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.