From Beyoncé to Brat summer: A year in culture
BBC It was the year Beyoncé donned her stetson for Cowboy Carter, Taylor Swift conquered the world on her Eras tour and King Charles appeared in a vivid bright red in his royal portrait. It was also 12 months when the British Museum showcased a handful of its recovered stolen gems and Charli XCX rebranded […]
Will we ever… have safe cigarettes?
Getty Images (Copyright: Getty Images) For decades the tobacco industry has tried to come up with alternatives that people would want to smoke, but this is much harder than you would think. There’s an old saying among people who work in public health: Tobacco is the only legal product that, when used as intended, will […]
Cornwall Wave Hub uses more electricity than it produces
PA Energy producers can connect devices to the Wave Hub, but none have yet A £42m wave energy facility has used more electricity than it has produced since it was launched eight years ago. Wave Hub, an undersea “socket” located off Hayle in Cornwall, is meant to transfer electricity from wave energy producers to the […]
Wham’s Last Christmas is the Christmas number one for a second consecutive year
Sony Music George Michael wrote Last Christmas in his childhood bedroom Wham!’s Last Christmas has become the UK’s Christmas number one for a second consecutive year. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s festive classic beat songs by Mariah Carey, Gracie Abrams, Tom Grennan and Ariana Grande to top the chart. Ridgeley said he was “especially pleased” […]
Honey changes everything
SPL African honey bee (Copyright: SPL) The social business in East Africa that is using bees and smartphones to help lift subsistence farmers out of poverty. Bees. Specifically African bees are probably not the first, or even fifth idea, that comes to mind when you think of alleviating poverty. Yet these little insects are causing […]
Apple is first public company worth $1 trillion
Getty Images Apple has become the world’s first public company to be worth $1 trillion (£767bn). The iPhone maker’s market value reached the figure in New York on Thursday and its shares closed at a new record high of $207.39. The stock has been rising since Tuesday when it reported better than expected results for […]
The growth of China’s controversial cultural branch
Getty Images Concerns are growing about Chinese influence on academic campuses around the world According to China, its Confucius Institute is “a bridge reinforcing friendship” between it and the world. But to its critics the government-run body – which offers language and cultural programmes overseas – is a way for Beijing to spread propaganda under […]
Oatly ads banned over ‘misleading’ environmental claims
ASA Plant-milk brand Oatly has been told not to repeat some of its adverts, after complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) were upheld. The ads, which used the slogan “Need help talking to dad about milk?”, made unsubstantiated environmental claims, the ASA found. First published in January 2021, the ads compared the carbon footprint […]
How technology could keep football fans safe at stadiums
Steve Bardens/Getty Images A limited number of Brighton fans were allowed to watch the club’s friendly against Chelsea With the Premier League and EFL kicking off this weekend, eyes will not only be focused on the pitch but also on the surrounding stands. The 2019-20 season reached its conclusion without supporters in stadiums, and the […]
Is Greta Thunberg right about UK carbon emissions?
BBC The climate activist Greta Thunberg has claimed the UK overstates how much it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions. But she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme: “For example the UK, one popular thing to say is that you have reduced your emissions by 44% since 1990, and of course that sounds good… but if […]