Category: Analysis
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Measles isn’t just dangerous – it may erase your immune system
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Antony Black, Lecturer, Life Sciences, University of Westminster INSAGO/Shutterstock Blindness, pneumonia, severe diarrhoea and even death – measles virus infections, especially in children, can have devastating consequences. Fortunately, we have a safe and effective defence. Measles vaccines are estimated to have averted more than 60 million…
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Zonal pricing is dead – here’s how the UK should change its electricity system instead
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Cassandra Etter-Wenzel, DPhil Candidate in Energy Policy, University of Oxford Marcin Rogozinski/Shutterstock The UK government has decided against setting different prices for electricity based on the locations of consumers. Zonal pricing would have categorised Britain into distinct zones, each with wholesale electricity prices that reflect how…
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MethaneSat: The climate spy satellite that went quiet
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Vincent Gauci, Professorial Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham Satellites circling the Earth have many different functions, including navigation, communications and Earth observation. About 8%-10% of all active satellites are military or “dual use” serving intelligence or reconnaissance functions as spy…
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Small penises are still the butt of the joke in film and TV
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Neil Cocks, Associate Professor in the Department of English Literature, University of Reading Gen V (2023-present), the recent iteration of the wildly successful superhero satire The Boys (2019), thrives on scenes of bodily outrage. One such episode concerns a young woman who is able to shrink…
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AI can be your wingman when online dating – but should you let it?
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Natasha McKeever, Lecturer in Applied Ethics, University of Leeds YWdesign/Shutterstock Many dating app companies are enthusiastic about incorporating generative AI into their products. Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of dating app Bumble, wants gen-AI to “help create more healthy and equitable relationships”. In her vision of the…
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Looking for meaningful romantic relationships? Start by diversifying your friendships and forgetting your wishlist
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Mariko Visserman, Assistant Professor in Psychology, University of Sussex loreanto/Shutterstock When you’re looking for a relationship, chances are you’ll start off with a wishlist for your ideal partner. Maybe someone who is attractive or wealthy, someone who likes the same movies and the outdoors. Seems like…
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Love IRL: a new Quarter Life series on modern dating from The Conversation
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock None of the cultural love stories of the 2000s started with a swipe. Friends taught us that your social circle could double as a dating pool. The Office proved that love could blossom by the water cooler,…
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Angels, witches, crystals and black cats: How supernatural beliefs vary across different groups in the US
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Christopher P. Scheitle, Associate Professor of Sociology, West Virginia University Education, income and demographics shape our views of the unseen world, a survey found. karetoria/Collection Moment via Getty Images Younger Americans are more likely to express belief in witchcraft and luck, as our new research…
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California farmers identify a hot new cash crop: Solar power
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Jacob Stid, Ph.D. student in Hydrogeology, Michigan State University This dairy farm in California’s Central Valley has installed solar panels on a portion of its land. George Rose/Getty Images Imagine that you own a small, 20-acre farm in California’s Central Valley. You and your family…
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University students feel ‘anxious, confused and distrustful’ about AI in the classroom and among their peers
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Elise Silva, Director of Policy Research at the Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security, University of Pittsburgh Artificial intelligence has taken off on campus, changing relationships between students and professors and among students themselves. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash The advent of generative…