Briferendum Series

Tongue-tied: Britain has forgotten how to speak to its European neighbours

Mar 15, 2016 12:18 pm UTC| Insights & Views

The decline in the number of students of modern languages from GCSE to degree level is an annual lament. Only 10,328 pupils in the UK took French at A Level in 2015 and although Spanish enjoyed a rise in entries at A Level...

A new way to detect tsunamis: cargo ships

Mar 15, 2016 12:11 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Racing across ocean basins at speeds over 500 miles per hour, tsunamis can wreak devastation along coastlines thousands of miles from their origin. Our modern tsunami detection networks reliably detect these events hours...

'Acceptable risk' is a better way to think about radiation exposure in Fukushima

Mar 15, 2016 11:57 am UTC| Insights & Views Health

On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Prefecture of Japan experienced multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns as a consequence of an earthquake and a subsequent tsunami. The meltdowns resulted in the release of radioactivity into...

Inside the pages of the oldest comic in the world

Mar 15, 2016 11:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Entertainment

Heres a good pub quiz question: what was the worlds first comic? If youve no idea, dont feel too foolish. It wasnt even recognised by experts until a few years ago and is still debatable today. But long before Viz, The...

Russian Syria withdrawal: Vladimir Putin is the consummate political gambler

Mar 15, 2016 11:49 am UTC| Insights & Views

Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is not an easy politician to read. He is willing to say one thing while his diplomats and military do another as the long-running conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated. His statements are...

Decolonising economics: more context is needed, not less content

Mar 15, 2016 04:40 am UTC| Insights & Views

There is a new call to arms at South African universities: its time to decolonise the economics curriculum. This is part of a broader project to make curricula across disciplines more applicable to the South African...

Future of Coal Series

Why South Africa is finding it difficult to wean itself off coal

Mar 15, 2016 04:38 am UTC| Insights & Views

South Africa has made domestic and international commitments to climate change mitigation. But the country continues to depend on coal-fired power plants, which provide 92% of its electricity. A key challenge for the...