At the beginning of 2017, France announced the launch of its green bonds scheme. A green bond is like a conventional bond, but one issued specifically to fund an environmental project. The amount, not yet officially revealed, could be counted in billions of euros, thus constituting the first green sovereign borrowing scheme on this scale […] … learn more→

For the past 28 years, I have been involved in crowd safety and risk analysis, and I have been fortunate enough to have been consulted on some of the world’s biggest events, from the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia to the royal wedding in 2011. In many of these instances, the media are […] … learn more→

The recent riots at Berkeley are no accident; we’re training our college students to get upset at the silliest little things…it’s no surprise they violently nuts when significant things are being discussed. But today I want to talk about tiny little things, aka microaggressions. A few years ago, the entire concept of microaggression was just […] … learn more→

Scientific research can change our lives for the better, but it also presents risks – either through deliberate misuse or accident. Think about studying deadly pathogens; that’s how we can learn how to successfully ward them off, but it can be a safety issue too, as when CDC workers were exposed to anthrax in 2014 […] … learn more→

Antibiotics are medicines for treating infectious diseases caused by bacteria. They are one of the greatest medical discoveries of all time. They have saved my life, and probably saved yours as well. But we have used them unwisely. We used them to treat viral infections, such as the flu, that don’t respond to antibiotics. We […] … learn more→

Forty-eight prominent US university presidents have written to Donald Trump urging him to rescind his controversial executive order, introduced on 27 January, which bars immigrants and non-immigrant visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. Since the order was signed, US universities and universities around the world have condemned Mr Trump, describing the travel ban as […] … learn more→

The use of body cameras by front line police and other uniformed enforcement agencies is increasing at an unstoppable rate both in the US and UK. In the UK, video cameras have been seen primarily as a way of supporting police officers to better enforce order or collect evidence. Whereas in the US, their use […] … learn more→

You have probably heard, or read, that writing is thinking. But what does writing is thinking really mean? Anything? Nothing? Well, it doesn’t mean that you have to write in order to think, because of course you can think without writing. We think without writing all the time. So if it’s not that, what is it? […] … learn more→

The first year of college, the freshman year, is the worst. I’ve seen many a good student (including the valedictorian in my high school class) come to campus, and, given no direction by rapacious admin, get sucked into the party atmosphere…drinking (or worse) away their chance at an education. They throw away their first semester, […] … learn more→

In UK school exams – GSCEs and A-levels – girls outperform boys in nearly all subjects. The STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – are the only subjects in which boys can often still score the same as girls in GCSEs. And this trend continues well after school, with more girls taking A-levels […] … learn more→