US Army scientists analyze unknown samples to determine whether hazardous. That's typical of research trying to understand the unknowns and expand on our knowledge. Credit: Flickr/US Army RDECOM, CC BY

By Tim Dean

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH: What do we actually mean by research and how does it help inform our understanding of things? We begin today by looking at the origins of research.

Sarkeesian has been the focus of much online hatred since she started her website Feminist Frequency in 2009. Credit: Anita Sarkeesian

By Jessamy Gleeson, Swinburne University of Technology

Three weeks ago, well-known feminist gaming critic Anita Sarkeesian was forced to leave her San Francisco home due to an ongoing tirade of abuse and threats. Members of a vocal minority of online trolls had threatened to kill her parents, drink her blood, and rape her – all while publishing her personal details online.

Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel and cement production. Source: CDIAC, Friedlingstein et al. 2014, Global Carbon Project 2014

By Pep Canadell, CSIRO and Michael Raupach, Australian National University

Does this count as homework? Credit: Rob Boudon, CC BY

By Mark Banks, University of Leicester

Is protest pointless or productive? Credit: EPA

By Olaf Corry, The Open University

It is set to be one of the largest ever coordinated protests. The People’s Climate March is due to take place in cities all over the world this weekend to try and influence the UN climate summit that follows on September 23. The marches promise to be a major global event, billed by organizers as an “unprecedented mobilization”.

Lord Toast. Credit: Catarina Mota, CC BY-NC-SA

By Akshat Rathi, The Conversation and Flora Lisica, The Conversation

The 24th Ig Nobel prizes were announced on September 18th. The prizes annually award scientific research that “first makes people laugh and then makes them think."