A new role for livestock guard dogs
Livestock guard dogs, traditionally used to protect farm animals from predators, are now being used to protect the predators themselves A For thousands of years, livestock guard dogs worked alongside shepherds to protect their sheep, goats and cattle from predators such as wolves and bears. But in the 19th and 20th centuries, when such predators […]
Adapting to the effects of climate change
A All around the world, nations are already preparing for, and adapting to, climate change and its impacts. Even if we stopped all CO2 emissions tomorrow, we would continue to see the impact of the CO2 already released since industrial times, with scientists forecasting that global warming would continue for around 40 years. In the […]
Procrastination
A psychologist explains why we put off important tasks and how we can break this habit A Procrastination is the habit of delaying a necessary task, usually by focusing on less urgent, more enjoyable, and easier activities instead. We all do it from time to time. We might be composing a message to a friend […]
To Britain
Mark Rowe investigates attempts to reintroduce elms to Britain A Around 25 million elms, accounting for 90% of all elm trees in the UK, died during the 1960s and ’70s of Dutch elm disease. In the aftermath, the elm, once so dominant in the British landscape, was largely forgotten. However, there’s now hope the elm […]
Second nature
Your personality isn’t necessarily set in stone. With a little experimentation, people can reshape their temperaments and inject passion, optimism, joy and courage into their lives A Psychologists have long held that a person’s character cannot undergo a transformation in any meaningful way and that the key traits of personality are determined at a very […]
Autumn leaves
Canadian writer Jay Ingram investigates the mystery of why leaves turn red in the fall A One of the most captivating natural events of the year in many areas throughout North America is the turning of the leaves in the fall. The colours are magnificent, but the question of exactly why some trees turn yellow […]
Gifted children and learning
A Internationally, ‘giftedness’ is most frequently determined by a score on a general intelligence test, known as an IQ test, which is above a chosen cutoff point, usually at around the top 2-5%. Children’s educational environment contributes to the IQ score and the way intelligence is used. For example, a very close positive relationship was […]
Preface to ‘How the other half thinks: Adventures in mathematical reasoning’
A Occasionally, in some difficult musical compositions, there are beautiful, but easy parts – parts so simple a beginner could play them. So it is with mathematics as well. There are some discoveries in advanced mathematics that do not depend on specialized knowledge, not even on algebra, geometry, or trigonometry. Instead they may involve, at […]
Reducing the Effects of Climate Change
Mark Rowe reports on the increasingly ambitious geo-engineering projects being explored by scientists A Such is our dependence on fossil fuels, and such is the volume of carbon dioxide already released into the atmosphere, that many experts agree that significant global warming is now inevitable. They believe that the best we can do is keep […]
[IELTS Reading] – The Intersection of Health Sciences and Geography
A While many diseases that affect humans have been eradicated due to improvements in vaccinations and the availability of healthcare, there are still areas around the world where certain health issues are more prevalent. In a world that is far more globalised than ever before, people come into contact with one another through travel and […]
[IELTS Reading] – The Benefits of Being Bilingual
A According to the latest figures, the majority of the world’s population is now bilingual or multilingual, having grown up speaking two or more languages. In the past, such children were considered to be at a disadvantage compared with their monolingual peers. Over the past few decades, however, technological advances have allowed researchers to look […]
[IELTS Reading] – The risks agriculture faces in developing countries
Synthesis of an online debate* A Two things distinguish food production from all other productive activities: first, every single person needs food each day and has a right to it; and second, it is hugely dependent on nature. These two unique aspects, one political, the other natural, make food production highly vulnerable and different from […]
[IELTS Reading] – Saving the soil
More than a third of the Earth’s top layer is at risk. Is there hope for our planet’s most precious resource? A More than a third of the world’s soil is endangered, according to a recent UN report. If we don’t slow the decline, all farmable soil could be gone in 60 years. Since soil […]
[IELTS Reading] – Whatever happened to the Harappan Civilisation?
New research sheds light on the disappearance of an ancient society A The Harappan Civilisation of ancient Pakistan and India flourished 5,000 years ago, but a thousand years later their cities were abandoned. The Harappan Civilisation was a sophisticated Bronze Age society who built ‘megacities’ and traded internationally in luxury craft products, and yet seemed […]
[IELTS Reading] – How baby talk gives infant brains a boost
A The typical way of talking to a baby – high-pitched, exaggerated and repetitious – is a source of fascination for linguists who hope to understand how ‘baby talk’ impacts on learning. Most babies start developing their hearing while still in the womb, prompting some hopeful parents to play classical music to their pregnant bellies. […]
[IELTS Reading] – Oxytocin
The positive and negative effects of the chemical known as the ‘love hormone’ A Oxytocin is a chemical, a hormone produced in the pituitary gland in the brain. It was through various studies focusing on animals that scientists first became aware of the influence of oxytocin. They discovered that it helps reinforce the bonds between […]
[IELTS Reading] – Why zoos are good
Scientist David Hone makes the case for zoos A In my view, it is perfectly possible for many species of animals living in zoos or wildlife parks to have a quality of life as high as, or higher than, in the wild. Animals in good zoos get a varied and high-quality diet with all the […]
[IELTS Reading] – Saving bugs to find new drugs
Zoologist Ross Piper looks at the potential of insects in pharmaceutical research A More drugs than you might think are derived from, or inspired by, compounds found in living things. Looking to nature for the soothing and curing of our ailments is nothing new – we have been doing it for tens of thousands of […]
[IELTS Reading] – The concept of intelligence
A Looked at in one way, everyone knows what intelligence is; looked at in another way, no one does. In other words, people all have unconscious notions – known as ‘implicit theories’ – of intelligence, but no one knows for certain what it actually is. This chapter addresses how people conceptualize intelligence, whatever it may […]
[IELTS Reading] – Back to the future of skyscraper design
Answers to the problem of excessive electricity use by skyscrapers and large public buildings can be found in ingenious but forgotten architectural designs of the 19th and early-20th centuries A The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture by Professor Alan Short is the culmination of 30 years of research and award-winning green building design by Short […]
