Data assembled by Pierre Bréchon on French people’s relationship to the European Union provides a fascinating illustration of my fellow citizens’ amour vache (tough love) for the bloc. Deeply European (62% of French people identify as European citizens), and yet also deeply critical, with 48% describing themselves as very pessimistic about the EU’s future – the highest percentage of the 27-country group. In his article surveying European statistics as well as history, Bréchon argues it all started to go wrong in the 1990s.
Michaela Hruskova and Katharina Scheidgen have been considering how Europe might catch up with Silicon Valley. The entrepreneurship academics point out the US has a culture in which venture capital only flows to startups when they have already gained traction and revenues. In contrast, startups in tech hubs such as Berlin usually only require a strong team and a good idea to receive funding. Here again, could more tough love power Europe’s tech sector?
For a moment of wonder, we highly recommend reading the article by astronomer Henk Hoekstra, who recounts his work for the Euclid space telescope. He writes about his quest to map out the distribution of matter in our universe. “Clumps of dark matter reveal their presence by distorting the shapes of more distant galaxies, just like waves on the surface of a swimming pool distort the pattern of tiles on the bottom.” It’s like setting sail for an infinitely distant horizon.
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Pierre Bréchon, Auteurs historiques The Conversation France
The French have an ambivalent relationship to the European Union, expressing a strong feeling of European belonging on the one hand, and Euroscepticism toward institutions on the other.
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Michaela Hruskova, University of Stirling; Katharina Scheidgen, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Silicon Valley investors insist that a startup is a credible business before they will part with funding. European investment hubs like Berlin and Scotland take a different approach.
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Henk Hoekstra, Leiden University
Back when Henk Hoekstra started his PhD, atmosphere turbulence and optical imperfections prevented us from accurately observing dark matter. He tells us why Euclid is a game changer.
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Montserrat Magro Gutiérrez, Universidad Nebrija; Paula Contesse Carvacho, Universidad Nebrija
Linking kind or harsh words to a child’s personality – as opposed to one specific action or behaviour – can impact their self perception.
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Carmen Beatriz Fernández, Universidad de Navarra
Pedro Sánchez has taken a controversial five day pause to reconsider his position at the head of Spain’s government. This ambitious gamble has put him in the spotlight once again.
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Dilshad Muhammad, University of Freiburg
Refugees play a key role in Turkish politics. Last month’s electoral shock raises the question of how – or whether – elections can change the situation for displaced people.
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Tom Stacey, Anglia Ruskin University
Chinese car makers are finding the road to succeeding in the EU slow and bumpy.
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