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The 'Still Explosions' Of Lichens On Stone

Lichens on stone, those “still explosions” as the great American poet Elizabeth Bishop named...

Legal American Owners Don't Create Gun Epidemics, Smuggling By Mexican Drug Cartels Does

Illegal firearm trafficking is inseparable from the illegal drug trade: Weapons are often bought...

RIP Richard Garwin, 'The Only True Genius' Fermi Ever Met

Richard Garwin, who died on May 13, 2025, at the age of 97, was sometimes called “the most influential...

Food Jihad: Terrorists Use Hunger As A Weapon

Over the last decade, there has been growing international focus on the role of food in conflict...

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China Shows There's More To Renewable Energy Than Fighting Climate Change

China Shows There's More To Renewable Energy Than Fighting Climate Change

Sep 12 2014 | comment(s)


The Tangshanpeng Wind Farm in China. Credit: Flickr/Land Rover Our Planet, CC BY-SA

By John Mathews and Hao Tan, University of Newcastle

Ebola Crisis In West Africa: Where Did All The Development Money Go?

Ebola Crisis In West Africa: Where Did All The Development Money Go?

Sep 12 2014 | comment(s)


Health systems aren't sexy. Credit: Truthout.org, CC BY-NC-SA

By Sophie Harman, Queen Mary, University of London

Life On Earth Still Favors Evolution Over Creationism

Life On Earth Still Favors Evolution Over Creationism

Sep 11 2014 | comment(s)


Evolution is still the favored theory, according to fossil records. Credit: Flickr/Brent Danley, CC BY-NC-SA

By John Long, Flinders University

How To Get Renewable Energy Into The Grid - Without Losing Power

How To Get Renewable Energy Into The Grid - Without Losing Power

Sep 11 2014 | comment(s)


There are numerous methods for maintaining electricity supply when renewables are in the grid. Credit: Johan Douma/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

By Anthony Vassallo, University of Sydney

The recent review of the Australian Renewable Energy Target has once again raised the issue of the “unreliability” of some renewable power sources such as wind and solar power.

New Evidence Points To Old Jack The Ripper Suspect – but Here Is Why I’m Not Convinced

New Evidence Points To Old Jack The Ripper Suspect – but Here Is Why I’m Not Convinced

Sep 10 2014 | comment(s)


A Ripper murder, Illustrated Police news, c. 1888.

By Rosalind Crone, The Open University

A panic erupted in Britain 126 years ago.

At daybreak on Saturday September 8, the mutilated body of Annie Chapman, a prostitute, had been found in the back yard of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields.

Her injuries and the removal of some of her abdominal organs led investigators and journalists to link Chapman’s murder with that of another woman, only a week earlier.

Voices From The Old Bailey

Voices From The Old Bailey

Sep 10 2014 | comment(s)


Or abandon hope? Credit: chrisdorney

By Tim Crook, Goldsmiths, University of London

The Old Bailey’s Central Criminal Court is an Edwardian building that bears the inscription “Defend the children of the poor and Punish the wrongdoer.”

An Italian visitor more than 100 years ago suggested it should be replaced with an aphorism from Dante’s Inferno: “Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter here.”