ResearchPod

On most days, a weather forecast is a convenient answer to simple questions, like : do I need an umbrella? How windy will it be?   For high stakes questions around landslide hazards, how do we deal with slope failure forecast? And are there any new tools improving our capabilities without waiting to learn from another disaster? Andrea Manconi, research scientist at the WSL Institute for Snow and A...

Osteoarthritis is the most common disease in the world, characterised by the progressive degeneration of cartilage in the joints. Dr Torbjörn Ogéus from the Stockholms led- & smärtspecialist clinic in Sweden, who is pioneering regenerative medicine approaches to treating osteoarthritis using patients’ stem cells. These treatments show significant improvements in pain and joint function, with p...

Transportation is a key part of our life, either travelling ourselves or in transporting goods. Fossil fuels are still the most widely applied fuel for transportation purposes, given that the vast majority of engines are traditional combustion engines. The harmful emissions from these engines are well researched, and their direct or indirect contributions to climate change are well documented. Alt...

We humans share over 99% of our DNA with each other. This means personalised therapies for diseases such as cancer or neurodegenerative conditions have to be tailored to the most minute differences between us - or even between our own cells.  Professor Mark Ebbert of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky leads a lab focusing on isoforms of RNA - tiny, short lived molecule...

For millennia, humans and horses have enjoyed a special relationship. Recent research shows that working with horses can improve human mental health and wellbeing. Professor Ann Hemingway is part of a multidisciplinary team that has demonstrated that equine-assisted services can improve outcomes for families impacted by domestic abuse and mitigate the conditions that fuel it, and believes that the...

‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers’ – King Henry’s speech to rouse his troops before the Battle of Agincourt is one of the most famous in Shakespeare. But what does ‘Henry V’ tell us about theories of war in Elizabethan England? Professor Anne-Marie Walkowicz of Ohio’s Central State University in the USA argues that the play explores the just war tradition – the counsel rulers should seek...

What happens when CEOs are shielded by employment and severance agreements? Researchers from Singapore Management University, University of Hong Kong, Boston College, and led by Dr. Xia Chen put forward this critical question.     The study investigates how CEO contractual protection impacts corporate debt contracting. With insights from a comprehensive analysis of loans from major publicly traded...

As part of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology, or COST Action, Working Group 2 of the COSY network focuses on developing efficient methods for describing the motion of molecules in confined systems. Their work covers four key areas, ranging from toxic gas separation to tumour biomarker detection. Find out more about the COSY COST Action network on cost-cosy.eu   Read the original r...

CBD has emerged as a non-psychoactive agent in cannabis, stimulating a boom of boutique cannabis products into the medicinal and adult use markets . The innovative CannaMetrix EC50 Array™  offers a solution to traditional chemical methods of testing cannabis potency, which often fall short in accurately capturing the complex interactions between cannabinoids and the human body. Find more at  https...

The global business landscape has undergone a profound transformation in recent decades. As sustainability, energy transition, and climate change have taken center stage, the need for a paradigm shift in strategic management has become increasingly apparent.   Jean Garner Stead and Edward Stead from East Tennessee State University argue that traditional strategic management models, particularly th...

Traumatic brain injury remains a major cause of disability and death worldwide, and timely detection of the injury could lead to early intervention and save lives. Professor Pola Goldberg Oppenheimer at the University of Birmingham, UK, has developed a novel handheld device that helps detect and classify brain injury by scanning the back of the eyes. Read more in Research Features Read the origina...

Barcodes and QR codes have become ubiquitous sights in our current information age. Soorya Annadurai, an independent researcher and software engineer at Microsoft in the USA, has developed a solution for these situations: audible barcodes, or ‘AuraCodes’, enabling the encoding and decoding of digital information through the medium of sound. Read more in Research Outreach Read the original research...

In an age of academies and free schools, secondary schools in England have never had more freedom over their admissions rules. But how do they decide who gets in and who doesn’t? And does it really matter? These are the issues explored in this podcast, featuring Professor Simon Burges (Professor of Economics at the University of Bristol) and Dr Ellen Greaves (Honorary Research Associate at the Uni...

In conflict zones, businesses are widely seen as a positive force that promotes peace. Dr Jay Joseph at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and colleagues have studied micro and small enterprises, identifying their often contradictory impact on a conflict zone. Read more in Research Features Read the original research: doi.org/10.1177/00076503221084638

Kicking off this extraordinary series, we hear first-hand from Mohamedou Ould Slahi who exposed the use of torture at Guantánamo, smuggling out facts about his experience in letters to his lawyer, Nancy Hollander. Nancy joins with Professor Sir Malcolm Evans to extend the conversation and discuss her role in sharing the story, the first and only memoir by a still-imprisoned Guantánamo detainee, th...

Have you ever wondered what representing someone detained in a facility synonymous with secrecy and deception would be like? In the second episode of this series, we delve into the realities of striving for truth as a Guantánamo lawyer. Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, former chair of the UNs Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture, joins Nancy Hollander, the Guantánamo lawyer who represented Mohamedou...

As we mark the shameful 20th anniversary of Guantánamo Bay, the third episode in this series asks if torture works. We hear, first hand, from Mohamedou Ould Slahi who reflects on what pain and fear meant to his perception of truth. His criminal defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander, and Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, former chair of the UNs Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture, extend the conversation t...

To wrap up this extraordinary series, we look at the prospects for closing Guantánamo, the need for mechanisms that hold States accountable for their crimes - and what the facility’s legacy means for international human rights. For the last time, criminal defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander, and Professor Sir Malcolm Evans come together to discuss how the United States of America ignored international...

What does the future of work look like? And how do we make it sustainable, yet progressive? In this fascinating first episode, host Ruby Lott-Lavigna poses these questions and more with Dr Rutvica Andrijasevic , an associate professor in International Labour Migration, and Dr Huw Thomas, a lecturer in Management. Together with student Mekhala Laud they delve into what the future of work might look...

Mental health and educational psychology often go hand in hand, but our understanding is often rudimentary. In this second episode host Ruby Lott-Lavigna is joined by Dr Felicity Sedgewick, lecturer and lead researcher at the University of Bristol who specialises in the areas of mental health and autism, and Sarah Boon, a recent alumna of the MSc Psychology of Education programme. Together they di...

This episode focuses on the environment, specifically understanding urbanisation. Our host Ruby Lott-Lavigna is joined by Dr Felix Agyemang , Research Associate at the School of Geographical Sciences and Stephen Pearson, a student currently studying an MSc in Climate Change Science and Policy. Together they discuss the dynamics and processes of cities in the Global South, especially Sub-Saharan Af...

Does the law always protect workers from their employers? Our host Ruby Lott-Lavigna is joined by Professor Alan Bogg , a professor of Labour Law at the University of Bristol, and Stuart Hurst, a student currently studying a master’s in Employment, Work and Equality Law. Together they discuss the relationship between workers’ rights and the law, the loopholes that have appeared over time, and what...

This episode focusses on the crucial role that data and research plays in international decision-making to combat the many crises the world faces today, such as climate change. Our host, Ruby Lott-Lavigna speaks with Jess Epsey, a lecturer in the School of Geographical Sciences and a Senior Adviser to the UN Sustainable Development and Solutions Network, and Nina Cunningham, a student currently st...

How can technology enhance all kinds of performance? For the last episode of the series, host Ruby Lott-Lavigna is joined by Dr Paul Clarke, a Senior Lecturer in Performance Studies at the University of Bristol. Together they discuss what augmented reality has to offer the world from a performance perspective, the benefits this could have on the development of societies, and the possibilities thes...

Cabot Institute for the Environment experts Dame Julia Slingo and Professor Dann Mitchell discuss "What is the Climate Emergency?" while artist Chi-Yien Snow shares a powerful artistic interpretation of the conversation. What exactly is the climate emergency and why is it so important? This conversation covers not just the science but their experiences of different generations working in...