The Open University

Why the most distant object ever visited looks like a snowman – flyby delivers results

17 February 2020

Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at The Open University writes for The Conversation about a new series of papers that help us better understand the solar system. Just over a year ago, courtesy of NASA’s New Horizons mission, we were treated to images of 2014MU69, a small object 6.6 billion kilometers from the […]

Veganism has always been more about living an ethical life than just avoiding meat and dairy

7 January 2020

Dr Matthew Cole, Lecturer in Criminology at The Open University joins Dr Kate Stewart from Nottingham Trent University to write for The Conversation about the origins of Veganism being more than just diet. “Ethical veganism” has been ruled to be a philosophical belief in the UK in an employment tribunal. During a case brought by […]

Why Christmas ghost stories have such enduring appeal

18 December 2019

Sally O’Reilly, Lecturer in Creative Writing at The Open University writes for The Conversation about the popularity of ghost stories at Christmas. Our fascination with ghostly tales around Christmas time goes back thousands of years and is rooted in ancient celebrations of the winter solstice. In the depths of winter, pagan traditions included a belief […]

Climate crisis: six steps to making fossil fuels history

3 December 2019

Dr Stephen Peake, Senior Lecturer in Environment at The Open University writes for The Conversation about the climate crisis. In shouting “system change not climate change”, young people understand that the 3-4℃ warmer world we’re headed for would be far more painful, costly and disruptive than any short-term costs or inconvenience we face from taking […]

UK election 2019: a choice between low-tax, individualism or generous state with unknown price tag

25 November 2019

Jonquil Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Economics and Personal Finance at The Open University writes for The Conversation about the tax implications of the upcoming general election. Brexit may be the main reason for the UK’s upcoming general election, but voters are also invited to choose between two radically different types of social system with different […]

From the Iliad to Circe: culture’s enduring fascination with the myths of Troy

21 November 2019

Dr Jan Haywood, Staff Tutor and Lecturer in Classical Studies at The Open University writes for The Conversation about the legend of Troy. The story of the epic war fought over a woman has been told many times. It now lies at the heart of an exhibition at the British Museum opening on November 21. […]

CSI: current research into the impact of bias on crime scene forensics is limited – but psychologists can help

30 October 2019

Dr Lee John Curley, Lecturer in Psychology at The Open University joins Dr James Munro, Psychology Researcher from Edinburgh Napier University to write for The Conversation about their research into why contextual information is important to forensic analysis. When a jury decides the fate of a person, they do so based on the evidence presented […]

Tardigrades: we’re now polluting the moon with near indestructible little creatures

8 August 2019

Monica Grady, The Open University writing for The Conversation An Israeli spacecraft called Beresheet almost made it to the moon in April. It took a selfie with the lunar surface in the background, but then lost contact with Earth and presumably crashed onto the lunar surface. Now it’s been revealed that the mission was carrying […]

Moon 2069: lunar tourism and deep space launches a century on from Apollo?

31 July 2019

Monica Grady, The Open University We’ve just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, glorying in the achievements of three astronauts and the team of engineers and scientists behind them. From that perspective, we can look back and see what we have learned from the mission. But what if we take a giant […]

To the moon and beyond 5: What space exploration will look like in 2069

31 July 2019

Miriam Frankel, The Conversation and Martin Archer, Queen Mary University of London What will space exploration look like in 2069, a century after the first moon landing? In the fifth and final episode of the podcast series, To the moon and beyond, we speak to space scientists about the missions they are dreaming about and […]

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