Why upward social mobility means some people move downwards

Jul 18, 2017 13:00 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

A damning report into social mobility has concluded that successive UK governments have failed to tackle the issue for the past 20 years. But the analysis by the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) also fails on this front....

A spate of acid attacks in London is part of an international problem

Jul 18, 2017 12:50 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

A series of five acid attacks in one night in London has created a moment for the British government to take a more public stance on this growing problem. A teenager has been charged with 15 offences relating to the...

Low-energy homes don't just save money, they improve lives

Jul 18, 2017 12:47 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Household energy use is a significant contributor to global carbon emissions. International policy is firmly moving towards technology-rich, low- and near-zero-energy homes. That is, buildings designed to reduce the need...

The strange links between intelligence and prejudice

Jul 18, 2017 12:18 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Human judgement often becomes less accurate when we train it on ourselves. Self appraisals commonly flatter our strengths and minimise our weaknesses. The average man overstates his height by 1.2cm and the average woman...

Hinduism and its complicated history with cows (and people who eat them)

Jul 17, 2017 01:17 am UTC| Insights & Views Life

Just this past June, at a national meeting of various Hindu organizations in India, a popular preacher, Sadhvi Saraswati, suggested that those who consumed beef should be publicly hanged. Later, at the same conclave, an...

How loneliness in older people makes them more vulnerable to financial scammers

Jul 12, 2017 19:09 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Fraud investigators have warned that people are being targeted by scammers who persuade them to invest their pensions in self-storage units. The UKs Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation in May, saying that a...

Eight things that have changed since the smoking ban ten years ago

Jun 29, 2017 02:37 am UTC| Life

Its hard to think back to what English pubs and clubs were like before the law about smoke-free public places came into force ten years ago. Do you remember the dense fog, the smell of tobacco smoke on your clothes and...