Bedford hockey player, 75, gets ‘bug’ again after 40-year gap
Alex Pope BBC News, Bedfordshire Bedford Hockey Club Steph Daniels progressed from walking hockey back to playing the full game A woman who started playing hockey again after a 40-year gap said she had got the “bug” once more, and had even been to trials for England’s over-70s. Steph Daniels, 75, from Bedfordshire, said she […]
The tiny Egyptian village few know
Omnia Farrag Features correspondent Ahmed Emad Jasmine blossoms are picked carefully, one by one, to keep their oils (Credit: Ahmed Emad) Jasmine, an essential ingredient in many perfumes, grows in abundance around the Egyptian village of Shubra Beloula, which is responsible for much of the world’s production. When it comes to perfume, most people instantly […]
How Carmen went from tragic heroine to feminist icon
Sophia Smith Galer Features correspondent Getty New productions of Bizet’s famous opera are rewriting the femme fatale’s tragic ending, writes Sophia Smith Galer. “If your death is near, if Destiny has written the words none shall deny,” murmurs Carmen, “you may deal 20 times, the cards cannot be beaten. They always say: you die!” If […]
Why aren’t there better treatments for cystitis?
Christine Ro Features correspondent Alamy A urine sample being checked with a test strip (Credit: Alamy) Women are routinely dismissed when they report symptoms of urinary tract infections, though the consequences can be severe. For Melissa Wairimu, a video editor in Nairobi, the symptoms started at the age of 21. She was having to urinate […]
What we can learn from conspiracy theories
EPA From political upheavals to anxieties about sex, technology and women, it turns out conspiracy theories can tell us a lot about what’s going on in our societies – and how to fix them. In 331 BC, something was wrong with Rome. Across the city, swathes of eminent men were succumbing to sickness, and practically […]
The New Yorker who saved 90,000 infants
Leila McNeill Features correspondent At the turn of the last century, many remained sceptical of both germ theory and preventative medicine. One public health official fought to change that – and saved thousands of lives. The “suicide ward” is what New York City health inspectors called Manhattan’s Lower East Side at the turn of the […]
How game theory can help to give your love life a boost
Manu Dal Borgo Features correspondent Getty Images/ Alamy/ Javier Hirschfeld It is possible to look at human relationships a little like they are a game of rock, paper, scissors – how you play it is up to you… How do you go about finding “the one” – or, at least, the “next one” – in […]
The alphabets at risk of extinction
Andrea Valentino Features correspondent Maung Nyeu (Credit: Maung Nyeu) It isn’t just languages that are endangered: dozens of alphabets around the world are at risk. And they could have even more to tell us. On his first two days of school, in a village above the Bangladeshi port of Chittagong, Maung Nyeu was hit with […]
The female scientist who changed human fertility forever
Rachel E Gross Features correspondent Emmanuel Lafont She was the first person to successfully fertilise a human egg in vitro, changing reproductive medicine forever – but few people know her name today. In the textbook tale of scientific discovery, the researcher works late into the night, alone in their lab. Suddenly, genius strikes: an apple […]
Princess Diana’s game of thrones
Daniel Mendelsohn Features correspondent Alamy Two decades after her death she echoes across our TV screens, even on HBO’s hit fantasy saga. Her life has mythic resonance, writes Daniel Mendelsohn. I bought my first television set so I could watch the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. I’d been in graduate school until a few […]