Do you really know?

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...

Have you noticed more of your friends talking about their star signs of late? Maybe they try to guess the sign of people they meet, or come out with unexpected references to “Mercury in retrograde” or “Saturn return” over dinner. Maybe you’re into it yourself; and you have an app which sends you horoscope notifications all day long. It wasn’t so long ago that most people would just read horoscopes...

"Dear you, spending painful days pretending to be okay for someone else. You don't need to tell us everything... but how about just a little of it?" Imagine you’re in the bathroom at uni and you notice a message like that printed on the toilet roll. Pretty weird right?! Well that’s exactly the situation students in the Yamanashi region of Japan found themselves in, when authorities rolled out thei...

Heading out to celebrate the New Year can be great fun, but it can also be stressful, crowded and expensive. And it is not always possible you might live far from a town, have little children and no babysitter or maybe you are just not feeling up to it. Whatever the reason, here are some tips on how to ring in the new year from the comfort of your own home but still have fun!  Being at home does n...

Do You Really Know, Bababam's daily podcast, helps you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. This week, we're looking back at 10 words and phrases that have been on everyone's lips in 2022. From the Uber Files leak to "shrinkflation" in stores or "quiet quitting" at work, refresh your memory on some of the events and phenomena that best sum...

If you’re a big social media user, you’ve likely seen an influx of illustrated selfies on your feeds in the last month or so. All of a sudden, your friends started posting self-portraits showing them transformed into fairy princesses, anime characters or astronauts. These impressive images might look like works of art, as if they’ve been carefully hand-crafted by hand. But they’re actually the res...

In our increasingly urbanised world, it’s important to make time for reconnecting with nature. The latest study to grab our attention in this area was conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and published in December 2022. It looked into the so-called 3-30-300 rule, which was theorised by Spanish forest researcher Cecil Konijnendijk in 2021.  It's made up of three criteria, which ea...

It’s great to be remembered by friends, colleagues, and family at Christmas, but despite people’s best intentions, they don't always get you what you want. So now the festive season is over and the wrapping is off it might be time to take some of those gifts back rather than let them gather dust in a cupboard.  If you bought something, in-store or online and it is faulty then by law you can get a...

Do You Really Know, Bababam's daily podcast, helps you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. This week, we're looking back at 10 words and phrases that have been on everyone's lips in 2022. From the Uber Files leak to "shrinkflation" in stores or "quiet quitting" at work, refresh your memory on some of the events and phenomena that best sum...

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 may hel...

Do You Really Know, Bababam's daily podcast, helps you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. This week, we're looking back at 10 words and phrases that have been on everyone's lips in 2022. From the Uber Files leak to "shrinkflation" in stores or "quiet quitting" at work, refresh your memory on some of the events and phenomena that best sum...

Christmas festivities often go hand in hand with overindulgence, in the form of large servings of roast dinner, yummy pudding and alcohol consumption. That can result in heartburn, a condition which despite the terrifying sounding name, is usually relatively harmless.  It’s a burning sensation felt in the chest, behind the breastbone, which explains where the name comes from. But it’s actually dow...

Do You Really Know, Bababam's daily podcast, helps you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. This week, we're looking back at 10 words and phrases that have been on everyone's lips in 2022. From the Uber Files leak to "shrinkflation" in stores or "quiet quitting" at work, refresh your memory on some of the events and phenomena that best sum...

If you were to turn on your TV right now, or open up Netflix, the chances of you stumbling upon a cheesy Christmas movie would be pretty high. They tend to be full of clichés, cringeworthy one-liners and predictable plots, but still we just can't seem to get enough.  Let’s take a moment to delve into the psychology behind Christmas movies, and how they got to be so successful. Mormon director Geor...

Do You Really Know, Bababam's daily podcast, helps you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. This week, we're looking back at 10 words and phrases that have been on everyone's lips in 2022. From the Uber Files leak to "shrinkflation" in stores or "quiet quitting" at work, refresh your memory on some of the events and phenomena that best sum...

Do You Really Know, Bababam's daily podcast, helps you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. This week, we're looking back at 10 words and phrases that have been on everyone's lips in 2022. From the Uber Files leak to "shrinkflation" in stores or "quiet quitting" at work, refresh your memory on some of the events and phenomena that best sum...

Christmas is seen as a season of joy, but it can also be a testing time for many people, whether it’s mentally, emotionally, physically or financially. And 2022 may be worse than most years in that respect. Most of the population are feeling additional pressure due to the cost-of-living crisis, and Christmas tends to be an expensive time. Furthermore, upsetting news stories have been dominating he...

Do You Really Know, Bababam's daily podcast, helps you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. This week, we're looking back at 10 words and phrases that have been on everyone's lips in 2022. From the Uber Files leak to "shrinkflation" in stores or "quiet quitting" at work, refresh your memory on some of the events and phenomena that best sum...

According to a study published in the Scientific Reports journal in 2017, the holiday season sees a peak in sex-related searches on Google and Twitter. The researchers behind the study also identified an increase in birth rates in late September, in other words nine months after Christmas of the previous year. So the evidence is there: for many of us, sexual desire increases at Christmas time. The...

Christmas is almost upon us, and many of us see Coca Cola as being intrinsically linked to the season’s celebrations. That’s in no small part due to their iconic “Holidays are coming” TV adverts, like the 2019 version you can hear in the background. Indeed, it’s such a strong connection that many people wonder whether Santa Claus wears red because of Coca Cola. In fact, the idea of a kind-hearted...

If you have ever been to London over Christmas then you could not have missed the lights on oxford street and of course the huge Christmas tree standing proud in Trafalgar Square. But it is a little-known fact that this tree is actually a gift from Norway. The very first tree was offered to England back in 1947 and every year since a tree is given to the British people from Norway to thank them fo...

Christmas need not be a frenzy of shopping and unwanted gifts; more and more of us want to be mindful, minimal-waste consumers so here are some tips on how to have an eco-friendly Christmas.  Real trees are more sustainable than artificial, but there is still a lot of waste, once Christmas is over go to recyclenow.com  to find out about drop-off points in your area, where old trees get turned into...

Do You Really Know, Bababam's daily podcast, helps you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. This week, we're looking back at 10 words and phrases that have been on everyone's lips in 2022. From the Uber Files leak to "shrinkflation" in stores or "quiet quitting" at work, refresh your memory on some of the events and phenomena that best sum...

This week marks the start of Hanukkah, so listen to our rerun episode that looks at the history and customs related to the annual Jewish festival which falls in December each year. It's often known as the festival of Lights, and its origins go back as far as 22 centuries!  The celebration is synonymous with commemorating a miracle. According to rabbinic tradition and ancient texts, Hanukkah repres...

National Grid has warned of potential blackouts in the UK this winter, due to gas shortages. If it does happen, it would be the first time the country has seen controlled blackouts since the 1970s. The government has its Electricity Supply Emergency Code in place in case we end up in such a situation. The government plan sees rolling blackouts, with areas split into 18 different load blocks, each...