Into the Headlines

A University of Aberdeen podcast, in this episode of ‘ Into the Headlines’ Laura talks to Alex Kemp , Professor of Petroleum Economics and Director of the University’s Aberdeen Centre for Research in Energy Economics and Finance; Dr Alf Martinez-Felipe, Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the School of Engineering; Dr Rachel Brackenridge , Lecturer at the School of Geosciences; and Professo...

It’s been 70 years since a British monarch was crowned. For some, the coronation of King Charles III on May 6 is a time of celebration, for others the day will pass without much thought at all. Whatever your perspective, what can history teach us about where today’s monarchy has come from and how could what’s important to the man beneath the crown shape how it looks tomorrow? A University of Aberd...

On 24 April 2013, the eight-story Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed. Most of those in the building were garment workers, employed by the five clothing factories it housed. 1,134 people died and more than 2,500, mostly women and children, were injured. There had been multiple warnings that the building was unsafe but employees were forced to go to work regardless. As the world marks the 1...

Almost sixty years on from both JFK and Star Trek iconically referring to it as such, space is still the final frontier. But it’s also changing. With the first orbital satellite launch from Scottish soil due later this year and Elon Musk’s Starship rocket aiming to take people to Mars in the 2030’s; space exploration is no longer the domain of governments or national and international agencies. An...

For some people, having their genes tested can be the very literal definition of knowledge being power. New research has found that one in 100 people with grandparents from Orkney have a gene variant that causes a higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Planning is now underway for a small pilot trial in Westray.   A University of Aberdeen podcast, in this episode of ‘ Inside the Head...

Content warnings on University course materials have been in the headlines a lot recently, with ‘woke’ Universities accused of helping to create “a generation of snowflakes unable to cope with the complexities of life”. Outrage makes for great clickbait, but is it justified? A University of Aberdeen podcast, in this episode of ‘ Inside the Headlines’ Laura talks to Professor Chris Collins , head o...

With ‘The Last of Us’ depicting a post- apocalyptic future based on a hostile fungal infection, explore whether truth is sometimes scarier than fiction with two historians who created a BAFTA-nominated computer game based on plague-ridden 16th century Aberdeen; and a medical mycologist who knows if humans really could all be wiped out by a rampaging fungus. A University of Aberdeen podcast, in thi...

Science fiction has planted the fear that machines will one day replace us. With OpenAI’s next generation conversational AI chatbot ChatGPT sparking debate among writers and other copy-based content generators that the end, for them at least, may be nigh, we speak to expert in machine learning Dr Georgios Leontidis and award winning writer Sheena Blackhall to get their thoughts. A University of Ab...

As Charles Byrne, ‘The Irish Giant’, lay dying he knew a famous surgeon wanted his remains. Stolen by body snatchers, his greatest fear came true and Charles’ skeleton has been on display to the public for the past 240 years. Until recently, thanks to the efforts of campaigners. In this episode we hear about his life and death, how the legal requirements for respecting the wishes of the dead isn’t...