Centuries-old documents related to the capture of ships by the British are accessible online from today, for the use of international researchers. The “Prize Papers” Project of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities Göttingen is, as a first stage, making available online via the website www.prizepapers.de documents from court processes linked to approximately 1,500 ship...
World
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Properly Managed Fire Enhances Functional Diversity and Carbon Fixation in Savannas
The grasses that grow in tropical savannas evolved some 8 million years ago, in the presence of fire, long before humans emerged on the planet. Fire continues to play a key evolutionary role in this type of biome. The role of fire in savannas has been the subject of articles published by Agência FAPESP since 2017, and is further...
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Poorest People Bear Growing Burden of Heat Waves as Temperatures Rise
People with lower incomes are exposed to heat waves for longer periods of time compared to their higher income counterparts due to a combination of location and access to heat adaptations like air conditioning. This inequality is expected to rise as temperatures increase, according to new research. Lower income populations currently face a 40% higher...
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Identifying the Portable Toilets of the Ancient Roman World
New research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports reveals how archaeologists can determine when a pot was used by Romans as a portable toilet, known as a chamber pot. “Conical pots of this type have been recognized quite widely in the Roman Empire and in the absence of other evidence they have often been...
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Teachers Leading Global Drive to Improve Girls’ Education Took on ‘Humanitarian Role’ During Covid-19 Closures
Interviews with teachers at the forefront of international efforts to improve girls’ education reveal that many have taken on humanitarian roles, as well as working as educators, during the COVID-19 crisis. Their experiences are captured in a Government-commissioned report assessing UK-funded programmes for marginalised girls in some of the poorest parts of the world. It...
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Mexican Town Protects Forest from Avocado Growers, Cartels
Regular citizens have taken the fight against illegal logging into their own hands in the pine-covered mountains of western Mexico, where loggers clear entire hillsides for avocado plantations that drain local water supplies and draw drug cartels hungry for extortion money. In some places, like the Indigenous township of Cheran in Michoacan state , the fight...
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Rain-Fed Landslides, Flooding Kill at Least 19 in Brazil
Landslides and flooding caused by heavy rains killed at least 19 people in Brazil’s most populous state Sunday while high waters forced some 500,000 families from their homes over the weekend, authorities said. Three people from the same family died when a landslide destroyed their house in the city of Embu das Artes, according to...
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5 Things to Know About Why Russia Might Invade Ukraine – and Why the U.S. Is Involved
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Jan. 19, 2022, that he thinks Russia will invade Ukraine, and cautioned Russian president Vladimir Putin that he “will regret having done it,” following months of building tension. Russia has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine over the past several months. In mid-January, Russia began...
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After Afghanistan, U.S. Military Presence Abroad Faces Domestic and Foreign Opposition in 2022
In August 2021, the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan after fighting a war there for nearly 20 years. In addition to Afghanistan, the U.S. has reduced its military presence in several other conflict zones in recent years. It has lowered troop levels in Iraq from 170,000 in 2007 to 2,500 in 2021, and in Syria...
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16-Country Study Shows How News Shapes Governments’ Humanitarian Aid
A new study shows that media coverage of crises can increase governments’ allocation of emergency humanitarian aid — whether or not the crisis merits it. This is because intense, national news coverage triggers other accountability institutions (the public, civil society, elected officials) who put pressure on governments to announce additional funding. Dr. Martin Scott (University of East...
