insert_link Entertainment Bridgerton season three – all the usual froth, but a more mature edge as Regency fears of spinsterhood explored By Danielle Mariann Dove, University of Surrey Note this piece contains spoilers for seasons two and three of Bridgerton Netflix’s Regency-inspired romance series Bridgerton has returned in all its garish glory (at least if you’re a Featherington) for the show’s much-anticipated third season. Transporting viewers once again into the glittering world of high society scandal, gossip and romantic intrigue, this latest instalment shifts the focus […] today20 May, 2024
insert_link Africa Africa’s megacities threatened by heat, floods and disease – urgent action is needed to start greening and adapt to climate change By Meelan Thondoo, University of Cambridge Cities cover just 3% of the planet. But they emit 78% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, absorb 80% of final global energy (what consumers use) and consume 60% of clean drinking water. African megacities like Lagos, Nigeria (with 21 million residents) and Cairo, Egypt (with 10 million residents) are experiencing significant temperature increases due to the urban heat island effect […] today24 April, 2024
insert_link South Africa Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility By Bronwyn Law-Viljoen, University of Adelaide Ivan Vladislavić is Johannesburg’s literary linkman. He tells us, in the first pages of his new book, The Near North, that before cities were lit, first by gaslight and later electricity, people of means paid torchbearers to escort them through dark and perilous streets. “In Paris,” he observes, “these linkmen were often police spies or informers, while in London they were […] today24 April, 2024
insert_link Environment Fossil beetles found in a Botswana diamond mine help us to reconstruct the distant past By Sandiso Mnguni, University of the Witwatersrand When most people think of fossils they probably picture bones. But there’s much more to the global fossil record: plants, shells, minerals and insects. The study of fossil insects is called palaeoentomology. Palaeoentomologists like myself seek out and study fossil insects that were trapped in mud which later became rock sediments, and those found in amber (tree resin). Very few deposits […] today11 April, 2024
insert_link Africa Why is Ghana so hot this year? An expert explains By Yaw Agyeman Boafo, University of Ghana Ghana’s meteorological agency and the state’s health service have issued warnings about a period of very high temperatures expected in the first half of 2024 around the country. Ghana’s experience is part of a global phenomenon: record temperatures were recorded in 2023. Yaw Agyeman Boafo, the programmes coordinator and a senior research fellow at the University of Ghana’s Centre for […] today8 April, 2024
