Year: 2025

Can air conditioning really make you sick? A microbiologist explains

Poorly maintained AC units can harbour numerous infectious microbes.

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The key to a centenarian’s long life may be their superhuman ability to avoid disease – new research

Centenarians are of such great interest to scientists because they may hold the key to understanding how we can live longer in good health.

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Why Jane Austen’s leading men are such enduringly popular heartthrobs

All of Austen’s leading men are rich, which certainly helps to intensify their charms. But that’s not everything.

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Horror, beauty and reframing colonial histories – what to watch, see and read this week

All the films, books and exhibitions you should have on your radar this week.

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The UK needs a new electoral system – should it copy Scandinavia?

Proportional voting is, at least philosophically speaking, the best electoral system.

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Two charts that lay bare the threat posed by radical right parties to western democracies

Radical parties are now more numerous than any other category in 31 countries.

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Taiwan faces a precarious future – whether or not US and China continue on path to conflict

The issue of Taiwan is looking more precarious and worrying.

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Baby food in pouches is stripped of nutrients – but convenient, healthy alternatives are on the horizon

A quarter of baby food shelf space is now pouches but their convenience may come at a cost to babies’ health.

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The UK is losing its small fishing boats – and the communities they support

Fishing is a lifeline for many rural and island communities of the British Isles.

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