Can we Quake-Proof a City?
They are at once the most predictable and unpredictable killers. We know continent-sized slabs of earth are moving beneath our feet. We know they move at a speed that is often harmless - the same rate...
22 Mar 201622min
Why Are Wages So Low?
Pay packets in developed economies have hardly grown in decades. Economic output and the number of people in jobs have both improved since the global downturn. But with income levels failing to rise, ...
8 Mar 201622min
How Did Governments Lose Control of Encryption?
The clash between Apple and the FBI is the latest battle in a century-long conflict over the power to keep secrets. The FBI wants Apple to build a “backdoor to the iPhone” so that it can read encrypte...
1 Mar 201622min
Has President Assad Won?
Bashar al-Assad and his Syrian National Army appear to have the upper hand. The president has the momentum in a civil war that has raged for five years. It is a very different picture from that of 201...
23 Feb 201623min
Why Don’t We Eradicate Mosquitoes?
Mosquitoes are the most dangerous animals on the planet. They spread diseases - malaria, dengue and zika – that kill huge numbers of people and cause suffering to many more.So why not eradicate them?I...
15 Feb 201622min
How Did Iceland Clean Up its Banks (And Why Can't We)?
At 4pm on 6 October 2008, as the global financial crisis ravaged Iceland’s economy, its prime minister addressed the nation. "There is a danger, fellow citizens," he said, "that Iceland could be sucke...
9 Feb 201622min
Are We Fighting Cancer the Right Way?
The World Health Organisation says the number of cancer cases will rise by 70% over the next 20 years. A huge amount of effort and money is spent fighting the disease. But are we getting that fight ri...
2 Feb 201622min
How Has the US Gun Lobby Been so Successful?
When President Obama wept at a recent press conference to announce action on gun control, his tears might have been born of frustration as well as sadness. Despite frequent mass-shootings, events whic...
26 Jan 201622min
