New Humanist

3 days ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Michael Rosen

Ceasefire, 20th century: a temporary suspension of fighting, usually between two armies One of the peculiarities of wars is that at some point they come to an end. Before a peace agreement is signed, there is usually a ceasefire. As you can see, it’s a compound noun, combining the two major sources of modern English – French and Old English – with “cease” coming from French (and before that, Latin) and “fire” from Old English.

3 weeks ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Lucy Popescu

A Nose and Three Eyes (Hoopoe Books) by Ihsan Abdel Kouddous, translated by Jonathan Smolin Egyptian author Ihsan Abdel Kouddous, who died in 1990, is one of the 20th century’s most prolific and popular writers of Arabic fiction. Born in Cairo in 1919, a contemporary of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, Abdel Kouddous also enjoyed a long career in journalism. He was editor at the daily paper Al-Akhbar and editor-in-chief of the political weekly magazine Rose El-Youssef.

4 weeks ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Marcus Chown

Everyone knows that Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity, and that Charles Darwin discovered evolution by natural selection. But how many people know that Cecilia Payne discovered what makes up the Universe? This year marks a century since Payne, an English woman at Harvard university, submitted the most important astrophysics PhD of the 20th century.

1 month ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Martin Cohen

If you’re the proud owner of a dog or cat, you might get the distinct impression that your pet has a sense of humour. They don’t literally tell jokes, of course, but many species of animal seem to excel at other behaviours we might qualify as humorous: appearing to tease or mock their targets, or make them the subject of practical jokes.

1 month ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Durdana Bhat |Kamran Yousuf

In the heart of Punjab, a region of India steeped in folk traditions, Noor Zora – a gender-fluid 61-year-old – is breathing new life into an ancient dance. Giddha, a celebration of femininity, is traditionally performed by women at weddings and festivals. Dancers dress in colourful salwar kameez, with flowing scarves and intricate embroidery, to perform the energetic dance, which incorporates clapping and singing.