A Canadian tech firm and foundation have teamed up with an NGO in Rwanda to offer a chatbot that answers young people’s questions about sex. Screenshots of a smartphone with the IrindeBot chatbot (photo courtesy of Rival Technologies Inc) Talking about sex is...
Oil-rich Nigeria is Africa’s biggest economy but spends little on healthcare, with dire consequences for its teeming population. Its census could help. A health clinic in Nigeria in 2008 (Ton Koene / VWPics via AP Images) This story won second prize in News...
Both the 1918 flu pandemic and COVID-19 struck during crucial U.S. elections, infecting the nation’s leaders. But in 1918, a world war was raging. A hospital in Kansas during the 1918 flu epidemic (Wikimedia Commons) After six months of sheltering in place due...
Black Americans are dying at a higher rate from COVID-19 than whites. “The Kids Are Alright” podcast looks at the disparities in mortality. “COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate, but it is infecting a society that does.” So states Sage...
COVID-19 has slashed incomes in Indonesia, spurring illegal logging, poaching and mining. The environment and wildlife habitats are taking a hit. Activists protest against a government bill they say would harm the environment, Jakarta, Indonesia, 14 July 2020. (AP...
Jews were blamed by some for spreading the Black Death plague in the Middle Ages. Now, incidents of antisemitism are on the rise during COVID-19. Only the word “masks” can still be read from an inscription that was formerly “Jews = mask...
Lockdowns under COVID-19 have kept many people away from gyms. But some are working out more. Is at-home exercise here to stay? Children exercise from the rooftop of their building during lockdown in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 17 May 2020. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) You’d be...
They’ve been around for a long time and flourish in a crisis. Conspiracy theories may seem absurd and harmless to some — but they can do damage. Activists demonstrate against 4G/5G cell towers in Los Angeles, California, 2 May 2020. (AP Photo/Damian...
Like fake news, conspiracy theories abound in today’s polarized political world. Sarah Edmonds shows that they have been around for a long time and thrive in times of crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic. In an age when facts and science are under attack, how can a student know what to believe in? Should we simply dismiss those who perpetrate conspiracy theories — or engage with them? Edmonds interviewed numerous experts for her article and skilfully weaved in their quotes — a good example for student writers. Teachers of subjects from Science to Politics can use Edmonds’s story to encourage students to suspend their prejudices and push themselves to see contrasting viewpoints.
Many Americans say they will not get inoculated if a vaccine against COVID-19 is discovered. Such distrust in science is nothing new. Russian scientists are working on a new vaccine, as shown in this photo taken in Moscow, 6 August 2020. (Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/...
Italy is all chaos, while Britain epitomises civility, right? Think twice, because COVID-19 has helped to turn clichés upside down. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right, and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in London, 4 February 2020 (Chris J...