Do you really know?

What is the black fungus epidemic? Thanks for asking! Since May 2021, India has been faced with an additional epidemic on top of Covid-19. It’s that of a black fungus, also known as mucormycosis. This rare infection spreads among Covid patients, first of all attacking their faces, in particular the nose, sinuses or eyes, before moving onto the brain and lungs. According to AFP, India has recorded...

We all know that getting over romantic relationships can take time, sometimes weeks, months or years. Many poems, songs and film scenes have been dedicated to expressing the pain of dealing with such situations. But friendship heartbreaks don’t tend to get so much attention, even though they can hurt as much, or even more! Well one of the main things is that there’s a template for ending a romanti...

Covid allowed many people to work from home for the first time and created a world where more flexible, hybrid working, mixing office work and working from home is now possible. But there are things to keep in mind to optimise this type of experience According to Prof Jonathan Trevor at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School he suggests that it is better to match the task to the envi...

The word nomophobia means a fear of being without our smartphone, and it’s affecting more and more people with each passing year. Back in 2021, a phone addiction study by researchers from King’s College London found that 38.9% of young people qualified as smartphone addicts. Many admitted being unable to control their usage and that it got in the way of other activities like work or studies. ...

Arranging your fridge isn't just a way to save space. It's primarily about ensuring optimal preservation of food products and thus preventing the proliferation of bacteria. According to UK Research and Innovation, there are around 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness in the country every year. First and foremost, it's important to know that fridges with ventilated or circulated cold air have a m...

Trying to come up with a translation for the Finnish term sisu is a bit of a lost cause. Rotten Tomatoes described it as “a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds.” while the BBC has defined it as “strength, perseverance in a task that for some may seem crazy to undertake, almost hopeless”.  It’s not exactly resilience, because that come...

On paper, fish have everything required to be an excellent staple to many diets. They’re rich in protein, vitamins, trace elements, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, and aren’t too high in calories. The only downside is that fish live in an increasingly polluted environment. What with heavy metals and plastic waste invading the oceans, more and more people are concerned about the pitfalls of eating...

Do you ever feel like you’re always in a rush, constantly getting things done at the latest possible time? It could be paying a bill, cleaning our home or even recording a podcast! Well you’re certainly not alone in that respect. According to Deacon Joseph Ferrari, who specialises in the area, 20% of us are chronic procrastinators. And a 2020 survey by Micro Biz Mag found that just 15.6% of people...

It’s not news that if you don't get a good nights sleep you will probably not be your best the next day, but while you are snoozing, particularly in deep sleep, your brain is not just powered down, it is busy cleaning out the days toxins, almost like it is ‘washing your brain’ and getting it ready for the next day.   “Sleep is not just a state where things turn off. Sleep is a very...

Following on from “quiet quitting” and “quiet firing”, conscious quitting is another work-related term that’s gone viral in recent times. It’s based on the results of prominent surveys which have shown that people are increasingly prepared to walk away from a job if they feel their employers’ values don’t match theirs. For example, in February 2023 former Unilever chief executive Paul Polman...

Having beautiful white teeth of course depends on good oral hygiene to a degree. But brushing and flossing alone aren’t the only factors. The structural integrity of our tooth enamel is actually determined by genetics, meaning some of us are more likely to experience decay than others.  The same goes for dentine, which is the calcified tissue that lies underneath tooth enamel, protecting the...

Many men feel self-conscious about the size of their penis, and it’s often down to constant comparisons with other men, driven by pornography. Interestingly, some men have noticed that their penis appears bigger during warmer weather, and online discussions of this have led to the phenomenon becoming known as "summer penis." Is there any basis to those claims though? Just how much bigger can it ge...

If you are a pet owner you know how hard it can be to leave your furry friend at home when you go to work. You may worry about their wellbeing, feel guilty for not spending enough time with them or miss their companionship. According to a BBC article, more than 3 million people in the UK have taken on a pet since the start of the pandemic. Many of them have enjoyed working from home with their fur...

It's back to school! DYRK is dedicating a special week to sport. Because moving and doing regular physical activity is important for our physical and mental health! Listen again to our episodes about sport! It's well known that we should all be doing half an hour of moderate physical activity every day. But sometimes our busy lifestyles make it difficult finding thirty consecutive minutes to do ex...

Back in 2015, 10,000 participants at Newcastle University’s Numbers Festival were asked what their favourite number was. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 12.6% of them answered the number seven, making it the most popular number of them all. Some said they didn't know why they chose seven, but as you know, the number tends to have positive connotations and is associated with luck in particular. That’s espe...

Arranging your fridge isn't just a way to save space. It's primarily about ensuring optimal preservation of food products and thus preventing the proliferation of bacteria. According to UK Research and Innovation, there are around 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness in the country every year. First and foremost, it's important to know that fridges with ventilated or circulated cold air have a m...

Do you ever feel like time is slipping through your fingers? That you had several hours to complete one or two simple tasks, but you didn't notice the clock ticking away? The problem might stem from poor time management or a tendency to procrastinate. It could also result from an inability to isolate yourself from sources of distraction. Let’s delve into a productivity strategy that could potentia...

You may remember that we discussed the idea of intersectionality in a previous episode of Do You Really Know?. The term describes how characteristics like race, class, gender, sexual orientation and physical ability “intersect” when it comes to social discrimination. Well, today we’re going to talk about a more recent term for the unique type of discrimination that black women face: misogynoir. Ju...

Most of us are familiar with the idea that you need to take 10 thousand steps per day to stay healthy but getting to this magic number is not that easy. The 10,000-step target first became popular in Japan in the 1960s. A clockmaker capitalising on people's new interest in fitness following the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games made a pedometer with a name that, when written in Japanese characters, re...

Most people who can afford to go on holiday tend to want to spend their time in glamorous, picturesque locations. But there are actually some people who choose to visit disadvantaged areas instead, to see the less glamorous side of countries that are often romanticised. This is known as ghetto tourism, or slum tourism, and it’s been the subject of some quite fierce debate over the years. Some peop...

Ever since social media came along, dating trends have evolved constantly. They tend to reflect changes in society too. In previous episodes of Do You Really Know, we’ve talked about dawn dating, sneating and ghosting for example. There are so many different terms out there, and not all of them are positive. Here’s another one you may have heard of recently, in particular if you’re single and use...

November is synonymous with Black Friday, great deals but what cost? Over consumption is endangering our already fragile planet. Is it time to change our ways? This week Do You Really Know is highlighting concepts and initiatives about reducing our consumption. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, roughly a third of all produced in the world goes to waste. What’s more the United Nations’ Fo...

We all know that the effects of tobacco on the human body are devastating. The World Health Organisation says that it kills more than 8 million people each year, making it one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever seen. It’s hardly surprising when you consider that cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemical substances, and at least 50 of them are carcinogens, meaning they are linked...

Distractions in the workplace are almost endless, from Slack group notifications to questions from colleagues to the dozen or more tabs you’ve got open in your browser. By the time your next meeting comes along, you realise two hours have passed and you’ve barely done any productive work at all.  Sound familiar? Thankfully there’s a method to improve your efficiency and concentration which ma...

The windscreen phenomenon is the observation of the gradual disappearance of insects on the planet. If you regularly use your car for long trips, you’re probably accustomed to seeing squashed flies, wasps and gnats on your windscreen from time to time. This is totally normal, but in recent years, it’s become a much rarer sight for drivers, and the significance is greater than you might first think...