Our new map reveals the effects of 20th century land-use and climate change on Britain's wild species

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Our new map reveals the effects of 20th century land-use and climate change on Britain's wild species     Under the stewardship of geographer Sir Dudley Stamp, thousands of volunteers (including many schoolchildren) came together in the 1930s on a mission that sounds relatively simple on paper: to record how British land was being used. Equipped with an Ordnance Survey map, a clipboard and a pencil, these volunteers recorded information that collectively formed the earliest spatial record of where and how the British people were using their environment at the beginning of the third agricultural revolution. Spanning the mid-20th century, that revolution changed the British landscape almost beyond recognition. Continued here

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Friendship research is getting an update - and that's key for dealing with the loneliness epidemic     The benefits of friendship go far beyond having someone to confide in or spend time with – it can also protect you from physical and mental health problems. For example, people with good friends recover more quickly from illnesses and surgeries. They report higher well-being and feel like they live up to their full potential. Additionally, people with good friends report being less lonely across many life stages, including adolescence, becoming a parent and old age. In fact, friendships are so powerful that the social pain of rejection activates the same neural pathways that physical pain does. Continued here

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Forests are vital to protect the climate, yet the world is falling far behind its targets     Mary Gagen is currently on secondment to WWF UK and is the lead author of the WWF 2023 Forest Pathways Report. The world is falling behind on commitments to protect and restore forests, according to the recent Forest Declaration Assessment. There is no serious pathway to fixing climate change while forest losses continue at current rates, because global climate targets, sustainable development goals and forest commitments depend on each other. Continued here

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What the Israel Defence Forces can expect when they enter the 'Gaza Metro' tunnel system     Teaching Fellow, School of Strategy, Marketing and Innovation, University of Portsmouth Amid fears of yet another long war in the region, Israel has now begun its ground campaign in Gaza. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has already claimed several successes in its three-week campaign, including the elimination of several terrorist leaders including Ibrahim Biari, who it described as a “ringleader” of the October 7 attacks, and liberating at least one hostage held by Hamas. Continued here

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Gaza bombing adds to the generations of Palestinians displaced from their homes     An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes since the Israeli military began bombing the Gaza Strip on Oct. 8, 2023, in retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas militants. Many of these Palestinians have sought refuge in United Nations emergency shelters in a situation the World Health Organization has described as “catastrophic.” With shelters running out of adequate access to water, food, electricity and other critical supplies, humanitarian agencies are deeply concerned and fear a total breakdown in order. Continued here

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Cancer has many faces - 5 counterintuitive ways scientists are approaching cancer research to improve treatment and prevention     Associate Director of Community Outreach in Thoracic Oncology, University of Miami Molecular biology has brought significant advances in making it possible to live with cancer as a chronic illness rather than a fatal disease. Alternative frameworks, however, can offer scientists additional insights on how to prevent tumors from spreading throughout the body and becoming resistant to treatment. Continued here

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Dominic Cummings has exposed a hole at the heart of the British government - and a glaring problem with the way we choose prime ministers     Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, University of Sheffield The COVID inquiry is possibly the most sophisticated and wide-ranging blame game that has ever played out in British politics. That said, the great benefit of public inquiries, as opposed to parliamentary scrutiny, is that their breadth allows for an exploration of issues in a way that promotes “cool thinking” (balanced, reflective, evidence-based) over “hot rhetoric” (aggressive, adversarial, emotive). Continued here

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Rupert Murdoch's empire was built on a shrewd understanding of how media and power work     But when 92-year-old Rupert Murdoch announced in September that he was stepping away from his multicontinent media empire and turning it over to his son Lachlan, it was breaking news that generated countless stories speculating about the futures of two of his most storied holdings, Fox and News Corp.As a scholar who studies media organizations and their political and economic influence, I see this level of attention as an indicator both of the significance of the companies Murdoch built and the way he used them to alter the media and political landscape. Continued here

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Giraffes could go extinct - the 5 biggest threats they face     Giraffes are the world’s tallest mammals and an African icon, but they are also vulnerable to extinction. Giraffe populations have declined by 40% in the last 30 years, and there are now fewer than 70,000 mature individuals left in the wild. What are the causes of this alarming decline, and what can be done to protect these gentle giants? Continued here

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Think Strategy, Not Tactics     If we wish to understand the war’s likely course, we must ask how both sides conceive their objectives and the broadest ways in which they intend to use force to achieve them.Too much of the commentary on the war in Gaza begins with tactics, which are concerned with achieving small, concrete military objectives, such as taking a hill or launching an ambush. Tactics and operations (the combination of a number of tactical engagements) in turn support strategy, the matching of military and other means to political objectives. It is with strategy that an understanding of this conflict should begin. War is horrifying. But if we wish to understand its likely course, we should not start by focusing on the grimness of urban warfare, the particular hellishness of battles in tunnels, or the difficulties of separating civilians and combatants in an urban setting. Instead, we must ask how both sides conceive their objectives and the broadest ways in which they intend to use force to achieve them. Continued here

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Palestine protest arrests: why even police are confused about hate crime law     Though it’s happening thousands of miles away, the Israel-Gaza conflict has aggravated tensions in the UK. In London, authorities have recorded a 1,353% increase in antisemitic offences and a 140% increase in anti-Muslim offences during October compared to last year. In this emotionally charged environment, police have faced immense pressure to address hate crime, including by making arrests at protests.Over the last few weekends, more than 100,000 people have attended pro-Palestinian demonstrations. There has been a heavy police presence, and at least nine people have been arrested. At a recent protest, police arrested three people for “racially aggravated offences”. Continued here

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How do we retain teachers? Supporting them to work together could help     Australia is in the grips of a teacher shortage “crisis” according to Education Minister Jason Clare. Federal education department modelling shows there will be a high school teacher shortfall of about 4,000 by 2025. Media reports suggest shortages are already particularly bad in rural areas. Continued here

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A War to End All Wars Between Israel and Palestine     What if this war should end, as it must, not by a cease-fire or a truce, like other wars with Hamas, but with a comprehensive resolution to the 100-year-old conflict between the Palestinian and Israeli people?To imagine anything good coming out of such a destructive war is not easy, especially for those of us witnessing its cruel prosecution from Ramallah, on the Israeli-occupied West Bank. And yet, as bad as things are, I feel compelled to resist giving in to despair. I may be clutching at straws, but I feel a moral responsibility to seek any grounds for hope. Continued here

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Endometriosis afflicts millions of women, but few people feel comfortable talking about it     Endometriosis causes physical, sexual and emotional pain. About 190 million people around the globe have endometriosis, including one in 10 American women, but there has historically been a deafening silence about the disease and the pervasive impact it can have on a person’s life. While endometriosis is a chronic gynecological illness that can affect anyone with a uterus – women, transgender men and nonbinary individuals – it often goes undiagnosed because its symptoms can be attributed to other physical or psychological concerns. Patients presenting with this pain are often told it is “all in your head.” Continued here

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Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership is questioned even as Israelis rally round the flag     Over the past year, Israel has witnessed an extraordinary wave of non-violent protests, involving hundreds of thousands of activists from across society. The extensive demonstrations were triggered by a judicial overhaul announced by the Israeli government in early 2023. The government passed into law in July 2023 the first planned change of the overhaul – a so-called “reasonableness” bill. This removed the power of the country’s supreme court (and lower courts) to cancel government decisions deemed “extremely unreasonable”. Continued here

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Climate change is affecting bears, and humans need to learn more to avoid conflicts     Studies showed the importance of stopping two specific bear behaviours: food conditioning and habituation to people. Those pioneering findings translated readily into advice and policies, saving many bear and human lives. However, all that work assumed ecosystems remained stable: a notion now upended by climate change. Food shortages acutely increase conflicts between bears and people, but we have not applied this awareness to the “new normal” of climate-driven ecological disruption. Continued here

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What exactly caused the explosion at a hospital in Gaza? Without an independent, credible investigation, it will be hard for everyone to agree     Project Lead for International Technical Forensic Services, Florida International University The blast at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital’s parking lot on Oct. 17, 2023, has become a flash point in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Continued here

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A century ago, a Black-owned team ruled basketball - today, no Black majority owners remain     In late 2002, the NBA awarded an expansion team, the Charlotte Bobcats, to Black Entertainment Television co-founder Bob Johnson. Four years later, former NBA star Michael Jordan bought a minority stake in the franchise, and in 2010, he bought Johnson’s stake. However, Jordan sold his majority stake in the franchise in July 2023.This lack of diversity in basketball team ownership is especially disappointing considering the rich history of Black ownership in sports, which began when the top leagues in the U.S. were still segregated. Continued here

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AI: the real threat may be the way that governments choose to use it     The significant risks that AI poses to global security are becoming clearer. That’s partly why UK prime minister Rishi Sunak is hosting other world leaders at the AI Safety summit on November 1-2 at the famous second world war code-breaking site Bletchley Park. Yet while the technology of AI is developing at an alarming pace, the real threat may come from governments themselves.The track record of AI development over the last 20 years provides a range of evidence of government misuse of the technology around the world. This includes excessive surveillance practices, the harnessing of AI for the spread of disinformation. Continued here

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When Will 'Spider-Man 2' Add New Game Plus? Here's Everything We Know So Far     Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launched in late October 2023, and critics immediately hailed the sequel as one of the best superhero games ever. Now that it’s been out in the wild for a few weeks, quite a few enterprising players have already reached the end of their battle with Venom. Of course, that means the hype for Insomniac Games’ Wolverine and the inevitable Spider-Man 3 will only ramp up, but players also hope to spend more time with Miles and Peter until then with New Game Plus.While the original Spider-Man didn’t get New Game Plus until a post-release update, Spider-Man: Miles Morales launched with a New Game Plus mode, so some players might assume its sequel would have one, too. Alas, Spider-Man 2 does not include New Game Plus yet. As Insomniac Games community director James Stevenson revealed a few days before launch, the feature wasn’t ready for release day. Continued here

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Despite his government's failure to anticipate Hamas' deadly attack, don't count Netanyahu out politically     Since the brutal Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, news analysts and the public have focused on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his role in the intelligence failure that preceded the attack, in which 1,400 people were killed. In other parliamentary democracies, a failure of this magnitude would normally cost leaders their jobs, or at least spark challenges to their leadership. Continued here

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Grattan on Friday: Treasurer Jim Chalmers pumps up his role in energy transition     Jim Chalmers – as if he doesn’t have enough on his plate – is marching into the centre of energy policy. This is probably a good thing for the government, because the transition to renewables isn’t going as well as it needs to. Continued here

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The best techniques for being a cricket fast bowler, according to science     Twenty years ago, Shoaib Akhtar became the first person recorded to bowl at 100mph (161km per hour) during the 2003 One-Day International Men’s World Cup match for Pakistan against England. There was an expectation afterwards that this feat would become a regular occurrence.As humans have continued to run faster, throw further and jump higher, it was believed that this milestone would be a stepping stone consigned to history similar to Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile. It was thought it might also act as a catalyst for serious worldwide improvement in fast bowling. Continued here

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Some African governments are spending millions to spy on their citizens - stifling debate and damaging democracy     Governments around the world use surveillance technology to monitor external threats to national security. Some African governments are also spending vast sums on mass surveillance of their own citizens. They are using mobile phone spyware, internet interception devices, social media monitoring and biometric identity systems. Artificial intelligence for facial recognition and car number plate recognition is another digital surveillance technology in their growing toolkit. Continued here

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Ginni Thomas Says Mike Johnson's Wife Seems a Little Crazy     WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Expressing concern about the wife of the new Speaker of the House, Ginni Thomas said that Kelly Johnson "seems a little crazy" to her."I don't know Kelly personally, so this is just based on what I've read," Thomas said. "But I have to say—she comes off like kind of a crackpot." Continued here

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Is a terrorist's win in the High Court bad for national security? Not necessarily     Yesterday, Abdul Nacer Benbrika, perhaps Australia’s most notorious convicted terrorist, won in the High Court. A six-one majority of the court struck down a ministerial power to revoke the Australian citizenship of certain terrorist offenders. Continued here

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GCSE and Higher results show worsening gap between richer and poorer pupils: pandemic assessment shows we should reconsider exams     The difference in average GCSE English and maths results between poorer and richer pupils – the so-called “attainment gap” – is the largest in England in over a decade, according to a recent government analysis. But education professionals do know of one way to reduce it, which was made clear from the last few years of exam results. When end-of-year exams were replaced with teacher assessment during the first year of the COVID pandemic in 2020, there was a small but real closing of the gap. Continued here

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American individualism lives on after death, as consumers choose new ways to put their remains to rest     Death may be inevitable and universal, but the ways people deal with it most certainly are not. Whether doing Tibetan Buddhist sky burials, attending a graveside service dressed in black or putting one’s parents’ ashes in the sacred Ganges, each culture has its own ways to deal with death and mourning.Yet death rites around the world do share some common goals. Traditionally, what happens to a dead body reflects communal beliefs and practices – rituals not only meant to honor the deceased but also to comfort their community. Continued here

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Multimedia is key to distance education: I built a model South African universities can use     Acting Deputy Director in the Directorate: Academy Applied Technology and Innovation (AATI) under Information Communications Technology Department, University of South Africa Distance education first appeared in the United States in the 1800s. At the time, students received the relevant material through the post and then returned it to the institution. Continued here

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Iran's 'axis of resistance': how Hamas and Tehran are attempting to galvanise their allies against Israel     Docteur associé au Centre d'études et de recherches internationales (CERI), Sciences Po The devastating attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October has transformed the Middle East, thrusting the Israeli-Palestinian question – considered a diplomatic side-issue for at least a decade – to the centre stage of the region’s geopolitics. Continued here

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Is it a cold, flu or hay fever? How to tell symptoms apart - and boost your immune system     As the crisp autumn air sets in and leaves turn to shades of red and gold, many of us eagerly anticipate the seasonal delights that come with the autumn and winter months. But, for some, these seasons also bring an unwelcome guest: hay fever. Hay fever is often associated with spring and summer. But climate change means hay fever season now extends well into autumn and winter. This is due to climate change shifting weather patterns and temperatures, causing extended periods of pollen production from various plant species. Continued here

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I've researched time for 15 years - here's how my perception of it has changed     Time is one of those things that most of us take for granted. We spend our lives portioning it into work-time, family-time and me-time. Rarely do we sit and think about how and why we choreograph our lives through this strange medium. A lot of people only appreciate time when they have an experience that makes them realise how limited it is.My own interest in time grew from one of those “time is running out” experiences. Eighteen years ago, while at university, I was driving down a country lane when another vehicle strayed onto my side of the road and collided with my car. I can still vividly remember the way in which time slowed down, grinding to a near halt, in the moments before my car impacted with the oncoming vehicle. Time literally seemed to stand still. The elasticity of time and its ability to wax and wane in different situations shone out like never before. From that moment I was hooked. Continued here

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Grandiose visions and arrested development: a new biography considers the contradictory life of Elon Musk     Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has his fingers in many pies, none of them your standard Four and Twenty – space exploration, electric cars, AI and social media, among others. He became a global leader in space exploration when NASA had virtually vacated the field, and his electric vehicle company Tesla, headquartered in the gas-guzzling United States, has by far the biggest market capitalisation of any car manufacturer in the world, yet he has few formal qualifications in either field. Continued here

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Gaza's 'graveyard' for children: Why Palestinians must be included in the international refugee protection regime     Israeli airstrikes have destroyed apartment blocks and killed and injured hundreds of people at refugee camps in northern Gaza in the midst of its unrelenting assault on Gazans in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Refugees represent 81 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.1 million people. The displacement of these stateless refugees goes back to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, an event known by Palestinians as Al Nakba or “the catastrophe.” Continued here

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Remembering Robert Brustein, a Giant of the American Theatre     When Robert Brustein died, at ninety-six, he concluded not one but four stunning careers. A critic at The New Republic, off and on, for more than forty years, he was a university professor who founded two major theatres—the Yale Repertory Theatre, in New Haven, and the American Repertory Theatre, at Harvard. He authored more than a dozen books and produced hundreds of plays. Along the way, he supported and championed an entire American theatrical pantheon, including the playwrights David Mamet and Suzan-Lori Parks, directors such as Robert Wilson and JoAnne Akalaitis, and actors like Cherry Jones, F. Murray Abraham, and Meryl Streep. He himself was also a playwright: my favorite work of his is a klezmer-infused adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “Shlemiel the First,” produced at the A.R.T. in 1994.Brustein held theatre to a high standard—one that was intellectual, visually audacious, international, explicitly noncommercial, and devoted to the now almost vanished model of a resident theatre company playing in a rotating repertory. One of his hallmark offerings at Harvard, for graduate students, was a class called Rep Ideal, in which he held forth on how a permanent company of actors could forge a bond between the institution and a community. Nothing else, he said, could create such a flexible acting instrument, nor offer a visiting director (say, from Eastern Europe) such a thrilling challenge. His well-forged A.R.T. company (mostly made up of gifted clowns) was, he felt, the reason his theatre could take on wild opportunities—a section of Robert Wilson’s epic multimedia experiment “The Civil Wars,” for instance—that might boggle an ad-hoc ensemble. Continued here

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Tim Scott's Racial Absolution     On the Presidential-campaign trail, Tim Scott often concludes his speeches with a declaration against dependence: Able-bodied people should work. Those who owe loans should pay them. The country needs more victors than victims. This summer, at an event in Des Moines, an audience of largely white evangelical voters applauded him heartily as he made his way offstage. At a table in the back of the auditorium was Glenn Beck, the former Fox News host turned conservative media magnate, whose outlet had been running a live stream. Scott slipped on a pair of chunky headphones and sat down with Beck for an interview."I love you, you know that," Beck told him. He felt differently, however, about Scott's home state. Continued here

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South Africa's medium-term budget reflects difficult and contested decisions     University of Johannesburg provides support as an endorsing partner of The Conversation AFRICA.The medium-term budget policy statement presented by South Africa’s finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, to parliament on 1 November 2023 is intended to provide a preview of government’s public finance plans over the next three years. It does not actually commit government to anything, either in law or in practice. Nevertheless, it is a crucial document because it presents what the National Treasury intends to be the broad, financial foundation for the functioning of national, provincial and local governments in the near future. Continued here

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What does an orchestra conductor really do?     Master en Musicología por la Universidad de La Rioja y Profesora de Comportamiento Organizacional en IE University, IE University In recent years there have been many films about orchestra conductors. At the beginning of this year we had Tar, based on the conductor Marin Alsop. Also premiering soon are Divertimento, a film about the creation of an orchestra of the same name by conductor Zahia Ziouani, and Maestro, a biopic of the charismatic Leonard Bernstein. Continued here

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Attacks on Jews always rise globally when conflict in Israel and Palestine intensifies     The terrorist attack in Israel on October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza have led to increased attacks on Jews around the world. This is not a new trend. When conflict happens in Israel and Palestine the result is often rising numbers of attacks and threats.In 2016, a study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights stated that “events in the Middle East can trigger antisemitic sentiment in the EU”. This was clear in western Europe, and less so in Hungary and Poland. Continued here

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What is eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing? And can EMDR help children recover from trauma?     Childhood traumatic experiences are common. Almost one in three (32%) Australians reported being physically abused as a child, 31% experienced emotional abuse, 28.5% were victims of sexual abuse and 9% were neglected. Some 40% of Australians were exposed to domestic violence against a parent. Untreated childhood trauma is associated with an increased risk of mental health disorders. These children are more likely to become teens and adults who binge drink, attempt suicide and self-harm. Continued here