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Britain’s New World

Britain will never be the same. The day after Scots voted 55-45 to support the United Kingdom, on promises by unionists for a new range of Scottish powers, Prime Minister David Cameron set in motion a process to empower not just Scotland, but also Wales and Northern Island — and potentially to remake the British political system. Meantime, First Minister Alex Salmond, who devoted his life to Scottish independence, shocked Scots by resigning, which he had earlier said he would not do if his Yes campaign for independence failed. “For me as leader, my time is nearly over,” he told

Ig Nobel awards: Jesus toast, banana skins, and polar bear suits

Every day another media list of newly-published science papers arrives in my email inbox: the result of earnest investigations into weighty issues. Then, once a year, there’s the Ig Nobel Prize list, awarded by an organization called Improbable Research. Part of the amusement around this awards ceremony, held at Harvard on Thursday, is that the researchers whose work is the brunt of the humour were conducting earnest investigations into things they considered weighty. That, and how they are good sports about having their life’s work roasted. The awards are the highlight of the scientific calendar, Improbable Research claims Nature to

Scotland Votes

Opinion polls put the result of today’s Scottish vote on independence on a knife’s edge, but no matter the outcome the referendum will have fundamentally changed Britain’s modern balance of power. The United Kingdom has been together for better, and worse, since 1707 when Acts of Union formalized a union that was already in many ways in effect, through a century-old joint monarchy. A Yes vote will lead to the hard work of disentangling it. Custody battles will be fought over assets and liabilities, from British nuclear arms to the national debt to North Sea oil. But a No vote —

Uzbekistan’s dictator turns on his own creation: his daughter

It is not unusual for dictators, especially particularly nasty ones like Islam Karimov, to create monsters among their family members, notes International Affairs columnist Jonathan Manthorpe. Think only of the plundering relatives: Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace in Zimbabwe, the offspring of “Papa Doc” Duvalier in Haiti, and the rabid sons of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. What is unusual, however, is for Frankenstein to turn on his creation. An excerpt of Manthorpe’s new column, Uzbekisatan’s dictator destroys “princess” daughter: Supermarket tabloid divas like the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus are rank amateurs in the league tables of manic self-obsessives and insatiable exhibitionists of their

Scotland’s independence referendum: a beginner’s guide

By Coree Brown, University of Edinburgh What is Scotland voting for? Voters in Scotland will go to the polls on September 18 and answer the question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” The result will be determined by a simple majority vote, and is expected to be announced on the morning of September 19. Who can vote? The 4.1m people eligible to vote include UK citizens, EU citizens and qualifying Commonwealth citizens currently resident in Scotland. Scots living outside of Scotland (with the exception of those in the military or diplomatic service) are not eligible to cast their vote. The

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