Tag Archives: Creative Commons

05Aug/22

UK interest rate rise: what the Bank of England’s historic hike means for your money

Jonquil Lowe, The Open University

The Bank of England has raised its base rate by 0.5 percentage points, the largest single upward jump in 27 years. It takes the base rate to 1.75%, its highest level since 2008. This latest interest rate hike will affect personal finances and reflects the Bank’s efforts to control rampant inflation amid the cost of living crisis in the UK.

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03Aug/22

The story behind ‘Star Trek’ actress Nichelle Nichols’ iconic interracial kiss

Matthew Delmont, Dartmouth College

On a 1968 episode of “Star Trek,” Nichelle Nichols, playing Lt. Uhura, locked lips with William Shatner’s Capt. Kirk in what’s widely thought to be first kiss between a Black woman and white man on American television.

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29Jul/22

James Lovelock: the scientist-inventor who transformed our view of life on Earth

Mark Maslin, UCL

James Lovelock, the maverick scientist and inventor, died surrounded by his family on July 27 2022 – his 103rd birthday. Jim led an extraordinary life. He is best known for his Gaia hypothesis, developed with the brilliant US biologist Lynn Margulis in the 1970s, which transformed the way we think of life on Earth.

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28Jul/22

Revealed: untold story of the CIA/Stasi double agent abandoned after 22 years of service

Eleni Braat, Utrecht University and Ben de Jong, Leiden University

I was naked, tied to a hard chair with handcuffs. Three or four burly fellows in uniform are standing around me, one of them behind me with a truncheon… ‘Sie sind ein Verräter! [You are a traitor!],’ they snap.

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25Jul/22

Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss? Polling shows party members want her – but the wider voting public would choose him

Paul Whiteley, University of Essex

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are the final two candidates chosen to go head-to-head in the battle to become the next leader of the Conservative party and, therefore, the next prime minister of the UK.

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25Jul/22

Monkeypox: World Health Organization declares it a global health emergency – here’s what that means

Paul Hunter, University of East Anglia

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the current monkeypox epidemic a global health emergency.

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22Jul/22

Debunking the myth of the ‘evil people smuggler’

Yvonne Su, York University, Canada and Corey Robinson, Durham University

In 2022, the number of forcibly displaced people surpassed 100 million worldwide. Nearly 1.5 million refugees will need resettlement in 2022, but less than one per cent of refugees will be resettled.

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20Jul/22

Love Island’s Tasha is the show’s first deaf contestant – here’s what you should know about deaf accents

Kate Rowley, UCL

I sat down to watch the first episode of this year’s Love Island with my daughter as I was told that there was a deaf contestant appearing on the show. I don’t usually watch Love Island, but as a deaf person I was intrigued to find out more about how this contestant, Tasha Ghouri, would handle being the only deaf person on the show.

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20Jul/22

Depression is probably not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain – new study

Joanna Moncrieff, UCL and Mark Horowitz, UCL

For three decades, people have been deluged with information suggesting that depression is caused by a “chemical imbalance” in the brain – namely an imbalance of a brain chemical called serotonin. However, our latest research review shows that the evidence does not support it.

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07Jul/22

Boris Johnson: a terminal case of hubris syndrome

As Boris Johnson barricades himself in Number 10, apparently unwilling or unable to listen to the advice of close party colleagues who are calling on him to resign, how can we understand this bizarre melodrama?

As I watched Johnson’s appearance in front of the House of Commons Liaison Committee on the afternoon before his showdown with key members of his cabinet, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a deeper malady at play. It was as if an existential disconnect had settled across the comfortingly boring committee room.

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