Do you really know?

Smartphones only really entered our lives within the last 10 to 15 years, but they’ve since become indispensable. And it can even be hard to put them down when nighttime falls. According to Reviews.org, 60% of Americans sleep with their phone at night. How about you? You may think that having your phone next to you in bed is harmless, or even helpful. But did you know that sleeping with your phone...

In early 2023, dating site Eharmony released findings from a survey of over 1000 singletons. The research found that on average they spent 55 minutes per day logged in to the dating app, with six conversations on the go at the same time. Despite that, as many as 70% of those surveyed felt heavy dating app usage had a negative impact on their mental health. Spending so much energy on dating can get...

Today, we're going to talk about a condition that affects millions of people around the world, but is rarely discussed openly. It's called shy bladder syndrome, or paruresis, and it's a type of social anxiety disorder that makes it difficult or impossible to pee in public restrooms or with people nearby. This happens when people are psychologically blocked, which tightens the sphincters - muscles...

Although it is quite usual to find insects in markets in both Africa and Asia it is rather more unusual for people in the West to eat them. However, with increased awareness of animal welfare and environmental concerns around eating meat people are beginning to think more seriously about insects as food rather than something to be swatted. The problem is that a lot of people find eating bugs prett...

According to the American National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, around 9% of the US population are affected by an eating disorder. We’ve all heard of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating, which are among the most commonly diagnosed. But there is also orthorexia. It’s called orthorexia, coming from the Latin words “orthos”, meaning correct and “orexis”, meaning appetite....

The announcement of the  sad news of the Queen’s passing, like all of the events following her death, followed strict protocol. The Prime Minister was informed using a pre-arranged code  “London Bridge is down”. And somewhere, deep in the gardens of Buckinham palace, the royal beekeeper informed the royal bees. That’s right the beekeeper, John Chapple, who’s been the Queen’s beekeeper for 15 years...

Ah, the gentle rumble of a washing machine spinning in the middle of the night… practical  but is it really saving you money? In the UK, many households are on time-of-use tariffs like Economy 7. It’s often seen as a smart choice, but in reality, whether it pays off depends entirely on your routine. In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the latest episodes, click here: How doe...

Leaving food out for the birds seems like a harmless and even generous idea, but research by the British Trust for Ornithology is showing that bird feeders might be doing more harm than good. Between 2008 and 2018, chaffinch numbers dropped by 29 per cent in the UK, while 67 per cent of the country's greenfinches were lost, the study reveals. How do bird feeders spread this disease? How can I keep...

Binge drinking is defined as consuming 5 or more drinks for a man, or 4 or more drinks for a woman, in about 2 hours, and the UK has a rather notorious reputation for drinking to excess, especially when abroad. But according to a 2022 survey from Drinkaware, 26 % so nearly a third of 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK are now completely teetotal, meaning they do not drink at all. Add to this that 29% of...

Barbie has quite the impressive CV. She has had over 150 careers including fashion editor, surgeon and astronaut - enough to inspire any young fan. But what she has career-wise, she lacks when it comes to inclusivity. Barbie is usually blond, perfect and impossibly proportioned - there is a reason Margo Robbie is playing her in the latest Barbie film. But this is finally going to change: Barbie is...

You’ve probably already walked by a stranger spreadeagled on the ground. Chances are that if you saw several people already offering assistance, you carried on walking by. That’s due to what is known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect is a psychosocial phenomenon which typically crops up in emergency situations. It shows that the more other people are already intervening to help, the le...

In any given week in England, 3 in 100 people are suffering from depression, according to a NatCen Social Research study published in 2014. Depression can affect anyone, regardless of age or social class. Everybody experiences different moods. You might find yourself feeling happy during the day, sad at times, or even just okay. Those with mood disorders experience these same emotions, but for lon...

We’ve talked about the rise of masculinism in the past on Do You Really Know and today’s subject is linked to the kind of traditional narratives that misogynistic men like to support.  You know the type of views I mean: men are supposed to be strong, authoritative and physically imposing. Women, on the other hand, are expected to be gentle, compliant and ideally, not too independent. Since when do...

The strange experience of deja vu sometimes lasts just a matter of milliseconds. Nonetheless it can still catch you off guard and be pretty unsettling. Deja vu means “already seen” in French. It refers to the sense of having already seen or experienced something you’re confronted with, even though you know that you have never actually seen it before. For example, you visit a new city for the first...

Diarrhea is a common ailment that affects many of us, from time to time. While it’s often the subject of off-colour jokes, in reality it’s the number two cause of death in children under five years old, after pneumonia. It accounts for over 500,000 child deaths each year according to the World Health Organisation, making it a major public health issue. The majority of these cases are recorded in t...

After "quiet quitting" and "conscious quitting", here’s yet another new phenomenon related to the world of work that’s growing in popularity. “Acting your wage” involves putting in a certain amount of work, that’s in proportion to your salary. In other words, no going above and beyond; no extra hours and no unattainable goals. And no additional responsibilities outside of your job description, unl...

The prostate is a male organ that's situated right above the bladder, in front of the rectum. It's a small gland the size of a chestnut that plays a fundamental role in the reproductive system. It produces the protastic fluids that ensure the maturation and survival of sperm. The prostate is also an incredibly erogenous zone, though it's not often explored amongst heterosexual men. Psychoanalyst a...

According to data from Finder.com, the average Brit now spends 4 hours and 14 minutes using their smartphone each day. It’s hardly surprising; smartphone use has grown consistently over the last 15 years, to the extent that the devices have become almost like an extension of our arms and hands.  Given we tend to hold our phones out in front of us when using them, our heads bow down in quite an unn...

It’s no surprise, especially if you tend to reach for your card instead of cash. But if you sometimes spend without thinking, your card may be part of the reason. A 2025 meta-analysis found that people consistently spend more when paying by card than with cash. Unlike a single study, it combines results from multiple studies to give a more reliable picture. Here, it draws on 71 studies across 17 c...

Today we're going to talk about a cognitive bias that causes people to believe, often mistakenly, that they are less likely to experience negative events and more likely to experience positive events than others. Estimates suggest that 80% of us display what’s known as the optimism bias. For example, we might think that we are less likely to get sick, lose our job, or have a car accident than the...

I’m sure you can imagine a few scenarios in which you might have resisted the need to pee in the past. It may have been due to the toilets being unclean or closed. Sometimes, a little more privacy would be appreciated, especially at work, for example. There are a number of factors which influence the number of times we pee over the course of a day. These include age, bladder size, the weather, any...

2022 marked the driest summer in nearly 30 years according to the UK government. And authorities felt the need to bring in a hosepipe ban across Kent and Sussex, which came into effect from 26th June. Back in April, a National Drought Group spokesperson said that Britain won’t be able to “rely on the weather alone” to sustain water levels, and that preparations were being made to reduce the drough...

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head for hours or even days? One that pops up randomly and repeats itself over and over again? Let’s take a moment to explore what earworms are, what they have in common, what causes them, and how they can affect our health. An earworm is a catchy tune that invades your brain and refuses to leave. The term actually comes from the German word ohrwurm. Accordin...

Until recently when confronted with arranging a funeral there has been a choice between burial or cremation. However, in parts of the US, Canada and soon the UK a third choice can be possible.  Aquamation or as it is known technically “alkaline hydrolysis” is an alternative to traditional burials. The body of the deceased is placed in a pressurised stainless steel vessel and immersed in a mixture...

During the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us managed to avoid getting infected by following social distancing and hand hygiene guidelines. But the virus caught up with most people sooner or later, even those who were particularly cautious.   And yet there are some people out there who have still never had Covid, three and a half years since it emerged. Scientists believe some of th...