|
|
For some people, losing their sense of smell during COVID hasn’t just been an inconvenience. It’s completely changed their lives.
Not everyone who loses their smell gets it back. Others find their senses are mixed up, with familiar foods, scents and even people becoming disgusting. As new research shows, this has left long COVID sufferers in particular chasing certain tastes in vain, eating poorly, and struggling with the smell of friends and partners.
Supplies of some foods are being threatened by an industrial carbon dioxide shortage, linked to the current shortage of gas. The government has temporarily stepped in to get production started again, but why can’t we use some of that CO2 in the atmosphere we’re so worried about? Well, plans are afoot.
And while fax machines are a relic of the past, there’s one surprising place they’ve survived – Japan. It turns out the country’s high-tech reputation is not quite as deserved as you might think.
|
|
Rob Reddick
Commissioning Editor, COVID-19
|
|
Flotsam/Shuttestock
Vincent Deary, Northumbria University, Newcastle; Duika Burges Watson, Newcastle University
‘His natural odour used to make me want him; now it makes me vomit.’
|
AYDO8/Shutterstock
Peter Styring, University of Sheffield
CO₂ is used in a range of industries, from food production to pharmaceuticals.
|
FabrikaSimf/Shutterstock
Hansun Hsiung, Durham University
Despite its cutting-edge image, Japan has a soft spot for the decidedly 20th-century machines.
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Mike Ryder, Lancaster University
One of the greatest science fiction writers, Asimov’s work has had a lasting effect thanks to his prescient takes on technology, climate collapse and humanity’s future.
-
Lisa Moore, University of Salford
It’s a painful irony that a multi-billion pound industry, purporting to mirror real life is essentially erasing women’s stories from our screens.
-
Alexandros Antoniou, University of Essex
The Nirvana baby lawsuit serves as a timely reminder to parents to be careful about what they are sharing about their children online.
|
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Alex de Ruyter, Birmingham City University; David Hearne, Birmingham City University
Joe Biden seems to have little appetite for closer economic ties.
-
Edward Thomas Jones, Bangor University; Danial Hemmings, Bangor University; Simon Middleburgh, Bangor University
As WallStreetBets traders begin to eye stocks linked to the radioactive metal, there could be a major bubble in the offing.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
Matthew Farrow, University of Bradford
A new study shows that the more physically active a person, the more calcium build-up they have in their coronary arteries.
-
Jessica Bernard, Texas A&M University
Reduced brain volume in people who have experienced COVID-19 resembles brain changes typically seen in older adults. The implications of these findings are not yet clear.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Ahmed Elgammal, Rutgers University
When Beethoven died, all he left behind were some sketches for his 10th Symphony. Now, thanks to the help of artificial intelligence, the composer’s vision is coming to life.
|
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Jieyu Liu, SOAS, University of London
Despite the emancipation of women in China in 1949, sexual harassment and inequality in the workplace are still the norm.
|
|
|
Featured events
|
|
— The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, Manchester, M139PL, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Manchester
|
|
— The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, Manchester, M139PL, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Manchester
|
|
— Online, Zoom, Cardiff [Caerdydd GB-CRD], CF10 3BA, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Cardiff University
|
|
— Online, Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Southampton
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|