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It’s taken some time, but the long-postponed, amended legislation on freedom of speech at universities comes into force in England today. The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, passed in 2023, intends to offer robust protection for freedom of speech on campus, and the implications for universities, staff and student could be signficant. Eric Heinze, an expert on human rights and freedom of speech, sets out what this will actually mean for universities and, in particular, how they approach hosting potentially controversial events.
The implications of the act go further, though, argue higher education policy researchers Richard Bale and Tiffany Chiu. They believe the effects of the legislation may actually help students feel more at home at university – giving them the confidence to speak up and challenge dominant cultures and patterns of thought.
It turns out that the stories of our childhood are told by our teeth. Researchers studying the skeletons of children who lived in fourteenth-century Lincolnshire have used patterns in their teeth to track the malnutrition they experienced during periods of famine.
And if you’ve ever been lucky enough to have a dog that could tell when you were sad, and did its best to cheer you up, this piece on where dogs get their emotional intelligence from is for you.
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Grace Allen
Education and Young People Editor
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Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock
Eric Heinze, Queen Mary University of London
Many universities will have to change the way they approach free speech.
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Science History Images
Julia Beaumont, University of Bradford
Medieval teeth reveal how childhood hunger echoes through generations.
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Dmytro Zinkevych/Shutterstock.com
Laura Elin Pigott, London South Bank University
The science behind your dog’s emotional intelligence.
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World
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Tom Harper, University of East London
The Motuo hydropower project will be four times the size of the gigantic Three Gorges dam, the next biggest hydropower project in the world.
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Jonathan Este, The Conversation
It’s the first time the Arab League has called for Hamas to disarm and disband.
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Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham
The US president doesn’t appear to have sufficient leverage or an experienced enough team to solve the more complex conflicts.
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Scott Lucas, University College Dublin
For the first time, the Arab League has called for Hamas to disarm and disband.
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Arts + Culture
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John Kenneth Paranada, University of East Anglia
The exhibition was shaped by deep collaboration with scientists, artists, ecologists, activists and coastal communities.
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Stephan Blum, University of Tübingen; Michael La Corte, University of Tübingen
Odysseus is one of ancient literature’s most complex figures.
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Business + Economy
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Maha Rafi Atal, University of Glasgow
This time around, Brussels was not negotiating from a position of strength.
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Education
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Richard Bale, The University of Law; Tiffany Chiu, Imperial College London
Belonging can also mean being able to challenge dominant norms and discourses.
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Environment
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Matthew Blackett, Coventry University
Despite recording one of the strongest earthquakes in a century, the Pacific escaped major damage.
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Ioanna Stamataki, University of Greenwich
Fire-scorched land is less able to handle climate-driven downpours.
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Health
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Liz Breen, University of Bradford; Jonathan Silcock, University of Bradford; Zoe Edwards, University of Bradford
The development of new weight loss drugs is one way that patient access can be ensured in the future.
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Kevin Pimbblet, University of Hull
Vasectomy is safe for most but a study analysing 11,000 social media comments shows that some men are regretful and in pain months after the procedure.
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Podcasts
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Gemma Ware, The Conversation
Listen to Andrew Dodd on The Conversation Weekly podcast on the long, transactional relationship between Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch.
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1 April - 22 August 2025
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4 - 8 August 2025
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Colchester, Essex
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8 - 29 September 2025
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Wivenhoe Park, Colchester
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