By Mia Bloom and Sophia Moskalenko | – The leader of the Oath Keepers militia, Stewart Rhodes, must stay behind bars pending trial for his alleged role in the storming of the Capitol, a judge ruled on Jan. 26, 2022. While this means authorities can keep tabs on the whereabouts of Rhodes – and presumably […]
Joe Biden: a report card on the US president’s first year in office
By Clodagh Harrington and Alex Waddan | – When Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th US president in January 2021, 51.3% of American voters heaved a sigh of relief – along with much of the world. After four tumultuous and unscripted years of Donald Trump, restoration of calm via his experienced successor seemed […]
With fewer animals to spread their seeds, plants could have trouble adapting to climate change
By Evan Fricke, Alejandro Ordonez, Haldre Rogers, and Jens-Christian Svenning | – Picture a mature, broad-branched tree like an oak, maple or fig. How does it reproduce so that its offspring don’t grow up in its shadow, fighting for light? The answer is seed dispersal. Plants have evolved many strategies for spreading their seeds away […]
Why Elections will not solve Libya’s deep-rooted Problems
By Natasha Lindstaedt | – Libya is poised to hold presidential and parliamentary elections this year but there are still many unresolved issues. Ongoing political turmoil has caused the elections to be postponed several times, with no exact date set. All of this chaos was to be predicted if you look at what Libya inherited […]
The Climate Emergency is Already Here: Deaths in Heat Waves are Increasing even in the Cool North
By Chloe Brimicombe | – When you take age out of the equation, temperature-related deaths are on the decline in England and Wales. That’s according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). But more people are going to hospital, compared with 20 years ago. It turns out, that’s not the only […]
Scientists issue Dire Warning: Chemical Pollution now Exceeds Safe Planetary Limit
By Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez | – The production and release of plastics, pesticides, industrial compounds, antibiotics and other pollutants is now happening so fast and on such a large scale that it has exceeded the planetary boundary for chemical pollution, the safe limit for humanity, a new study claims. We asked Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez, a PhD candidate […]
Ireland has the Wind and Seas to become an offshore Superpower
By Aldert Otter | – The Irish government signed up to the recent Glasgow Climate Pact and used the summit to announce a raft of ambitious goals, including the development of 5 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy up to 2030. That would more than double the country’s current onshore and offshore wind power capacity. […]
The Best Battery is Nature’s Own: How Pumped Hydro is the Future of Renewables
By Andrew Blakers,Bin Lu, and Matthew Stocks | – To cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half within a decade, the Biden administration’s goal, the U.S. is going to need a lot more solar and wind power generation, and lots of cheap energy storage. Wind and solar power vary over the course of a day, […]
Taliban 2.0 aren’t so different from the first regime, after all
By Atal Ahmadzai and Faten Ghosn | – The international community is closely monitoring the Taliban, after the group re-seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. There is legitimate reason for concern. The Taliban are again ruling through fear and draconian rules. The Taliban’s last regime, in the mid-1990s, was marked by human rights violations, […]