Author: Dilip

I'm a scholar, writer and teacher; and my blog is designed for intellectual exploration. It carries no advertisements and requires no cash subscription

Joyce Cheng: Tiananmen Square protesters remember the bonds they formed with the Chinese police who held them captive

Chen Tianshi has kept a secret for the past 32 years. The former student activist was a key organiser of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and was arrested in the aftermath of the massacre. Out of the bloody crackdown, unlikely friendships formed between some protesters and their captors. Today, on the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen… Read More Joyce Cheng: Tiananmen Square protesters remember the bonds they formed with the Chinese police who held them captive

Dilip

Could these foods reverse climate change?

The way we produce food has accelerated climate change, but can sustainable production methods help to reverse it? Follow the Food is an eight-part documentary series that questions where our food comes from and how this will change in the near future, thanks to new technologies and innovative ways of farming… Watch docuseries here

Dilip

Bdelloid rotifer survives 24,000 years frozen in Siberia

A microscopic multi-celled organism has returned to life after being frozen for 24,000 years in Siberia, according to new research. Scientists dug up the animal known as a bdelloid rotifer from the Alayeza River in the Russian Arctic. Once thawed, it was able to reproduce asexually, after spending millennia in a state of frozen animation… Read More Bdelloid rotifer survives 24,000 years frozen in Siberia

Dilip

Uyghurs are being deported from Muslim countries, raising concerns about China's growing reach

Amannisa Abdullah and her husband, Ahmad Talip, were on their way to shop for baby clothes in Dubai, when the message that changed both their lives came through. Ahmad read it and announced an abrupt change of plan: He had to report to a police station immediately.  Ahmad dropped Amannisa off at a friend’s house that day in… Read More Uyghurs are being deported from Muslim countries, raising concerns about China's growing reach

Dilip

Mostafa Naderi: Iran’s leaders ‘are responsible’ for executing 30,000 political prisoners

A survivor of the 1988 massacre says he is ready to testify before the UN about the role of Iran’s leaders in the extrajudicial killings    I was only 17 in the autumn of 1981 when I was arrested in Tehran for supporting and selling the publication of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), a… Read More Mostafa Naderi: Iran’s leaders ‘are responsible’ for executing 30,000 political prisoners

Dilip