Category: Analysis
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Can air conditioning really make you sick? A microbiologist explains
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Primrose Freestone, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology, University of Leicester Symptoms of ‘sick building syndrome’ can develop in anyone who spends extended periods of time in air-conditioned environments. LightField Studios/ Shutterstock Air conditioning can feel heaven-sent on hot summer days. It keeps temperatures comfortable and controls…
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Allotments are vanishing when the UK urgently needs more of them
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Elizabeth Nicholls, Senior Research Fellow in Ecology, University of Sussex Few things are as satisfying as pulling a potato from the soil with your bare hands. But in Britain’s cities this small joy – and the many health and environmental benefits that come with it –…
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The key to a centenarian’s long life may be their superhuman ability to avoid disease – new research
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Karin Modig, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet Cenntenarians had lower rates of disease throughout their life overall. Lysenko Andrii/ Shutterstock Humans may be living longer on average these days, but, even so, only a fraction of us will live to see our 100th birthday. Yet the…
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Why Jane Austen’s leading men are such enduringly popular heartthrobs
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Curran, Lecturer in Eighteenth-Century and Romantic Literature, University of Birmingham In Ang Lee’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (1995), the handsome cad Willoughby (played by Greg Wise) rescues Marianne (Kate Winslet) on horseback in the middle of a raging storm. Pathetic fallacy has rarely looked…
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The UK needs a new electoral system – should it copy Scandinavia?
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Torbjörn Tännsjö, Professor of Practical Philosophy, Stockholm University Calls for electoral reform are rising in the UK, where a majority of people are now in favour of a different system. It’s easy to see why. A voting system based on having one MP for one constituency,…
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Authoritarian rulers aren’t new – here’s what Herodotus, an early Greek historian, wrote about them
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Debbie Felton, Professor of Classics, UMass Amherst Darius I of Persia, center, and his court, from a vase painted between 340 and 320 B.C.E., on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. Carlo Raso/ Flickr, CC BY-SA “No Kings” rallies. “Good Trouble” protests. “Rage…
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Bureau of Labor Statistics tells the US what’s up with the economy – Trump firing its top official may undercut trust in its data
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Thomas A. Stapleford, Associate Professor of History and Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame Isador Lubin, chief of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, presents data to a Senate committee in 1937. Library of Congress Many financial and political analysts are trying to assess the impact…
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Industrial pollution once ravaged the Adirondacks − decades of history captured in lake mud track their slow recovery
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Sky Hooler, Ph.D. Student in Environmental Science, University at Albany, State University of New York Scientist Aubrey Hillman, one of the authors of this article, extracts a core of mud from the bottom of Black Pond in June 2025. Patrick Dodson/University at Albany Lush forests…
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AI is taking hold in K-12 schools – here are some ways it can improve teaching
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Michael G. Kozak, Associate Clinical Professor of Educational Administration and Leadership, Drexel University Artificial intelligence can bring a host of benefits, such as individualized learning, but can also encourage kids to shortcut learning. Jonathan Kirn via Getty Images Generative AI platforms have sent shock waves…
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Two charts that lay bare the threat posed by radical right parties to western democracies
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Paul Whiteley, Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex Shutterstock/Donkeyworx In the 2024 UK general election, Reform came third with a 14% share of the vote, capturing five seats in the House of Commons. This was a breakthrough election for the party. In the previous general…