Новости за 25.09.2017

Red makes a big impact, studies show. Twinsterphoto/shutterstock

I notice that my office is mainly colourless, or perhaps more accurately insipid in colour, a dull brown, the colour of old tea – the desk, the shelves, the table. A once bright red bromeliad now dead or dying on the window sill has turned a dull autumn brown. Beyond that, outside the window, is the dull brown of autumn on a wet, windy day.

Bathing in pure colour can have effects on the body and mind. Author provided

Red makes the heart beat faster. You will frequently find this and other claims made for the effects of different colours on the human mind and body. But is there any scientific evidence and data to support such claims? The physiological mechanisms that underpin human colour vision have been understood for the best part of a century, but it is only in the last couple of decades that we have discovered and begun to understand... Читать дальше...

Development projects can start small. Shutterstock

At the height of the European refugee crisis, volunteers delivered goods to makeshift camps in Calais, set up soup kitchens, and helped recent arrivals on the Greek island of Lesvos. But such grassroots humanitarianism does not always play out on Europe’s doorstep. “Citizen aid” – whereby driven individuals set up their own, small-scale aid projects – is taking off in the Global South, too.

dennizn / Shutterstock.com

In what could be a major blow to the gig economy, Transport for London (TfL) has refused to renew Uber’s licence to operate in the UK capital – its largest European market – on the grounds that its approach and conduct “demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility” on issues which “have potential public safety and security implications”.

Uber has been met with a mix of excitement, anger, protest, legal action and dispute when introduced in most countries. With operations in over 250 cities, the ride-hailing app has disrupted transportation and models of work. It has also been disrupted by the termination of all or part of its services in some countries including France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Denmark and China.

Jeremy Corbyn entered the 2016 Labour party conference freshly re-elected as leader. The jubilant support for him at the leadership election was met in equal share with bemusement in other quarters, however. Opposition parties are supposed to win seats in local elections through anti-government protest votes, but Labour had lost seats in the local elections. Labour was flagging in the opinion polls and criticism from parliamentary dissenters was rife. “In 34 years of watching Westminster, I have... Читать дальше...

shutterstock

In an abandoned gold mine close to Deadwood, South Dakota, construction has started on what is arguably the world’s largest science experiment. I’m part of an international team of around 1,000 scientists assembled to design and run this project – the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) – in order to study the most abundant yet elusive matter particle in the universe.

So macho. Aleksandra Gigowska

As gym regulars we never cease to be amazed at the array of post-workout concoctions people consume in the changing room. We see everything from pills and powders to a rainbow of luminous drinks. Mostly it’s with one goal in mind, of course: to obtain muscles as close to the models endorsing these supplements as you possibly can.

DonkeyHotey/flickr, CC BY-SA

Since the early 1990s, the North Koreans have been gaining increasing attention for their use of sharp language. In the latest such episode, Ri Yong-ho, the North Korean foreign minister, ridiculed US president Donald Trump, comparing his bombastic threats to the “sound of a dog barking”.

Ink Drop/Shutterstock

Dara Khosrowshahi will have to do more than post a humble tweet if he is to rescue Uber in London. The CEO of the ride-sharing company will need new reserves of humility, allied with positive action, if his firm is to be given a third chance to make it work in the UK capital.

Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. EPA-EFE

Hurricane Irma – one of the strongest on record to hit the Caribbean – recently scoured the islands leaving catastrophic damage in its wake. And just as we began to piece together the devastating and potentially long–term impacts of Irma, Hurricane Maria has now left another path of destruction. Puerto Rico, the British dependency of the Turks and Caicos, and many other Caribbean islands have suffered what have been described as “apocalyptic conditions”.

Keeping its distance. Sudpoth Sirirattanasakul/Shutterstock

In bowling, a strike is the best shot you can make. In aviation jargon, however, a strike happens when a bird suddenly crosses the trajectory of an aeroplane. Usually, with an adverse outcome for the bird.

Imran's Photography/Shutterstock

This article is the first in our global series about health systems, examining different approaches from across the world.