Category: The Conversation – UK

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Melanie Ramdarshan Bold, Professor of Youth Literature and Culture, University of Glasgow

For many children, Paddington is now primarily the star of three movies and a hit west end musical. However, that is not where the bear in a red hat whose adventures involve high-speed chases and marmalade-based slapstick began.

In writing our book on the bear, we have found that the Paddington British writer Michael Bond created in 1958 is a rather different creature from that which we now know. Film Paddington is a slapstick innocent abroad, propelled by plot and peril. Book Paddington is slower, odder, funnier: a small figure of polite chaos who wreaks havoc not because the world is against him, but because he takes it entirely at its word. He is, in the gentlest possible way, a satirist.

Paddington is incredibly popular with children and adults alike. Paddington in Peru broke UK box office records last autumn, the West End musical at the Savoy Theatre triumphed at the Olivier awards this week and is already booking into 2027, and a fourth film is in development. So if you or your children are eager for more we would highly recommend you try Bond’s books.

The books are also ideally structured for reading aloud. Each chapter works as a self-contained episode – around ten to 25 minutes, just right for bedtime – and the comedy builds through repetition and familiarity. Children who already love Paddington from the screen will find a quieter version of him on the page. And the pleasure of reading these together is that parent and child will both be laughing, just not always at the same things.

Here are five places to start.

1. A Bear Called Paddington (1958): the one to begin with

This is where Paddington arrives at the station with his label and his suitcase and his jar of marmalade, and the Browns (somewhat impulsively and definitely against Mr Brown’s better judgement) take him home. What follows is a series of gentle domestic catastrophes: a bath that floods the bathroom, a trip on the Underground that goes spectacularly wrong, an attempt at painting that produces an accidental masterpiece.

Start here because it establishes how Paddington works. He is never naughty. He is meticulous, earnest, and operating from a logic that is entirely reasonable if you happen to be a bear from Peru who has only recently encountered escalators. The chapter “A Visit to the Theatre”, in which Paddington cannot distinguish between drama and reality and nearly causes a riot from the stalls, is Bond at his best: a small bear taking the world seriously and the world not quite knowing what to do about it.

2. Paddington Helps Out (1960): the funniest one to read aloud

Paddington attempts DIY, enters a painting competition, and tries to help with the laundry. His intentions are commendable and the results are catastrophic.

What makes this book especially good for shared reading is its rhythm. Bond writes set-pieces with the timing of a comedian: slow build, moment of realisation, glorious mess. Children adore the predictability: they can see the disaster coming before Paddington can, and that anticipatory pleasure is one of the great rewards of series fiction.

3. Paddington Goes to Town (1968): the one with the best stories

Several chapters here are quietly brilliant. Paddington serves as a wedding usher and interprets the role as requiring him to keep everyone silent. He is mistaken for a waiter at a society dinner and ends up serving the guests something he believes to be baked Alaska but which turns out to be baked elastic.

For parents, the pleasure is in Bond’s comedy of social embarrassment. Paddington moves through the adult world with total sincerity, and the comedy arises from the gap between his good manners and the chaos he leaves behind.

4. Paddington Abroad (1961): the one that opens the world up

The Browns take Paddington on holiday to France. His encounters with French food, French customs, and French plumbing are some of the funniest passages Bond ever wrote.

This is a good choice if your child is about to go on a family holiday. It captures the comedy of being somewhere unfamiliar and trying very hard to get things right, which is Paddington’s permanent condition. He is always a visitor, always slightly out of place, and always managing to belong anyway.

Paddington Abroad also addresses some of the questions parents might have begun to ask themselves about Paddington’s paperwork – the Browns’ encounter with border control is both comic and discomfiting. Bond was inspired to create the character partly by the sight of wartime evacuee children arriving at London stations with labels round their necks. That quiet thread of displacement runs through the books without ever becoming too heavy. For children who have felt like the odd one out, there is real comfort in it – adults may see more.

5. Love from Paddington (2014): the one to read together, slowly

Published when Bond was 88, this is unlike the others. Written as letters from Paddington to Aunt Lucy in Peru, it retells many of his adventures in his own voice: warm, slightly bewildered, full of small asides. The letter format means each entry is short and self-contained, and Paddington’s voice is a pleasure to read aloud.

It is also, in the quietest way, a book about what it means to make a home somewhere new, to miss where you came from, and to feel grateful for the people who took you in. Younger children will enjoy the stories. Older children, and their parents, may catch something else underneath: a gentleness about love and distance and belonging that is never sentimental but always keenly felt.

The films have given a new generation the hat and the marmalade and the hard stare. The books will give them something more: the bear himself, in all his polite, disruptive, irreplaceable glory. Our main advice is: start anywhere. But start together.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Five Paddington books to read with your child, and why the bear on the page is different and worth meeting – https://theconversation.com/five-paddington-books-to-read-with-your-child-and-why-the-bear-on-the-page-is-different-and-worth-meeting-280617

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Richard Gregory, Honorary Professor of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, UCL

The outbreak of a mysterious and deadly disease in finches in British gardens in 2005 set alarms bells ringing for conservationists. A decade later, the extent of that disease in greenfinches and chaffinches was reported. And now, bird scientists are beginning to understand how feeding birds in our gardens might be linked to their health and survival.

Major new guidance on bird feeding released by the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), asks that we feed birds seasonally and safely.

Feeding birds in gardens is helpful, especially during winter when birds might be facing food shortages. But summer feeding should be paused because this is a time when natural food sources such as caterpillars, bugs and flies are much more abundant. In summer, the benefits of feeding the birds are less obvious. Limiting summer bird feeding also limits the spread of disease, which happens more prominently when birds gather in numbers to share food and water.

Scientists now know that the disease detected in finches in the 2000s is trichomonosis, caused by a microscopic parasite called Trichomonas gallinae. It typically infects the bird’s throat and has been known for many years to affect pigeons and doves, along with birds of prey. Birds can act as carriers or succumb to the disease. Quite how this parasite spilled over into finches is uncertain, but probably happened through the sharing of food or water.

Studies show that this parasite can persist in moist bird feed for up to five days and in water up to 30 hours, especially in milder conditions. July to October is the peak time for disease outbreaks in finches.

The disease causes lesions in the bird’s throat that interfere with its ability to swallow. This causes the bird to regurgitate food and water, and eventually die. It can spread between birds when they feed one another during courtship, when feeding chicks or through regurgitation at food or water sources in gardens. Poorly birds appear fluffed up and lethargic. Some may have messy or wet feathers around their beak and often shake their heads as they try to swallow. It’s a sad sight.

Trichomonsis has had devastating consequences in bird populations across the UK and into mainland Europe. Greenfinches and chaffinches have been hit hardest. Greenfinch numbers are down by 65% and chaffinch down by 36% since 1995.
Bullfinches also catch this disease and die, and a range of other birds may contract the disease – some of which are already declining in numbers.

Without urgent action, the situation will probably get worse for these and other birds, especially when facing a myriad of other pressures. These include the loss of natural habitats, limited food availability, plus accelerating climate change.

The new guidance from the RSPB comes on the back of a detailed review of the effects of bird feeding that includes both bird survival from one year to the next and their breeding success. The review also considers the human benefits to bird feeding, and takes into account recent field studies of the disease and how to curb its spread. Most research has been conducted in natural settings such as woodlands, rather than residential, urban or suburban settings. But the key insights are clear.

The review found that feeding can boost bird populations. But there are two big concerns for conservation around garden bird feeding. First, increased disease transmission (as shown by trichomonosis and other diseases). Second, while many bird species have benefited from garden feeding, this may have come at the cost to others.

A 2009 study found that an estimated 12.6 million UK households (48%) provided supplementary food for birds of which 7.4 million used specially designed bird feeders. As demand increases, so too does the range of different bird food and feeders.

This popularity has upsides and downsides for different birds, but probably has strong benefits for our own connection to nature, wellbeing and health.

Birds that use feeders, such as greater spotted woodpeckers, wood pigeons, collared doves, great tits and blue tits have all increased their numbers dramatically in the long term. Yet, as their numbers have grown there is an increasing nervousness from conservationists that they might outcompete or predate more vulnerable species. Blue and great tits often take over and evict the endangered willow tit from their nest holes, and willow tits are preyed upon by great spotted woodpeckers. Further research will shed light on these complex interactions.

How to help

Two simple shifts can ensure we feed birds seasonally and safely.

During summer and autumn, there’s a higher risk of disease spreading. It’s also when there are more natural foods available to birds, so pause feeding any seeds or peanuts between 1 May and 31 October. You can continue to offer small amounts of mealworms, fat balls or suet, as they pose less risk of transmitting disease. Also consider bird-friendly planting to provide natural food sources, such as sunflowers, teasels and ivy.

Between 1 November and 30 April, you can feed with a full range of bird foods, including seeds and peanuts, but feed in moderation so food doesn’t spoil and large flocks of birds are not attracted to one location. Little and often is good.

Other guidance encourages good hygiene to minimise the risk of disease. Ideally, clean bird feeders and water baths at least once a week. You can change the water in bird baths every day and move bird feeders to different spots every week. Instead of using bird feeders with flat surfaces, such as bird tables, window feeders and feeders with trays, opt for hanging bird feeders to reduce the risk of spreading infections.

Richard Gregory works for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) as the Head of Monitoring Conservation Science.

– ref. How to feed your garden birds without spreading disease – https://theconversation.com/how-to-feed-your-garden-birds-without-spreading-disease-280409

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michael A. Lewis, Professor of Operations Management, University of Bristol; University of Bath

Around the world, countries are seeking to build greener, more circular economies. Steel is central to that ambition. It is still one of the most widely used materials – but producing it is one of the largest industrial sources of carbon emissions worldwide.

The UK domestic steel industry is the smallest it has been since the 1930s. Production fell to 4 million tonnes in 2024 and 70% of the country’s steel is imported. Despite this, the government’s new steel strategy is hugely important for the country’s future prosperity.

The UK is decisively moving from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces (EAF), producing “circular steel” from scrap. On the face of it, the plan is compelling. It should align with UK strategies for its economy, national security and progress towards net zero.

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Read more:
New industrial strategy brings Rachel Reeves’ securonomics to life – but will it protect Britain from more supply chain shocks?

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The strategy requires the state to take an active role – buying more domestic steel, reducing import quotas and subsidising the UK’s high electricity costs. Perhaps above all, it rests on the assumption that scrap steel, most of which is exported, can be redirected to feed this new generation of EAFs.

Making this shift will require significant changes to pricing and processing systems. The UK generates around 10-11 million tonnes of steel scrap each year and exports roughly 80% of it. Per capita, it is the world’s largest scrap exporter. Only about 2.6 million tonnes is consumed by domestic steelmakers.

The new strategy relies on far more of this scrap staying in the country. But this would mean disrupting a business model that generates an estimated £9 billion a year in gross value added. A 2025 EU analysis noted that China’s plans to increase scrap-based production could require an additional 45 million tonnes of scrap globally. Rising international demand will push scrap prices up, making export even more attractive.

Ultimately, it is this scrap flow (where scrap is stored and treated) that will determine whether the economic and environmental potential of the strategy can be realised.

The power problem

A 2025 industry report uncovered a perplexing challenge: it is cheaper to export steel scrap and re-import finished steel products than to process and manufacture in the UK. The report called for investment in UK processing infrastructure: advanced scrap sorting, shredding, and refining to remove contaminants, as well as updated rules and oversight across the recycling supply chain.

European steelmakers such as Voestalpine and recyclers like TSR have already invested in the scrap sorting and processing infrastructure to meet the requirements of electric arc furnaces.

Using scrap steel might appear to be an obviously sustainable option, but there are complications. EAF steelmaking produces around 75% fewer direct carbon emissions than via a blast furnace but it uses vast amounts of electricity.

The sector’s electricity consumption is expected to double – and UK industrial electricity prices are 27%-38% higher than in France or Germany. Environmental and economic performance depends on the whole scrap chain – sorting, processing, removal of contaminants – not just the furnace technology.

For example, in separating different types of scrap, workers are potentially exposed to hazards from mixed materials such as batteries. Not only that, but poorly sorted scrap can result in lower-quality steel and generate hazardous residues in the slag.

Intriguingly, many of the assumptions of the new steel strategy can be tested against history. In 1972, the Sheerness steelworks in Kent became Britain’s first scrap-fed EAF mini-mill. By early 1980, the Financial Times reported this private steelmaker had productivity four times that of the publicly owned British Steel Corporation (BSC). More than half of its output was exported.

Then came the 1980 steel strike and other industrial relations challenges, market liberalisation and globalisation. Ownership at Sheerness passed from Co-Steel International of Canada to Allied Steel & Wire (ASW) in 1998, a company that was already in debt.

By 2002, ASW was in administration and Sheerness closed. A Saudi-backed company, Thamesteel, reopened the site in 2003 and installed a high-capacity EAF. But by 2012, Thamesteel was also in administration. The EAF was dismantled and shipped to Newport in south Wales.

But despite this conclusion, the fact remains that the technology worked. The plant was productive and profitable for many years. What kept shifting was the system beyond the furnace – electricity costs, scrap supply, government policies, UK market structures and global competition. Today the site is a car park for imported vehicles.

Whether the UK steel strategy succeeds will be determined by the unglamorous work of closing this scrap gap – better sorting, processing infrastructure and logistics. Meanwhile, the UK is competing in a global market where scrap prices are set by forces well beyond its control. Facing that fact, and not just the shiny furnaces, is where the strategy will be won or lost.

Michael A. Lewis currently receives funding from the AHRC.

Annika Skoglund received funding from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research.

– ref. The UK wants a cleaner steel industry – but its plan rests on a supply chain that doesn’t exist yet – https://theconversation.com/the-uk-wants-a-cleaner-steel-industry-but-its-plan-rests-on-a-supply-chain-that-doesnt-exist-yet-280308

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Basil Germond, Professor of International Security, School of Global Affairs, Lancaster University

A US-sanctioned tanker with links to China, the Rich Starry, has transited the Strait of Hormuz, despite the US blockade of the waterway. According to the respected maritime news and intelligence agency Lloydslist, the Rich Starry is falsely registered in Malawi, but is Chinese owned and carrying a Chinese crew. It is subject to US sanctions for carrying Iranian goods. It is not known what the vessel is currently transporting.

Having been anchored off the UAE, the Rich Starry is not technically in breach of the blockade, but the incident has raised fears of a potential confrontation between the US and China in the region. Other vessels are reported to be waiting to transit the Strait, despite the US blockade.

The decision to impose a blockade on Iranian ports in the vicinity of the Strait was announced by the US president, Donald Trump, following the breakdown of US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad on April 11. Trump’s announcement was clarified by a statement on April 12 from US Central Command, which stipulated that the operation would prevent ships entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas while not impeding vessels transiting the Strait to and from non‑Iranian ports.

Trump also announced that: “I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.” It remains unclear as to whether this will be implemented.

The Strait of Hormuz has been as good as closed since shortly after the US and Israel launched their attacks on Iran at the end of February. Most ship owners, charterers and insurers are unwilling to accept the financial risk – and risk to human life – that transiting the Strait under threat of Iranian attack would entail.

Blockades are used to convert naval dominance into advantage on land by preventing imports and exports of goods, in Iran’s case oil, to put pressure on an adversary’s population and government by hurting their economy. Likewise, Iran’s strategy of closing down the Strait after it was attacked intended to disrupt the global economy in order to put international pressure on the Trump administration.

Iran has long threatened to use its geographical proximity to the Strait of Hormuz to close it down. Having demonstrated how effective this can be in disrupting oil and liquid natural gas prices, Tehran has been flexing its muscles by demanding that ships wanting to transit the waterway pay a tariff of up to US$2 million (£1.5 million). Lloydslist reported on March 25 that “a total of 26 vessel transits through the strait have followed a route pre-approved under an IRGC [Islamic Republican Guard Corps] ‘toll booth’ system that requires the ship operators to submit to a vetting scheme”.

This was reportedly a sticking point in negotiations between the US and Iran in Pakistan on April 11. Tehran wants to retain control of the Strait and the ability to levy tolls from transiting ships. The US is demanding that the maritime right of free passage must be enforced. It was when the first round of talks ended in deadlock that the US president decided to impose the naval blockade.

Former US diplomat to the Middle East, David Satterfield, told the BBC on April 13 that it was now about which country could absorb more pain, adding: “The Iranians believe … that they can absorb more pain for a longer period than their opponents can.”

Expensive – and risky – gambit

The cost calculus is asymmetric. It will be more expensive for the US to maintain its blockade than it was for Iran to close the Strait. The question will be whether Washington can sustain interdiction long enough to effectively undermine the regime – always remembering that the Islamic Republic has potentially had decades to prepare for this sort of scenario.

If the blockade can be implemented effectively, it could – in time – have an effect on an economy wrecked by years of sanctions and further weakened by the recent war and nationwide protests in January. The question is how long that might take.

To be effective, the blockade will require considerable naval resources. The US is reported to have as many as 21 warships in the Middle East, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship with a complement of marines who are trained to board ships using helicopters and small boarding craft.

This introduces another layer of risk as assets operating near to the Iranian coasts will need to be protected against Iranian missiles, drones and fast attack craft. So, this would be resource‑intensive, operationally demanding and thus politically exposed for the US.

How the US will go about enforcement remains to be seen. In December and January, US naval and coastguard ships boarded and seized several vessels linked to Venezuela’s shadow fleet that had broken America’s blockade. Whether it would pursue the same action with a vessel linked to China is another matter though. And while another option would be to fire warning shots, these can be dangerous around tankers because of the risk of oil spillage, as well as the obvious political risk attached to Chinese-linked vessels.

It’s not clear at present that imposing a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz will restore free navigation of the waterway any time soon. But it now appears that, in the absence of free navigation, some countries have decided to call America’s bluff and attempt to transit the waterway in defiance of the US blockade. And the big concern must be the serious risk of escalation if the US attempts to enforce the blockade on a Chinese-owned vessel.

None of this will be welcomed by the US president and his national security team.

Basil Germond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. US naval blockade of Strait of Hormuz: what it involves and the risks attached – https://theconversation.com/us-naval-blockade-of-strait-of-hormuz-what-it-involves-and-the-risks-attached-280482

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michelle Spear, Professor of Anatomy, University of Bristol

Some lovers try positions that they can’t handle – I’m referring to the bones of the wrist, of course. The phrase is a classic mnemonic used to remember the eight carpal (wrist) bones – scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate and hamate – whose initials form the memorable sentence.

One of the most curious features of anatomy education is that people often remember mnemonics for decades, long after the rest of their anatomical knowledge has faded. And it’s often the filthiest ones that work best.

These short phrases, rhymes or sentences – used to remember ordered lists of nerves, bones or arteries – have been a staple of anatomy teaching for generations. Some are harmlessly quirky. Others are decidedly less polite. What they share is an unusual staying power.

That persistence is not just a quirk of medical culture. It reveals something important about how learning works.

Anatomy requires understanding and applying the structure of the body. But it begins with something far less glamorous: learning a vast and specialised technical vocabulary. The online database Terminologia Anatomica lists around 7,500 standardised anatomical terms, a figure broadly similar to estimates of the active vocabulary used by fluent speakers in everyday language (often cited at 5,000-10,000 words).

Mnemonics emerged as a practical response to this challenge, helping students organise and retrieve unfamiliar terms while a deeper understanding of anatomical relationships develops. As generations of students have discovered, the more distinctive the phrase, the harder it is to forget.

Why the brain struggles with lists

Much of anatomy involves remembering sequences. The bones of the wrist, the branches of major arteries or the 12 cranial nerves must be recalled in a precise order. The problem is that the brain is not particularly well suited to remembering long lists of unfamiliar terms.

Working memory – the system that allows us to hold information temporarily in mind – has a limited capacity. When faced with a string of technical words, especially ones derived from Latin or Greek, it quickly becomes overloaded.

Mnemonics help solve this problem by converting a list into a structured phrase. Instead of remembering eight separate bones of the wrist, the learner remembers a single sentence whose first letters act as cues for each structure.

Chunking

This strategy is referred to as chunking – grouping several pieces of information into a single meaningful unit. Once the phrase itself has been learned, the brain can use it as a scaffold to reconstruct the original list.

It’s not new either. Renaissance students faced the same challenge of remembering large amounts of anatomical information, and they often relied on mnemonic techniques inherited from the classical ars memoriae, or “art of memory”.

Anatomical knowledge was sometimes taught through didactic Latin verse, making long lists easier to recall in an era when learning was largely oral. One example is the tradition of anatomia versificata, in which anatomical structures were described poetically so they could be memorised. Medical verses attributed to the 12th-13th century French physician Gilles de Corbeil circulated in universities for centuries.

Early printed medical works, such as physician Johannes de Ketham’s Fasciculus Medicinae (1491), also reflected this culture of structured memorisation, pairing text with striking anatomical illustrations to aid recall. Behind these approaches lay classical memory techniques described by writers such as Cicero and Quintilian, who encouraged learners to organise knowledge using vivid imagery and spatial mental maps – an approach that aligns remarkably well with the inherently spatial nature of anatomy itself.

But structure alone does not explain why certain mnemonics, particularly the slightly outrageous ones, tend to stay with us for years.

Why the rudest mnemonics are the most memorable

If mnemonics simply organised lists into manageable chunks, almost any tidy sentence would do. Yet the more outrageous or slightly inappropriate the mnemonic, the more firmly it tends to lodge in memory.

This phenomenon is known as the distinctiveness effect. Information that stands out from its surroundings is more likely to be remembered than material that blends into the background. In a lecture full of unfamiliar Latin terminology, an unexpected or risque phrase becomes instantly distinctive. It interrupts the steady flow of technical language and draws attention to itself.

Attention is the gateway to memory. Information that captures attention is processed more deeply by the brain and is therefore more likely to be stored.

Humour adds another layer. When something makes us laugh, or even causes a moment of mild embarrassment, it activates emotional centres in the brain, including the amygdala, which plays a role in regulating how memories are consolidated. Emotionally marked information is often stored more strongly than neutral material.

There is also a social element. Mnemonics are often shared between students, repeated in revision sessions, and passed down through successive cohorts. The phrases become part of the informal folklore of medical education, remembered not just as words but as part of a shared experience.

Put these elements together – distinctiveness, humour, emotional reaction and social repetition – and it becomes clear why the slightly outrageous mnemonic tends to win out over its more respectable rivals.

Used well, these phrases act as scaffolding: temporary supports that help students organise unfamiliar vocabulary while a deeper three-dimensional understanding of the body gradually develops. In time, they become less necessary.

Michelle Spear does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Why anatomy’s naughtiest mnemonics work so well – https://theconversation.com/why-anatomys-naughtiest-mnemonics-work-so-well-279171

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Robin Styles, Researcher in the Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds

My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein is Deborah Levy’s latest genre-defying novel. It is at once a compelling contemporary fiction and an extended meditation on the importance of Stein, who Levy describes as the godmother of modernism, a queer icon, a self-declared genius and a writer who has baffled readers and critics for a century.

The structure of Levy’s novel artfully embraces many of Stein’s concerns. Stein was an artist fascinated by methods of making, as shown in her magnum opus, The Making of Americans (1925). Levy embraces this approach, constructing a novel in which her protagonist is continually composing her essay on Stein, as she debates Stein’s works with her friends, recreates recipes from the cookbook of the American writer and Stein’s life partner, Alice B Toklas, and retraces the paths that Stein and Toklas followed around Paris. The form of the novel evolves as Levy’s characters are continually composing their thoughts and composing themselves.

Stein is thought to have coined the term “The Lost Generation” to describe the community of expatriate writers who made Paris their home in the early 20th century. Levy’s characters are similarly exiled from their homes; their lives split in important ways. Eva is an artist who has travelled to Paris to finish a graphic novel, leaving her husband in Toronto, Canada. They speak once a week. Fanny is a sexually adventurous financier from Paris attempting to conduct many simultaneous lives. Together they are searching for Eva’s missing cat.

There are wonderful moments, including when the narrator is walking through Pere Lachaise Cemetery searching for Stein’s grave and reflecting on the lives of great modernists. Some of the most impressive sections of the novel come when Levy expands upon the source material, riffing on her own version of Stein’s projects. In Wars I Have Seen (1945), Stein’s memoir of life in occupied France, she observed that “however near a war is it is always not very near. Even when it is here”. Levy crafts an updated vision, giving a sense of the simultaneous presence and absence of war in our own contemporary moment:

The 21st century was in its 20s. Always a turbulent time. We were the lucky ones. We were not under the rubble. We were on our screens, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling through the various wars in the 24th year of the 21st century.

This duality of presence and absence haunts the novel, and the protagonist faces a similar crisis as she ruminates on Stein’s poetry, and returns to the archives, frustrated, lamenting “when I look at photographs of her, I cannot get into her eyes”. Stein’s eyes have meant so much to her critics and admirers. Picasso’s famous portrait of her hangs in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, with its geometrically perplexing eyes that appear to gaze outwards, beyond the limits of its frame.

In Passionate Collaborations: Learning to Live with Gertrude Stein (2005), the poet and scholar Karin Cope ponders some of the questions which enter the viewer’s mind when faced with these unusual eyes, suggesting that Stein “does not look as one ought to”. This phrase holds its multiplicity of meaning, and figures Stein as a transgressor, looking out beyond the limits of the frame – and, by extension, beyond any fixed idea of what a portrait is or could be.

And here we return to Levy’s novel which is at once an extended portrait of Stein but also a contemporary fiction, and a nuanced reimagining of Stein’s ideas. It is playful, experimental, formally innovative yet also grounded in a realist approach. It is original. As Levy’s narrator observes of Stein: “Every century needs an artist to dismantle coherence as we have been taught it and make a space for something new to happen.”

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Robin Styles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy – a boundary pushing work of which the modernist would be proud – https://theconversation.com/my-year-in-paris-with-gertrude-stein-by-deborah-levy-a-boundary-pushing-work-of-which-the-modernist-would-be-proud-280491

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Richard Hargy, Visiting Research Fellow in International Studies, Queen’s University Belfast

The US is bracing for another cycle of elections, with November’s midterms determining the scope of Donald Trump’s power in the final two years of his presidency. All seats in the House of Representatives will be contested, as will one-third of the Senate.

Trump’s Republican party currently controls both branches of Congress. However, polls are indicating a swing to the Democrats that would see them retake the House. A current RealClear generic congressional vote poll, in which people are asked whether they will vote for Democrats or Republicans for Congress, gives the Democrats a five percentage point lead over the Republicans at 47.4% to 42%.

One major variable that is likely to affect the outcome of November’s elections is the war in Iran. Some Republican political operatives believe the conflict and its repercussions, namely the increased cost of living, could prove fatal to their party’s hopes of securing a slim retention of the House.

A March poll by the Pew Research Center revealed 61% of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the conflict. One voting demographic of particular concern for Republicans is people aged 18 to 29. An Economist/YouGov poll also from March showed that 63% of these people opposed the war.

Men within this age bracket were an important factor in Trump’s 2024 election victory. Philip Wang, political reporter for Time magazine, argued in an article on April 8 that this “same voting bloc … is showing far less interest in voting in the midterms”.

William A. Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, has asserted that the affordability issue is affecting Trump’s standing. He has also stated that, for a majority of Americans, the president’s “priorities do not align with theirs”. A recent survey conducted by American non-profit Consumer Action for a Strong Economy revealed that voters’ most pressing concern was the price of groceries, with the cost of healthcare coming second.

Over the past year, both parties have also engaged in redistricting efforts designed to increase their respective chances of controlling the House. In a number of mainly – though not exclusively – Republican controlled states, legislators have redrawn congressional maps in an attempt to secure more seats.

The redistricting war has come down to two final states: Democratic-led Virginia and Republican-dominated Florida. On April 21, voters in Virginia will decide the fate of proposed new congressional boundaries heavily favouring Democrats. Florida’s legislature will vote days later on a revised Republican-leaning electoral map.

However, there are growing concerns in both political camps about these votes and their impact on the result of the midterms. Florida Republicans fear Trump’s low approval ratings could cost them redrawn districts, while Democrats are encountering tepid backing from their supporters for their aggressive redistricting in Virginia.

Growing Democrat momentum

There have already been significant election results in recent weeks that have shed light on the trajectory of the upcoming midterms. In Republican-led Texas, a fascinating race is shaping up between both parties for a Senate seat. The last time a Democrat won here was in 1988.

In primary elections in March, Democratic voters chose state representative James Talarico as their candidate for November’s election. Republicans are yet to confirm theirs, with incumbent Senator John Cornyn facing Texas attorney-general Ken Paxton in a run-off election in May.

Primary voting numbers in Texas are encouraging for Democrats. For the first time in six years, more of its supporters cast early vote ballots in a March primary than Republicans. Democrats also saw a major shift in Latino voters to their side, a voting bloc that had swung to Trump in record numbers in 2024.

According to analysis by American broadcaster NPR: “In the ten most populous counties in Texas that are also at least 50% Latino, votes in the Democratic primary increased by an average of 128%.” The same analysis concluded that, in those same counties, the Republican primary saw an average drop in votes of 4.8%.

Then, in early April, liberal judge Chris Taylor won a seat on the state of Wisconsin’s supreme court. She secured 60.1% of the vote to her conservative opponent’s 39.8%. Taylor’s statewide vote is an impressive 21 percentage points higher than Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s vote share was in the state in 2024.

Also in early April, an election took place in Georgia to fill the congressional seat vacated by former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene, who has publicly broken with Trump over his handling of the Epstein files, won in 2024 by almost 29 percentage points. Her replacement, Clay Fuller, held the seat for the Republican party by a much narrower margin of just 12 percentage points.

The forecasts for November’s midterm elections are moving in the Democrats direction, especially for taking control of the House. But there is some reason for hope among Republicans.

Figures from CBS News and CNN/SSRS show that at the same point in 2006 and 2018 – also midterm election years where a Republican president was in office – Democrats were ahead on party favourability by 18 points and 12 points respectively. At this stage in 2026, the data reveals Republicans are actually sitting with a five-point favourability lead.

Seven months out from November’s midterms, Democrats have momentum on their side as well as a Republican president whose poll ratings are plummeting. The most likely outcome is that the Democrats will emerge with control of at least one branch of Congress.

Richard Hargy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Will voters turn against Donald Trump in the US midterms? What we know so far – https://theconversation.com/will-voters-turn-against-donald-trump-in-the-us-midterms-what-we-know-so-far-280395

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Enrique Gaztanaga, Professor of Astrophysics at Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth

New research suggests that relic black holes from before the big bang may still shape galaxies today. These black holes could explain dark matter, one of the biggest unsolved questions in cosmology.

Generally speaking, black holes are regions of spacetime where matter is compressed into a tiny space. Dark matter, meanwhile, is matter that does not reflect or absorb light. We know it exists because of its gravitational influence on galaxies and other cosmic structures.

It can be viewed as the “glue” that holds galaxies together, but we do not know what it is made of at a fundamental level. Most physicists think dark matter is composed of an as-yet-undiscovered sub-atomic particle.

But ancient black holes from before the big bang also fit the bill. They are dark, but also carry mass – exactly the properties required.

I have explored this idea in a new paper. Of course, the idea of relic black holes also requires a re-think of the big bang itself.

For nearly a century, cosmologists traced the history of the universe back to this single, dramatic moment. But maybe this wasn’t the absolute beginning of time. Perhaps there was a universe before the big bang.

Under this scenario, the universe collapsed before undergoing an expansion. The big bang represents the transition between the two phases.

The big bang model has been remarkably successful. It explains the cosmic microwave background – the afterglow of the early universe – and predicts the large scale distribution of galaxies with astonishing accuracy.

But in Einstein’s theory of general relativity, it is also a singularity – a point where density becomes infinite and the known laws of physics break down.

Many physicists interpret this not as a physical reality, but as a sign that something is missing. Singularities are less like physical objects and more like mathematical warnings: they tell us that our current theories cannot describe the earliest moments of the universe.

A bounce, not a bang

One alternative is a bouncing cosmology. In this picture, the universe undergoes a phase of contraction before the big bang, reaching an extremely high – but finite – density. Instead of collapsing into a singularity, it rebounds, beginning a new expanding phase.

Bouncing models have been explored for decades, often requiring modifications to gravity or exotic new ingredients. But our work shows that a bounce can arise as a regular solution within standard physics, when gravity and the effects of quantum mechanics – the laws governing nature at the tiniest scales – are consistently taken into account.

In standard cosmology, the big bang is quickly followed by a period where the early universe undergoes a period of rapid and exponential expansion. This stage, known as inflation, effectively erases all traces of earlier structures.

The situation is different for a bouncing universe. In our work, we found that things larger than 90 metres could have survived the transition from collapse to expansion. This leaves behind “relics” that carry information from a previous cosmic epoch. These relics can include black holes, gravitational waves and density fluctuations.

Quantum physics contains a powerful clue to how this is possible. According to the Pauli exclusion principle – a cornerstone of quantum theory – matter becomes “degenerate” at extremely high densities. The matter generates a pressure that resists further compression even in the absence of heat.

In our model, a similar effect operates on cosmological scales. It may explain why the universe doesn’t collapse completely – and why structures formed before or during the bounce can survive into the expanding phase.

Surviving the apocalypse

We identify two main routes through which relic black holes can arise.

The first one is direct survival. Compact objects and perturbations (fluctuations in density or gravity) generated during the collapse phase of the universe can persist through the bounce.

The second route is even more intriguing. During contraction, matter naturally clumps under gravity, forming structures similar to the halos that host galaxies today. After the bounce, they are able to collapse efficiently into black holes.

Galaxies and stars from the contraction phase effectively collapse into black holes, erasing most of their detailed structure but preserving their mass.

Could these black holes be dark matter? For decades, the leading candidate has been a fundamental particle — but none has been detected despite extensive searches.

Relic black holes offer a compelling alternative. If the bounce produces enough of them, they could make up a significant — perhaps dominant — fraction of dark matter.

This idea may also connect to one of the most intriguing observational puzzles of recent years.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed a population of compact, extremely red objects in the early universe, sometimes called “little red dots”. These astronomical sources appear to be unexpectedly massive and luminous only a few hundred million years after the big bang.

Many astronomers suspect they are associated with rapidly growing black holes – perhaps the seeds of the supermassive black holes found at the centres of galaxies today. But their existence is difficult to explain within standard cosmology. How could such massive objects form so quickly?

Relic black holes provide a natural explanation. If massive seeds already existed immediately after the bounce, the early universe would not need to start from scratch. Supermassive black holes could grow from ancient survivors rather than newly formed objects.

In this sense, JWST may already be glimpsing the descendants of pre-bounce relics.

A new cosmological framework

Taken together, the bounce scenario offers a unified way to address several long-standing problems in cosmology.

• The big bang singularity is replaced by a quantum transition. This transition could be related to the concept of the “Einstein–Rosen bridge”: a mathematical link between two disparate regions of spacetime.
• Inflation emerges naturally from the dynamics near the bounce.
• Dark energy can be related to the global structure of a finite universe.
• Dark matter may be composed of relic black holes —perhaps our own universe started as one.
• Gravitational waves could carry signals from a previous cosmic phase.
• Supermassive black holes may have ancient origins consistent with recent JWST observations.

Much work remains to be done. These ideas must be tested against data – from gravitational-wave backgrounds to galaxy surveys and precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background.

But the possibility is profound: the universe may not have begun once, but may have rebounded. And the dark structures shaping galaxies today could be relics from a time before the big bang.

Enrique Gaztanaga receives funding from the Spanish Plan Nacional (PGC2024) and Maria de Maeztu (CEX2020-001058-M) grants. Enrique Gaztanaga is also a Professor at the Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC/IEEC) in Barcelona and publishes a science blog called DarkCosmos.com.

– ref. Could dark matter be made of black holes from a different universe? – https://theconversation.com/could-dark-matter-be-made-of-black-holes-from-a-different-universe-278469

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lamya Elsabban, Doctoral Researcher in Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University

On religious festival mornings, Egyptians gather among tombs in Cairo’s City of the Dead, a four-mile medieval necropolis at the foot of the Mokattam Hills. They’re upholding a longstanding tradition of remembrance and honouring their deceased loved ones. Though you might expect this ceremony to be marked with silence, the necropolis’s narrow alleys are filled with life as inhabitants carry on with their everyday routines.

Dating back to the 7th century, the City of the Dead has been a Unesco world heritage site since 1979. It began as a burial ground, but over time it has grown into a complex, lived-in urban area. Today, it’s home to generations of families who have adapted the cemetery’s structures into places for everyday living.

The City of the Dead reflects different layers of Egypt’s history. Its early Islamic character can be seen in the domed tombs, mosques, shrines and burial complexes, often built around inner courtyards with carved stone details, all connected by narrow paths and passageways.

Living among the dead

People used to mourn the loss of a relative in the City of the Dead for 40 days – a tradition inherited from ancient Egyptians. During this mourning period, they would stay in small built structures at the cemetery. Over the centuries, more of these buildings were constructed in and around the graves and monuments. They were then transformed into homes.

Over time, the necropolis became home to hundreds of thousands of people looking for a place to live. Many were drawn there by the lack of affordable housing in Cairo, as well as its central location, which makes it easier to access jobs and city life. Today, families continue to pass down stories about the area through generations. To get by, they rely on small businesses and informal work, such as looking after tombs, running cafés and kiosks, or continuing traditional carving and craft skills.

Though this Unesco site contains centuries of architectural and social history, it faces increasing external pressures due to ongoing urban development interventions. In 2020, the Egyptian government decided to build a network of roads and bridges through the area to connect central Cairo with the New Capital, a new city about 60km to the east.

The site is now only partly protected and recognised. This is partly because nearby historic areas are seen as having more tourism value and better fit official ideas about the city. As a result, large development projects often ignore the social, cultural and everyday importance of the City of the Dead as a place where people still live and maintain traditions.

Hundreds of graves have been cleared, and several important structures have been demolished, including the locally significant Halim Pasha Dome. This 19th-century royal mausoleum was part of the burial complex for the family of Muhammad Ali Pasha, who is often regarded as the founder of modern Egypt. Over time, it became an important local landmark and a symbol of the area’s history and identity.

Beyond the loss of buildings, long-term residents are also being forced to leave, which breaks up established social networks and on-site livelihoods. Activists, NGOs, heritage experts and local residents managed to temporarily stop some demolitions in 2024, including in parts of the northern cemetery around the Sultan Qaytbay Complex, as well as areas of Bab al-Nasr and Sayyida Aisha Cemeteries. However, despite this pause, demolition work began again later that year.

Local community resilience

People living in the City of the Dead deal with outside pressures by using a mix of everyday strategies that help them manage uncertainty, make a living and keep their social and cultural traditions alive.

A big part of this is how they adapt spaces to suit different needs. A courtyard, for instance, might be used for work, socialising, or prayer at different times. Spaces shift depending on what’s needed. Some families even rearrange the inside of tombs and nearby buildings to make room for extended relatives.

Residents of the City of the Dead also deal with the threat of demolition through strong community ties and support networks. They get by in uncertain conditions by relying on informal work and helping each other out. Many also work with NGOs like the Sultan Foundation and Archinos to keep their traditions going and strengthen their belonging in the area.

As Cairo continues to modernise, the necropolis faces a difficult situation, caught between pressure to develop the city, the need to preserve its history and the rights of the long-standing community who live there.

The City of the Dead is a rare and fragile place where tombs, everyday life and cultural traditions exist side by side. What makes it special isn’t just its historic buildings, but the way people continue to live there and keep its traditions alive every day.

Lamya Elsabban does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Cairo’s City of the Dead is more than a cemetery – it’s a living neighbourhood at risk – https://theconversation.com/cairos-city-of-the-dead-is-more-than-a-cemetery-its-a-living-neighbourhood-at-risk-277583

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Godfrey Kyazze, Professor of Sustainable Bioprocess Engineering, University of Westminster

It’s easy to see discarded plastic as nothing more than waste. Much of it ends up in landfill, breaking down into microplastics that seep into water supplies and threaten the environment, and potentially human health. But what if the same plastic waste could instead be transformed into life-saving medicines?

In a recent study published in Nature Sustainability, scientists at the University of Edinburgh have shown that everyday plastic waste is not just an environmental burden but an untapped source of embedded carbon – the carbon atoms locked within plastic’s chemical structure. They demonstrated that engineered E coli bacteria can convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – commonly used in bottles and food packaging – into levodopa, a key treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

This approach offers a promising alternative to traditional levodopa production, which relies on multiple fossil fuel–based chemical steps and is energy intensive, costly, and carbon heavy.

Parkinson’s affects more than 10 million people worldwide and becomes more common as populations age. Levodopa remains the most effective treatment for managing the disease’s hallmark symptoms, including tremors and muscle stiffness. As demand for the drug rises, finding sustainable ways to produce levodopa has become increasingly urgent.

In previous studies, the same Edinburgh researchers showed that plastic can be turned into paracetamol, a common painkiller. In the lab, they converted up to 90% of the plastic from a one-litre PET bottle into paracetamol in just 24 hours – an amount roughly the same as nine 500mg paracetamol tablets.

Early work in this area began to show that plastics could serve as chemical feedstocks for medicine. In 2022, researchers at the University of Southern California demonstrated that polyethylene (PE) – a different plastic from PET, commonly used in plastic bags and films – could be broken down by engineered fungi into useful compounds, including building blocks for antibiotics, antifungals and cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Building on this, more recent studies have focused on higher-value drugs. For example, a collaborative study led by the University of St Andrews with partners in the Netherlands and Germany showed that PET plastic could be converted into starting materials for cancer therapies and drugs that stop uncontrolled bleeding.

These results show that it’s possible to turn everyday plastic waste into useful medicines. This approach could cut down on the need for fossil fuels and support a more sustainable, circular economy where waste is reused instead of thrown away.

The road ahead

Turning this lab breakthrough into industrial-scale production won’t happen overnight. Engineers must develop cost-effective manufacturing processes, and regulators will need to be satisfied that the products meet strict safety standards.

Collecting enough plastic waste is another challenge, since it has to compete with traditional fossil fuels. Success will require long-term investment and close teamwork between scientists, industry and policymakers.

So, while the idea is exciting, it’s still at an early stage. It offers a glimpse of what might be possible in the future, where biology and engineering help turn some types of plastic waste into medicines.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Scientists make Parkinson’s drug from plastic in world first – https://theconversation.com/scientists-make-parkinsons-drug-from-plastic-in-world-first-279289