Half a century after humans first walked on the moon, a number of private companies and nations are planning to build permanent bases on the lunar surface. Despite the technological progress since...
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Science of Champion Runners: Inside The Body of Elite Endurance...
The 40th anniversary of the London Marathon takes place on Sunday, October 4 2020. Athletes will run on a closed-loop circuit around St James’s Park before finishing on The Mall. This year’s lineup...
‘Pristine’ Landscapes Haven’t Existed For Thousands Of Years...
What is natural? What is artificial? It is often assumed that natural is better than artificial. Getting back to nature is something we should aspire to, with kids in particular not spending enough...
The US is Paying for Letting Dark Money and Disinformation Run...
Billionaires such as Charles Koch spent a fortune convincing ordinary Americans to doubt everything – they shouldn’t be surprised that violence and division has followed in the wake of...
Nature Versus Nurture: How Modern Science Is Rewriting It
The question of whether it is genes or environment that largely shapes human behaviour has been debated for centuries. During the second half of the 20th century, there were two camps of scientists –...
Rising Isis Attacks in Africa Mean the ‘War on Terror’ is Far...
The battle to leave Afghanistan is becoming almost as complex as the war itself. The Biden administration is eager to go but advisers in Washington warn of the Taliban taking over once more and...
How the World Ran Out of Semiconductors
There’s a global shortage in semiconductors, and it’s becoming increasingly serious. The US is currently reviewing its supply of the technology, following a landmark executive order from President...
How Bunny Wailer Brought Innovation and Rastology to the...
The recent death of Bunny Wailer, the last surviving founding member of the Wailers has seen outpourings of grief and appreciation all over the world. But in the wake of the triple Grammy award...
Super Shoes: Explaining Athletics’ New Technological Arms Race
In the 1960s, when traditional cinder athletics tracks were replaced by spongy, synthetic surfaces, endurance running experienced a revolution. Long distance runners began clocking far faster times...
Chimpanzees in Volatile Habitats Evolved to Behave More Flexibly...
A new study explores how chimpanzees behaviour becomes more flexible in the face of climate volatility and what that might say about human evolution One of the reasons humans are so resilient is our...
Here’s How Scientists Know the Coronavirus Came from Bats and...
One of the conspiracy theories that have plagued attempts to keep people informed during the pandemic is the idea that the coronavirus was created in a laboratory. But the vast majority of scientists...
Football in Europe is Being Transformed by US Private Equity...
Football is changing, again. Many fans who have spent years watching their teams, either live in a stadium or on the television, have long had to face the fact that their teams are (more often than...
Saving the High Street: What to do With Empty Department Stores...
Chain stores are moving out of the high street. Recent high-profile deals, such as online fashion retailer Asos’s purchase of high street brands including Topshop and Miss Selfridge from the Arcadia...
John Magufuli: What the Death of the COVID Skeptic President...
On March 18 – a day after announcing that President John Magufuli had died from “a heart ailment” – the then Vice President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, and all her security details and other top officials...
A Brief History of Globalization
When Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2018 announced it had chosen the ancient city of Xi’an as the site for its new regional headquarters, the symbolic value wasn’t lost on the company: it had...
Would Abolishing Private Schools Really Make a Difference to...
For some, the British private school system evokes images of rolling playing fields and academic excellence that can pave the way to an elite university education and a prosperous life. For others...
Europe is Recruiting Astronauts: Here’s What it Takes to Become...
For the first time in 11 years, the European Space Agency (ESA) is recruiting new astronauts. Applications will open on March 31 2021 for eight weeks, followed by a six-stage selection process to...
Phosphorus is Vital for Life on Earth – and We’re Running Low
Phosphorus is an essential element that is contained in many cellular compounds, such as DNA and the energy carrier ATP. All life needs phosphorus and agricultural yields are improved when phosphorus...
Marie Stopes Opened the UK’s First Birth Control Clinic 100...
Marie Stopes opened Britain’s first clinic offering birth control advice to married women. Born in Edinburgh in 1880, Stopes was an author, women’s rights campaigner and trained paleobotanist. She...
Coronavirus is Evolving but so are our Antibodies
The emergence of “variants of concern” has raised questions about our long-term immunity to the coronavirus. Will the antibodies we make after being infected with or vaccinated against the dominant...