Do you really know?

Being a grafter or hustler is often portrayed in a positive light when it comes to the world of work. But there are a host of negative consequences that can arise when a person becomes a workaholic. The term was invented by American psychologist Wayne Oates back in 1971. Oates said workaholics had “an uncontrollable need to work incessantly”, and called it an addiction. It’s a real mental health c...

ChatGPT has been invading all walks of life in recent months, and that even includes the justice system. In late March 2023, a Pakistani judge consulted the chatbot before granting bail to a 13 year old boy who stood accused of kidnapping and attempting to rape a 9 year old. According to Pakistan Observer, the judge asked ChatGPT the following initial question: ““Can a juvenile suspect in Pakistan...

In recent years, gluten-free diets have become more and more popular. No doubt you’ve seen “Free From” aisles in your local supermarket, and you can also get gluten-free items in health food shops or online. Some people have no choice but to adopt such a diet, because they have coeliac disease, a lifelong autoimmune condition which causes their body to attack its own tissue when gluten is consumed...

The past year has seen the highest inflation rates in over 40 years, and consumers have adapted by changing their shopping habits. That’s particularly true when it comes to grocery shopping. While annual inflation fell slightly to 10.1% in the year to March 2023, figures for food and drink alone reached 19.1%. If you break it down further, for some food categories, the rate is even higher; for exa...

Memory is the ability to store and retrieve information, and recall is the process of accessing that information when needed. Both are essential for learning, problem-solving, and decision-making, but they can also decline with age, stress, or illness.  But there are ways to naturally boost your memory and recall skills. How can I focus my attention better? How can I structure and organise the inf...

We all have to deal with tricky dilemmas and situations from time to time, the kind which we just can’t seem to get out of our head, that keep us up at night. It might be a fight with a friend, a work-related conflict or an urge to up sticks and move away for example. Weighing things up endlessly can lead to a vicious circle of anxiety, which pollutes the mind. Well, there’s no magic solution for...

The mukbang phenomenon has been around for nearly 15 years, but only really took off on Youtube and then Tiktok in the last few years. A simple search on either of the platforms yields an endless list of clips, many of which have view counts in the millions. Mukbang involves people filming themselves while eating. The streamers are known as broadcast jockeys, or BJs for short, and they often eat c...

The placebo effect is a phenomenon in which a person's symptoms or well-being improve after receiving a fake treatment that has no specific or intrinsic effect on their condition. For example, a person may feel less pain after taking a sugar pill that they believe is a painkiller, or they may feel more energetic after receiving an injection of saline solution that they think is a vitamin. The plac...

The controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline project moved one step closer to construction in March 2022, with the signing of a $10 billions Final Investment Decision between French multinational Total Energies and its joint venture partners. The pipeline is set to become the longest in the world, at 1000 miles long, and will transport petrol from Uganda to the Tanzanian coast. The project wi...

A 2022 YouGov study suggested that 26% of British people have at least one tattoo, a statistic which reflects just how the perception of tattoos has changed over the years. They used to be reserved for subcultures, but are now very much in the mainstream, and seen as a positive way of expressing one’s identity. Nevertheless, getting a tattoo can be dangerous if not done correctly. If you’re thinki...

According to Retaildata.co.uk, us Brits are the second biggest consumers of gum in the world. On average, Brits use between 120 and 130 sticks each every year! Now despite that, many people don’t really know what chewing gum is actually made up of. We know that the minty freshness helps with bad breath and that maybe there’s some connection to oral hygiene, but that’s about it. Oh and of course we...

In April 2023, the World Health Organization released a new report on infertility, which said that around one in sex people worldwide experience infertility at some point in their lives. The WHO’s Director-General labelled the phenomenon a major health issue and called for more research in an area that is “still under-studied…and insufficiently funded”. The sheer proportion of affected individuals...

The ongoing cost-of-living crisis is forcing people to make a number of difficult choices. Heating the house or flat and putting food on the table are getting more and more expensive, meaning there’s less money left over for luxuries. And it seems that has started extending to basic hygiene products too. Findings from a YouGov study commissioned by UK charity The Hygiene Bank were released in Octo...

Therapy can help people cope with stress, trauma, depression, anxiety, and other psychological issues but finding the right therapist is not always easy. There is a global shortage of mental health professionals, and many people face barriers such as stigma, cost, or lack of availability. According to the World Health organisation there are almost one billion people with a mental disorder, that's...

When our skin is cut or damaged, the body immediately starts its healing process to close the wound and limit any risk of infection. It’s a wonderful and fascinating process, but nevertheless scars still remain on the skin afterwards. They can be unsightly and visible too, depending on their location, leading to self-consciousness. There are several stages, with the first being hemostasis. Immedia...

A March 2023 study by American scientific magazine PLOS One revealed how plastic pollution of the oceans has reached unprecedented levels. An estimated 2.3 million tons of plastic are now floating in the seas or have been deposited on coastlines. These figures are alarming, both for wildlife and for us. We know the consequences of microplastics on animal and human health. We’ve also seen garbage p...

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to boost your protein intake, you might have considered eating a protein bar. They are convenient, come in various flavors and claim to provide you with the essential amino acids your body needs, often attracting people who want to lose weight, build muscle, or simply snack healthily. And, according to a BBC article, the market is booming. A report by Mi...

We’re only a quarter of the way through 2023, and already we’ve seen a number of unexpected images go viral. Examples include Pope Francis wearing a white Balenciaga puffer jacket, Donald Trump being arrested at the foot of the Trump Tower in New York, and Barack Obama and Angela Merkel sharing an ice cream on the beach.  So what do these viral images all have in common? Well of course they weren’...

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 denta...

You’re no doubt familiar with what it feels like to be extremely tired after a long sleep. It’s a little like a hangover really: sluggishness, irritability, perhaps a slight headache too. And there’s actually a term for these sensations: sleep drunkenness.  According to the Sleep Foundation, the average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. But optimal sleep duration is unique for...

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 fu...

Around the age of 4, children develop a preference for using one of their hands to complete certain tasks, like drawing for example. The same goes for foot preference, when it comes to which foot they use to start going up a flight of stairs, or to kick a ball. It even goes for our eyes and ears. Generally when a child reaches the age of five, their preference for using one side of the body to car...

Dating practices evolve over time along with our ways of life. Over the last two years, Covid-19 restrictions and remote work have had a huge impact on the love lives of singletons all across the world. All of a sudden, it was much less practical to meet a potential suitor face to face. As a result dates became few and far between for many. Now of course, in-person interactions have become safer,...

The first quarter of 2023 has seen food inflation in the UK surpass 16%, according to the Office for National Statistics. Such inflation rates hadn’t been seen for forty years. It’s contributed to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, and an increasing number of people are struggling to afford to buy enough food. With all that in mind, many people’s number one concern right now is keeping their super...

Bread has been a staple of the human diet for over 10,000 years, when our ancestors made flatbread by baking a mixture of flour and water in the sun. To this day, the vast majority of us eat bread on a regular basis, and many of us eat it every day. But it’s been demonised to some extent in recent years, with many dieters saying it’s made up of “empty calories” and ditching it.  What is the nutrit...