By Jean-Charles Pelland, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen
Most of us have little trouble working out how many millilitres are in 2.4 litres of water (it’s 2,400). But the same can’t be said when we’re asked how many minutes are in 2.4 hours (it’s 144).
That’s because the Indo-Arabic numerals we often use to represent numbers are base-10, while the system we often use to measure time is base-60.
Expressing time in decimal notation leads to an interaction between these two bases, which can have implications at both the cognitive and cultural level.
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By Dominic O'Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Stout Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington and Auckland University of Technology, Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University
Taking away the duty of boards to give effect’ to te Tiriti o Waitangi undermines the expectation that schools should work for Maori as well as for anyone else.
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By Victoria-Elliot Bush, PhD Candidate, Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London
The shape of a burger is reinforced in our mental linguistic definitions every time we see a burger but there isn’t a straight-forward definition.
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By Jen Allan, Lecturer in Environmental Politics, Cardiff University
If you’re still heading to this year’s UN climate conference in Belém, Brazil, I hope you booked early. Hotels long sold out, and latecomers face extortionate rates – or the prospect of a dubious “love hotel”.
The incredible cost and variable quality of accommodation have sparked outrage. It’s been the subject of high-level meetings and dialogues. But it’s also a symptom of a wider problem: these climate summits have grown so large they’re no longer fit for purpose.
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By Ansgar Wohlschlegel, Associate Professor in Economics, Swansea University
Universal basic income (UBI) has supporters across the political spectrum. The idea is that if every citizen received a payment from the state to cover their living costs, it this will allow them the freedom to live as they choose.
UBI could, for example, let people decide whether to work and let them live in dignity after AI has made their…
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By Kristin Aune, Professor of Sociology of Religion, Coventry University
Mathew Guest, Professor in the Sociology of Religion, Durham University
Matthew J. Mayhew, Professor of Higher Education, The Ohio State University
This year’s new university students are settling into life on campuses often notable for their diversity – and that includes in religion. Over 33,000 Buddhist students started university in the UK in 2023-24, for instance, alongside 769,220 Christian and 37,520 Sikh students.
Universities have a role to play in helping their students relate to others of different religious backgrounds, especially at a time of concern…
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By Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications, University of Westminster
The resignations of the BBC’s director general and director of news were shocking. Perhaps just as shocking is the US$1 billion legal threat the broadcaster now faces from US president Donald Trump.
The full story of what has happened at the BBC may take months (or years) to emerge. But it’s become evident that a combination of poor editorial judgement and political meddling by longstanding BBC critics contributed to Tim Davie and Deborah Turness’s departures.
That there were editorial mistakes is not in question. The BBC Panorama documentary on Trump spliced together two…
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By Courtney Lindsay, Senior Research Officer, Global Risks and Resilience, ODI Global
Emily Wilkinson, Principal Research Fellow, ODI Global
Vikrant Panwar, Senior Climate and Disaster Risk Finance Specialist, ODI Global
After years of disciplined reform and painful sacrifice, Jamaica had done what few global debt specialists thought possible. Through tough and sometimes controversial spending cuts and fiscal discipline, it slashed its debt from a staggering 150% of GDP in 2013 to just 62% by 2024.
By 2025, Jamaica was hitting its stride. One internationally recognised credit rating agency upgraded the country’s credit ratings from category BB- to BB (slightly less vulnerable in the near…
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By Basil Germond, Professor of International Security, School of Global Affairs, Lancaster University
China’s new Fujian aircraft carrier, unveiled recently by president Xi Jinping with great fanfare, has been hailed by Chinese state media as a major milestone in the country’s naval modernisation programme and a key development in the counry’s aspirations to become a maritime power.
In the context of Beijing’s sustained seapower strategy, the long-term implications for…
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By Matt Jacobsen, Senior Lecturer in Film History in the School of Society and Environment, Queen Mary University of London
Nearly four decades after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s muscle-bound version sprinted across screens, The Running Man returns to cinemas. In Edgar Wright’s hands, this adaptation is a sharper, smarter reflection of a culture that still can’t look away from spectacle.
Following The Long Walk, this is the second film adaptation in 2025 of a Stephen King novel originally published under…
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