I went to see Pussy Riot – if they're serious protesters, I'm Sid Vicious
Aug 16, 2018 20:18 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Many years after my first punk concert, when I met Pete Shelley and the other Buzzcocks at the old Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, I was excited at the age of 69 to be in Edinburgh to attend my second one. Pussy Riots...
Darwin's theory of evolution owes more to his garden than the Galápagos
Aug 16, 2018 20:17 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science
Its one of the greatest stories in science, right up there with Neil Armstrongs small step on the moon and Jane Goodalls overhaul of ideas on non-human relationships. When naturalist Charles Darwin first set foot in the...
Madonna: pop's superlative shapeshifter turns 60 with style
Aug 16, 2018 20:16 pm UTC| Insights & Views Entertainment
One of the first albums I owned was a tape of Madonnas 1987 remix collection You Can Dance. Im not sure where I got it from and Im not sure I even liked it but the bright red cover and Madonnas hard, direct stare are...
Indonesia earthquake: how scrap tyres could stop buildings collapsing
Aug 16, 2018 20:16 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature
At the time of writing, 436 people have died following an earthquake in the Indonesian island of Lombok. A further 2,500 people have been hospitalised with serious injuries and over 270,000 people have been...
'Cwtch': what the most famous Welsh-English word reveals about global dialects
Aug 16, 2018 20:16 pm UTC| Insights & Views
What is your favourite dialect word? This was a question that I should really have anticipated, but it took me by surprise. I had just talked to a packed marquee at the 2018 Hay Festival about why dialects of English...
Why there's been a boom in discovering new species despite a biodiversity crisis
Aug 16, 2018 20:16 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science
Something of a boom in the discovery of new species is taking place right now. It is so significant that some say it is similar to the period of the 18th and 19th centuries when European naturalists ventured into newly...
Trump’s Space Force isn't as new or as dangerous as it seems
Aug 16, 2018 20:15 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Donald Trumps plans to create a Space Force have ruffled plenty of feathers and alarmed some commentators. Some argue it will merely cause a bureaucratic headache. Raising greater concerns, others have argued the Space...
South Africa’s plan to move away from coal: 8 steps to make it succeed
Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects