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Editor's note
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This week, the world lost not only one of its greatest scientists but one of its greatest science communicators. In tribute to Stephen Hawking, we invited one of his students to share what she learned from his teaching and heard from Astronomer Royal Martin Rees about the great physicist’s life.
Hawking was always adamant that sharing his knowledge with the public was vitally important to his work. And so many other academics are now doing the same. The research they do every day helps us understand the world around us and equips us with the information we need to confront the most difficult subjects of our age.
A new immersive exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London, for example, will be exploring some of the biggest questions about human life. One of the featured scientists, Kevin Fong, has worked with Nasa on human physiology in extreme environments, as well as delivering the Royal Institution Christmas lectures. He wrote for us about his work investigating how free drivers are able to descend hundreds of metres under water, holding their breath for up to 11 minutes at a time.
Meanwhile, Oxford’s Rasmus Kleis Nielsen was part of a high level expert group on "fake news" that reported back to the European Commission this week. He describes how soft power, rather than waiting for technology companies to act, could be the most effective solution to the issue that has everyone bamboozled.
Have a nice weekend.
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Laura Hood
Assistant Editor
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Top story
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Hawking at the University of Cambridge.
Lwp Kommunikáció/Flickr
Marika Taylor, University of Southampton
Hawking wasn't able to give his students a gentle introduction, but he did provide a lot of inspiration and support.
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Science + Technology
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Kevin Fong, UCL
Diving without oxygen tanks requires you to enact some very weird and very strange and not all that well understood physiological feats just to stay alive.
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Mark Ilan Abrahams, University of East Anglia
Three researchers studied the "crop raiders" of the Brazilian rainforest in the hope of aiding both local farmers and wildlife conservation.
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Martin Rees, University of Cambridge
UK's Astronomer Royal Martin Rees shares his memories of the physicist Stephen Hawking, who has died at the age of 76.
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Sharon George, Keele University; Deirdre McKay, Keele University
Truly green plastic requires more than sustainable raw materials.
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Environment + Energy
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Off-grid mountain house.
Shutterstock
Sharon George, Keele University
Lowering your carbon footprint by living off-grid is a sustainability dream. But how possible is it using current technology?
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Kevin Anderson, University of Manchester
Politics has been disrupted by the financial crisis and the rise of new technologies. Rapid change suddenly looks a lot more possible.
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Jacco van Loon, Keele University
'Ridge A' sits at the peak of the Antarctic ice sheet and has exceptionally cold, dry, thin and dark skies.
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Politics + Society
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Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, University of Oxford
It will take a concerted effort of stakeholders working together to combat disinformation says new EU report.
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Cameron Ross, University of Dundee
Vladimir Putin is leagues ahead of the rest in opinion polls. But he's more worried about turnout.
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Petros Karatsareas, University of Westminster
It would diminsh the value of Britain's multilingualism, promote a monolingual ideology and discriminate against speakers of other languages.
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Arts + Culture
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Phillip Vaughan, University of Dundee
The cat and mouse comedy duo have been locked in conflict for more than 78 years now.
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Paul Dimeo, University of Stirling
Doping controversy around British cycling and athletics is the latest sign that sports authorities need to do something drastic.
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Business + Economy
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Watch and spend.
Shutterstock
Lisa Du-Lieu, University of Huddersfield; Brendan Canavan, University of Huddersfield
Is brand awareness enough when the ads make you want to switch channel?
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Michael Wade, IMD Business School; Jialu Shan, IMD Business School
Old retail might be dying in the West, but it's been given new life in China.
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Health + Medicine
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Samantha Vanderslott, University of Oxford
Anti-vaxxer movement is often portrayed as a powerful force. They are anything but.
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Alan Radford, University of Liverpool
Pets give us a lot of joy ... and sometimes a few diseases.
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Education
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Up in arms.
Jane Barlow/PA Wire/PA Images
Ania Zalewska, University of Bath
From the outside, it might look like another case of a pension black hole problem hitting another UK institution. Not so.
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Podcast
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Will de Freitas, The Conversation; Annabel Bligh, The Conversation; Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Kelly Fiveash, The Conversation
This episode is all about bitcoin. Will it be the currency of the future? Who’s trying to capitalise on the legal loopholes of cryptocurrencies? And is it possible to make mining them more green.
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Featured events
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Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom — University of Manchester
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Room AEW/003, Alcuin East Wing, Alcuin College, York, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom — University of York
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Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom — University of Manchester
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Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom — Royal Holloway
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