US drugs regulator gives LSD ‘breakthrough’ status for treating anxiety – why this is so significant
By Colin Davidson
LSD was accidentally discovered by Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz pharmaceutical company in Switzerland in 1938. It was apparently useless, but from 1947 it was marketed as a cure for everything from schizophrenia to...
Male baldness is often trivialised – our research shows it should be taken seriously
By Paul Hodkinson Et Al
Male pattern baldness, or hereditary hair loss, has not always been taken seriously. Celebrity hair loss and transplants are greeted with fascinated amusement while, in popular media, bald men have often been absent,...
Jordan has long been a beacon of stability in the Middle East – but that looks to be changing
By Simon Mabon
Sat in the Wadi Araba in the baking midday sun, senior Jordanian officials and their Israeli counterparts signed a historic peace agreement in 1994 that ended decades of conflict between the two states. Witnessed by the...
Tarantino abandons his tenth film – five other times Hollywood giants cancelled big projects
By Kieran Foster
Quentin Tarantino has reportedly scrapped what was supposed to be his tenth and final feature film, The Movie Critic, deep into pre-production.
This decision is one in a long line of cancelled or unproduced projects...
The politics stopping the UK from opening a youth mobility scheme with Europe
By Erica Consterdine
Earlier this week, it seemed possible that young people in the UK might soon be able to travel freely to work and live in Europe again. The European Commission laid out proposals to open mobility to millions of 18- to...
Dark matter: our new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light
By Andrea Gallo Rosso
A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These two qualities are...
Nigerians throw naira notes around to show love: but it could land you in jail
By Abiodun Odusote
The legal implication of physically damaging the naira, Nigerias currency, came into focus recently with the prosecution of at least two celebrities by the countrys Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Nigeria has a...
Ukraine recap: US$60 billion aid package brings fresh hope to desperate Kyiv
By Jonathan Este
Across the broad sweep of history, its usually overly simplistic to talk about a single event as a turning point. This is especially the case in a conflict such as the one in Ukraine. So many factors geopolitical,...
Nigeria is pioneering a new vaccine to fight meningitis - why this matters
By Idris Mohammed
Nigeria recently became the first country to roll out a new vaccine (called Men5CV) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which protects people against five strains of meningococcus bacteria.
The...
Large retailers don’t have smokestacks, but they generate a lot of pollution − and states are starting to regulate it
By Johnathan Williams
Did you receive a mail-order package this week? Carriers in the U.S. shipped 64 packages for every American in 2022, so its quite possible.
That commerce reflects the expansion of large-scale retail in recent decades,...
The US is one of the least trade-oriented countries in the world – despite laying the groundwork for today’s globalized system
By Peter A. Coclanis Et Al
Given the spate of news about international trade lately, Americans might be surprised to learn that the U.S. isnt very dependent on it. Indeed, looking at trade as a percentage of gross domestic product a metric...
Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’
By Raymond Hogler
Most American workers are hired at will: Employers owe their employees nothing in the relationship except earned wages, and employees are at liberty to quit at their option. As the rule is generally stated, either party...
The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup
By Chris Impey
A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects
By Doug Cowen
About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...
Banning TikTok won’t solve social media’s foreign influence, teen harm and data privacy problems
By Sarah Florini
When President Joe Biden signed a US$95 billion foreign aid bill into law on April 24, 2024, it started the clock on a nine-month window for TikToks China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app. The president can...
Sadiq Khan on track for third term as London mayor – but nearly half of Londoners dissatisfied with performance
By Elizabeth Simon Et Al
Polls have consistently shown that the incumbent mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appears to be on track to win a third term in office at the upcoming mayoral elections on May 2.
One poll we commissioned as part of our...
New ‘cold war’ grows ever warmer as the prospect of a nuclear arms race hots up
By Becky Alexis-Martin
Champagne corks popped on December 3 1989 as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US president George H.W. Bush met on the cruise ship, Maxim Gorky, off the coast of Malta to declare the end of the cold war.
Gorbachev...
South Africa’s youth are a generation lost under democracy – study
By David Everatt
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently painted a rosy picture in which the countrys youth democracys children had enormous opportunities for advancement, all thanks to successive post-apartheid governments led...
Vaping now more common than smoking among young people – and the risks go beyond lung and brain damage
By Amira Guirguis
Vaping is now more common than cigarette smoking among young people, according to a new report coordinated by the University of Glasgow and commissioned by the World Health Organization.
This echoes research that has...
Ancient nomads you’ve probably never heard of disappeared from Europe 1,000 years ago. Now, DNA analysis reveals how they lived
By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury Et Al
How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been pottery sherds, burial sites and ancient texts.
But the study of ancient DNA is changing what we know about the human past,...
How marketing classes can rescue ‘ugly produce’ from becoming food waste
By Narmin Tartila Banu Et Al
At a time of rising food costs and growing food insecurity, a large percentage of food grown for consumption never reaches our tables.
Indeed, some estimates suggest that approximately 40 per cent of fruits and...
Our laser technique can tell apart elephant and mammoth ivory – here’s how it may disrupt the ivory trade
By Rebecca Shepherd
In recent years, the global trade in elephant ivory has faced significant restrictions in an effort to protect dwindling elephant populations. Many countries have stringent controls on the trade of elephant ivory. The sale...
New EU trade rules could put poor countries in a billion dollar ‘green squeeze’
By Jodie Keane
The EU parliament has just approved sweeping new rules that will require companies to avoid and mitigate human rights and environmental abuses in their supply chains.
These are noble aims. They have been a long time...
Rishi Sunak wants to cut the cost of ‘sicknote’ Britain
By Elliott Johnson Et Al
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has announced a crackdown on sickness and disability benefits in order to end a sicknote culture and over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life, in part because he claims that...
Ukraine war: Putin’s plan to fire up Zaporizhzhia power plant risks massive nuclear disaster
By Ross Peel
Recent reports of a series of drone strikes on Ukraines Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) have demonstrated the serious safety and security concerns at Europes largest nuclear power station. It has not been confirmed...
AI-powered ‘deep medicine’ could transform healthcare in the NHS and reconnect staff with their patients
By Will Jones
Todays NHS faces severe time constraints, with the risk of short consultations and concerns about the risk of misdiagnosis or delayed care. These challenges are compounded by limited resources and overstretched staff that...
Fallout: an expertly crafted TV adaptation that manages to incorporate some of the best elements of gameplay
By Peter Howell
Fallout is set in the Los Angeles Wasteland, 219 years after a global nuclear war devastated civilisation. Fortunately, the pre-war defence company Vault-Tec had developed a series of underground bunkers, called vaults,...
When the Supreme Court said it’s important to move quickly in key presidential cases like Trump’s immunity claim
By Donald Nieman
When former President Donald Trumps attorneys argue before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 25, 2024, they will claim he is immune from criminal prosecution for official actions taken during his time in the Oval Office. The...
The 50th anniversary of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution
By Fernando Camacho Padilla
Across Portugal, a number of photography exhibitions are currently on display that commemorate the ousting of the Estado Novo, the dictatorial, authoritarian and corporatist political regime that had ruled the country...
The Mattei Plan: why Giorgia Meloni is looking to Africa
By Jean-Pierre Darnis
Since coming to power, Giorgia Melonis government has been remarkably orthodox in its foreign policy. Unwavering support for Ukraine, loyalty to the Atlantic Alliance and full participation in the European Union - these...
Senate approves nearly $61B of Ukraine foreign aid − here’s why it helps the US to keep funding Ukraine
By Tatsiana Kulakevich
The Senate overwhelmingly approved a US$95.3 billion foreign aid funding package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on April 23, 2024, following months of political infighting that stalled the bill in the House of...
How breakdancing became the latest Olympic sport
By Mikhail Batuev
Breaking is the only new sport making its debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Breaking is probably better known to most of us as breakdancing. So why is the sport officially called breaking, and how is something so freestyle...
Military conscription is returning to Europe, but is it really a more equal way of mobilising? What history tells us
By Tony Ingesson
The idea that conscription, defined as the compulsory enlistment of citizens for military service, can increase equality and instil a sense of solidarity that transcends traditional societal divides has echoed throughout...
Inflation is slowly falling, while student debt is climbing: 6 graphs that explain today’s CPI
By John Hawkins1
Australias inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and its now less than half of what it was back in late 2022.
The annual rate peaked at 7.8% in the December quarter of 2022 and is now just 3.6%, in...
Our housing system is broken and the poorest Australians are being hardest hit
By Rachel Ong ViforJ
Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this weeks Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like never before.
In fact, if you...
How Anzac deaths changed the way we mourn to this day
By Jen Roberts
Victor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915.
Victor Farr was 20 when he died. Commonwealth of Australia (National Archives of...
Sugar gums have a reputation as risky branch-droppers but they’re important to bees, parrots and possums
By Gregory Moore
I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbournes Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for many decades. It was a fine tree tall and dominating. Less than a year after my retirement,...
Chinese swimming scandal: a strong defence by world anti-doping body, but narrative of ‘cover-up’ remains
By Tracey Holmes Et Al
When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later without sanction, many people ...
Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget
By Michelle Grattan
With Jim Chalmerss third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief beyond the tax cuts although they have been warned extra measures will be modest.
As this weeks consumer price...
What’s the difference between ADD and ADHD?
By Gibbs Kathy
Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Its one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood.
ADHD is diagnosed when people...
What kind of diner are you? 6 types of diners who avoid plant-based meat dishes
By David Fechner Et Al
Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that choice,...
Tech companies must help the fight aganst extremists using encryption: ASIO boss
By Michelle Grattan
ASIO is investigating a number of Australians in a nationalist and racist extremist network who are using an encrypted chat platform to communicate with offshore extremists.
In a Wednesday speech to the National Press...
Supreme Court appears open to Starbucks’ claims in labor-organizing case
By Michael Z. Green
What factors must a court consider when the National Labor Relations Board requests an order requiring an employer to rehire terminated workers before the completion of unfair labor practice proceedings?
Thats the...
Half our colleagues suffer pain and discomfort from periods. But they’re still a taboo subject at work
By Ruth Knight
Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive.
How likely would you be to tell your boss you were unwell...
Can a drug like Ozempic help treat addictions to alcohol, opioids or other substances?
By Shalini Arunogiri Et Al
Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are taking drugs like Ozempic to lose weight. But what do we actually know about them? This month, The Conversations experts explore their rise, impact and potential...
Is it possible to ‘objectively’ judge music? We asked 5 experts
By Sam Whiting Et Al
Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current big hit, but you can only hear nails on a...
The high and mighty Himalayas: A biodiversity hotbed facing significant challenges
By Nita Dyola Et Al
The Himalayas are home to a vast diversity of species, consisting of 10,000 vascular plants, 979 birds and 300 mammals, including the snow leopard, the red panda, the Himalayan tahr and the Himalayan monal.
The region...
Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal – and why it won’t go back
By Trevelyan Wing
One year ago, Germany took its last three nuclear power stations offline. When it comes to energy, few events have baffled outsiders more.
In the face of climate change, calls to expedite the transition away from fossil...
Scotland’s hate crime law: the problem with using public order laws to govern online speech
By Laura Higson-Bliss
Scotlands new hate crime law came into force on April 1, sparking immediate controversy over its potential effects on freedom of speech and expression, especially online. The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act...
Why is the London Stock Exchange losing out to the US
By Rama Kanungo
London Stock Exchange (LSE), which can trace its heritage to the coffee houses of the 17th century, is failing. The volume of shares traded is sharply declining, and some UK companies are swiftly moving to the US...
