May 2022

Before the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is another tragic setback in our efforts at building a sustainable future

By Martin Gutmann and Dan Gorman

To say that wars cause disruption and hardship is stating the painfully obvious. Regardless of attempts—real or professed—at limiting civilian casualties, military conflict always unleashes suffering on the civilian population. History also shows us that the disruptive effect of war also runs deeper and far beyond the geographic limits of fighting with far-reaching consequences for sustainability.

A literary history of Modernism [timeline]

By Ashendri Wickremasinghe

In this timeline, we explore key figures and events that contributed to shaping modernism and celebrate 100 years since 1922: the pinnacle year of modernist publishing!

Renewable solar energy: how does it work and can it meet demand?

By Paul F. Meier

While it is impractical to have solar panels dotting virtually every available surface of the earth, it does show the awesome potential of solar energy as a renewable energy to meet our needs for generations to come.

We are what we breathe: environmental factors in biological ageing

By Yanfei Guo and Fan Wu

Volcanic eruptions, floods, and heatwaves have forced us to think seriously about whether the air we breathe will allow us to age healthily. To try to answer this question, we selected a unique sample of five middle-income countries on four continents and used NASA satellite remote sensing data to assess the associations between long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 and frailty in older populations.

Social work in the anti-science era: how to build trust in science-based practice

By Lisa Rapp-McCall

Over the past five to seven years, there has been an increase in anti-science rhetoric and ideas which look to replace the reliance on science with misleading theories and discredit scientific experts. Unfortunately, non-scientific beliefs gained traction during the pandemic and show no signs of slowing. This post-truth and anti-science movement places the field of social work at an important crossroads.