Articles tagged with 'expert-comment' & 'expert' | University of Manchester

  Obamagate is the latest conspiracy theory to be pushed by US president, Donald Trump. It started on the morning of May 10, when Trump retweeted the word “OBAMAGATE!” By the next day, the Obamagate hashtag had accrued over two million tweets and ...

In these difficult times, the press and the public are piling complaints on governments and corporations over their responses to the pandemic - yet it is amazing how well shutdowns and quarantines have worked so far in the developed world (protests l...

Urgent fundamental changes to ‘fast fashion’ clothing items which are treated by many as disposable is needed to stem a devastating impact upon the environment according to scientists. ...

Don’t take toilets for granted. Their connection to a managed sewage disposal system protects you from diseases and infections that can stunt your growth, harm your nutrition and even kill you. For some 670 million people, this basic service is no...

The UK will go to the polls on December 12 for the third time in four years. Climate change didn’t make waves in previous elections, but this one may be different. Youth climate strikers have launched a petition calling on the UK’s political parties ...

No matter how elegant your theory is, experimental data will have the last word. Observations of the retrograde motion of the planets were fundamental to the Copernican revolution, in which the sun replaced Earth at the centre of the solar system. An...

Concern has been growing over rising rates of self-harm in teenagers. In the UK and Ireland, increases began around the time of the 2008 economic crash and show no sign of slowing. One study of the UK found rates among teenage girls rose by two-third...

Labour have voted on plans to abolish private schools by removing their charitable status and redistributing their wealth to the state sector. At the party’s conference delegates approved a motion for this to be included in the party’s next general e...

Two centuries have passed since Manchester established itself as the centre of the global cotton trade. Known as ‘Cottonopolis’, the city was using a third of the world’s cotton production at the height of its textile boom.  ...

EXPERT COMMENT: We’re constantly encouraged to think of the next big climate summit, conference or protest as the most important one, the one that is about to make the all-important breakthrough. The UN’s Climate Action Summit on September 23 in New ...

Across the UK, Local Authorities, and Devolved Administrations, are seeking to use their planning powers to block the development of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. This is against UK Government policy. Here, Dr Sarah Mander looks at what all o...

Professor Jonatan Pinkse on global businesses and their adaptation to climate crisis requirements.  ...

"We are containers, it’s only the insides of our bodies that are important..."  Haunting words from Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale that summarise how fertile women are dehumanised in the dystopic fictional nation of Gilead, ensla...

Although most of us can distinguish between and remember hundreds of different faces, some people are better at it than others. “Super-recognisers” can accurately identify faces even when they have only seen them briefly previously. At the other extr...

An ongoing trial in Spain shows that ineffective rape legislation continues to fail women. Last year’s trial of the shocking “la Manada” (“wolf-pack”) rape case brought the Spanish law under international scrutiny when a group of men were convicted o...

As Boris Johnson begins his term as British prime minister, he takes charge of a country facing a series of overlapping crises. Alongside the constitutional and political crises provoked by the Brexit process, are wider social and economic problems o...

Avengers: Endgame smashed box office records in the days following its release, becoming the quickest film ever to break the $2bn barrier and ranking as the second-highest grossing film in history after only 11 days. The Marvel epic is still creeping...

The English rock band Joy Division released their debut studio album “Unknown Pleasures” 40 years ago. The front cover doesn’t feature any words, only a now iconic black and white data graph showing 80 wiggly lines representing a signal from a pulsar...

As the World Cup has vividly shown, women’s football is growing in popularity and status with increasing participation, professionalisation and media attention across the world. But, in our recent investigation into the women’s game, we find it is st...

A typical summer barbecue* for four people releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than an 80 mile car journey, according to a group of scientists studying the impact of food choices on the environment. ...

A few years ago, convincing meat-free “meat” was nothing more than a distant dream for most consumers. Meat substitutes in supermarkets lacked variety and quality. Plant-based burgers were few and far between in major fast food outlets – and meaty th...

What a difference a year makes. This time in 2018, the long hot summer was weeks away. Saddleworth Moor was not yet on fire. Greta Thunberg’s climate strike had not begun, let alone brought millions onto the streets. The IPCC’s 1.5 degree report had ...

Veganism is arguably the biggest food trend of the moment. This has led to a massive expansion of meat-free brands and own-label offerings. In fact, the UK is now the nation with the highest number of vegan food products launched. And with major news...

What’s in a name? A lot, according to research. Your name can have a huge influence on your prospects in life. Much of this is due to bias, stereotyping and other rules of thumb that people employ when making judgements about others. In hiring thi...

Since the news broke of his passing, Bob Hawke has been feted as the “environmental prime minister”. From saving the Franklin River, to protecting Antarctica from mining, conservationists have praised his environmental legacy in the same way economis...

The House of Commons has voted to hold a series of indicative votes on Brexit. But what does that mean and will it solve the problem? What are indicative votes? Indicative votes are votes in which MPs are able to give their opinion on an issue ...

  At the heart of the current US trade war with China is tariffs on imports like steel, sorghum and silicon chips. But, with the growing role of data and digital technology in the world economy, a new arena of digital trade conflict is on the card...

It’s been a turbulent few weeks in the Palace of Westminster and while Britons may all be bored silly by the sight of MPs arguing about what they think the people actually want, the drama shows no sign of stopping. What’s happened so far Since ...

Violent crime among young people has reached a worrying high in parts of the UK over recent years. There’s been a year-on-year increase in knife offences committed by young people since March 2014. In 2017/18 alone, there were more than 100 knife-rel...

One of the largest meat processors in the UK, supplying supermarkets across the country with beef, pork, and lamb, has launched a plant-based meat alternative. ABP is the first UK meat producer to do so and its decision marks a significant shift for ...