Tag Archives: Research

The Arab Spring was a revolutionary wave of both violent and non-violent demonstrations, protests, riots, coups and civil wars in North Africa. ymphotos/shutterstock Tuba Turan, University of Essex From 2010 to 2012, Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region experienced dramatic upheavals in what came to be known as the Arab Spring. These popular uprisings were …

Rift Valley Fever virus, 3D illustration. Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock George Warimwe, University of Oxford Professor George Warimwe should be a household name in Kenya. He’s a leading scientist who has created a life-saving vaccine against Rift Valley Fever. He is also leading policy-changing work on Yellow Fever vaccines. Warimwe has now been awarded the Royal Society Africa Prize for his work …

The Nile River during sunset in Luxor, Egypt. EPA-EFE/Khaled Elfiqi Salam Abdulqadir Abdulrahman, University of Human Development, Iraq Egypt has historically adopted an aggressive approach to the flow of the River Nile. Cairo considers the Nile a national security matter and statements continue to include threats of military action against Ethiopia should it interfere with the flow as set out …

How would a supportive outsider think about this dispute? Wodicka\ullstein bild via Getty Images Lindsey Rodriguez, University of South Florida The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Consciously channeling the perspective of a neutral third party can defuse romantic conflict and prevent future disputes, according to a study of 716 Americans my colleagues …

The study found that child-free people were just as satisfied with their lives as those with kids. Aleksandr Faustov/EyeEm via Getty Images Jennifer Watling Neal, Michigan State University and Zachary Neal, Michigan State University CC BY-NC-ND Fertility rates in the United States have plunged to record lows, and this could be related to the fact that more people are choosing …

The framing of Africa’s relationship with China needs a rethink. Shutterstock Christopher J. Lee, Lafayette College The topic of China-Africa relations presents an opportunity to rethink the territorial parameters of African studies. In particular, it can help shift attention away from the Atlantic world as the dominant focal point of connections between Africa and the wider world. The problem is …

Virginie Courtier, Université de Paris and Etienne Decroly, Aix-Marseille Université (AMU) A year and a half into the pandemic, we still do not know exactly where the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, came from. The prevailing view so far has been that the virus “spilled over” from bats into humans. But there are increasing calls to investigate the possibility that …

Prématuré de 34 semaines en couveuse. Sharon McCutcheon / Unsplash, FAL Elsa Lorthe, Université de Paris Voici 60 ans de cela, un grand prématuré, c’est-à-dire un enfant venu au monde avant 6 mois de grossesse, n’avait quasiment aucune chance de survivre. Aujourd’hui, dans notre pays, ces nouveaux-nés peuvent prétendre à vivre et à grandir normalement. Dans le monde, la prématurité reste …

Reading and writing can prevent cognitive decline. AJP/Shutterstock.com Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis When Toni Morrison died on Aug. 5, the world lost one of its most influential literary voices. But Morrison wasn’t a literary wunderkind. “The Bluest Eye,” Morrison’s first novel, wasn’t published until she was 39. And her last, “God Help the Child,” appeared when she was …