visible conservation conflicts.
Since 2019, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has implemented area-based restrictions on Chinook fishing…
(Full Story)
|
By Kristina K. Castaneto, Ph.D. Candidate in Social Psychology, Simon Fraser University
Lara B Aknin, Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology, Simon Fraser University
Most people have treasured old friends they’ve failed to remain in contact with, but only a small percentage are willing to reach out. Why?
(Full Story)
|
By Grant Duncan, Visiting Scholar in Politics, School of Policy and Global Affairs, City St George's, University of London
A single, overarching, publicly-approved written constitution could allay fears of giving governments longer terms. But NZ tends to shy away from such bold reform.
(Full Story)
|
By Eden Hoffer, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Information and Media Studies & Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University
Without comprehensive legislative and societal reforms to address intimate partner violence, the measures in Bill C-21 risk being little more than a bandage on a gaping wound.
(Full Story)
|
By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Job Sikhala, former legislator and member of the Zimbabwean opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change, climbs into a prison truck at the magistrates court in Harare, Zimbabwe, January 24, 2024. © 2024 Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images In the early hours of August 30, unidentified perpetrators bombed the home of Job Sikhala, a prominent critic of Zimbabwe’s government. Sikhala reported that at the time only his children were in the house, in a suburb of Chitungwiza, near Harare, the capital, but escaped unharmed. Sikhala, 53, said in a statement…
(Full Story)
|
By Jason Wang, Postdoctoral Fellow, Modern Literature and Culture Research Centre, Toronto Metropolitan University
As American journalist E. Jean Carroll walked into a Manhattan courtroom for her civil trial against Donald Trump on April 25, 2023, she was dressed for a specific audience: the jury.
As detailed in her newly published memoir, Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President, her wardrobe was an intentional recreation of her mid-1990s style — right down to a bob haircut. Her outfits were a time capsule, embodying the woman she was when Trump sexually assaulted her.
This was a calculated…
(Full Story)
|
By Kristof Titeca, Professor in International Development, University of Antwerp
A series of peace initiatives since 2021 have sought to address the escalation of conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following a renewed offensive from the M23 rebel group.
The origins of this crisis go back to the First Congo War in 1996. Since then, the intensity of conflict in eastern DRC has ebbed and surged. The current M23 offensive represents one…
(Full Story)
|