Contrary to what is often assumed, the polycrises – from finance to war – did not push the environment off the public agenda over the last decade – quite the opposite. In 2010, Europeans saw the economy and health as the main challenges facing their countries; by 2020, health had become the number one (in the context of COVID), but the environment also moved up and overtook some other topics, even though one might expect it to drop off the agenda in times of crisis.

Around the world, many societies have buried their dead in or near family homes. The practice has largely disappeared, but was once relatively common. For the first time, researchers compared dozens of archaeological sites and anthropologists' notes on living cultures, and they found that the practice became less common with the spread of organized major religions and colonization.

Following the successful approval of a second funding period, the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" at the University of Konstanz is redefining its research agenda: Over the coming years, it will focus on the question of the political conditions under which inequality can be reduced effectively. The latest issue of the freely available In_equality magazine showcases this expanded research agenda and provides a glimpse into the cluster’s new projects.

Researchers proposed an integrated method that combines remote sensing and meteorological factors to monitor the winter wheat leaf age at the start of the overwintering stage, and developed two models for comparative analysis across Shandong province, China. Using MODIS remote sensing data and ERA5-Land reanalysis temperature data from 458 field sites, they compared a growing degree day (GDD) model with a Random Forest model incorporating emergence date, accumulated heat and vegetation growth. The integrated model estimated leaf age more accurately, achieving an R² of 0.67 and an error of 0.56 leaves. Results identified sowing date and heat accumulation as major drivers, while extreme rainfall in 2021 delayed sowing and weakened seedlings, supporting more precise crop management.