The Conversation Weekly

In this episode, as Scotland prepares to vote in landmark parliamentary elections on May 6, we explore why the question of independence from the UK is dominating the debate. And a team of researchers working with fruit flies, has discovered a biological switch that can turn neuroplasticity on and off in the brain. What might that mean? Welcome to episode 13 of The Conversation Weekly. It's been seven years since Scotland voted to remain the UK in the 2014 independence referendum. Now, as Scotland prepares to vote in elections for the Scottish Parliament on May 6, all eyes are on first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her pro-independence Scottish National Party. If pro-independence parties win a majority in the Scottish parliament – Sturgeon will ask the UK government in Westminster, led by prime minister, Boris Johnson, for a second referendum on Scottish independence. But he's highly unlikely to agree. To find out more about what’s at stake in these upcoming elections, we speak to three experts, including one high-profile politician turned academic, to explain the situation. Kezia Dugdale, is director of the John Smith Centre and a lecturer in public policy at the University of Glasgow, and a former leaders of the Scottish Labour Party. She describes the political landscape going into the elections. Darren Nyatanga, a PhD candidate at the University of Liverpool, talks us through the constitutional questions at the heart of the independence debate. And economist Graeme Roy, dean of external engagement at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow, explains Scotland's economic circumstances, and the economic arguments being used by nationalists and unionists. For our second story, we hear about some new research into neuroplasticity – the brain's ability to change its structure. Sarah Ackerman, postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Oregon, explains what her team has found about what controls these changes. And Moina Spooner, commissioning editor at The Conversation in Nairobi, Kenya, gives us her recommended reads for the week.The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. A transcript of this episode is available here.Further readingScottish independence: could wind power Scotland back into the EU?, by Piotr Marek Jaworski, Edinburgh Napier University and Kenny Crossan, Edinburgh Napier UniversityScottish independence referendum: why the economic issues are quite different to 2014, by Graeme Roy, University of Strathclyde Scottish election: Alex Salmond’s Alba gamble could yet tip scales on second independence referendum, by William McDougall, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityScotland could vote to separate in 2021, testing Canada’s independence formula, by Catherine Frost, McMaster UniversityAstrocyte cells in the fruit fly brain are an on-off switch that controls when neurons can change and grow, by Sarah DeGenova Ackerman, University of OregonSomalia: toxic elite politics and the need for cautious external mediation, by Claire Elder, London School of Economics and Political ScienceWhy Kenya is on thin ice in its justification for sending Somali refugees back home, by Oscar Gakuo Mwangi, National University of Lesotho

In this episode, insurgent groups in northern Nigeria continue to kidnap schoolchildren as the government struggles to protect communities against militants such as Boko Haram. And we speak to a researcher who has interviewed Kenyan women about why they joined the jihadist group Al-Shabaab. Welcome to episode 12 of The Conversation Weekly.Schoolchildren in northern Nigeria continue to be abducted by insurgents, including the jihadist group Boko Haram, whose name means ‘Western education is forbidden’. In this episode, Wale Fatade from The Conversation in Lagos speaks to two experts to find out why children are still at such risk. Hakeem Onapajo, senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Nile University in Nigeria, explains that Boko Haram targets children for us as slaves in its camps, including girls as sex slaves. And Samuel Okunade, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pretoria, laments that the government’s failure to improve the security situation has left communities to fend for themselves. In our second story, we cross the continent to Kenya to hear about women who joined the jihadist group, Al-Shabaab. Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at the Technical University of Mombasa in Kenya, has been interviewing women who have since left Al-Shabaab about their experiences and why they joined the group. She explains that while some joined willingly, others were forcibly recruited, and the line between voluntary and involuntary is often blurred.And Bryan Keogh, business editor at The Conversation in New York, gives us his recommended reads. The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. And a transcript is available here. Further readingWhy children are prime targets of armed groups in northern Nigeria, by Hakeem Onapajo, Nile University of NigeriaNigeria’s poor response to Boko Haram has left border communities feeling abandoned, by Samuel Okunade, University of PretoriaWhy there’s a mismatch between funding for Nigeria’s military and its performance, by Temitope Francis Abiodun, University of IbadanWhy we did it: the Kenyan women and girls who joined Al-Shabaab, by Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, Technical University of MombasaPasha 100: Tackling banditry, terrorism and kidnapping in Nigeria, including an interview with Sheriff Folarin, Covenant UniversityHow climate insecurity could trigger more conflict in Somalia, by Andrew E. Yaw Tchie, Norwegian Institute of International AffairsWhy Somali clan elders could hold the key to opening dialogue with Al-Shabaab, by Mohammed Ibrahim Shire, University of PortsmouthVaccine mandates aren’t the only – or easiest – way for employers to compel workers to get their shots by Elizabeth C. Tippett, University of OregonAt what age are people usually happiest? New research offers surprising clues by Clare Mehta, Emmanuel College.

In this episode, how new discoveries continue to change our understanding of what dinosaurs looked like – and are helping to shed light on bigger questions about evolution. And after Israel’s fourth election in two years ended in another political stalemate, a foreign policy expert explains what this could mean for the Middle East. Welcome to episode 11 of The Conversation Weekly, the world explained by experts. Ever since palaeontologists started classifying fossils and bones as dinosaurs in the early 19th century, artists have been using them to try and imagine what dinosaurs looked like. But, however much Hollywood may have instilled a certain vision of dinosaurs into our minds in recent decades, we’re still a long way off having all the answers about what dinosaurs actually looked like. We speak to two palaeontologists about what new evidence is emerging and how our dinosaur imaginings have changed. Maria McNamara, professor of palaeobiology at University College Cork in Ireland, explains about the, at times controversial, history of feathered dinosaurs – and what new information is starting to emerge about dinosaur colour. And Nicolas Campione, senior lecturer in palaeobiology at the University of New England in Australia, tells us the two main techniques palaeontologists have used for estimating the size of dinosaurs. In our second story, we head to Israel, where coalition negotiations are continuing following elections on March 23. Whatever happens next will have ramifications for Israel’s foreign policy, which is closely tied with domestic politics. Amnon Aran, senior lecturer in international politics of the Middle East, at City, University of London, talks us through how history could inform what happens next, and what the foreign policy stakes are for whoever takes the reins of the next Israeli government. And Eva Catalán, associate editor at The Conversation in Spain, gives us her recommended reads.The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. A transcript of this episode is available here. Further reading:Prehistoric pigments reveal how melanin has shaped bird and mammal evolution, by Maria McNamara, Tiffany Slater and Valentina Rossi, University College CorkThe mystery of feather origins: how fluffy pterosaurs have reignited debate, by Maria McNamara, University College Cork and Zixiao Yang, Nanjing UniversityHow do you weigh a dinosaur? There are two ways, and it turns out they’re both right, by Nicolas Campione, University of New EnglandLargest ever flying creatures had longer necks than giraffes – we found out how these pterosaurs kept their heads up, by David Martill, University of Portsmouth and Cariad Williams, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignGodzilla vs. Kong: A functional morphologist uses science to pick a winner, by Kiersten Formoso, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesStark choice for Israel as voters head to polls for fourth time in two years, by Amnon Aran, City, University of LondonIsrael elections: Netanyahu may hold on to power, but political paralysis will remain, by Ran Porat, Monash UniversityIsrael election: why is Palestine no longer an important campaign issue?, by Peter Malcontent, Utrecht UniversityWhat can statistics tell us about vaccine safety?, by Virgilio Gómez Rubio, University of Castilla-La Mancha and Anabel Forte Deltell, University of València (in Spanish)The success of influencers in their use of the Spanish language: idiolects and emotions in social networks, by María Nayra Rodríguez Rodríguez, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (in Spanish)

In this episode, why some economists are worried about a growing army of "zombie companies" with lots of debts – and what this could mean for the shape of our economies. And the researchers who've found a new way to prevent predators from eating the eggs of endangered birds – via a form of biological, psychological warfare. Welcome to episode 10 of The Conversation Weekly, the world explained by experts. With interest rates at record lows, many companies have been able to borrow money at very little cost. This cheap cash, which was flooding financial markets before the pandemic began, led some companies to rack up big debts. Economists call these “zombie companies” – firms that may struggle to pay the interest on their large debts. It’s a problem that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic, as revenues dried up in many sectors of the economy. Karl Schmedders, professor of finance at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, explains how zombie companies are born, why the pandemic could have made the problem worse and what might happen next. And Sandy Brian Hager, senior lecturer in international political economy at City, University of London, explains his research about why the size of a company has a bearing on the shape of the recovery ahead.In our second story, we hear about a new technique to protect endangered birds whose nests are often attacked by invasive predators. Scientists used fake smells to trick predators such as ferrets and hedgehogs into ignoring the birds' eggs. Catherine Price, postdoctoral researcher in conservation biology at the University of Sydney, tells us what happened when they tested the idea in the Mackenzie Basin on New Zealand's South Island. And Luthfi Dzulfikar, associate editor at The Conversation in Indonesia, gives us his recommended reads. The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here.Further readingTakeovers: a tidal wave of buyouts is coming in 2021 – here’s what it means, by Karl Schmedders and Patrick Reinmoeller, International Institute for Management Development (IMD)Attack of zombie companies: don’t let them eat bailouts that are vital to restore the economy, by Robert Earle, University of Zürich; Jung Park and Karl Schmedders, International Institute for Management Development (IMD)Giant firms have a hidden borrowing advantage that has helped keep them on top for decades – new research, by Sandy Brian Hager, City, University of London and Joseph Baines, King's College LondonBiggest companies pay the least tax, leaving society more vulnerable to pandemic – new research, by Sandy Brian Hager, City, University of London and Joseph Baines, King's College LondonScientists used ‘fake news’ to stop predators killing endangered birds — and the result was remarkable, by Peter Banks, University of Sydney and Catherine Price, University of SydneyA study on the undocumented shows the glaring inequality gap in Indonesia's civil registration system, by Widi Sari, Harriz Jati, Meutia Aulia Rahmi, and Santi Kusumaningrum, PUSKAPA (in Bahasa Indonesia)National Film Day: Indonesia's young "santri" are producing film to preserve and criticize the Islamic boarding school tradition, by Ahmad Nuril Huda, Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Intan Lampung (in Bahasa Indonesia)

This week, the inside story of how scientists working at Cern’s Large Hadron Collider found tantalising new evidence which could mean we have to rethink what we know about the universe. And an update on the situation for Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in Bangladesh after a deadly fire swept through a refugee camp there. Welcome to episode 9 of The Conversation Weekly, the world explained by experts.In late March, particle physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a massive particle accelerator at Cern in Geneva, announced, tentatively, that they’d had a bit of a breakthrough. If what they think they’ve seen is proven correct, it could mean evidence for brand new physics – perhaps even a new force of nature. We get the inside story from Harry Cliff, a particle physicist at the University of Cambridge who works on the LHCb, one of Cern's four giant experiments. And Celine Boehm, professor and head of physics at the University of Sydney, explains the bigger picture of where this all fits into the world of theoretical physics, including the ongoing hunt for dark matter.In our second story, Rubayat Jesmin, a PhD candidate at Binghamton University in New York explains why the situation got even more precarious situation for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, after a fire ripped through one of the camps where many were living in Bangladesh.And Nehal El-Hadi, science and technology editor at The Conversation in Toronto, gives us some recommended reading. The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. And a transcript is available here. Further readingEvidence of brand new physics at Cern? Why we’re cautiously optimistic about our new findings, by Harry Cliff, University of Cambridge; Konstantinos Alexandros Petridis, University of Bristol, and Paula Alvarez Cartelle, University of CambridgeNew physics at the Large Hadron Collider? Scientists are excited, but it’s too soon to be sure, by Sam Baron, Australian Catholic UniversityThe Standard Model of particle physics: The absolutely amazing theory of almost everything, by Glenn Starkman, Case Western Reserve UniversityWithout school, a ‘lost generation’ of Rohingya refugee children face uncertain future, by Rubayat Jesmin, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkWe know how to cut off the financial valve to Myanmar’s military. The world just needs the resolve to act, by Jonathan Liljeblad, Australian National UniversityResistance to military regime in Myanmar mounts as nurses, bankers join protests – despite bloody crackdown, by Tharaphi Than, Northern Illinois UniversityPreviously thought to be science fiction, a planet in a triple-star system has been discovered, by Samantha Lawler, University of ReginaBursting social bubbles after COVID-19 will make cities happier and healthier again, by Meg Holden, Atiya Mahmood, Ghazaleh Akbarnejad, Lainey Martin and Meghan Winters at Simon Fraser University

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly, four experts dissect the impact a year of working from home has had on employees and the companies they work for — and what a more hybrid future might look like. And we talk to a researcher who asked people to sit in bath tubs full of ice cold water to find out why some of us are able to stand the cold better than others.For many people who can do their job from home, the pandemic meant a sudden shift from office-based to remote working. But a year of working from home, has taken its toll on some. We hear from Marie-Colombe Afota, assistant professor in leadership, IÉSEG School of Management in France on her new research into remote working during the pandemic, and Dave Cook, PhD candidate in anthropology at University College London, explains why burnout has become a public health issue. Jean-Nicolas Reyt, assistant professor at McGill University in Montreal, tells us how the view of chief executives towards remote working shifted over the past year and why. And Ruchi Sinha gives us a view of the conversations going on in Australia where hybrid working is already becoming a reality. In our second story, we talk to Victoria Wyckelsma, postdoctoral research fellow in muscle physiology at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, about her new study which revealed how our genes influence how resistant we are to cold temperatures. And Sunanda Creagh from The Conversation in Australia gives us some recommended reading about the recent floods in Sydney. The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. Further readingCOVID a year on: inequalities and anxieties about returning to workplaces are becoming clearer, by Jane Parry and Michalis Veliziotis, University of SouthamptonFaced by their employers' scepticism, remote workers are make themselves more available to signal their engagement, by Marie-Colombe Afota, IÉSEG School of Management; Ariane Ollier-Malaterre and Yanick Provost Savard, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM); and Emmanuelle Léon, ESCP Business SchoolWork-life balance in a pandemic: a public health issue we cannot ignore, by Dave Cook, UCL; Anna Rudnicka, UCL, and Joseph Newbold, Northumbria University, NewcastleWhat Canada’s top CEOs think about remote work, by Jean-Nicolas Reyt, McGill UniversityYour genetics influence how resilient you are to cold temperatures – new research, by Victoria Wyckelsma, Karolinska Institutet and Peter John Houweling, Murdoch Children's Research Institute‘They lost our receipts three times’: how getting an insurance payout can be a full-time job, by Chloe Lucas, University of TasmaniaWhy do people try to drive through floodwater or leave it too late to flee? Psychology offers some answers, by Garry Stevens, Western Sydney University; Mel Taylor, Macquarie University, and Spyros Schismenos, Western Sydney University

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast we drill down into the impact coronavirus lockdowns had on global carbon emissions – and ask what this means for the fight against climate change as governments turn their focus on the recovery. And we hear how the pandemic exacerbated the hardships faced by migrant workers in Canada. Corinne Le Quéré, Professor of Climate Change Science at the University of East Anglia, tells globla carbon emissions dropped 7% in 2020 – by 2.6 billion tonnes. While this was the biggest drop ever, everything is relative. She puts the figures into perspective for us about what was happening before the pandemic, and what needs to happen now for the world to reach its targets under the Paris Agreement. Click here to explore a graphic she's made with her team, exploring this history of emissions around the world. And we also talk to Steve Westlake, a PhD researcher at Cardiff University, about his research into what influences our behaviour when it comes to reducing carbon emissions -- and why he thinks individual actions still matter.We’re also joined in this episode by The Conversation’s Vinita Srivastava, host of Don’t Call Me Resilient, a new podcast about race. She introduces a conversation she had with Min Sook Lee, Assistant Professor in Documentary Film at OCAD University in Toronto, on the harsh conditions, isolation and precarious working conditions faced by migrant farm workers in Canada. And Wale Fatade from The Conversation in Lagos, Nigeria, gives us some recommended reading. The Conversation Weekly is hosted by Gemma Ware and Dan Merino. The show is co-produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Visit The Conversation for full credits. A transcript of this episode is available here. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com Further readingWe’ve made progress to curb global emissions. But it’s a fraction of what’s needed, Pep Canadell, CSIRO; Corinne Le Quéré, University of East Anglia and colleagues.Climate change: yes, your individual action does make a difference, Steve Westlake, Cardiff UniversityCoronavirus lockdown will have ‘negligible’ impact on the climate – new study, Piers Forster, University of Leeds How we treat migrant workers who put food on our tables: Don’t Call Me Resilient Episode 4, by The ConversationMigrant worker segregation doesn’t work: COVID-19 lessons from Southeast Asia by Peter Vandergeest, York University, Canada; Melissa Marschke, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa, and Peter Duker, York University, CanadaMemory practices are not enough to remedy Nigeria-Biafra war injustices, by Benjamin Maiangwa, Durham University and Chigbo Arthur Anyaduba, University of WinnipegBeer, politics and identity – the chequered history behind Namibian brewing success, by Paul Nugent, University of Edinburgh

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, three experts in global health explain why COVID-19 has been a moment of reckoning for the World Health Organization (WHO), and where it goes from here. And to mark one year since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, we hear from Conversation editors around the world on the situation where they live right now. The WHO had a torrid 2020. Although it declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern in late January, much of the world was slow to react. And it wasn’t until March 11, when the WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described it as a pandemic, that countries began to take the virus seriously and began locking down. In this episode, we talk to three experts about where the WHO goes from here. Peter Gluckman, former scientific advisor to the prime minister of New Zealand and Director of Koi Tū, the Center for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland, says world leaders should use this moment as a catalyst for reform. Ana Amaya, Assistant Professor at Pace University and an Associate Research Fellow at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration studies, tells us the current global health system is no longer acceptable to many developing countries in the global south. And Andrew Lakoff, Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California, explains what process of inquiry the WHO went through after the H1N1 and Ebola epidemics, and why apportioning responsibility for failures is crucial in planning for the future. The Conversation Weekly is hosted by Gemma Ware and Dan Merino. The show is co-produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Visit The Conversation for full credits. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here.Further readingYou can read a series of articles on The Conversation marking the one-year anniversary of WHO declaring COVID-19 a pandemic here. Meanwhile, here are some of the articles we've mentioned in this episode, plus a few more:WHO reform: a call for an early-warning protocol for infectious diseases, by Peter Gluckman, University of Auckland and Andrew Gillespie, University of WaikatoWhy the WHO, often under fire, has a tough balance to strike in its efforts to address health emergencies, by Andrew Lakoff, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesA year of COVID-19 lockdown is putting kids at risk of allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases, by Byram W. Bridle, University of GuelphCOVID-19 treatments: what are the most promising leads, by Dominique Costagliola, Inserm (in French)After a year of pain, here’s how the COVID-19 pandemic could play out in 2021 and beyond, by Michael Toole, Burnet InstituteCoronavirus one year on: two countries that got it right, and three that got it wrong, by Darren Lilleker, Bournemouth UniversityOne year of the pandemic and we continue to look for answers, by Ildefonso Hernández Aguado and Blanca Lumbreras Lacarra, Universidad Miguel Hernández (in Spanish)

This week, two experts explain how melting ice in the far north is bringing more light to the Arctic Ocean and what this means for the species that live there. And we hear from a team of archaeologists on their new research in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge that found evidence of just how adaptable early humans were to the changing environment. Every summer, the sea ice in the Arctic melts -– but it's melting more and more each year. This dramatic loss is because the Arctic is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet. Different scientists are studying what climate change means for the various species that live in the Arctic Ocean. One of the things they’re looking at is light: as the sea ice shrinks, that means more light can get down to the depths, but also more ships can venture into the far north, bringing with them more artificial light. We speak to two researchers who study what this increase in light means for the species that live in the Arctic: Karen Filbee-Dexter, Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Western Australia and Jørgen Berge, Vice Dean for Research, Arctic and Marine Biology at the University of Tromsø in Norway. In our second story, we head to the warmer climes of the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, known as the birthplace of humanity. We speak to a team of researchers, Julio Mercader, Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Calgary in Canada, and Pastory Bushozi, Director of Humanities Research Centre and Makarius Peter Itambu, Lecturer in the College of Humanities, both at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, about their recent discoveries in the gorge. They found new evidence of just how adaptable early humans were to the changing environment around them around 2 million years ago. And Laura Hood, politics editor at The Conversation in London, recommends a couple of recent stories by academics in the UK. The Conversation Weekly is hosted by Gemma Ware and Dan Merino. The show is co-produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Visit The Conversation for full credits. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. Further readingArctic Ocean: climate change is flooding the remote north with light – and new species, by Jørgen Berge, University of Tromsø; Carlos Duarte, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Dorte Krause-Jensen, Aarhus University; Karen Filbee-Dexter, Université Laval; Kimberly Howland, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), and Philippe Archambault, Université LavalOceans 21: our ongoing series on the state of our oceans featuring academics around the world Arctic sea ice is being increasingly melted from below by warming Atlantic water, by Tom Rippeth, Bangor UniversityWhere does plastic pollution go when it enters the ocean?, by Bruce Sutherland, University of Alberta; Michelle DiBenedetto, University of Washington and Ton van den Bremer, Delft University of TechnologyFinds in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge reveal how ancient humans adapted to change, by Julio Mercader Florin, University of CalgaryConspiracy theories start to take hold at age 14, study suggests, by Daniel Jolley, Northumbria University, Newcastle; Karen Douglas, University of Kent, and Yvonne Skipper, University of GlasgowCOVID vaccines: how to make sense of reports on their effectiveness, by Mark Toshner, University of Cambridge

Sui Ting Kong, an assistant professor at Durham University, discusses the impact of China’s National Security Law on Hong Kong residents, revealing deep emotional conflicts faced by those contemplating emigration. Benjamin Brubaker, a physicist from the University of Colorado Boulder, dives into the mysterious realm of dark matter, explaining innovative techniques for its detection, including axion research and quantum advancements. Together, they highlight crucial societal shifts and scientific quests that shape our understanding of both human and cosmic challenges.