Author: Kerra Maddern

Small changes in turnout could substantially alter election results in the future because the UK now has a multiparty system with majoritarian voting rules, a new study warns. Last year’s General Election, which saw a marked increase in the number of candidates and a fragmented vote, will have an impact on the mandate of the Labour government, an expert has said. The research shows how the 2024 election tested the boundaries of the first-past-the-post system and the result…

Critical defence challenges mean the Government must invest in people so that they can develop the skills and knowledge to secure essential infrastructure from cyberattacks and sabotage, experts have warned. Critical national infrastructure is now at the frontline of a constant barrage of attempted cyberattacks and sabotage, blurring the lines of where the country’s defence ends and begins. The complex interweaving of contemporary networks and energy supplies means that a wide array of sites and systems could be…

A new study will show how diverse multicultural views about the body, mind and soul have influenced hospital design. Those behind the research hope the new insight into the history of medical buildings will help promote better holistic healthcare design in the future. The British Academy project, Building for Holistic Healthcare, is awarded to Dr Sara Honarmand Ebrahimi through the International Fellowship scheme and is sponsored by Professor Maziyar Ghiabi, from the University of Exeter. It will provide…

The law is failing victims and survivors because it is turning a “blind eye” to the long-lasting and severe financial consequences of being in an abusive relationship, a new study warns. The law should be reformed to make domestic abuse and its impacts on the victim-survivor a specific consideration when dividing financial assets, enabling awards to be enhanced. This is only currently taken into account in rare and extreme cases in family law when assets are redistributed. The…

Myths about how the Black Death travelled quickly across Asia, ravaging Silk Route communities, date back to a single fourteenth-century source, experts have found. Modern portrayals of the plague quickly moving across the continent, following the course of traders, have been incorrect because of centuries of misinterpretation of a rhyming literary tale. This “maqāma”—an Arabic genre of writing often focusing on a traveling “trickster”—was written by the poet and historian, Ibn al-Wardi in 1348/9 in Aleppo but was…

The legal flexibility associated with UNESCO Biosphere Reserves has helped communities to become more involved in conservation, new analysis shows. The focus on less prescriptive regulations allows these Biospheres to promote a more harmonious existence between people and nature. The use of “soft law” instruments supports local responses and fosters community collaboration in environmental management, in contrast to rigid conventional frameworks that often struggle with adaptability and local relevance. The study, by Dr Tiago de Melo Cartaxo, from…