Editor's note

Madagascar is known for its rare and incredible wildlife, from critically endangered lemurs to majestic baobab trees. But even as tourists flock to the east African island, the security situation in some areas has reached crisis point. Julia Jones reports on how bandits, illegal gold miners, and cattle thieves are threatening local people and conservation efforts in one of the planet’s most important places for biodiversity.

Eating three meals a day – plus snacks – might seem perfectly normal, but it’s only fairly recently that humans began having such regular mealtimes. Jenna Macciochi explains how snacking influences inflammation in the body and how this may be having a negative effect on your health.

It’s a very modern fear, that the ever increasing time we spend looking at screens may be damaging our eyesight. But in the 19th century, Victorians had similar concerns – in an era that saw the rise of mass print and interest in eye care. Gemma Almond explains how modern technology sparked very real fears that a nation could go blind.

The UK government has now published the full legal advice it was given on Brexit after it was found to be in contempt of parliament. Legal expert Phil Syrpis explains the key points you need to know and what the wider implications of the document are.

Jack Marley

Assistant Section Editor

Top stories

Ranomafana National Park. LouieLea/Shutterstock

Madagascar: fear and violence making rainforest conservation more challenging than ever

Julia P G Jones, Bangor University

A recent spate of attacks have left local people scared for their safety in rural Madagascar, threatening vital conservation work in the nearby rainforest.

shutterstock

Why snacking could be damaging your health

Jenna Macciochi, University of Sussex

Just the act of eating each meal places a large degree of physiological stress on the immune system.

Examination by ophthalmoscope in JF Phillips’ Ophthalmic Surgery and Treatment, 1869. Wellcome Library

Why Victorians feared modern technology would make everyone blind

Gemma Almond, Swansea University

Screen time wasn't a issue in the 19th century but that didn't stop concerns over how new developments might damage eyesight

Don’t forget parliament. Yui Mok/PA Wire

Brexit legal advice: what it says, and why the UK now faces key constitutional questions

Phil Syrpis, University of Bristol

An EU law expert on what the attorney general's legal advice on Brexit means and its wider significance for the future.

Politics + Society

Business + Economy

  • What moves markets more, Twitter or traditional news?

    Costas Milas, University of Liverpool; Theodore Panagiotidis, University of Macedonia; Theologos Dergiades, University of Macedonia

    New research into the Greek crisis from 2012-16 compared how tweets and traditional news affected bond yields among countries in the eurozone peripheries.

Health + Medicine

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