Do you really know?

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stepped down from his position as the company’s CEO to focus on other projects. He’ll remain executive chairman at Amazon but now wants to dedicate more time to other projects, including his space tourism company Blue Origin.  Following that surprise announcement, British business magnate Richard Branson also declared his desire to go into space with his company Virgin Ga...

To understand where white spots come from, we must first explain how nail growth works. If you’ve ever had white spots on your nails before, you may have been dismissively told that it's down to a lack of calcium or zinc. Basically, some mineral-deficiency. But this popular belief doesn’t really have any basis in fact. According to Healthline, nails grow an average of 3 millimeters per month. Thei...

Summer is here! The sun’s out; you’ve got a week or two off work and the beach and sea are calling. It’s time to relax, soak up some much-needed vitamin D, and why not open the door to new romantic encounters. That’s all well and good if you’re single; but if you’re in a relationship, bear in mind that summer shading is becoming more and more common. It basically means putting a romantic relations...

This summer, relax and learn with Do You Really Know! It's time to learn all about the concepts, words and expressions that surround the summer season! What is vitamin D? Vitamin D was discovered in 1922 by American biochemist Elmer McCollum, who was nicknamed Dr Vitamin by Time Magazine. He found that cod liver oil could still prevent rickets in rats, despite its vitamin A having been removed. Fr...

The musical film The Little Mermaid was released in cinemas on 24 May 2023. This movie highlights the importance of representations in the media. This effect has a name: the Scully Effect. The combination made for an unprecedented representation of women on TV at the time, with audiences far more accustomed to seeing scientists played by white men. The fields of Science, Technology, Engineering an...

You’d think a day spent lounging on the beach would be the ultimate recharge. No deadlines, no emails, just rest and relaxation. And yet, by the time you head home, you’re wiped out. Not just relaxed, completely drained. It's supposed to be restful, so why does it feel like you’ve just run a marathon in flip-flops? It’s not just the sun, it’s the heat, the humidity, and the work your body puts in...

In June 2022, Canadian superstar singer Justin Bieber took to Instagram to reveal that he has a rare neurological disorder called Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. He took a break from his world tour, and would do the same just a few months later, again using social media to tell fans about suffering with exhaustion and needing to “make health the priority”. After trying to restart the tour, he would eventual...

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...

Not getting a good night’s sleep can certainly leave you feeling grumpy and groggy, but can it also make you selfish? Sleep experts at the University of California, Berkeley certainly seem to think so, and apparently even losing just one hour of sleep is enough to make you less generous towards others and that includes friends and family.  The team conducted a number experiments which were publish...

This summer, relax and learn with Do You Really Know! It's time to learn all about the concepts, words and expressions that surround the summer season! What is an eco-friendly beach? For many people, beaches are synonymous with the summer holiday season. Beach holidays have been popular since the second half of the 19th century, and are the archetypal form of mass tourism. With millions of people...

Feet carry our body weight and bear the impact of every step we take. Furthermore, they play an active role in balance control, thanks to sensors located along our tendons.  Whether you’re on the bus, relaxing at home, or taking a walk while listening to your favourite podcast, take a moment to look at your feet. Believe it or not, they account for a quarter of the bones in your body. Each foot ha...

Multitasking, or the art of juggling several tasks at once, is more common than ever before in the workplace. In 2022, a German think tank called Next Work Innovation released a study which showed that knowledge workers are interrupted on average every four minutes during the working day! In a past episode of Do You Really Know, we discussed how our brains manage to cope with multiple demands at o...

Whether it’s reading, journaling, enjoying breakfast, or scrolling through social media, these are just a few activities people indulge in while lounging in bed. For some, this has evolved into an art form, popularized by a viral TikTok trend known as “bed rotting.” This habit embodies a laid-back attitude, where productivity and responsibilities are momentarily cast aside in favor of a few minute...

Every summer, the pattern repeats itself: the drinks are flowing, the atmosphere is relaxed but as soon as it’s time to light the grill, men gravitate toward the fire while women handle everything else. The result is a quiet but familiar gender split. And it’s not just anecdotal.  According to an OpinionWay survey for Campingaz in 2015: when preparing a barbecue 75% of women do the shopping, 72% d...

In past episodes of Do You Really Know, we’ve talked about the best holiday destinations in the UK and abroad, as well as how to find the most budget-friendly options. Today though, we’re going to talk about security.  The idea of visiting many countries all over the world is enticing, but it's important to remember that some destinations are significantly more dangerous than others. Rather than m...

I’m sure at some point as a child on holiday you were told not to go swimming right after eating. Popular belief suggests that we should wait a certain amount of time before getting into the water, in order to let our bodies finish digesting. Some parents swear by a 30-minute rule, while others say up to two hours, depending on how heavy a meal has been consumed! But in reality, we know that diges...

There are an increasing number of trends and products out there to rid your body of toxins, such as infrared saunas, liver-purifying supplements and detox diets. But what exactly are toxins? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a toxin is “a poisonous substance, especially one produced by bacteria, that causes disease.” However, today we tend to use the word toxin to refer to all the harmful sub...

Having sex in water is a common fantasy for a lot of people. We’re talking about in the sea, in a jacuzzi or in a swimming pool for example. A lot of TV shows and films have made it seem like a must-try experience. In reality though, salty seawater or a chlorine-filled pool don’t exactly make for the most comfortable sex. Not to mention any sand at the beach!  And there are health risks too, for w...

Have you ever found yourself laughing at a completely inappropriate moment? If so, you know just how embarrassing it can be. And it gets even worse when you make eye contact with someone else and they start laughing too. It then becomes twice as hard to stop. Much like a strong flu, a powerful and genuine laugh can quickly spread to an entire group! When someone starts laughing spontaneously, thei...

Since the first COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, remote work has become commonplace in companies around the world. Working from home offers many advantages, and “work from anywhere” policies take this freedom one step further. Many employees have said “yes, please” and packed their bags to become digital nomads. Has the digital nomad lifestyle always been popular? What kinds of jobs do digital nomads d...

In recent years, dating has become a lot more structured. Terms like "green flags" and "red flags" are now part of everyday language, and the criteria for evaluating potential partners have become more specific and defined. Of course, the main idea behind these colour codes is to help you figure out if someone is right for you based on how they behave. But lately even the flag system has become a...

According to The Telegraph, Brits eat an average of 220g of meat per day, which is almost double the global average. And agriculture is responsible for 12% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions according to government figures from 2022.  So it’s clear that our food consumption can have a real impact on the environment. While red meat is often labelled as the worst offender environmentally, in reali...

The World Health Organisation suggests that 18° C is the perfect temperature to set your heating to, but in reality that is just an average. There are a number of variables to take into account.  For example, certain rooms might need to be heated more than others. And generally speaking, when we’re away from home or sleeping at night we can turn the heating down or off completely. That’s right, it...

The subject of today’s episode is the latest questionable practice in retail. "Stretchflation" is getting a lot of attention, and for good reason: it's yet another way to squeeze more money out of consumers. We’ve already talked about shrinkflation on Do You Really Know, which is when you see product sizes reduced but prices stay the same. Since the start of the cost-of-living crisis, we’ve also s...

During summer holidays, many of us experience the discomfort of motion sickness while travelling by car, coach, plane, or boat. motion sickness is Also known as kinetosis and it’s particularly common in children but can also affect a lot of adults. According to the US government’s Medline Plus portal, one in three people are prone to it. Symptoms include paleness, cold sweats, dizziness, a feeling...