Author: James Bowers

February is LGBT history month and that means that it’s the perfect time to look back at how the community has fought for its right to exist. There have been many tales of hardship and resilience in years gone by, which have all contributed to forming a society where it is now safer than ever to exist outside of the heterosexual norm.  That said, the global fight for equality and acceptance is still far from over. Even this month, younger generations have been fighting for their identity across Europe.  In Turkey, for example, four students from Bogazici University were arrested for publicly displaying artwork that depicted the LGBT rainbow symbol alongside the sacred Islamic site, the Kaaba in Mecca.  The act was in response to the installation of a new university...

Let’s face it, 2020 was a write-off of a year. A global pandemic combined with historic societal tremors has left our world in a state of disrepair, so it’s no wonder that people were so keen to see the back of it.  Admittedly, both of those problems still exist. Unfortunately, when the clock struck midnight and the new year arrived, there was no magic switch to get rid of all our woes. But nevertheless, the new year gives us collective hope. It’s a milestone which points us in the right direction. Yes, the pandemic is still here, and yes there is still much work to do to remedy the systemic inequalities that exist in human society, but 2021 is a sign of progression.  Although Covid-19 is still rife in the United Kingdom, we can take solace from the advancements of vaccine...

James Bowers When Boris Johnson unveiled his ten-point plan to lead a ‘green industrial revolution’ for Great Britain, one of the most headline-grabbing statements from the announcement was that the sale of new petrol and diesel-engined cars and vans would be prohibited by the year 2030. The UK Prime Minister revealed that this deadline was part of a £2.8 billion investment into the further development of electric vehicle technology, with much work still needing to be done to make the EV infrastructure viable for mass use.  Importantly, Johnson has promised to ‘lace the land’ with charging points for electric vehicles, something which will be much-needed if electric propulsion is to rival the ease and accessibility of fossil fuel motoring.  After all, the widespread ...

James Bowers Climate change is unquestionably one of the largest threats to the society of tomorrow, and to a certain extent, to the society of today as well.  As science has been telling us for years, the need to reduce our carbon emissions must be seen as a top priority in order to mitigate the damage which has already been done to our planet, and to prevent the situation from worsening further still. After all, on our current trajectory, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that global warming could cause around 200 million people to become climate refugees by the year 2050. Despite this, there are still segments of society who refute the idea of global warming; an ideology which has only been strengthened in recent times by the reluctance and apa...

James Bowers Over the course of the pandemic, we have had to make plenty of sacrifices for our own physical health, and the physical health of others. But, as research from MIT and Harvard University shows, many people’s mental health has also suffered as a result. Using machine learning, researchers from the two universities conducted a textual analysis of over 800,000 messages posted onto the social media platform, Reddit. The study showed that during the first wave of Covid-19 from January to April, significant changes occurred to the tone and content of users’ language, with discussions ranging from anxiety to suicide all on the rise. At the heart of the study, the researchers were particularly interested in how certain sub-groups of people reacted to the pandemic in comparis...

In its seventy-year history, only one black driver has ever sat on the starting grid of a Formula One race. As it happens, that driver has gone on to become one of the greatest competitors that the sport has ever seen. With six world championships and ninety race victories to his name already, Lewis Hamilton is within touching distance of breaking all the records that matter. Throughout his racing career, Hamilton’s on-track performances have always done the talking, but now it seems as though the 35-year-old Brit believes it is time to speak up. Having been inspired by this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests in America, Lewis Hamilton has spent much of the year using his vast platform to speak out about racial injustice and inequality. His campaigning has been consistent and unwa...

The UK government has scrapped new plans which were set to allow people to change their gender on official documents, without a medical diagnosis. The plans, which were developed under Theresa May’s government, had been part of a long-awaited reform of transgender representation within the legal system. The current legislation was last updated in 2004 and involves a lengthy process should trans people wish to officially change their gender on public documents, such as their birth certificate. As it stands, they must be over the age of eighteen, have lived as their preferred gender for at least two years, and be able to provide medical evidence of gender dysphoria to a panel. On top of that, individuals are currently obliged to pay a £140 charge for a gender recognition certificate. ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way that we live. For those of us lucky enough to have emerged unscathed, it’s changed how we socialise, how we shop, and even how we receive our education. That is perhaps most true for students who had been planning to spend the 2020/21 academic year abroad. As a result of the need to minimise intercontinental spread of the virus, many students have seen their plans for the year ahead cancelled. Plus, those considering applying for an opportunity to study outside the UK, might be worried about how the pandemic will affect them too. This article, however, will hopefully shed some light on the subject. For students who have seen their plans cancelled, the university has introduced new measures to avoid disappointment where possible. In a normal cli...

Throughout 2020, American citizens have taken to the streets in order to make their voices heard. Angered by their nation’s inherent and systematic inequalities, Black Lives Matter protesters have ensured that their cause has been front and centre of the United States’ political landscape. Unfortunately, their efforts are yet to reap significant rewards, as little tangible progress has been made under Trump’s regime since the unlawful killing of George Floyd.  In fact, social tensions have flared up once more following the shooting of another black American, Jacob Blake. An official report of the events leading up to the shooting is yet to be released, but Wisconsin attorney-general Josh Kaul says that officers were called to the location after a woman reported that “her boyfr...