Conversation press releases

A person sat at a laptop with graphics of increasing bar charts in front of the screen

Everything can be a bet now – the rise and risks of prediction markets

An opinion piece authored by Professor Sarah Mills, Professor of Human Geography, from the School of Geography and Environment, for The Conversation platform.
A line of youngsters all looking at the phones

How social media draws vulnerable users back to eating disorder content – new research

People recovering from eating disorders often use social media for support, seeking out recovery content, body-positive creators and others with similar experiences.
A flooded road in the UK

How the UK is keeping flood insurance affordable – until 2039

While floods are becoming more frequent in recent years, you should still be able to buy reasonably priced home insurance. That reassurance exists largely because of Flood Re. Launched in 2016, Flood Re is a national public–private reinsurance scheme that prevents many properties from being priced out of cover.
High Withens from Wuthering Heights

How Wuthering Heights was shaped by Emily Brontë’s gothic poetry

An opinion piece authored by Dr Claire O'Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in English, from the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, for The Conversation platform.
Three towers with plumes of smoke bellowing into the air

Trump claims his pollution rollback will save Americans money – but climate change is raising household costs

Climate change is usually assessed in scientific terms – rising temperatures, sea levels and carbon emissions. But increasingly, it can also be measured in household bills – higher insurance premiums, steeper energy charges and growing costs to protect homes, travel and health. So when US President Donald Trump said recently that abandoning a key government ruling on greenhouse gases would make cars cheaper for Americans, he was focusing on a tiny piece of a huge picture.
a city scape

Air pollution may directly contribute to Alzheimer’s disease – new study

An opinion piece authored by Professor Eef Hogervorst, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University.
A man stands at a check queue in a supermarket while the cashier scans his lemons

How shaming unethical brands makes companies improve their behaviour

An opinion piece written by Professor Jan Godsell, Dean of the Business School, for the Conversation.
Ingredients for making pancakes. Flour, eggs, sugar and milk.

A history of pancake recipes – from Elizabethan ale to the invention of self-raising flour

An opinion piece written by Dr Sara Read of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) for the Conversation.
Skyline in downtown Hong Kong

City skylines need an upgrade in the face of climate stress

An opinion piece authored by Dr Mohamed Shaheen, Lecturer in Structural Engineering, from the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, for The Conversation platform.
a couple smiling sharing a hot drink

Small improvements in sleep, physical activity and diet are linked with a longer life

An opinion piece authored by Professor Eef Hogervorst, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University.
A school boy and three school girls laugh and walk together

How to involve men and boys in tackling misogyny? Start by treating them not just as perpetrators

Almost half (45%) of teachers across primary and secondary schools in the UK describe misogynistic attitudes and behaviour among boys as being a problem, according to a YouGov survey in 2025. Additionally, 54% of secondary school teachers indicate that boys very or fairly often openly express misogynistic attitudes or behaviour in school.
A Danish Navy ship patrols the seas around Greenland

Whether or not US acquires Greenland, the island will be at the centre of a massive military build-up in the Arctic

An opinion piece written by Professor Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, from the department of International Relations, Politics and History.
a man lying awake in bed

Your body clock matters for brain health in later life – and could even be linked to dementia risk

An opinion piece authored by Professor Eef Hogervorst, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University.
A young woman using patches to cover her pimples

Pimple patches have hidden our blemishes for hundreds of years – historian explains

You may have noticed people out and about with little stickers on their faces. Perhaps you’ve seen moons, stars, clouds or even smiley faces adorning people’s cheeks and chins. Maybe you wear them yourself. While some people do wear them as accessories, these colourful stickers are medicated “pimple patches”, designed to treat spots or acne.
a cheese board

Can eating high fat cheese and cream reduce dementia risk, as a new study suggests?

An opinion piece authored by Professor Eef Hogervorst, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University.
A glass of mulled wine

A brief history of mulled wine – from health tonic to festive treat

When frost sparkles in the morning and our breath is visible as we venture outside, thoughts turn to winter warming treats like mulled wine – a drink full of ingredients that have become synonymous with Christmas.
A man plots out markings on a road

The UK’s latest compromise on workers’ rights will not fix its labour market problems

An opinion piece written by Dr Danny Buckley, from the Business School, for The Conversation:
Screenshot of Emma Thompson in the drama Cemetery Road

Down Cemetery Road: Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson delight in this light conspiracy thriller

When a house mysteriously explodes in the sleepy suburbs of south Oxford and a child goes missing in the aftermath, concerned neighbour Sarah Trafford is driven to seek the truth. As an art conservator, Trafford is way out of her depth, so she enlists the help of a private investigator, Zoë Boehm. However, the pair end up in a plot far more serious than Boehm’s usual work of checking credit ratings and tracking adulterous husbands.
A painting called Subsidence by Otobong Nkanga. It shows a naked black woman lying on her side, hugging what appears to be a number of large green marrows

The Land Sings Back: a gorgeous exhibition of drawings inspired by ecofeminism

The Land Sings Back, a new exhibition at the Drawing Room gallery in London, is a gorgeous evocation of our rights to our lands and our symbiotic relationship with nature.
two people walk on a beach

Even a few thousand steps a day can reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s – new study

An opinion piece written by Professor Eef Hogervorst from the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences for The Conversation:

An aerial view of Austin, Texas, flooded with homes badly affected.

Climate change is becoming an insurance crisis

Imagine waking up to find your living room underwater for the second time in five years. You try to claim insurance, only to be told your property is now uninsurable. Premiums have tripled. Your mortgage lender is concerned. And your biggest asset, your home, is rapidly losing value.
A map of Turkey

How Turkey is cracking down on the media

Hakan Tosun, a 50 year-old Turkish journalist, died on October 13 three days after he was assaulted in a street attack in Istanbul. Two people have been arrested. The motive for the attack remains unclear, but several political groups have suggested that it may be linked to Tosun’s work. He reported on human rights and environmental protection.
A group of elderly friends taking a selfie with a phone

Can friendship keep you young? Scientists say your social life might slow ageing

An opinion piece written by Professor James Goodwin from the School of Design and Creative Arts for The Conversation:
Flags of Israel and Palestine fly behind barbed wire

October 7 two years on: Israelis and Palestinians caught between two conflicting ideas of peace

An opinion piece written by Dr Yuval Katz from the School of Social Sciences and Humanities for The Conversation:
Two tanks drive through the desert

Three reasons why the climate crisis must reshape how we think about war

Earth’s average temperature rose more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in 2024 for the first time – a critical threshold in the climate crisis. At the same time, major armed conflicts continue to rage in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere.