Ayse Coskun, Boston University
The artificial intelligence boom has had such a profound effect on big tech companies that their energy consumption, and with it their carbon emissions, have surged.
25Sep/24
Tag Archives: Ireland
18Mar/24
Half the world will vote in 2024, but how many elections will be fair?
Toby James, University of East Anglia and Holly Ann Garnett, Royal Military College of Canada
This year has been widely proclaimed to be the year of elections, with national elections expected in at least 64 countries. This means that half of the world’s population will have the opportunity to change their government, choose their representatives and indirectly shape policy. It began as a year of hope – and the prospect of democratic empowerment.
19Feb/24
History’s crisis detectives: how we’re using maths and data to reveal why societies collapse – and clues about the future
Daniel Hoyer, University of Toronto
American humorist and writer Mark Twain is believed to have once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
I’ve been working as a historian and complexity scientist for the better part of a decade, and I often think about this phrase as I follow different strands of the historical record and notice the same patterns over and over.
09Jan/24
Freedom of thought is being threatened by states, big tech and even ourselves. Here’s what we can do to protect it
Simon McCarthy-Jones, Trinity College Dublin
The idea of free speech sparked into life 2,500 years ago in Ancient Greece – in part because it served a politician’s interests. The ability to speak freely was seen as essential for the new Athenian democracy, which the politician Cleisthenes both introduced and benefited from.
30Sep/23
L’Oréal groupe OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW UK HEADQUARTERS IN WHITE CITY
Today French Ambassador to the UK Ms Hélène Duchêne, Deputy Mayor for Business Rajesh Agrawal and Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, London Councilor Stephen Cowan joined L’Oréal UK & Ireland Managing Director & Chairman Thierry Cheval to officially open the L’Oréal Groupe’s new headquarters. Continue reading
26Jul/23
STIs are on the rise – here’s how to navigate telling a partner if you’ve got one
Zara Molphy, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Having dipped somewhat during the pandemic, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise again around the world. In England and Ireland in 2022, rates of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis exceeded levels recorded before COVID. The number of gonorrhoea diagnoses recorded in England was in fact the highest since annual records began.
25Jul/23
Actors are really worried about the use of AI by movie studios – they may have a point
Dominic Lees, University of Reading
Film and television actors in the US came out on strike on July 14, causing Hollywood productions to shut down. The action has also had an impact on US films shooting in the UK: director Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice 2 has “paused” and the production of Deadpool 3, filming at Pinewood Studios with stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, has been stood down.
The dispute is about remuneration for actors, very few of whom enjoy the high income of Hollywood stars. But an additional argument between the union, SAG-AFTRA, and film producers is about the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Actors are fearful of the impact of AI on their careers.
18Jul/23
Penalties, passes, and a touch of politics: the Women’s World Cup is about to kick off
David Rowe, Western Sydney University
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off this Thursday night, the first football world cup hosted by Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
New Zealand opens the tournament by taking on Norway in Auckland, while Australia’s Matildas will play Ireland in front of an anticipated 80,000 fans at a sold out Stadium Australia in Sydney.
05Jun/23
Voices of Preston’s Windrush generation – when I first arrived, I said: ‘Really? I thought there were no slums in this place!’
Alan Rice, University of Central Lancashire and Jack Hepworth, University of Oxford
From the earliest arrivals of what would become Preston’s “Windrush generation”, the status of the Caribbean diaspora was hotly contested in this post-industrial Lancashire town, as elsewhere. Discrimination and prejudice dogged the daily lives of people from the Caribbean who made their home here.
30May/23
‘They just ignored my tears, they ignored my unhappiness’: former Irish nuns reveal accounts of brainwashing and abuse
Karen Hanrahan, University of Brighton
Any thoughts of escaping to a more natural life was regarded as being sinful. The idea of being unfaithful to your vocation was a step on the way to hell. It would be a mortal sin.
These are the words of Mary, my mother. She was just 15 when she entered a convent in Ireland in 1950 and 34 by the time she finally managed to leave. She had been expressing doubts to her superiors since her early twenties but years of “brainwashing” and the very real fear of her and her family facing eternal damnation made breaking her vows seem impossible.