Новости за 11.05.2017

It's time to stop being sniffy about the human sense of smell. Nestor Rizhniak/Shutterstock

Conventional wisdom has it that humans have a poorer sense of smell than most other animals. Sure, we can smell – most of us appreciate the aroma of our morning coffee or a delightful fragrance, and we’re able to detect burning toast or a gas leak. But we have nonetheless long been thought to be relative weaklings in the animal kingdom’s league of olfactory excellence, which puts dogs and rodents near the top. Читать дальше...

A month ahead of polling day, the Labour party is scrambling to manage its message after someone leaked a draft version of its 2017 election manifesto, the day before a final version was to be agreed by the party’s leadership.

Theresa May’s decision to call a snap election at a time when her party is riding high in the polls has been widely seen as an opportunity for her to dramatically increase her majority in the House of Commons from a slim 12 seats to potentially triple figures.

You probably won't read them, but these documents can make or break a party. Shutterstock

The launch of a party’s manifesto is among the most decisive moments in a British general election campaign. Manifestos are not merely devices to harvest votes at election time. They establish the agenda for government that the party will pursue in office.

shutterstock Shutterstock

The UK prides itself on being an island nation in a world that is almost three-quarters oceans and seas. Packed full of potentially valuable resources, the ocean has long played a vital role in transport and fishing. But commercial exploitation has been slowed by the very real technical and non-technological challenges and the high costs that accompany them.

On the seventh move of the crucial deciding game, black made what some now consider to have been a critical error. When black mixed up the moves for the Caro-Kann defence, white took advantage and created a new attack by sacrificing a knight. In just 11 more moves, white had built a position so strong that black had no option but to concede defeat. The loser reacted with a cry of foul play – one of the most strident accusations of cheating ever made in a tournament, which ignited an international... Читать дальше...

Outraged Democrats are comparing Donald Trump’s sacking of FBI director James Comey with the Watergate misdeeds of Richard Nixon. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania caught the mood by tweeting:

If US president, Donald Trump, thinks sacking his FBI director, James Comey, will stop the intelligence leaks against his administration, he can think again. If anything, they are likely to get worse. The sacking may well have sent shock waves around Washington. But the investigation into allegations of Russian interference will continue, no matter how many intelligence officials get fired by the president.

Sayan Puangkham/Shutterstock

In the three decades following World War II it became an almost universal belief of nutritional scientists that protein deficiency was the most serious and widespread dietary deficiency in the world. Improving protein nutrition became a high priority for UN agencies, such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Ruslan Guzov/Shutterstock

There have been some noteworthy examples of successful human ageing in the press recently. It was announced that Prince Phillip will be retiring from royal duties in the autumn, at the age of 96. A couple of days later we heard the sad news that 85-year-old Min Bahadur Sharchan died in an attempt to summit Everest (having successfully climbed the mountain at 76 years of age).

from www.shutterstock.com

The future of transport appears full of fun and flashy possibilities. From super-fast hyperloop transport systems, to self-driving cars and hovering taxis, new technology promises to move us further and faster than ever before. Yet for cities facing everyday problems such as congestion, air pollution and under capacity, the most effective solution could be the humble bus – coupled with the power of data.

ra2studio/shutterstock

With the new metro mayor, Andy Burnham, calling Manchester a “world-leading digital city”“ it seems timely to assess whether or not this is really the case.

Fairtrade grape production, Western Cape, South Africa. Author provided

Fairtrade products and promotions are covered with photos of smiling producers, but behind the marketing gloss not everyone is so happy.

The paradox of the European left is that while many of the burning issues currently defining political debates are traditionally left-wing concerns, social democratic parties seem incapable of credibly addressing them. This is true whether they are in office or in opposition. The left has failed to persuade voters that it can deal with economic inequality, employment precariousness, accessible housing or making health spending and pension entitlements sustainable.

Since I’ve been health secretary we’ve got 6,500 more doctors, we’ve got 15,000 more nurses.

St Cecilia's Hall. Wikimedia

You can’t often travel around the world, traversing six centuries in just ten paces. But that’s the offering at Edinburgh’s Musical Instruments Museum, one of the world’s leading collections of its kind. Situated just off the Royal Mile in the Scottish capital, it is reopening on May 11 after three years of refurbishment.