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You have to wear a mask while on public transport in Sweden. Unless, that is, you have a reserved seat. Or you were born after 2004. Or if it’s between 9am and 4pm, or 6pm and 7am. Meanwhile, a number of Swedish towns have been banning the use of masks in places such as schools and libraries. Confused yet? It’s not surprising that even the director of country’s public health agency was caught out not wearing a mask when he should have been.
How did Sweden end up in such a position? Well, while much of the rest of the world was recommending masks as a way to stop the spread of the virus, the Scandinavian country spent most of last year warning they could actually pose a danger. And once you’ve established such an idea, it’s rather difficult to change people’s minds.
We’ve also been hearing why, despite the lack of a financial services trade deal with the EU, London’s banking sector could actually benefit from Brexit. Naked mole-rats, meanwhile, aren’t just fascinating for their bizarre appearance and cancer-resisting abilities – they also talk to each other in different dialects.
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Megan Clement
Commissioning Editor, COVID-19
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Jessica Gow/EPA
Tine Walravens, Copenhagen Business School; Paul O'Shea, Lund University
Masks between 7am and 9am for those born before 2005 – Sweden's coronavirus policies are unnecessarily confusing.
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City limits?
Jack Gibson
David McMillan, University of Stirling
The question now is, how to turn a crisis into an opportunity.
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Naked mole-rats are among the most vocal of rodents.
Felix Petermann, MDC
Matthew James Mason, University of Cambridge
A new study found naked mole-rats communicate with chirps unique to their colony.
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Business + Economy
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Maxine Whelan, Coventry University; Celine Brookes-Smith, Coventry University; Natalie Bisal, Coventry University
Wearables already monitor our physical health – is it time for them to track our mental health too?
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Panicos O Demetriades, University of Leicester
UK banks have been given six months to prepare for rates going below zero.
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Arts + Culture
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Susuana Amoah, Goldsmiths, University of London
Anonymous accounts show how urgently contemporary galleries need to confront legacies of discrimination
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Julian Jason Haladyn, OCAD University
As the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions and quarantines continues into their second year, more people are experiencing an acute form of COVID-boredom.
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Politics + Society
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Michael Humphrey, Colorado State University
The 45th president of the United States used a specific technique to tell different versions of the very same story, of a nation under threat and a man working to save it.
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Thomas Grisaffi, University of Reading; Linda Farthing, University of Reading
Coca is illegal – and there are harsh penalties for cultivating it. But farmers whose families face poverty say they have no choice.
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Health + Medicine
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Cate Varney, University of Virginia
Americans with excess weight and obesity have been hit hard by COVID-19. Now there is reason to believe they may not get the same protection from the vaccines.
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Teena J Clouston, Cardiff University
'Workaholics' are driven to work excessively, even despite the negative impact this has on health.
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Science + Technology
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Ciara McGrath, University of Strathclyde
Satellites impact our lives in many different ways, and some of these may surprise you.
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Andrea Baronchelli, City, University of London
Deplatformed groups can all too easily flock to alternative platforms to coordinate.
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Environment + Energy
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Ilona Kater, Durham University; Robert Baxter, Durham University; Simone Abram, Durham University
The Arctic is particularly vulnerable to climate change, but efforts to tackle it risk alienating the people who live there.
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