Do you really know?

What is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? Thanks for asking! Just over a week ago, clashes re-erupted in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The region is to the north of Iran, and east of Armenia. It has a population of around 150,000 according to a 2015 census. Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic enclave, mainly inhabited by Christian Armenians, while Azerbaijan is a Turk...

What is Peyronie’s disease? Thanks for asking! Peyronie’s Disease is a disorder caused when fibrous scar tissue develops inside the penis. It can result in the member becoming curved when erect. While most men with the condition can still have sex, for some it may be painful and erectile dysfunction is a symptom. The disorder isn’t contagious, but does transform the anatomy of the penis and can re...

What is a hysterectomy? Thanks for asking! A hysterectomy is a medical procedure whereby the uterus is partially or totally removed from a woman’s body, thereby making it impossible for her to become pregnant. In mid-September, a whistleblower alleged that forced hysterectomies had been carried out on unsuspecting migrants at an ICE detention centre in the American state of Georgia. Dawn Wooten, a...

What is an antigen test? Thanks for asking! Antigen tests are a rapid way of diagnosing a person with a medical condition. Common examples include tests for the flu, pregnancy and of course COVID-19. Antigen tests use antibodies to identify antigens in the body. The aim of a COVID-19 antigen test is the same as with the more common PCR test. That is to say, whether a person is infected at the mome...

What is a Smart City? Thanks for asking! Nobody knows if the cities of the future will be full of robots and flying cars, but lots of engineers are working towards making them smart. Many dream of these connected cities becoming sustainable utopias, while others see them as the stuff of nightmares, with citizens under constant surveillance. The idea behind the smart city is to use state-of-the-art...

Who are the Uyghurs? Thanks for asking! The Uyghurs are a Turkish-speaking Muslim ethnic group. Some 11 million live in the Xinjiang autonomous region of northwestern China. They are one of 56 ethnic groups living in the country. For decades now, the Uyghurs have been subjected to systemic discrimination and intrusive surveillance from the Chinese authorities. But only in the last few years has th...

What is Peter Pan Syndrome? Thanks for asking! Peter Pan was the original Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, a character from J.M. Barrie’s 1911 children’s novel. But some people also struggle with adulthood for a long time, due to the “real world” responsibilities it brings.   American psychoanalyst Dan Kiley noticed this pattern of behaviour in some of his patients during the 1970s and 80s. He wrote a bo...

What is green hydrogen? Thanks for asking! Green hydrogen is an alternative to fossil fuels which is made by using renewable energy technologies.  In reality, manufacturers have been using hydrogen as an energy source for years, but only grey hydrogen, which has a highly polluting production process. So could green hydrogen be the sustainable fuel of the future? There are certainly promising signs...

What is environmental amnesia? Thanks for asking! Why are we so slow to become aware of climate change and act against it? The explanation may lie in our brains, which are affected by environmental amnesia. This term was invented in 1999 by American psychologist Peter H. Khan. He theorised that humans were forgetting the history of the environment, or more accurately becoming used to its degradati...

What is Amazon deforestation? Thanks for asking! Situated in South America, the Amazon tropical rainforest is home to somewhere between 50 and 70% of the world’s biodiversity, according to the World Wildlife Fund. It stretches across Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana, Ecuador, Bolivia and most of all Brazil, which contains 60% of the Amazon alone. Huge fires are currently r...

What is transhumanism? Thanks for asking! Transhumanism is all about improving the human condition by enhancing our intellect and physiology.  From 2021, billionaire Elon Musk is planning to test brain implants on human beings. With his Neuralink device, he is looking to create an interface to treat and enhance our brains. So is the merging of man and machine just around the corner? The transhuman...

What is OPEC? Thanks for asking! The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an international cartel currently made up of thirteen member states. Over the years, it has played an important role in the global economy, coordinating the petroleum policies of its members. But right now, its influence is waning, due in no small part to the Covid-19 pandemic. OPEC was created in 1960 in Bag...

What is Novichok? Thanks for asking! Novichok is a family of chemical agents which disrupts communication between nerves and muscles. Its name means newcomer in Russian and it was developed in closed laboratories during the Cold War, as part of the Soviet Foliant programme. The international community only discovered the existence of Novichok in the early 1990s, after a Russian chemist revealed th...

What is negationism? Thanks for asking! Historical negationism refers to the practice of manipulating historical records to deny that certain events happened, or distort the narrative around them. The term is relatively recent, having been coined by French historian Henry Rousso in 1987, relating to Holocaust Denial. Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime during the Second World War. Ho...

What is the Great Barrier Reef? Thanks for asking! The Great Barrier Reef is planet Earth’s largest living structure. It has remarkably rich biodiversity, but is gradually disappearing due to pollution caused by humans. Tourists have been absent from the reef since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. But paradoxically, this isn’t likely to help the situation. The reef is located in the sea off...

What is cancel culture? Thanks for asking! Cancel culture is the popular practice of withdrawing support for an individual or company, to such an extent that they become irrelevant as a result. This is usually due to something the person has done or said that is considered offensive. Cancel culture has become an effective tool for so-called social justice movements, with feminist, antiracist and L...

What is the Louise Michel? Thanks for asking! The news was broken as an exclusive by the Guardian less than two weeks ago, drawing attention to a crisis which has been getting worse since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Famous British street artist Banksy had funded a project to carry out rescue missions in the Mediterannean Sea, which more and more migrants are trying to cross from North Afri...

What is collapsology? Thanks for asking! Collapsology is the transdisciplinary study of how our industrial civilisation could collapse, and indeed what may come afterwards. Its ideas are gaining in visibility and popularity. The term collapsology is a neologism, having been created in 2015. It was popularised by French authors Pablo Servigne and Raphael Stevens, who that year published a book call...

What is flexitarianism? Thanks for asking! Flexitarianism is a portmanteau word combining flexible and vegetarianism. It’s a mostly vegetarian way of eating which nevertheless allows for occasional meat dishes. The aim is to reduce red meat and animal protein consumption, replacing them with high-protein plant foods. This type of diet is becoming increasingly common, and the word flexitarian was a...

What is a super-spreader? Thanks for asking!  While summer 2020 draws to an end, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from being over. Some European countries are seeing increased infection rates and have reinforced public health measures in anticipation of a second wave. A recent Scottish study suggested that just 10% of those infected could be responsible for 80% of infections. The term super-spreaders...

What is fan fiction? Thanks for asking! Fan fiction refers to texts written by a fan using characters or storylines from another existing story, usually a popular novel, series, film or video game. They are also known as fanfics, and in the digital age, the quantity of such works is exploding! Fan fiction has even become recognised as a literary genre, and has created a unique niche for itself in...

What is an authoritarian regime? Thanks for asking! An authoritarian regime is a form of government which monopolises authority and restricts political freedoms. Such regimes have strong central power and little accountability to their population. Authoritarianism is effectively the opposite of democracy. The term has come back into the news of late, with the reelection of Alexander Lukashenko as...

What is the Istanbul Convention? Thanks for asking! The Istanbul Convention is an international human rights treaty which was signed in 2011 by 45 European countries. It came into effect in August 2014 and was the first legally binding instrument to establish rules combatting violence against women. Its full name is the ‘Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against wom...

What is OnlyFans? Thanks for asking! OnlyFans is a digital content platform which operates on a subscription model. As with social media platforms, when you follow a user, you get access to that person’s content. Since being launched in the UK in 2016, the service has drawn criticism from some quarters. One key difference with other social networks is that it enables content creators to charge fan...

What is an oil spill? Thanks for asking!   An oil spill is a form of pollution whereby petrol is released into the sea or ocean due to human activity. This is sometimes accidental, sometimes intentional. In both cases the environmental and social consequences can be disastrous. Just a month ago, a Japanese-owned cargo ship transporting 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil crashed into a coral reef near to the...