Category: The Conversation

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jonathan Glazzard, Rosalind Hollis Professor of Education for Social Justice, University of Hull Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock For children in England with special educational needs and disabilities, an education and health care plan (EHCP) is a central pillar of support. The government is due to set out its…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dan Baumgardt, Senior Lecturer, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol SpeedKingz/Shutterstock The late, great comedian Barry Humphries (of Dame Edna fame) once spoke whimsically about the health benefits of kale. Just one fistful, he joked, contained enough essential vitamins, minerals and trace elements…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Elisha Wise, English, University of Sheffield In chapter seven of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1963), protagonist Esther Greenwood imagines her life branching out before her like a green fig-tree. Each individual fig on the branches represents a different “wonderful future” – a family, a successful…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Alice Martin, Head of Research, Work Foundation, Lancaster University Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock Plans to cut health-related benefits in the UK continue to give the government political grief – as well as being a huge worry for claimants. Underpinning the controversy are government plans to move more people into…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Andrew Dodd, Professor of Journalism, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne If Rupert Murdoch becomes a white knight standing up to a rampantly bullying US president, the world has moved into the upside-down. This is, after all, the media mogul…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Roy Ebel, PhD Candidate in Evolutionary Biology, Museums Victoria Research Institute Radiodensity heatmap of emerald tree monitors. Roy Ebel Monitor lizards, also known in Australia as goannas, are some of the most iconic reptiles on the continent. Their lineage not only survived the mass extinction…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Amra Lee, PhD candidate in Protection of Civilians, Australian National University Australia has joined 28 international partners in calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and a lifting of all restrictions on food and medical supplies. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, along with…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Timothy Piatkowski, Lecturer in Psychology, Griffith University MilosStankovic/Getty Images Eighteen-year-old Mark scrolls Instagram late at night, watching videos of fitness influencers showing off muscle gains and lifting the equivalent of a baby elephant off the gym floor. Spurred on by hashtags and usernames indicating these…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Havovi Chichger, Professor, Biomedical Science, Anglia Ruskin University Found in everything from protein bars to energy drinks, erythritol has long been considered a safe alternative to sugar. But new research suggests this widely used sweetener may be quietly undermining one of the body’s most crucial protective…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kimon-Andreas Karatzas, Associate Professor of Food Microbiology, Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading Perfect Wave/Shutterstock You pile your plate high at the buffet, savouring the freedom to try a little bit of everything. But while your tastebuds might be celebrating, your gut could…