Новости за 15.03.2017

Most modern spiral galaxies, such as NGC 1300, are thought to have loads of dark matter in their outer regions. NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA)

It may seem like we’ve got the universe pretty much figured out. We have a relatively good idea about how it started and how it is evolving. We’ve sent probes to neighbouring planets, discovered an increasing number of exoplanets and are cataloguing the family tree of galaxies.

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After a litigation saga lasting almost ten years, the UK Supreme Court has ruled that a woman who was deliberately disinherited by her mother in favour of three animal charities is entitled only to a relatively small pay-out. The daughter, Heather Illot, had contested the will in search of a maintenance payment. The ruling is a victory for charities reliant on legacy gifts in donors’ wills, and could discourage adult children from contesting wills in the future.

Brazil’s military is getting a serious workout these days. The authorities have recently deployed it to tackle the crisis in prisons, replace striking police, and as a pre-emptive measure against another possible police strike ahead of the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. The army has, in effect, become a “parapolice” force – a substitute for the country’s badly stretched police.

A camp for people affected by malnutrition in Eritrea. A photo smuggled out of Eritrea by the Freedom Friday network.

The international community has finally woken up to the critical situation across the Horn of Africa. Conflict and drought have left millions at risk of famine. In the UK, an appeal has been launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) for assistance for 16m people from Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan. To underline the gravity of the situation, British foreign... Читать дальше...

After at least half a century of prevarication and debate, it looks like the UN Human Rights Council is now serious about developing a new legally binding international instrument on business and human rights. But this long-running debate in the UN system has always been as much about upholding the rights of corporations as it has been about upholding human rights.

A Supreme Court decision has highlighted the tension that exists in law between an individual’s obligation to provide in their wills for their close family and dependants and their freedom to leave their estate to whomever they choose.

The execution of Charles I. Wikimedia Commons

The hapless career of Charles I (1600-49) holds tremendously important lessons for Theresa May and her approach to Brexit. The civil wars of Charles’ reign stemmed, in part, from a one-size-fits-all approach to British politics. His inflexibility in dealing with Scottish and Irish anxieties over English-style church and judicial reforms across his kingdoms mirrors May’s resolve to ignore the situation of the devolved assemblies and parliaments of the UK in the wake of the Brexit vote. Читать дальше...

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Some of the financial sector’s biggest firms are feeling the pinch. The rise of low-cost investment products which simply track markets is forcing some dramatic moves and the proposed £11 billion merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management is only the latest evidence of the shift. You see, even the City is not immune to the basic laws of strategy and fund managers are failing to add enough value to justify the cost of their services.

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Muslim youths tend to be portrayed as politically disengaged or potentially extremist. Debates about the “war on terror”, and US president Donald Trump’s immigration plans are damaging how the world sees young Muslims today.

As the English football season moves into its latter stages, fans are still waiting to hear the year’s biggest announcement: which team does Theresa May support? Former prime minister Tony Blair was a vocal supporter of Newcastle United while David Cameron was a lifelong Aston Villa fan – or was it West Ham? So which scarf does the current PM wave at the weekend?

When South Korea’s Constitutional Court finally upheld the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, ousted for cronyism and corruption, the massed protesters who spent months demanding her resignation breathed a collective sigh of relief. Their country can now emerge intact from a serious political crisis – and the light of its democracy still burns bright. Or does it?

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Weight gain happens when we consume more food than we can burn, and weight loss happens when we burn more energy than we consume. But why do some people seem to eat whatever they want and not gain weight, and others appear to gain weight even if they eat reasonable amounts of food? The answer, at least in part, may be found in the bacteria that live in our guts.

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Weight gain happens when we consume more food than we can burn, and weight loss happens when we burn more energy than we consume. But why do some people seem to eat whatever they want and not gain weight, and others appear to gain weight even if they eat reasonable amounts of food? The answer, at least in part, may be found in the bacteria that live in our guts.

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Without nature, humans could be neither healthy nor happy. And yet the natural world can be completely ransacked without causing even a tiny blip on our usual measures of economic progress or poverty.

Science and integrity is under the microscope. Shutterstock

Reproducibility is the idea that an experiment can be repeated by another scientist and they will get the same result. It is important to show that the claims of any experiment are true and for them to be useful for any further research.

Giving carers at home more power could save a lot of unnecessary pain. Shutterstock/Photographee.eu

It makes sense that people with terminal illnesses would want to be cared for, and die, at home. Familiar surroundings, with family and friends, are what people generally prefer and can bring comfort at the end of life.