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The Latest Breaking News from Katie Flood

Why global methane levels spiked during COVID lockdowns

Six years ago, as countries around the world went into COVID lockdowns, the air got cleaner. Factories slowed down, roads emptied and aeroplanes were grounded. As people stayed home, the world burned fewer fossil fuels and so carbon dioxide emissions dropped – by around 7% in 2020.

The Conversation

The Gulf’s delicate balancing act between the US and Iran is now in flames

As Israel and the US continued to bomb Iran after killing the country’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Iran lashed out at its neighbours. Among the targets of Iranian drone strikes were a hotel in Dubai, a port in Oman, gas facilities in Qatar, and multiple US bases and embassies in…

The Conversation

South Korea’s birth rate is rising – but the population is still shrinking

South Korea’s very low birth rate and ageing population have long served as a cautionary tale for other governments worried that they’ll see similar demographic challenges.

The Conversation

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How Venezuela has been preparing for a US invasion for more than two decades

In the latest escalation of tensions between the US and Venezuela, on December 17 US President Donald Trump ordered a “complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela. His Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, called the move “warmongering threats”, and accused the US of trying to steal…

The Conversation

Asia’s scamming gangs target Timor-Leste as their next frontier – but they may have misjudged the small island nation

Oecusse, a rugged, remote district of Timor-Leste in south-east Asia, is usually a pretty sleepy place. It’s located on the western side of Timor island, part of Indonesia, and is isolated geographically from the rest of Timor-Leste, which has governed the eastern side of the island since 2002.

The Conversation

The American fixation on white Afrikaners in South Africa stretches back nearly a century

A few days after Donald Trump boycotted a G20 summit in Johannesburg, he announced South Africa would not be invited to the next G20 meeting, taking place at his resort in Miami in March 2026.

The Conversation

Flu shots: how scientists around the world cooperate to choose the strains to vaccinate against each year

Twice a year, 40 scientists gather together for five days to decide what strains of influenza to vaccinate against for the next flu season. It takes around six months to prepare the vaccine – which usually includes protection against three different strains of flu. So in February, the group’s decision…

The Conversation

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How China cleaned up its air pollution – and what that meant for the climate

Delhi: 442. Lahore: 334. Beijing: 16. These are the levels of PM 2.5, one of the principle measures for air pollution, on November 19.

The Conversation

Nobel laureate Shimon Sakaguchi on his immune system breakthrough – and the treatments he hopes it will unlock

Back in the 1980s, when Shimon Sakaguchi was a young researcher in immunology, he found it difficult to get his research funded. Now, his pioneering work which explains how our immune system knows when and what to attack, has won him a Nobel prize.

The Conversation

How ‘sovereign citizens’ around the world draw on similar pseudo-law arguments – podcast

In the remote mountain high country of the Australian state of Victoria, police are continuing a huge manhunt. The fugitive is Dezi Freeman, a man alleged to have killed two police officers and injured a third in late August in the town of Porepunkah, 300km northeast of Melbourne.

The Conversation

How China uses second world war history in its bid to reshape the global order – podcast

With Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un among 26 world leaders watching, China’s president Xi Jinping made a muscular address to 50,000 people in Tiananmen Square marking 80 years since the end of the second world war. China is “never intimidated by bullies” and would “stand by the…

The Conversation

From bees doing maths to fish driving cars: teaching animals irrelevant skills can help unlock the secrets of cognition – podcast

Scientists can get animals to do the strangest things. They’ve taught goldfish to drive cars, primates to perform calculations with Arabic numerals and giraffes to do statistical reasoning. But what’s the point?

The Conversation

Origins of Israel’s nuclear ambiguity lie in a secret deal forged between Richard Nixon and Golda Meir – podcast

Israel has never officially confirmed or denied having nuclear weapons and has never signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Instead, even as evidence has emerged about its nuclear capabilities, Israel has maintained a policy of nuclear ambiguity.

The Conversation

What will batteries of the future be made of? Four scientists discuss the options – podcast

The majority of the world’s rechargeable batteries are now made using lithium-ion. Most rely on a combination of different rare earth metals such as cobalt or nickel for their electrodes. But around the world, teams of researchers are looking for alternative – and more sustainable – materials to build the…

The Conversation

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The Conversation

How Europe dropped the ball on its own defence and was left fawning over Donald Trump – podcast

The language from European leaders was fawning and obsequious. At one point, the head of Nato, Mark Rutte, even called Donald Trump “daddy”. But when the US president left the Nato summit in late June, there was a sigh of relief that he had not made any more angry criticism…

The Conversation

Amid alarm over a US ‘autism registry’, people are using these tactics to avoid disability surveillance – podcast

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. caused controversy in April by promising to find the cause for autism by September. Claims by the new US secretary for health and human services that autism is a “preventable disease” with an environmental cause, contradict a body of research that suggests autism is caused by…

The Conversation

What makes some people self-censor while others speak out? Podcast

Faced with the choice in their daily lives, their work or their politics, why do some people decide to keep quiet, to censor themselves in anticipatory obedience, even if they’re not ordered to do so?

The Conversation

Cash for sharks: the unintended consequences of paying fishermen to release sharks caught in their nets – podcast

As Jaws marks its 50th anniversary this year, sharks continue to get a bad rap. Film after film portrays them as terrifying hunters, the bane of surfers and swimmers.

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The Conversation

It’s unlikely a magic bullet will ever cure Alzheimer’s – maybe a magic shotgun can

For much of the 21st century, one theory has dominated research efforts to cure Alzheimer’s disease: the amyloid hypothesis. Beta-amyloid is a protein that builds up in clumps, or plaques, in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and is linked to their cognitive decline.

The Conversation

Three scientists speak about what it’s like to have research funding cut by the Trump administration

The Trump administration’s cuts to funding for American universities and research have left many scientists reeling and very worried. At the National Institutes of Health, which has an annual budget of US$47 billion to support medical research both in the U.S. and around the world, nearly 800 grants have been…

The Conversation

Birkin vs Wirkin: the backlash against the global elite and their luxury bags – podcast

The Birkin bag made by French luxury retailer Hermès has become a status symbol for some of the global elite. Notoriously difficult to obtain, a select few obsess over how to get their hands on one.

The Conversation

COVID modelling reveals new insights into ancient social distancing – podcast

Five years since COVID emerged, not only has the pandemic affected the way we live and work, it’s also influencing the way researchers are thinking about the past.

The Conversation

A glimpse into a surreal abyss: how COVID ravaged a remote city in the Amazonian jungle – podcast

When the first cases of COVID began to spread around the world in early 2020, people in Iquitos, a remote city in the Peruvian Amazon, weren’t unduly worried. They assumed their isolation would protect them. It didn’t. Peru, and Iquitos, were hit fast and hard.

The Conversation

Taung child: the controversial story of the fossil discovery that proved humanity’s common origins in Africa – podcast

One hundred years ago, a paper was published in the journal Nature that would radically shift our understandings of the origins of humanity. It described a fossil, found in a lime mine in Taung in South Africa, which became known as the Taung child skull.

The Conversation

‘I thought about escaping every day’: how survivors get out of Southeast Asia’s cybercrime compounds – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 3

Every day that he was locked up in a scam compound in Southeast Asia, George thought about how to get out. “We looked for means of escaping, but it was hard,” he told The Conversation.

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