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Editor's note
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The novel coronavirus, yesterday declared a pandemic by the WHO, has turned world markets upside down and cast a pall over growth forecasts everywhere. But Rishi Sunak marked his first budget as UK chancellor with a £30 billion mega-package aimed at keeping Britain on the rails.
With the big items including a £5 billion immediately for the NHS and a promise of “whatever it needs” to combat coronavirus, as well as hefty measures for businesses and the workforce, austerity is officially dead and buried. This reflects the global consensus that fiscal expansion is the new rock and roll – aka no one thinks that central banks have enough firepower to save the world economy a second time.
Our panel of experts in everything from health economics to taxation run the rule over the main budget measures, while macroeconomics specialist Costas Milas drills into the debt and deficit numbers.
Elsewhere, we bring you news of the smallest dinosaur skull ever discovered, while two philosophers mull what enlightenment titan Spinoza would have made of “no-platforming”.
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Steven Vass
Scotland Editor
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Top stories
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Budget #1.
EPA
Costas Milas, University of Liverpool
The new chancellor's plans won't look half as prudent if the economy tanks.
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New chancellor, Rishi Sunak delivers his first budget.
Victoria Jones/PA Wire/PA Images
Phil Tomlinson, University of Bath; Cam Donaldson, Glasgow Caledonian University; Craig Berry, Manchester Metropolitan University; Gabriella Conti, UCL; Gavin Midgley, University of Southampton; John Weeks, SOAS, University of London; Karl Schmedders, International Institute for Management Development (IMD); Madeleine Gabriel, Nesta; Ross Brown, University of St Andrews; W David McCausland, University of Aberdeen
Rishi Sunak has delivered his first budget as UK chancellor and the Conservative Party's first budget since winning the 2019 general election.
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An artistic rendering of Oculudentavis.
Han Zhixin
David Martill, University of Portsmouth
The fossil includes the tiny flying creature's original bone and flesh.
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Baruch Spinoza, one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy.
Unknown artist via Wikimedia Commons
Beth Lord, University of Aberdeen; Alexander Douglas, University of St Andrews
It's not a case of being afraid of different ideas, more that some people want everyone to think as they do.
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Health + Medicine
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Rebecca S.B. Fischer, Texas A&M University
From the neighborhood to the newsroom to the White House, nobody stays silent during a health emergency. These terms are often mixed up, and it matters who is using them and when.
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Tom Duszynski, IUPUI
Travelers may undergo screenings at airports to control the spread of coronavirus. Research shows that these efforts have little to no effect on slowing the spread of disease.
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Jeremy Rossman, University of Kent
Don't count on it, says virologist.
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Sarah L Caddy, University of Cambridge
Can your canine give you coronavirus?
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Rajvinder Samra, The Open University
Daily recovery can not only relieve burnout – it may also prevent it in the first place.
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Michael Nicholson, University of Cambridge; Sarah Hosgood, University of Cambridge
Grisly early experiments laid the foundation of our understanding of how to keep organs 'alive' in isolation.
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Politics + Society
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Dionysios Stivas, Hong Kong Baptist University; Nicholas Ross Smith, University of Nottingham
The Chinese government has granted itself extraordinary new levels of control backed by advanced surveillance technology.
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Ben Seyd, University of Kent
Leaders all over the world have tested their citizens to the limit in recent years. Now they need them to follow strict orders to stop the spread of infection.
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Paul Dorfman, UCL
A new nuclear plant called Barakah is nearing completion in the UAE. But it risks further stabilising the volatile Gulf region.
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Environment + Energy
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Wolfgang Knorr, Lund University; Will Steffen, Australian National University
Humanity at risk if we keep thinking everything is under control
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Tom Stacey, Anglia Ruskin University
After 'Dieselgate', Volkswagen appears keen to rescue its public image. Now it's looking to hire its own 'Greta Thunberg'.
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Science + Technology
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Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, University of Cambridge; Christelle Langley, University of Cambridge; Muzaffer Kaser, University of Cambridge
Chemical changes in the brain associated with chronic stress can put our cognition and mood under serious strain.
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Mohammad Heidarzadeh, Brunel University London
Japan took a fresh approach to ensuring their society was more resilient to the frequent earthquakes they experience. We could learn from its experience.
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Business + Economy
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Chris Colvin, Queen's University Belfast; Eoin McLaughlin, University College Cork
Policymakers would be wise to pay attention to historical parallels.
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Featured events
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Regent St Cinema, 307 Regent Street, London W1B 2HW, London, Westminster, W1B 2HW, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of East Anglia
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East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Anglia Ruskin University
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East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Anglia Ruskin University
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East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Anglia Ruskin University
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