Scores of Palestinians were killed at the Gaza border fence yesterday when Israeli security forces fired on them. Many were there to protest the move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – but Brendan Ciarán Browne argues that this issue is hardly the point. He says that Palestinians have been failed by the international community, which is increasingly focused on teaching them “resilience” while failing to hold Israel to account for its actions.

With its large subsurface ocean, Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is one of the best candidates for hosting microbial life in the solar system. But sampling the ocean water was never going to be easy – potentially involving landing on the moon to drill a hole through the ice. But strong evidencece now suggests that powerful jets of ocean water erupt from the icy surface, meaning that missions could simply fly through them to test the water. Andrew Coates argues we may be able to find evidence of life on the moon within a couple of decades. Katie Miles and Bryn Hubbard, meanwhile, have been attempting to bore through the ice of the highest glacier on Everest – with a drill adapted from a car wash.

The Arab Spring in 2011 set off a wave of optimism that democracy was on the rise. But while a good few of the world’s autocrats and authoritarians have stood down, died or been thrown out, too few have given way to healthy democracies – and many have been succeeded by equally despotic rulers. Natasha Ezrow gives a rundown of the state of dictatorships around the world.

Contact us here to have your event listed.

For sponsorship opportunities, email us here