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World in transition: Managing Resources
Nature & Environment

World in transition: Managing Resources

...systems of impoverished communities and the development agencies. They also show how development is linked to issues of identity, urbanisation, politics, economics, social relations and gender.In the bonus material Dr Helen Yanacopulos, Senior Lecturer in International Politics and Development at The Open University, provides insight into the educational value of the...
The formation of exoplanets
Science, Maths & Technology

The formation of exoplanets

...System. These include ‘hot Jupiters’ orbiting very close to their parent star and rocky ‘super Earths’ many times larger than our home planet. In this free course, The formation of exoplanets, you will learn about the challenges connected with efforts to reconcile the observed exoplanet population with current theories on how planets form. The two main theories...
Level 3: Advanced 6 hrs
What does an engineer look like?
Science, Maths & Technology

What does an engineer look like?

...systems engineers behind our #TyphoonJet http://t.co/e5pcFiW4Sa #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/0fIaSqJ75l — BAE Systems Air (@BAESystemsAir) August 6, 2015 Both the Wellcome Trust and the Aspires Project at King’s College London have found that girls and young women are less likely to see themselves in a career in science. Parents also discourage girls’...
Explainer: Einstein's Theory of General Relativity
Science, Maths & Technology

Explainer: Einstein's Theory of General Relativity

...system in which acceleration can be due to either gravity or changes in velocity? It seems to depend on how you are looking at it. That led to the idea of a “reference frame” – the stage on which the objects you are looking at play out their roles. There may of course be other frames in which the objects appear to behave differently, so we need a description of all...
The hostile environment for immigrants is drawn from a well of taken-for-granted assumptions
Society, Politics & Law

The hostile environment for immigrants is drawn from a well of taken-for-granted assumptions

...system to take account of the diversity of the population it ostensibly serves. The hostile environment to immigration is only one of a series of hostile environments established by the current Government. The disabled, single parents, unemployed, those who rely on benefits have all been treated, in one way or another, to versions of the hostile environment. The Ken Loach...
The unique relationship between the fig and the fig wasp
Nature & Environment

The unique relationship between the fig and the fig wasp

...systems where changes in one small thing can have knock-on effects to many othersEverything is connected to everything else. That’s one of the themes that runs through A Perfect Planet. The Earth is a set of interconnected systems where changes in one small thing can have knock-on effects to many others. One of the stories in the series is about tropical fig trees, the...
What do we need to know about our memory?
Health, Sports & Psychology

What do we need to know about our memory?

...systems. Pathological ageing is being often referred to as speeded-up ageing, where due to some missing components (self-repair functions, quickly advancing changes in neurotransmitters and neurones; significantly increased presence of plaques and tangles in the brain; or chronic inflammations) the decline of our brain progresses faster when compared to physiological...
The Open University's Carbon Calculator
Nature & Environment

The Open University's Carbon Calculator

...system, some other sectors and embedded in imports have fallen as the UK and other countries attempt to move towards net zero. According to official statistics, by 2019 total UK consumption-based emissions were 774 million tonnes CO2e (Figure 1) meaning that the average carbon footprint was about 11.6 tonnes CO2e/person/year. By 2022 the average footprint is estimated to...