Our most read articles of 2025
In 2025, researchers at the University of Reading published 56 articles on The Conversation, generating almost 1.2 million reads worldwide.
These articles showcase the university’s diverse research expertise – from understanding how our brains age to exploring medieval warfare, from tracking climate change to questioning what it’s like to be a crow.
Below are the three most-read articles within each of the University’s four research themes: Agriculture, Food & Health; Heritage & Creativity; Environment; and Prosperity & Resilience. Each piece demonstrates how Reading’s academics bring scholarly insight to topics that matter to people’s lives.
All articles are republished on our Connecting Research blog under the Creative Commons (BY-NC) licence.
Agriculture, Food & Health
How multilingualism can protect against brain ageing
People are living longer than ever around the world. Longer lives bring new opportunities, but they also introduce challenges, especially the risk of age-related decline. Alongside physical changes such as reduced strength or slower movement, many older adults struggle with memory, attention and everyday tasks. Researchers have spent years trying to understand why some people stay mentally sharp while others deteriorate more quickly. One idea attracting growing interest is multilingualism, the ability to speak more than one language. Read more
Three reasons buffets can be a recipe for a health disaster – and how to keep diners safe
From shared serving spoons to lukewarm lasagne, buffets can be a breeding ground for bacteria – and a hotbed for food poisoning. In the UK alone, millions of cases go unreported each year. So what makes buffets so risky, and what can be done to stay safe? Read more
Emetophobia: what it’s like to have a fear of vomiting
It’s safe to say nobody likes vomiting. But while it’s not a pleasant experience by any means, few of us really give much thought to it. But for around 2%-7% of the population, vomiting provokes anxiety so severe they’ll do anything to avoid it. This specific fear of vomiting is known as emetophobia. Read more
Heritage & Creativity
Elon Musk and the history of the ‘Roman salute’
At a rally to mark the inauguration of Donald Trump for his second term as president, Elon Musk put his right hand over his heart then performed straight-arm gesture first popularised by the Italian fascist leader, Benito Mussolini. Musk’s supporters on social media insisted it was a “Roman salute” – but what, if anything, is the difference between a Roman and fascist salute? Read more
We built a database of 290,000 English medieval soldiers – here’s what it reveals
When you picture medieval warfare, you might think of epic battles and famous monarchs. But what about the everyday soldiers who actually filled the ranks? Until recently, their stories were scattered across handwritten manuscripts in Latin or French and difficult to decipher. Now, our online database makes it possible for anyone to discover who they were and how they lived, fought and travelled. Read more
Big Roman shoes discovered near Hadrian’s Wall – but they don’t necessarily mean big Roman feet
Excavations at the Roman fort of Magna near Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland in north east England have uncovered some very large leather footwear. Their discovery, according to some news coverage, has “baffled” archaeologists. This shoe collection raises an immediate and obvious question: why did people at Magna have such large shoes? Read more
Environment
Cleaner air in east Asia may have driven recent acceleration in global warming, our new study indicates
Global warming has picked up pace since around 2010, leading to the recent string of record warm years. Why this is happening is still unclear, and among the biggest questions in climate science today. Our new study reveals that reductions in air pollution – particularly in China and east Asia – are a key reason for this faster warming. Read more
New research shows bigger animals get more cancer, defying decades-old belief
A longstanding scientific belief about a link between cancer prevalence and animal body size has tested for the first time in our new study ranging across hundreds of animal species. Read more
Why on Earth is the planet’s day getting shorter?
Earth will complete a rotation 1.33 milliseconds earlier than usual on Tuesday, August 5. That makes it one of the shortest days of 2025 at 86,399.99867 seconds long. How that happens, and how we can even measure it with such precision, might make your head spin faster too. Read more
Prosperity & Resilience
What’s it like being a raven or a crow?
Many of us as children may have wondered what’s going on inside the mind of an animal – what are they thinking and feeling? We are philosophers who study consciousness, and in our recent research we worked with other scientists to explore what the world might be like from the point of view of corvids, the family of birds that includes ravens, crows, jays and magpies. Read more
Why the British army is so unprepared to send troops to Ukraine
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that Britain is “ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary”. While reports suggest these would be “peacekeeping” forces, the reality is that true peacekeepers must be impartial. British troops placed to support Ukraine could certainly be seen as “partial”. And the positioning of British forces in Ukraine would fit the Russian narrative that casts Nato as the aggressor. Read more
Wealth taxes don’t always work the way governments hope they will. Here are some alternatives
With the UK government facing a multibillion pound gap between revenue and spending, calls for a wealth tax are becoming louder. But the reality of implementing it is far from simple. While the concept may be compelling, a wealth tax might not be easy to put into action – and may not even create the expected revenue. Read more
Enhancing public understanding of research
The Conversation’s readership is largely non-academic, which means that writing for this platform enhances public understanding of research and can build the profile of academic work with new audiences and decision makers – including managers, chief officers, educators, health practitioners, and those working in media, policy or government. Because articles on The Conversation are open access, they can be shared and republished by other outlets, increasing their reach even further.
Articles on The Conversation combine academic expertise with a journalistic approach – they can be responses to events in the news, discussions of new research, or explorations of broader topics or themes anchored in recent events.
You can pitch to The Conversation directly or through our Press Office (contact pressoffice@reading.ac.uk).