UK Supreme Court Is Boris Johnson's prorogation legal? Why Scottish and English judges don't agree – and why it mattersThe Conversation UK - Asif Hameed In the distant past, parliament would meet when the monarch wished it. But the UK constitution has moved on from those days – at least in that the …
Culture (UK) Last Night of the Proms: flags and fanfare can't hide the divisions in Brexit BritainThe Conversation UK - Simon Keegan-Phipps Love it or loathe it, there’s no question that Last Night of the Proms operates as an elaborate piece of British cultural theatre, on multiple …
Gender Hollywood's million dollar gender pay gap – revealedThe Conversation UK - Sofia Izquierdo Sanchez The gender pay gap affects most industries, with women generally earning less than their male counterparts – and Hollywood is no different. Women …
Health Superblocks: Barcelona's car-free zones could extend lives and boost mental healthThe Conversation UK - Anupam Nanda The world’s biggest cities have larger populations and higher economic outputs than some countries. But as they grow in size and complexity, cities …
Homelessness How benefits rules and family breakdown fuel youth homelessnessThe Conversation UK - Matt Howell In 2017/18 alone, 103,000 people aged 16 to 24 presented themselves as homeless to their local authority in the UK. But while preventative measures …
Marine Mammals How diving seals plan ahead to save oxygen: new researchThe Conversation UK - Chris McKnight Seals, dolphins and otters share the same physiological constraints as humans do when we return to our evolutionary home – the sea. The most …
Abortion The Handmaid's Tale: no wonder we've got a sequel in this age of affronts on women's rightsThe Conversation UK - Deborah Madden We are containers, it’s only the insides of our bodies that are important. Haunting words from Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale that …
Extinction Mass extinctions made life on Earth more diverse – and might againThe Conversation UK - Nick Longrich In the past half-billion years, Earth has been hit again and again by mass extinctions, wiping out most species on the planet. And every time, life …
Volcanoes Volcanoes kill more people long after they first erupt – those deaths are avoidableThe Conversation UK - Jenni Barclay and Roger Few and Teresa Armijos Burneo You may think of volcanic eruptions as spectacular but brief explosions. But in reality, these destructive forces wreak havoc before headlines are …
Health (UK) Why surgeons should stop performing this procedure for chronic shoulder painThe Conversation UK - Tim Jones and William Hollingworth Many countries have strict regulations to ensure new drugs are effective and are worth the money before doctors can prescribe them. But surgical …
Health (UK) Shoulder pain surgery: one popular procedure not backed by evidenceThe Conversation UK - Tim Jones and William Hollingworth Many countries have strict regulations to ensure new drugs are effective and are worth the money before doctors can prescribe them. But surgical …
Learning Curiosity: we're studying the brain to help you harness itThe Conversation UK - Ashvanti Valji and Matthias Gruber They say curiosity killed the cat for a reason. Being curious has many advantages, but it is also associated with risk taking. But what is curiosity …
Culture (UK) Could fungi save the fashion world?The Conversation UK - Sam Vettese and Ian Singleton Environmental action group Extinction Rebellion is disrupting London Fashion Week to highlight the harms of throwaway culture and the concurrent …
UK News Irish unionists have long struggled to rally US support – and remain isolated as Brexit beckonsThe Conversation UK - Lindsey Flewelling Those who are perpetually boasting about the greater Ireland beyond the sea ought to bear in mind that there are two Irelands beyond the sea. About …
Social Work Teenagers are vulnerable too – how social workers are trying new ways to keep them safeThe Conversation UK - Nick Marsh Over the past four decades the child protection system in England has increasingly concentrated on preventing the abuse and neglect of young children …
Culture (UK) Review: The Testaments – Margaret Atwood's sequel to The Handmaid's TaleThe Conversation UK - Susan Watkins SPOILER ALERT: This review contains plotlines and details from Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Testaments When Margaret Atwood was writing The Handmaid’s …
Galaxies How fast is the universe really expanding? New measurements help tackle the mysteryThe Conversation UK - James Geach Advances in astronomical observation over the past century have allowed scientists to construct a remarkably successful model of how the cosmos …
Innovation Most innovation originates from customers, not companiesThe Conversation UK - Tim Schweisfurth The mountain bike wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for disgruntled customers. In the 1970s, some cyclists wanted to ride off-road but were let down by …
Africa 'Ancestors': a new game provides insights into how the first humans evolvedThe Conversation UK - Mark Maslin As an academic scientist who researches human evolution, I was surprised to receive an email one day from Patrice Désilets, a top computer game …
Health (UK) Pure fruit juice: junk food or health food?The Conversation UK - David Benton Fruit juice was once viewed as part of a healthy diet, but today it is often seen as supplying little more than a high dose of sugar. Increasingly, …
Juice Pure fruit juice: healthy, or not?The Conversation UK - David Benton and Hayley Young Fruit juice was once viewed as part of a healthy diet, but today it is often seen as supplying little more than a high dose of sugar. Increasingly, …
Computers Quantum computers could arrive sooner if we build them with traditional silicon technologyThe Conversation UK - Alessandro Rossi and M. Fernando Gonzalez-Zalba Quantum computers have the potential to revolutionise the way we solve hard computing problems, from creating advanced artificial intelligence to …
Knives Rising violence and verbal abuse towards retailers – stories from shop floor reveal lifelong impactThe Conversation UK - Emmeline Taylor Violence and verbal abuse towards shop workers is on the rise. Home Office figures show 590,000 incidents of assaults and threats in 2018 (up from …
Nagaland With all eyes on Kashmir, a storm is brewing over India’s longest-running peace process with Naga militantsThe Conversation UK - Alex Waterman As the fallout from India’s decision to revoke the autonomy of Kashmir in early August continues, recent weeks have also seen troubling signs …
Special Education Schools are failing pupils with special needs, despite best efforts of dedicated staffThe Conversation UK - Cathy Tissot and Anna Tsakalaki A new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that local authorities are struggling to deliver proper support for pupils with special …
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen: an Aristotle for our timesThe Conversation UK - Ron Beadle In the recently released film Blinded by the Light, Pakistani teenager Javed discovers commitment and courage through the music of Bruce Springsteen. …
European Union Brexit: what will the EU's next move be?The Conversation UK - Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén The latest political drama and developments surrounding Brexit in the UK have had a distinctly domestic focus. There has been little consideration of …
Planetary Habitability How we detected water on a potentially habitable exoplanet for the first timeThe Conversation UK - Angelos Tsiaras With more than 4,000 exoplanets – planets orbiting stars other than our sun – discovered so far, it may seem like we are on the cusp of finding out …
Forests The Amazon's tallest tree just got 50% taller – and scientists don't know howThe Conversation UK - Tobias Jackson and Sami Rifai Sometimes even the largest natural wonders can remain hidden from human view for centuries. The Amazon is a dense place, full of life with new …
Culture (UK) Pain and Glory: Pedro Almodóvar's latest movie is as much self-therapy as it is self-portraitThe Conversation UK - Sarah Wright Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is to represent Spain at the Oscars for the seventh time, with his 21st feature film Pain And Glory. The movie …
