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Of the many worrying paragraphs in the US government’s new national security strategy, one has really stood out for European leaders. The document asserts that Europe is on the brink of “civilizational erasure” as a result of immigration, falling birth rates and a loss of national identities, among other ills.
The attack is unwarranted on many counts, according to Francesco Grillo of Bocconi University in Italy, but as is so often the case, it contains a kernel of truth. Europe isn’t about to collapse but it hasn’t delivered a vision of its own for a changing world. The US document should perhaps provide impetus for European leaders to start drafting a strategy of their own.
Robots can now see and hear incredibly well. But scientists are finding it harder to programme them with the ability to touch and feel. An account of one team’s attempt to crack this problem is as revelatory about the complexity of human sensation as it is about the evolution of robotics.
And have you considered that your water bottle might harbour hidden health risks? You probably should.
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Laura Hood
Senior Politics Editor, Assistant Editor
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Alamy/Geopix
Francesco Grillo, Bocconi University
The US is wrong to try to impose its worldview on Europe – but it has been able to do so because European leaders don’t have a strategy of their own.
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aerogondo2/Shutterstock
Perla Maiolino, University of Oxford
To learn in the way humans do, robots need bodies that feel.
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Art_Photo/Shutterstock
Muhammad Wakil Shahzad, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Plastic bottled water is popular despite health risks and environmental costs but decentralised technologies could cut plastic waste while improving water safety.
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World
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Patrick E. Shea, University of Glasgow
Combining diplomacy with deals has long been a feature of US foreign policy, but Donald Trump seems to have taken that to a new level.
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Politics + Society
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Diego Garcia Rodriguez, University of Nottingham
For LGBTQ+ people, ‘safety’ does not switch on when their countries’ laws change or a conflict stops.
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Arts + Culture
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Tony Milligan, University of Sheffield
Eternity is not truly about a love that could last forever. It is about the way that love, real ordinary love, involves more than happiness.
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Business + Economy
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Paurav Shukla, University of Southampton; Tugra Akarsu, Zayed University
Confusion could be a big threat to accepting autonomous vehicles.
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Ines Branco-Illodo, University of Stirling; Teresa Pereira Heath, University of Minho
The perfect gift probably isn’t what you think it is.
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Education
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Martha Shaw, London South Bank University; Alexis Stones, UCL
Students explored ideas of identity through model building.
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Environment
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Mohammed F. Alzuhair, Durham University
More extreme weather is set to cause more more problems for farmers and supermarkets in getting food to consumers.
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Kristoffer Balslev Willert, University of Southern Denmark; Bryan Yazell, University of Southern Denmark
Climate activism shouldn’t just be about boycotts and protest – it’s also a chance to imagine a different future.
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Health
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Michelle Spear, University of Bristol
The remarkable biology that lets Santa’s elves work tirelessly through long polar nights on a diet of sweets.
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Justin Stebbing, Anglia Ruskin University
A breakthrough therapy is driving aggressive leukaemia into remission. Here’s what the headlines don’t tell you about life after treatment.
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James Poulter, University of Leeds
Brain organoids are revolutionising research, but their growing complexity raises unsettling ethical questions.
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Science + Technology
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Adam Urwick, RAND Europe; Jessie Osborne, RAND Europe
A number of companies are working on plans to extract precious resources from the Moon.
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