Teaching animals irrelevant skills can reveal the secrets of cognition
Scientists can get animals to do the strangest things. They’ve taught goldfish to drive cars, primates to perform calculations with Arabic numerals and giraffes to do statistical reasoning. But what’s...
14 Aug 202521min
How the world got hooked on plastic
Countries around the world are meeting in Geneva in August to negotiate a global plastics treaty aimed at curbing plastic pollution. The last round of negotiations failed last November after oil-produ...
7 Aug 202528min
How Rupert Murdoch helped to build brand Trump
Donald Trump is suing Rupert Murdoch, alongside the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones and others, for libel after the Journal published an article alleging that Trump once wrote a “bawdy” birthday let...
31 Juli 202527min
Israel’s secret deal to build a nuclear arsenal
Israel has never officially confirmed or denied having nuclear weapons and has never signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Instead, even as evidence has emerged about its nuclear capabilities, ...
24 Juli 202527min
What will batteries of the future be made of?
The majority of the world’s rechargeable batteries are now made using lithium-ion. Most rely on a combination of different rare earth metals such as cobalt or nickel for their electrodes. But around t...
17 Juli 202526min
An enduring anti-fascist legacy in Italy
Across Europe, far-right movements are gaining ground. By normalising nationalist rhetoric and challenging democratic institutions, these parties raise comparisons with former periods of fascism on th...
10 Juli 202523min
How Europe dropped the ball on its own defence
The language from European leaders was fawning and obsequious. At one point, the head of Nato, Mark Rutte, even called Donald Trump “daddy”. But when the US president left the Nato summit in late June...
3 Juli 202531min
Autism, RFK Jr and avoiding disability surveillance
Robert F Kennedy Jr caused controversy in April by promising to find a cause for autism by September. Claims by the new US secretary for health and human services that autism is a “preventable disease...
26 Juni 202533min
