The Conversation

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Solve suffering by blowing up the universe? The dubious philosophy of human extinction

At a time when humans are threatening the extinction of so many other species, it might not seem so surprising that some people think that the extinction of our own species would be a good thing. Take, for example, the…

Massive project on African DNA sets out to close the knowledge gap on mental illness

In July 2009, a woman brought her husband to the hospital where our colleagues work in western Kenya. She reported that for several years he had been behaving abnormally, sleeping poorly, hearing voices that no one else could hear, and…

COVID-19 vaccine update: Pfizer may be the frontrunner, but Canada has hedged its bets

Pfizer and BioNTech have surprised the world, and given it hope, with the preliminary results of the Phase 3 clinical trial of their coronavirus vaccine. They announced on Nov. 9 that the early analysis of the data from the Phase…

Can the law stop internet bots from undressing you?

Imagine that you upload a photograph of yourself on holiday to your favourite social media platform. You are dressed in a swimsuit and you are smiling at the camera. Now imagine later coming across this image while scrolling through your…

100 years ago, the first commercial radio broadcast announced the results of the 1920 election – politics would never be the same

Only 100 people were listening, but the first broadcast from a licensed radio station occurred at 8 p.m. on Nov. 2, 1920. It was Pittsburgh’s KDKA, and the station was broadcasting the results of that year’s presidential election. When the…

#EndSARS: What it feels like to be in the shoes of a young Nigerian

Following weeks of nationwide protests against police brutality, led by young Nigerians who complain of being targeted by the police, Adejuwon Soyinka asked Oludayo Tade, a sociologist, to help us understand what it feels like being a young Nigerian living…

Religious identity and Supreme Court justices – a brief history

Author Nomi Stolzenberg Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation process has put focus not only on the would-be Supreme Court justice’s faith but the religious makeup of the court itself. If she is appointed, Barrett would be the second successive Catholic elevated to the U.S.‘s highest court and…

The US is taking on Google in a huge antitrust case. It could change the face of online search

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google for unlawful monopolisation. The department says Google’s conduct harms competition and consumers, and reduces the ability of new innovative companies to develop and compete. It’s the most…

UK government’s tiered COVID-19 alert systems are all flawed, warns disaster expert

Alert systems need to be clear and easy for everyone to understand. Yet, to date, the UK’s national alert system has created confusion and been largely ignored. Now, a second local alert level system has been introduced in England. I’m not convinced…

Nobel peace prize: hunger is a weapon of war but the World Food Programme can’t build peace on its own

By awarding the 2020 Nobel peace prize to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), the Nobel committee said that it wanted to “turn the eyes of the world to the millions of people who suffer from or face the threat of hunger”.…

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