News and Updates

I've never participated in a debate at the Oxford Union.  I've not even been there, unlike the Cambridge Union which I visited once in the early 1970s to attend a debate on nature v nurture in relation to IQ.  The impact...

Phew!  Thank goodness I don't work at the University of St Andrews where Sally Mapstone, the VC, who has a reputation for disdaining email guff, advised – or was that told? – academics not to waste time and cyber space resources...

I can remember when lorries used to come to the door and drop off bottles of "pop" (Vimto / Dandelion & B / Cream Soda / Lemonade / etc)  and pick up empties.  There were deposits on the bottles as...

Thriving in the Anthropocene was the focus of the on-line I-SEE seminar on February 7th at the University of Bath.  It was presented by Mike Berners-Lee, Director of Small World Consulting andthe author of, There is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or...

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...

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...