My new dark red climate stripe for 2024 shows it’s the hottest year yet
A new climate stripe has been added for 2024. Ed Hawkins. The data is in. 2024 was the warmest year on record, and probably in the whole of human history...Read More >
The Conversation
The supernatural beliefs of medieval people – from elves and fairies to abductions and the undead
A siren and a centaur, taken from a 1277 manuscript. Courtesy of the Getty Open Content program. Medieval people have a reputation for being superstitious – and many of the...Read More >
AI could transform film visual effects. But first, the technology needs to address copyright debate
James Cameron. Photo by Steve Jurvetson, via Flickr, CC BY 2.0. While many people in the creative industries are worrying that AI is about to steal their jobs, Oscar-winning film...Read More >
Will the Earth warm by 2°C or 5.5°C? Either way it’s bad, and trying to narrow it down may be a distraction
Climate change is usually discussed in terms of rising temperatures. But scientists often use a different measure, known as “equilibrium climate sensitivity”. This is defined as the global mean warming...Read More >
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will investigate whether an icy moon of Jupiter can support alien life
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Seti Institute Discovering extraterrestrial life would be one of the most profound scientific and philosophical revelations that our species has ever made. But such a big discovery won’t come easy....Read More >
‘Thornback’ keeps trending – here’s why this old-fashioned term is derogatory to young, single women
A young woman who remained unmarried by 26 or 27 was ungraciously called a 'thornback'. Highland Council, CC BY-NC-SA I am 27 years old; I have no money and no...Read More >
South Sudan floods: the first example of a mass population permanently displaced by climate change?
Enormous floods have once again engulfed much of South Sudan, as record water-levels in Lake Victoria flow downstream through the Nile. More than 700,000 people have been affected. Hundreds of...Read More >
How communities can protect and revitalise their heritage in gentrifying neighbourhoods
From Williamsburg in New York to Shoreditch in London, artists looking for cheap premises have long been pioneers in revitalising old neighbourhoods, breathing new life into neglected areas while injecting...Read More >
Our most read articles of 2023
In 2023, researchers at the University of Reading published 57 articles on The Conversation. Together, these have been read over 2.7 million times. Here you can find the top three…Read More >
The future of auditing: why plans to sharpen up the industry could actually make it worse
Following the collapses of Patisserie Valerie, Carillion and BHS, the auditors were heavily criticised in the media for signing off on the financial accounts published by each of these companies…Read More >