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As a contender for unexpected headline of the year, this one (from The Times), might take some beating.  Yet another social ill laid at Brexit's door.  How unusual. Zoo keepers are in a flap because the exchange of animals for...

I don't do much by way of the counter-factual exercises that are so beloved of historians for obvious reasons.  So what follows is unusual. The question is: what would we (those focused on thinking about sustainability) be concerned about if...

Today is the first significant day of 2023, in Earth terms at least.  It is Imbloc, or St Brigit's Day.  The mid-point between the Winter Solstice (when the new year really begins) and the Spring Equinox. In our book, Learning,...

I've written before about the odd attitude of the Scottish government when it comes to higher education: its policy of zero fees and capped numbers for Scotland-domiciled students at Scottish universities, leads to unintended consequences.  In this case the difficulty...

Is ChatGPT the new Google, just a flash in the pan, or something much more innovative?  I came across it two days running last week, and so thought to try it out. It's free at the moment although you have...

Following a discussion about the status of DfE ‘approved' subject content which raised more questions than it answered, I asked my ‘man who understands the DfE' about it.  I wrote: "I’m told that approved subject content is what exam boards use to decide...

I see that the Prime Minister wants everyone to study maths up to 18.  A lot of countries already require this, particularly where there is a baccalaureate system in place.  The rationale seems to be that this would be boost...

I hope you've not gotten carried away with the nuclear fusion hype last month from California that was credulously lapped up by the MSM.  Here's a sobering quote in case you did: “If these developments prove ultimately successful, we should...

In October 1793, the French Revolution replaced the old Gregorian calendar with a new secular, republican one.  In this, the twelve months of the year were named after our experience of the seasons, and each day was named for a seed,...

In Hothouse Earth (Icon Books 2022: 160) Bill McGuire writes: “The truth is, playing down the potential worst effects of global heating and climate breakdown is far worse than raising the alarm and amounts to what I like to call climate appeasement....