|
|
|
|
In the final days of our donations campaign we want to thank all our readers and donors who have contributed. The Conversation's fortunes are to some extent linked to those of the university sector, which is now facing its greatest financial crisis for decades. Ultimately we need to trust that if we produce content our readers value, they will help fund its creation. And here our readers have delivered, helping us to end 2024 with our second best ever fundraising campaign, providing vital funds to support our work. Our sincere thanks to all, including our nearly 1,900 monthly donors and the hundreds of new donors who joined us this time.
Rest assured the popups will soon be gone. Until then if you've not added a little to the pot that helps turn our blood, sweat and tears (and those of our authors) into expert journalism, you can donate here.
As far as bodily fluids go, snot is not one we tend to spend a lot of time thinking about — until we’re sick, of course. The next time you’re ill, I challenge you to take a moment to consider your snot more carefully. Have a glance into your tissue and marvel at what you find there.
Snot is actually a fantastic outward expression of the inner, microscopic battles that rage inside of us everyday. The varied colours our mucus comes in can give us hints and clues about what’s going on — and whether it might be time to go to the doctor.
While most of us eagerly look forward to what we’ll do with all our free time during our retirement, recent research has found that almost 10% of people eligible to retire are still working. But the reasons why people continue to work past retirement age are hardly straightforward – your occupation, gender, ethnicity, health, marital status and where you live can all play a role, as this article explores.
If you’ve ever struggled to complete a Captcha puzzle designed to prove to a website that you’re a human and not a bot, then you’ll be disheartened to know that the bots are now smart enough to solve them. And they’re only going to get smarter as AI develops.
|
|
Heather Kroeker
Commissioning Editor, Health
|
|
Clear snot is usually the baseline.
Dmitrii Pridannikov/ Shutterstock
Samuel J. White, York St John University; Philippe B. Wilson, York St John University
Mucus isn’t merely a symptom of illness – it’s your immune system in action.
|
fizkes/Shutterstock
Takao Maruyama, University of Bradford; Vincent Charles, Queen's University Belfast
Our research explains which groups are still working beyond retirement age, and why.
|
‘Let’s try for a third time.’
Gago Design
Irfan Mehmood, University of Bradford; Kamran Mahroof, University of Bradford
Designed in the early 2000s to stop rogue bots, we could at least justify the infuriation when they did their job properly.
|
World
|
-
Wasim Ahmed, University of Hull; Ronnie Das, The University of Western Australia; Simon Chadwick, EM Lyon Business School
International football attracts those looking for influence and revenue.
-
Chelsea Johnson, University of Liverpool
History tells us that where a fragmented coalition of armed groups finds itself in a political vacuum, more violence is probably on the horizon.
-
Precious Chatterje-Doody, The Open University
Ex-president Dmitry Medvedev has called journalists who justify Ukraine’s actions ‘active participants’ in a war against Russia.
|
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Philip Murphy, School of Advanced Study, University of London
Prince Andrew is an ideal target but to focus solely on him is to overlook serious flaws elsewhere.
-
Paul Whiteley, University of Essex
Investing in infrastructure and skills is essential, but social capital shoudn’t be overlooked as a driver of growth.
-
Craig Robertson, University of Oxford
An expert on news consumption looks at how the popular new platform could shake up the industry.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
James Clark, University of Exeter
Hilary Mantel stressed she was concerned with depicting the outer world faithfully but her chief concern was her character’s interior drama. This adaptation shows how much she strayed from that
-
Martha McGill, University of Warwick
What does your liver line say about you?
-
MaoHui Deng, University of Manchester
This sleeper hit criticises the way caring for elder family members usually falls to women by default.
|
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Marcel Lukas, University of St Andrews
As workplaces are transformed by AI, workers who can use the technology well will remain attractive to employers.
|
|
Environment
|
-
Zina Alfahl, University of Galway
Antimicrobial resistance is hard to monitor because there’s no standard way to detect it. Here’s how it could be better identified in rivers, streams and seas.
-
Liz Stephens, University of Reading; Dan Green, University of Bristol; Luis Artur, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane
The ongoing conflict and terrorist violence, coupled with cyclones like Kenneth in 2019, has caused repeated evacuations and worsening living conditions.
-
Rebecca Morris, Keele University; Akrum Helfaya, Keele University
The environmental damage and loss of wildlife are the hidden costs of conflict.
|
|
Health
|
-
Jennifer James, University of Liverpool
Up to a third of the weight lost while taking weight loss jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro includes muscle and bone mass.
-
Ester Ellen Trees Bolt, University of Leeds
The culture of self-sacrifice in nursing is leading to burnout – one of the primary reasons for the mass exodus of nurses from the profession.
-
Jolel Miah, University of Westminster
Christmas can be a very stressful time of year for many.
-
Jacqueline Boyd, Nottingham Trent University
This Christmas, give your pets the gifts of time, attention – and some old newspaper to rip up.
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
| | |
