By Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, Professor of Consumer Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University
Clothing is one of the top categories in online sales worldwide, with expected revenues of more than US$920 billion (£702 billion) this year. And for clothing businesses, like many others, online retail opens the door to a wider customer base.
While there are clear benefits to selling clothing online, many businesses find their return rates are high. This can be as much as one…
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By Thomas Ruys Smith, Professor of American Literature and Culture, University of East Anglia
It’s December 1985, I’m six years old and I’m sat next to my dad in a small-town cinema in Norfolk. Some might unkindly describe the venue as a fleapit permanently on the brink of closure. Today, though, there’s snow on the ground and magic in the air.
Instead of the usual sparse attendance, the place is packed. It’s already been a legendary festive season for the young cinemagoer: The Goonies and Back to the Future have just been released. But even those Hollywood behemoths have nothing on the excitement…
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By Ian Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University
Lesley Masters, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Nottingham Trent University
China routinely sends astronauts to and from its space station Tiangong. A crew capsule is about to undock from the station and return to Earth, but there’s nothing routine about its journey home.
The Shenzhou-20 capsule will carry no crew, because one of its windows has been struck by space debris. Astronauts noticed an apparent crack on November 5, during pre-return checks.
Space journalist Andrew Jones explained…
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By Stewart Mottram, Professor of Literature and Environment, University of Hull
Chaucer and Shakespeare lived through periods of weird weather not unlike what we are seeing today. So what can we learn from their writing?
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By Natasha R. Hodgson, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Nottingham Trent University
Women are largely absent from the questions, sources, and mark schemes that shape how history is taught and assessed in schools in England.
You only have to take a look recent exam papers to see the problem. For example, when my colleague Catherine Gower and I surveyed 219 GCSE, AS and A-level history papers issued in the summer of 2023, we found only 6% of 991 exam questions directed students to discuss women (37% directed students to discuss men).
A report…
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By Intigam Mamedov, Research Fellow, Leiden University
Once again there is an impasse in the attempts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. A five-hour meeting in the Kremlin between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the US team led by Donald Trump’s envoys, businessmen Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, has failed to make any significant progress.
Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov described the talks, held on December 2, as “constructive”. But, tellingly, he added…
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By Ben Buckley, Senior lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University; University of Liverpool
Exercise is one of the best things we can do for a healthy heart. Yet research shows that endurance athletes have up to a four times higher risk of atrial fibrillation (an irregular or fast heartbeat) than non-athletes. This heart condition increases risk of both heart failure and stroke.
If regular exercise and being fit reduces our risk of many chronic diseases and preserves mental and physical health, why is it that people…
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By Myrna Dawson, Professor, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Guelph
More than 1,100 Canadian women and girls have been killed by men since 2018. So why is the federal government dragging its heels in adding femicide to the Criminal Code?
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By Shannon Welbourn, Assistant Professor and Technological Education Program Coordinator, Brock University
For women in the trades to have safer workplaces, the work of preventing gender-based violence must start long before anyone steps onto a job site.
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By Sanam Mahoozi, Research Associate, City St George's, University of London
Nima Shokri, Professor, Applied Engineering, United Nations University
Salome M. S. Shokri-Kuehni, Lecturer in Environmental Engineering, United Nations University; Technical University of Hamburg
Schools are closing and hospitals are admitting patients suffering from lung diseases as Tehran and other Iranian cities face a severe air pollution crisis.
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