2,340 search results
Why is snow so hard to predict?
Nature & Environment

Why is snow so hard to predict?

...public” said the National Weather Service’s Gary Szatkowski, on Twitter. The politicians have defended their actions, with New York mayor Bill de Blasio saying the city shutdown was the sensible choice, given the potential for damage and loss of life. He said “we made the decision, better safe than sorry.” Is this a “forecast bust” or a case of expectations...
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Article 5 mins
How afraid of death are we?
Health, Sports & Psychology

How afraid of death are we?

...public settings. For example, death cafes, first launched in Switzerland in 2004, have spread around the world, enabling people to speak about their fears over cake and coffee. Our reluctance to talk about death is often taken as evidence that we are afraid, and therefore suppress thoughts about it. However, there is little direct evidence to support that we are. So what...
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Article 5 mins
Exploring Ireland’s historic army barracks network
OpenLearn Ireland

Exploring Ireland’s historic army barracks network

...public amenities or heritage sites. Noteworthy examples include Collins Barracks in Dublin (Fig. 1), which now hosts the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts & History; and Ebrington Barracks, which has been transformed into an important public space and tourism destination in Derry/Londonderry (Fig. 2/3). The value of historic barracks is being recognised...
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Article 5 mins
Why books are a lifeline for prisoners
Society, Politics & Law

Why books are a lifeline for prisoners

...public money. The project I saw in action is called The Big Book Share, and involves prisoners reading and recording chapters of children's books. A CD of the reading is given to their families so that children (and, in the case of some of the women prisoners, grandchildren, nephews and nieces) can listen to a bedtime story from inside. A copy of the book being read is...
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Article 5 mins
Think you’re better at driving than most? How psychological biases are keeping our roads unsafe
Health, Sports & Psychology

Think you’re better at driving than most? How psychological biases are keeping our roads unsafe

...public outcry if the homicide rate reached this level. It seems that there is a level of social acceptance around the inevitability of road death which feeds into driver attitudes about ‘acceptable law breaking’ while driving. Most drivers also underestimate their chances of being involved in a collision, due to their belief that they have increased skill. And each...
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Article 5 mins
COP28: inside the United Arab Emirates, the oil giant who hosted the 2023 climate change summit
Nature & Environment

COP28: inside the United Arab Emirates, the oil giant who hosted the 2023 climate change summit

...public-sector sinecures. [An oil field within the Arabian desert near Dubai, UAE.] An oil field within the Arabian Desert, near Dubai. This state of affairs is a central tenet of the Arabian Gulf social contract, in which citizens of the six gulf states mostly occupy bureaucratic public sector positions administering an oil-based economy with expatriate labour dominating...
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Article 10 mins
Trouble in paradise: The Dutch golden age
History & The Arts

Trouble in paradise: The Dutch golden age

...public church that was lobbying for heavy restrictions on philosophical research and a crackdown on dissenting views. In the cities, a wealthy merchant class-controlled trade and politics, and the country’s “Golden Age” was far from evenly distributed. And while in theory the relatively new country was a republic, in practice its head of state had at times been the...
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Article 10 mins
What does a Trump victory mean for Britain?
Society, Politics & Law

What does a Trump victory mean for Britain?

...public, makes for uncomfortable politics for any UK government already struggling with allegations of complicity in torture with the USA, where the public is sceptical of involvement in overseas conflicts, and where relations with authoritarian states such as Russia remain – despite hopes of easing relations – tense. That leaves the British government facing three...
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Article 5 mins