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Has Twitter's role as a political influence been overstated?
Digital & Computing

Has Twitter's role as a political influence been overstated?

...course, many things to many people. It is a place people have connected, had ideas developed, and views broadened. However, it is also violent – a place of trolls, masked and unmasked hostility, overt fascism, and even nuclear brinkmanship. Whatever the experience, Twitter is made possible by platform capitalism – a business plan that incentivises outrage to monetise...
A gift of life at the end of life
Health, Sports & Psychology

A gift of life at the end of life

...Open University's Health and Social Care courses. There are currently around 7,000 people on the UK transplant waiting lists and over 420 people died waiting for a transplant last year (2021). The Organ donation law in parts of the UK has recently changed to an ‘opt out’ system. This should increase the numbers of potential organs available for transplant and help...
Talking about weight in therapy – Top tips for size affirmative practice
Health, Sports & Psychology

Talking about weight in therapy – Top tips for size affirmative practice

...opened my eyes to the ways in which larger people, including myself, are marginalised because of their size. This ultimately led me to my current research drawing on clients’ and therapists’ experiences which support the development of size affirmative practices in psychotherapy and counselling. The below points represent some of the key learning from my own journey...
Properties of gold
Science, Maths & Technology

Properties of gold

Open University chemist Mike Bullivant outlines the properties of gold...Find out more about The Open University's Science courses and qualifications [vial of gold] Why is gold so expensive? Gold is an unusual metal in that it predominantly exists in the Earth’s crust as the element (so-called ‘native’ gold); that is, it’s not chemically combined with other elements....
The science behind why we drink alcohol
Health, Sports & Psychology

The science behind why we drink alcohol

...Open University, investigates...Find out more about The Open University's Health and Wellbeing courses People have been consuming alcohol for at least 10,000 years. And when drinking water was rather risky, alcohol seemed a much safer bet . Amaldus of Villanova, a 14th-century monk, even wrote that alcohol “prolongs life, clears away ill humours, revives the heart and...
From intuition to inference: how experts inform Bayesian models
Science, Maths & Technology

From intuition to inference: how experts inform Bayesian models

...Open University's Statistics courses and qualifications. In statistics, analysis is often presented as beginning with data. In practice, this is rarely true. Before any data is collected, there are already expectations about what values are plausible, which outcomes seem unlikely, and what patterns might emerge. These expectations arise from previous studies, theoretical...
Supporting parents through pregnancy and birth distress
Health, Sports & Psychology

Supporting parents through pregnancy and birth distress

...Open University's Health and wellbeing courses and qualifications. Mental health difficulties during pregnancy and early parenthood (perinatal period) represent a significant public health issue. Many parents remain unheard, misunderstood, or fearful of disclosing their experiences. This article brings together the voice of parents, clinicians and academics to explore how...
Beyond the Babble: A conversation about the art of listening
Society, Politics & Law

Beyond the Babble: A conversation about the art of listening

...course of the exhibition each recording is integrated into a living and growing sound installation. When heard all together these voices are an unidentifiable babble, however by tuning into a specific channel, each individual voice can be properly integrated, cutting through the noise, and generating its own impact as part of a collective. Giota: Certainly the questions...