June 2016

Mapping the moral high ground on fossil fuels

By Rob Ellam

The so-called Suess effect in radiocarbon (14C) has been known for decades. Geological sources of carbon like coal and oil, that formed many millions of years ago, long since lost their radiocarbon through radioactive decay – they contain 14C-free “dead” carbon. From the mid-19th century the radiocarbon activity of the atmosphere declined as dead carbon from fossil fuels was dug out of the ground and burnt producing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

Is there a human right to the city? Rethinking the politics of rights

By Joe Hoover

What gives you the right? We are familiar with rights claiming, it comes easily to our lips when we believe we are entitled to something—to respect, to our fair share. Rights are fighting words. We invoke them when we have been wronged, when a situation has become intolerable.

On the Singularity, emotions, and computer consciousness

By Maggie Boden

The term ‘artificial intelligence’ was coined as long ago as 1956 to describe ‘the science and engineering of making intelligent machines’. The work that has happened in the subject since then has had enormous impact. Margaret Boden is Research Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of Sussex, and one of the best known figures in the field of Artificial Intelligence. We put four common questions to her about this exciting area of research.

Leaving the kennel, or a farewell to dogs

By Anatoly Liberman

My series on the etymology of dog and other nouns with canine roots has come to an end, but, before turning to another subject, I would like to say a few moderately famous last words. For some reason, it is, as already mentioned, just the names of the dog that are particularly obscure in many languages (the same holds for bitch and others).

The classics and the Constitution: The smokescreen of republicanism and the creation of the Republic

By Benjamin Straumann

What role did the Greek and Roman classics play in the making of the American Constitution? Existing scholarship has put the main emphasis on the political theory of republicanism.

Revealing lives of women in science and technology: the case of Sarah Guppy

By Rebekah Higgitt

Guppy, as a patent-holding female inventor, is a rare type for the early 19th century but one that we are clearly eager to hear about today. It is the kind of life that (mostly women) historians have been researching since the 1970s and, more recently, has been transformed into popular role model: the archetypical example is Ada Lovelace, whose name has been adopted for a day celebrating and encouraging women in science and technology.

Oncolytic virus approved to treat melanoma

By Charlie Schmidt

Cancer cells have a unique vulnerability: the same mechanisms that shield them from the immune system also make them prone to viral infections.

Filling the void: the Brexit effect on employment law

By David Cabrelli

Having been cast as unnecessary “red tape”, a burden on business, inflexible, uncompetitive and inefficient, it is widely assumed that a sizeable number of domestic employment laws derived from European Law will be in the firing line in the event of a Brexit.

Why Congress should pass the Multi-State Worker Tax Fairness Act

By Edward A. Zelinsky

On 17th May, a massive fire caused Metro-North Railroad to reduce its commuter train service to and from Grand Central terminal. In light of this service disruption, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates Metro-North, “encouraged” commuters “to consider working from home.”

Islands: Are some of the most unique biological study systems about to disappear?

By Christoph Kueffer

Islands urgently require major additional conservation efforts. Many species face extinction, natural areas are small and fragmented and alien species dominate most ecosystems.

Observing Ramadan at the Qatar National Library

By Kummam Al-Maadeed

Every year, we welcome June with dreams of beaches, warm sunshine and a well-deserved vacation. This year, for over 1 billion Muslims across the globe, June represents something more spiritual as it marks the holy month of Ramadan.

Why Sykes-Picot is (still) important

By Umut Özsu

The centenary of the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement has been marked by what can only be described as a deluge of writing. Opinions have been numerous, sometimes tiresomely so, and have ranged exceedingly widely.

Ten under-appreciated ancient thinkers [timeline]

By Peter Adamson

The influence and wisdom from ancient philosophers like Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato is undeniable. But how well do you know the life and works of Macrina, Philo of Alexandria, or Gorgias? Although known for his work in botany, did you know Theophrastus was a pupil of Plato?

Living with multiple stressors in the marine environment

By Martin Solan and Nia Whiteley

When asked to think about the ocean, most people imagine a pristine habitat in the tropics with golden sands and clear blue waters, or the diversity of fish associated with coral reef communities.

Ecological development and adapting to change

By Sonia E. Sultan

World Environment Day is celebrated on 5 June to encourage positive environmental action. Instituted by the United Nations in 1974, it provides a global platform for public outreach in promoting the importance of the protection of our environment.

The forgotten history of piracy in the Indian Ocean

By Lakshmi Subramanian

Strangely enough, in this contest between sovereignty and piracy, law played a minor role. European sovereigns periodically made ritual invocations of the natural law that held pirates as enemies of all mankind, but in reality, the seas remained an unbounded realm. Thus, in the context of India’s western seaboard, piracy happened more in the littoral than on the high seas.