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As the alligator is to evolution, email is to the internet. We have long since dispensed with dial-up modems and Geocities, but inboxes have been pinging with monotonous regularity since at least the days of New Kids on the Block.
Email is also at the centre of today’s “always-on” work culture, where the whims of bosses follow many of us from the dinner table to the toilet and even to bed. The movement for the right to disconnect is striking back, but we are also our own worst enemies when it comes to checking messages. Work-culture expert Emma Russell and her colleagues report on their research project at a major UK charity, and explain how employers and workers can make inboxes more
bearable.
We put break-up songs under the spotlight to explain why Byron would have felt a kinship with everyone from Adele to Jacques Brel. And we look at the international silence over the imprisonment of former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, and why it’s a major concern.
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Steven Vass
Business + Economy Editor
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Open all hours.
Mavo
Emma Russell, University of Sussex; Kevin Daniels, University of East Anglia; Marc Fullman, University of Sussex; Tom Jackson, Loughborough University
A research team reports on its one-year project to improve the email habits of a large UK charity.
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Lord Byron was the original breakup artist.
National Portrait Gallery, London
Anthony Howe, Birmingham City University
From Jaques Brel to Adele, those who sing of lost love owe a lot to the lyrics of the Romantics.
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Imprisoned: ousted Myanmar leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Dan Kitwood/ PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo
Anna B. Plunkett, King's College London
Myanmar’s democracy figurehead faces up to 100 years in prison.
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Politics + Society
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Madeline Gleeson, UNSW
The mounting urgency about asylum seekers trying to reach the UK by boat does not sweep aside the need for reasoned and rational policymaking.
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James Rodgers, City, University of London
Former BBC reporter James Rodgers reflects on the end of the Soviet Union and finds lessons for today.
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Sophie Alkhaled, Lancaster University; Hans van Dijk, Tilburg University; Lena Knappert, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Quita Muis, Tilburg University
Platforms like Takecarebnb make these homestays accessible for refugees and hosts.
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Health + Medicine
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Andrew Lee, University of Sheffield
The UK has been rolling out COVID vaccines for a year. It’s been quite a ride.
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Michael Head, University of Southampton
The country appears to have created two highly protective jabs – though rigorous data on their testing still needs to be seen.
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Science + Technology
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Holly Hancock, University of East Anglia
The move signals a shift towards greater protection of individual privacy. But implementation and enforcement may be difficult.
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Hal Drakesmith, University of Oxford; Jon Wade, University of Oxford
Life doesn’t just need water and oxygen to thrive, it also needs iron.
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Environment + Energy
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David Waltham, Royal Holloway University of London
If we want to limit global warming to below 2°C, most of our untapped fossil fuel reserves need to be kept in the ground.
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Gavin Bridge, Durham University; Gisa Weszkalnys, London School of Economics and Political Science; Tiago Teixeira, Durham University
Shell’s withdrawal highlights unresolved tensions on the road to net zero.
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— Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Royal Holloway University of London
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— Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Royal Holloway University of London
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— Brookfield House, 223 London Road, Leicester, LE2 1ZE, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE2 1ZE, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Leicester
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