Space exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. The coming year is...
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The End of Golden Dawn: Has Greece Shown us How to Deal with Neo...
When a wave of right-wing extremism hit Greece in 2012, few would have predicted that Golden Dawn, one of the groups involved, would grow to become the third-largest party in the Greek parliament...
COVID-19, Africa’s Conservation and Trophy Hunting Dilemma
Wildlife conservation hasn’t escaped the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is largely due to the fact that tourism funding, which supports the conservation of wide swaths of Africa and some 23...
Prosecute Donald Trump for Coronavirus Crimes? No, But Maybe...
On the day that President Trump officially leaves office with the threat of conviction by the Senate as well as a possible criminal indictment for his alleged role in inciting the Capitol Hill...
Misogyny in the Capitol: Among the Insurrectionists, a Lot of...
Among the various forms of violence on display during the U.S. Capitol insurrection, one has been largely overlooked: misogyny, or hatred toward women. Yet behaviours and symbols of white male power...
Toxic Waste Dumping in the Gulf of Guinea Amounts to...
Toxic waste and electronic waste (e-waste) is generated from a wide range of industries – such as health, hydrocarbon or manufacturing – and can come in many forms, such as sludges or gas. E-waste is...
Indonesian Cave Paintings Show the Dawn of Imaginative Art and...
Our team has discovered a cave painting in Indonesia that is at least 44,000 years old and which may cast new light on the beginnings of modern religious culture. This ancient painting from the...
The Fascinating Story of Placebos – and Why Doctors Should Use...
Plato’s cure for headaches involved: a certain leaf, but there was a charm to go with the remedy; and if one uttered the charm at the moment of its application, the remedy made one perfectly well;...
Executions Don’t Deter Murder, Despite the Trump...
Three more federal inmates are slated to be executed before the end of President Donald Trump’s term, though the first received a temporary stay hours before she was slated to die on Jan. 12, before...
Free Speech in America: is the US Approach Fit for Purpose in...
The counting of electoral college votes to certify the result of a US election is usually a routine affair. But emboldened by a provocative speech by outgoing president Donald Trump, an angry mob of...
Capitol Riots: Ashli Babbitt and the Far-Right Radicalisation of...
In the wake of the attack on the US Capitol, there has been a lot of discussion of the role of the 35-year-old US Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who was one of the five people killed during...
The Fight Over the Destiny of Southern Africa’s Wildlife
It’s a fight that pits people against animals, African nations against western conservationists, leading some to ask ‘do black lives matter less than wildlife in Southern Africa?’...
Social Media Finally Banned Trump. Here’s Why That Doesn’t Help...
It was a sight not seen since the 1812 war, not even when the civil war was at its peak. Insurgents, some armed, stormed the halls of the Capitol building on Wednesday, January 6, shocking the nation...
SETI: New Signal Excites Alien Hunters – Here’s how we could...
The US$100m (£70m) Breakthrough Listen Initiative, founded by Russian billionaire, technology and science investor Yuri Milner and his wife Julia, has identified a mysterious radio signal that seems...
Julian Assange’s Extradition Victory Offers Cold Comfort for...
When UK District Judge Vanessa Baraitser declared she was rejecting the US request to extradite Julian Assange, his partner Stella Moris wept with relief. In an emotional speech outside the court...
Journalism’s Assange Problem
These days, anybody with an internet connection can be a publisher. That doesn’t make everybody a journalist. This distinction has become more important than ever in light of two recent events. One...
A Year of Blursdays: How Coronavirus Distorted our Sense of Time...
Does it feel like 2020 went on forever? Did lockdown drag, and can you even remember how you spent your time when you weren’t living under coronavirus restrictions? You are not alone. For many, 2020...
What Past Pandemics Have Taught us About Urban Planning
From small villages to sprawling metropolises, urban planning is crucial to all types of human settlement. No matter where you go today, you will see the influence of urban planning –...
Agent Orange, Exposed: How U.S. Chemical Warfare in Vietnam...
In the end, the military campaign was called Operation Ranch Hand, but it originally went by a more appropriately hellish appellation: Operation Hades. As part of this Vietnam War effort, from...
The Festive Season Means Homesickness for Millions of Exiles and...
As most people take time to celebrate the Christmas and the New Year’s holidays with relatives and friends, for tens of millions that have fled threats, wars, turmoil and persecution at home, such...