|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editor's note
|
Most people were shocked when Robert Mugabe was announced as the WHO goodwill ambassador for non-communicable diseases for Africa. As a consultant working for the WHO, Luke Allen writes that it also dumbfounded colleagues and senior staff. He considers what it means for the organisation and its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has since rescinded the accolade.
Whether it’s pennies added to the cost of Marmite, or chunks stripped off your Toblerone, the cost of food is rising. But not all price rises are the same, says agro-economist Iain Fraser. Here, he explains how an unfortunate combination of poor harvests due to drought and rocketing demand sent the price of Brazil nuts rocketing by 61% this year.
The search for missing flight MH370 was called off at the start of 2017, nearly three years after it disappeared over the Indian Ocean. Now researchers hope that a new method of tracking underwater acoustic waves could help find it. Davide Crivelli and Usama Kadri explain.
And new research suggests mothers are hardwired to pick up their crying children, but Dean D'Souza lays out the case for why it may still be learned behaviour.
|
Jo Adetunji
Deputy Editor
|
|
|
Top story
|
A calamitous endorsement.
Jason Szenes/EPA-EFE
Luke Allen, University of Oxford
Unpicking the baffling case of how one of Africa's dictators became the world's top ambassador for non-communicable diseases – at least for a while.
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Iain Fraser, University of Kent
Is the 61% spike in the price of Brazil nuts this year because we're going nuts for nuts?
-
Afroditi Pina, University of Kent
In the wake of the #MeToo campaign we need to build cultures that do not tolerate any level of harassment at work.
-
Angus Cameron, University of Leicester
Meet Jakob Fugger, the man who underwrote the ambition of power-hungry medieval Princes.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Davide Crivelli, Cardiff University; Usama Kadri, Cardiff University
A new method has been developed to find objects that land at sea using underwater sounds.
-
Dean D'Souza, Anglia Ruskin University
New research tries to suggest mothers' responses are pre-programmed, but there's a problem with the evidence.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Peter Howson, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Palau has banned commercial fishing in most of its waters – while encouraging more foreign visitors.
-
Ben Christman, University of Edinburgh
Specialist courts and judges could ensure that key laws protecting the environment are upheld. But the Scottish government has rejected the idea
|
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Miriam Bak McKenna, Lund University
The Spanish government is dealing with the Catalonian secession movement in entirely the wrong way. But what would getting it right look like?
-
Paolo Novak, SOAS, University of London
Food is a real flashpoint in the power dynamics between asylum seekers and the people looking after them.
-
Sharmila Rudrappa, University of Texas at Austin
Surrogate mothers in developing countries are being shuffled across borders to evade a crackdown on the industry. This emerging gray market puts women at risk.
-
Nicole L Freiner, Bryant University
Support for asserting Japan's military might in response to threats from North Korea and China may destabilize the region.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Irena Hayter, University of Leeds
Why do roboticists dream of electric women?
-
Peter Mackay, University of St Andrews
Most people's shortbread-tin ideas about the Highlands and Islands are missing a key traditional ingredient.
-
Matthew Worley, University of Reading
Four decades after the release of punk's most famous album it remains a classic moment in popular culture.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
Andrew Barnes, Sheffield Hallam University
Many parents may insist on their child wearing headgear in the belief they are reducing the injury risk, when in fact the opposite could be true.
|
|
|
Featured events
|
|
Birmingham, Birmingham, B2 5EP, United Kingdom — University of Birmingham
|
|
The Weston Auditorium, de Havilland Campus, Hatfield , Hertfordshire, AL10 9EU, United Kingdom — University of Hertfordshire
|
|
51 Gordon Square, London, London, City of, WC1H 0PN, United Kingdom — UCL
|
|
University of Leicester School of Business, Leicester, Leicester, LE17RH, United Kingdom — University of Leicester
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|