Editor's note

Vaccines are routinely – and rightly – voted as one of the greatest inventions of all time. And work by scientists in Denmark have discovered that vaccines do more than protect against the disease they were designed to combat. They seem to prime the innate immune system to defend against other, non-related infections, thereby saving countless more lives. But the key is the order in which vaccines are given, as Christine Stabell Benn explains.

Swashbuckling pirates of the high-seas may seem far removed from today’s génocidaires or war criminals. But in the 17th and 18th centuries, pirates posed a genuine existential threat to society – and, as Mark Chadwick explains, their prosecution forged the way for today’s international criminal justice system.

In order to encourage diversity, many large organisations have developed spaces – both physical and online – specifically for their employees from minority groups. This can be an extremely positive move, explains Christopher Begeny. But there are downsides too – and firms must find additional ways to reduce discrimination in the first place.

Clint Witchalls

Health + Medicine Editor

Top stories

Child ready to receive measles vaccine, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. Christine Stabell Benn

Vaccines have health effects beyond protecting against target diseases

Christine Stabell Benn, University of Southern Denmark

Vaccines have 'non-specific effects' that have the potential to save millions of lives.

Blackbeard: an early international criminal. Capture of the Pirate, Blackbeard by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris via Wikimedia Commons

The prosecution of pirates was a model for today’s system of international justice

Mark Chadwick, Nottingham Trent University

How pirates helped to shape international criminal law.

Shutterstock

The mental health pros and cons of minority spaces in the workplace

Christopher Begeny, University of Exeter

Strategies to support a diverse workforce can be beneficial – but may have unintended consequences.

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