#AvoidTrump Tops The Shortlist For International Awards Honoring Best Of The Internet

#AvoidTrump via MapQuest

The 20th Annual Webby Awards awarded MapQuest's #AvoidTrump location service with Best Social Humor. Competitors in this category included The Onion, Funny or Die, Conan O'Brien and LACMA Snapchat.

Alicia Keys to Perform at UEFA Champions League Final Opening Ceremony on May 28th

Alicia Keys to perform at the first-ever "UEFA Champions League Final Opening Ceremony presented by Pepsi" (PRNewsFoto/PepsiCo)

UEFA and Pepsi are excited to announce that for the first time ever, the UEFA Champions League Final will feature a global live music headline performance as part of the opening ceremony pageantry. 

Taking place on May 28th at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan, Italy, the UEFA Champions League Final Opening Ceremony will feature Alicia Keys as the inaugural artist to usher in a new live entertainment era for the UEFA Champions League Final. 

The Red Woman: The History Behind Game Of Thrones' Mysterious Mystic

Helen Sloan / HBO

By Marta Cobb, University of Leeds

Every Game of Thrones season premiere needs its shock reveal – and season six is no different. As the name of the episode – The Red Woman – hints, this one pertains to red priestess Melisandre, to whom, it turns out, there’s much more than meets the eye (don’t worry, no spoilers ensue). Even in a series known for its complex characters and even more complicated morality, Melisandre and her motives remain surprisingly opaque. And it looks as if her story’s only just getting started.

Gove’s Vision For The UK Out Of The EU: Welcome To #VoteLeave's Parallel Universe

Gove, multiplied. El Bingle/flickr.com, CC BY-NC

By Michael Dougan, University of Liverpool

Vote Leave has finally set out their plan for the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU, in the event of a vote to leave the Union in the forthcoming referendum. Justice secretary Michael Gove claims that Britain can have its cake and eat it: we can enjoy full trading rights with the EU, without being part of the single market – apparently, just like a host of other European countries which together form some vast free trade area stretching from Iceland to Turkey.

Embracing The 'Silent Majority' – Donald Trump Brings Back The Worst Of 1960s America

Nixon would have baulked at some of Trump’s tactics. Wikimedia Commons

By Randall Stephens, Northumbria University, Newcastle

Violence flared up again at a “New York Values” Donald Trump rally on April 10, as backers of the Republican candidate reportedly assaulted a black protestor. Several hundred protesters milled about near another Trump rally in Berlin, Maryland, on April 20. They were ready to face off with their Trump-supporting adversaries that had poured into a local high school for a rally. On the face of it, aberrations – but these sorts of episodes are now so common at Trump events that they’re rarely flattered with headlines any more.

Zombies Are Taking Over The World – And We All Want To Be A Part Of It

Secret Cinema

By Ewan Kirkland, University of Brighton

As a video game player, I am used to running from hordes of zombies, navigating treacherous post-apocalyptic wastelands, and fleeing from one disorientating location to the next. But nothing could prepare me for the experience of Secret Cinema’s latest event, based on Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, the film frequently credited with transforming the zombie from a moaning shuffling figure into a screaming fast-moving crazy.

Let's Fact Check The Game Of Thrones House Words

"Winter is coming"

It's that time of year. A new season of Game Of Thrones is debuting, and the hit HBO fantasy series seems to be all anyone can talk about. So why not join in on the fun?

What's The Cost Of Surfing The Internet? 'Earth Mode' Browser Plug-in Helps Users Understand Their Impact On The Environment

EARTH MODE is a new plug-in from Johnnie Walker for Earth Day
(PRNewsFoto/Johnnie Walker)

You might not realise it but the amount of time you spend and what you do online takes its toll on the environment.

Research* suggests that the average online user consumes 130 kgs of carbon a year - the equivalent to driving 740 km in a car - which could be offset by planting four trees.  

A new plug-in for Google's Chrome browser launched ahead of Earth Day on Friday (22 April) will help educate people about how much energy they consume online by calculating their digital carbon footprint and, as a result, inspire them to think about their everyday energy efficiency.  

Zut Alors, Jeremy Paxman! French Isn't A 'Useless' Language

By Emmanuelle Labeau, Aston University

Presenter Jeremy Paxman recently hailed the victory of English “in the battle of global tongues” in an article for the Financial Times in which he also claimed that French was “useless” and “bad for you”.

Why such a needless attack on Britain’s closest neighbour and favourite enemy – unless he is trying to court controversy to generate interest in his forthcoming documentary on the UK’s relationship with Europe?

Do Penguins Meditate? - New Crowdfunding Techniques In Film Funding

Documentaries are so serious, so you'd expect a documentary about meditation would be really serious. But not for filmmaker Ken Sheetz who walked away from a seriously successful career in Chicago real estate to pursue his passion for filmmaking...

Since building a skyscraper and Oprah's first studio Harpo Studios, Ken's two decades in "Hollywoodland" have produced over 400 films - a serious track record for a funny guy. 

Sheetz's current IndieGogo crowdfunding campaign, "Do Penguins Meditate," breaks new ground with tax deductible donor perks from visionary scientists, artists and health experts.

How #Brexit Would Reduce Foreign Investment In The UK – And Why That Matters

Slowing down: the UK’s car industry could suffer from a Brexit. Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire

By John Van Reenen, London School of Economics and Political Science

Foreign investors love Britain, but Brexit would kill the vibe. According to new research colleagues and I have conducted at the Centre for Economic Performance, leaving the European Union could lead to a fall in inward foreign direct investment into the UK of close to a quarter. This would damage productivity and could lower people’s real incomes by more than 3%.

Case studies of cars and financial services – two UK success stories – show, that Brexit would also lower EU-related output of goods and services, and erode the UK’s ability to negotiate concessions from regulations on EU-related transactions.

According to government body UK Trade and Investment, the UK has an estimated stock of over £1 trillion of foreign direct investment (FDI), about half of which is from the EU. Only the United States and China receive more FDI than this.

What 17th-Century Politics Can Teach Us About The Brexit Debate

Charles I attempts to arrest five members of Parliament in 1642.
(Charles West Cope/Wikimedia Commons)

By Philippa Byrne, University of Oxford

If you heard someone claim that a powerful and unaccountable institution was trying to take control of the law away from the British parliament, you might assume you were talking to a Brexit campaigner in 2016. But you could equally be listening to the complaints of an English lawyer in 1616.