COP26: New Zealand depends on robust new rules for global carbon trading to meets its climate pledge
By Nathan Cooper Et Al
As the COP26 climate summit draws to a close, debate continues on one key issue in particular: a new rule book for global carbon trading to allow countries to purchase emissions reductions from overseas to count towards...
Marketing is getting in the way of markets that could get us to net-zero
By Richard Holden
This week the prime minister entered full marketing mode.
Scott Morrisons topic was climate change and his plans to get to net-zero.
At the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, he tried out a few...
A new era of planetary exploration: what we discovered on the far side of the Moon
By Iraklis Giannakis
Seven months after it was launched, the US robotic rover Perseverance successfully landed on Mars on February 18 2021. The landing was part of the mission Mars2020 and was viewed live by millions of people worldwide,...
Corruption: how the UK compares to other countries
By Daniel Hough
Corruption allegations have been flowing freely in the UK of late. To cherry-pick just some, an MP has resigned over his apparent conflicts of interest, a former attorney general has had his external business practices...
The publishers who made Shakespeare a global phenomenon
By Andrew Murphy
Walk into any decent bookshop today in search of Shakespeares plays and youre sure to find at least one. And even if you cant find what youre looking for on the bookshelves, there is always the internet, where a great...
Belarus: whether or not Putin is behind the border crisis, it plays into Kremlin hands
By Liana Semchuk
The migrant crisis on Belaruss western border has escalated rapidly in recent days, forcing Poland and Lithuania to declare a state of emergency and close the borders with their neighbour. With 15,000 Polish border...
Embodied carbon: why truly net zero buildings could still be decades away
By Ljubomir Jankovic
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions come from two sources: using things (known as operational emissions) and making things (embodied emissions). For a familiar example of the first kind, your home probably burns natural gas for...
Here's how to convince CEOs to support government climate action at the expense of their own profits
By Matt Gitsham Et Al
There is now widespread consensus that limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5℃ requires fundamental changes in sectors like energy, food, transport, construction and finance towards more environmentally friendly...
Eric Zemmour: Jewish heritage is a useful tool for the French far right
By Hannah Rose
French commentator Eric Zemmour has risen to political notoriety off the back of anti-Muslim hatred and anti-migrant incitement before even officially announcing his candidacy in the 2022 French presidential...
Indonesia's capital Jakarta is sinking. Here's how to stop this
By Edvin Aldrian
As Indonesias capital and most populous megacity, Jakarta needs rapid solutions to tackle the problems of land subsidence and sea-level rise.
A recent study by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) stated...
Technology-enabled abuse: how 'safety by design' can reduce stalking and domestic violence
By Bridget Harris
Mobile phones and online technologies are frequently used by perpetrators of domestic and family violence to coerce, control and restrict the freedoms of victims and survivors.
Recent death reviews have found that...
The Moon's top layer alone has enough oxygen to sustain 8 billion people for 100,000 years
By John Grant2
Alongside advances in space exploration, weve recently seen much time and money invested into technologies that could allow effective space resource utilisation. And at the forefront of these efforts has been a laser-sharp...
Olympic Games are great for propagandists – how the lessons of Hitler's Olympics loom over Beijing 2022
By Michael J. Socolow
On the morning of Aug. 14, 1936, two NBC employees met for breakfast at a café in Berlin. Max Jordan and Bill Slater were discussing the Olympic Games they were broadcasting back to the United States and the Nazi...
How metacognition — thinking about thinking — can improve the mental-health crisis
By Brendan Conway-Smith
In these times of virtual meet-ups, negative news overload and widespread uncertainty, its fair to say it has been a tough time for our brains. If youve been feeling mentally subpar, you may be floating around the edges or...
Consulting firms are the 'shadow public service' managing the response to COVID-19
By Chris Hurl Et Al
In March 2020, as governments were implementing lockdown mandates at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consulting firm McKinsey made a call to someone in the Ontario premiers office. Soon after, the firm was put in...
Why nitrates and nitrites in processed meats are harmful – but those in vegetables aren’t
By Richard Hoffman
Many of us know that we should steer away from processed meats and eat more vegetables if we want to be healthier and lower our chances of developing certain types of cancers. While there are many reasons processed meats...
Big business and climate change: finally, sustainability pays
By Craig Anderson1
One thing becoming clear during the debate over how to respond to climate change is that prioritising profit at the expense of the environment, or disregarding the social consequences, is not just morally unacceptable, it...
Myths and truths around South Africa’s recent renewable energy auction
By Wikus Kruger
South Africas department of mineral resources and energy recently announced its choice of companies to build and operate a new batch of renewable energy projects. This is part of a programme in which the government invites...
Should Elon Musk try to solve the problem of world hunger with $6 billion? 5 questions answered
By Jessica Eise
Elon Musk hinted on Oct. 31, 2021, perhaps jokingly, that he might be willing to donate US$6 billion of his fortune to pay for hunger relief. But there was a catch: The United Nations would have to prove that it can solve...
Investors who trust ESG funds for a positive impact have a crucial blind spot, and it puts the $35 trillion industry's promises in doubt
By Tinglong Dai Et Al
If you own stocks, chances are good you have heard the term ESG. It stands for environmental, social and governance, and its a way to laud corporate leaders who take sustainability including climate change and social...
Congress passes $1T infrastructure bill
By Ana Maria Dimand
The U.S. Congress passed an infrastructure bill that funds more than a trillion dollars in nationwide federal spending on Nov. 5, 2021.
The bill puts about US$240 billion toward building or rebuilding roads, bridges,...
Why the era of cheap money is finally ending
By John Whittaker
The Bank of England was widely expected to slightly increase its official bank rate on November 4, but it decided to stick to the all-time low of 0.1%. However, the bank has made it clear that a rise will soon be needed,...
Protesting during a pandemic: New Zealand's balancing act between a long tradition of protests and COVID rules
By Alexander Gillespie Et Al
Several times this week, protesters have forced Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to abandon events aimed to support the COVID vaccination rollout.
Over the past few weeks, thousands have gathered, in breach of COVID...
Supreme Court appears to suggest right to guns at home extends to carrying them in public too
By Morgan Marietta
Faced with the question does the constitutional right to possess a gun extend outside the home? the majority of the Supreme Court appears to be heading toward the answer yes.
On Nov. 3, 2012, justices heard oral...
Lessons from the Virginia governor's race: Make your best case
By Mary Kate Cary
I teach political speech writing. My students know that earlier this year I served on a committee that wrote the University of Virginias statement on free speech and free inquiry, which stated that All views, beliefs, and...
Why the Taliban must be held accountable for past atrocities
By Latifa Jafari Alavi
In August, after Taliban rapidly swept to power in Afghanistan, its fighters executed 13 people from the Hazara minority in Daikundi province, where I was born. Amnesty International has said these extrajudicial killings...
Students are told not to use Wikipedia for research. But it's a trustworthy source
By Rachel Cunneen Et Al
At the start of each university year, we ask first-year students a question: how many have been told by their secondary teachers not to use Wikipedia? Without fail, nearly every hand shoots up. Wikipedia offers free and...
Borrowing from King Solomon, economists are getting closer to working out how good leaders can make good decisions
By Richard Holden
Heres a story from the Bible. As far as I know, its the first reported instance of the branch of economics known as implementation theory.
Its from the First Book of Kings, Chapter 3, starting at Verse 16.
Two women...
Metaverse: how Facebook rebrand reflects a dangerous trend in growing power of tech monopolies
By Peter Bloom
Facebooks rebranding as Meta has been seen by many as the companys latest attempt at corporate crisis control. The social media giant has been publicly attacked for creating an environment that fosters far-right extremism...
A 150-year-old note from Charles Darwin is inspiring a change in the way forests are planted
By Rob MacKenzie Et Al
More than 150 years ago Victorian biologist Charles Darwin made a powerful observation: that a mixture of species planted together often grow more strongly than species planted individually.
It has taken a century and a...
COP26: a letter to a school striker from 'the physicist behind net zero'
By Myles Allen
Dear school striker,
Well done on all you are doing you seem to have made more impact on the climate issue in the past couple of years than Ive managed in the previous three decades working away on it, and Ive been...
COP26: here's what it would take to end coal power worldwide
By Alex Clark
More than 40 countries have signed an agreement at COP26, the latest UN climate change summit in Glasgow, to phase out coal in electricity generation. The signatories include some of the worlds biggest coal burners:...
Bosnia and Herzegovina: world leaders risk renewed violence if the country breaks apart
By Iva Vukušić
A quarter of a century since the end of the Bosnian war, Bosnia and Herzegovina is in a perilous position. People who live there are worried. After all, in the conflict that engulfed the country between 1992 and 1995, more...
The seven steps South Africa is taking to get it closer to eliminating malaria
By Jaishree Raman Et Al
There were dire warnings that malaria cases would surge across Africa after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic in early March 2020.
Many felt that the already...
Fuel subsidies in Nigeria: they're bad for the economy, but the lifeblood of politicians
By Stephen Onyeiwu
Nigeria, Africas biggest oil producer, has come under fire from the International Monetary Fund as well as World Bank for the heavy financial burden it carries in providing subsidies for fuel and kerosene. The criticism is...
South Africa's ANC dips below 50%. But opposition parties fail to pick up the slack
By Keith Gottschalk
South Africas 2021 local government elections were momentous. They mark the first time that the now ruling party and erstwhile liberation movement, the African National Congress (ANC), slipped below the 50% milestone of...
Metaverse: five things to know – and what it could mean for you
By Steve Benford
In the wake of Facebook rebranding as Meta, reflecting its focus on the metaverse, Microsoft has now announced it, too, will launch into this space.
Meta has proposed that the metaverse will eventually allow us to...
Artificial intelligence is getting better at writing, and universities should worry about plagiarism
By Michael Mindzak Et Al
The dramatic rise of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has spotlit concerns about the role of technology in exam surveillance and also in student cheating.
Some universities have reported more cheating...
Climate clock reset shows the world is one year closer to 1.5 C warming threshold
By H. Damon Matthews Et Al
Global carbon dioxide emissions are expected to increase to almost 2019 levels this year, upending last years unprecedented drop caused by COVID-19 lockdowns. This means that emissions are trending upwards again, when they...
Industrial policy paved the way for Dangote's empire. Why it didn't deliver for all Nigerians
By Richard Itaman Et Al
Dangote Industries Limited dominates the Nigerian cement market and is a key player in the rapidly expanding African cement business. The conglomerate has also expanded its manufacturing activities in a range of food...
New study shows that normal breathing is a major spreader of TB
By Ryan Dinkele
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease transmitted via droplet aerosols. Humans constantly produce aerosols, even during normal breathing. Since Mycobacterium tuberculosis was identified as the causative agent of TB,...
Citizen-government coalitions could hold the key to the reform of African cities
By Diana Mitlin
Cities across Africa are growing at an astonishing rate. All 20 of Africas fastest growing cities have experienced average growth rates of more than 6% over the last decade. Gwagwalada, on the outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria,...
Young Nigerians turned to Twitter on the night of the Lekki shootings: what that tells us
By Tamar Dambo
Mobile messaging services have become influential in recent times in reshaping social movements.
They make it cheaper and quicker for protesters to mobilise resources. They also circumvent conventional communication...
A comedian always in search of 'a good ending', Bert Newton has died at 83
By Liz Giuffre
Bert Newton has died at 83.
An icon of Australian broadcasting, he is remembered as a master performer and comedian, with successful roles on radio, television and the theatre. He is survived by his wife Patti, children...
How to meet America’s climate goals: 5 policies for Biden’s next climate bill
By Kelly Sims Gallagher
President Joe Bidens new climate strategy, announced after his original plan crumbled under opposition in Congress, will represent a historic investment in clean energy technology and infrastructure if it is enacted. But...
The FDA authorizes Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11
By Debbie-Ann Shirley
Children under 12 in the United States will soon have one more layer of protection to keep them safe from COVID-19.
On Oct. 29, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech...
Why taxing US billionaires’ wealth – as Biden tried to do – will never work
By Beverly Moran
The speed with which a tax on billionaires came and went as a means to pay for President Joe Bidens economic agenda shows why its so hard to tax wealth in the U.S.
Democrats unveiled their proposal on Oct. 27, 2021, and...
We mapped every large solar plant on the planet using satellites and machine learning
By Lucas Kruitwagen
An astonishing 82% decrease in the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy since 2010 has given the world a fighting chance to build a zero-emissions energy system which might be less costly than the fossil-fuelled system...
Ice stupas: the artificial mini glaciers bringing water to some of the driest, coldest places on Earth
By Matteo Spagnolo
Glaciers are not just spectacular indicators of climate change as they shrink and disappear due to global warming. They are also, for many communities, an irreplaceable source of fresh water.
During the melting season...
Sewage pollution: our research reveals the scale of England's growing problem
By Sarah Purnell Et Al
The UK has around 1,500 individual river systems, totalling over 200,000km in length. Its common for sewers here to accept both untreated human waste and rain water in a combined system. Water and sewerage companies are...
