Do you really know?

Now if you’re anything like us, you get your Christmas tree, baubles and tinsel out before November has even ended! And as it turns out, psychologists say there could be mental health benefits to having Christmas decorations up in the house. So there’s no shame in wanting to get festive as early as possible.  Improving your mood to start with. This is often linked to feelings of nostalgia. We thin...

Here we are, it’s one week until Christmas Day, meaning it’s your last chance to buy gifts for loved ones. There’s always a certain amount of pressure on givers to get their choice right, which can lead to stress. Gifts at Christmas are pretty much expected, so you have to do a little better than with a spontaneous gift at any other time of the year. Fear not, science is here to help you hit the n...

On the night of 24th November 2022, a locked down building caught fire in Urumqi in the majority-Uyghur Xinjiang region of China. Firefighters were held back by the sealed entrance to the building, in place due to the latest strict Covid-19 lockdown measures. 10 people ended up dying in the fire. The following day, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities across China. Grievan...

As the cold weather closes in, it's time to put on the heating but there are plenty of ways to efficiently heat your home and save money. 46 percent of people believe it is better to leave the heating on low at all times however, according to experts from the Energy saving Trust it is better to only put the heating on when you need it. The reason is that your home is constantly losing heat and if...

It could be a Christmas tree, a skier in a bobble hat, a team of reindeer, a snowman or Mr Santa Claus himself. OK no need to guess, we’re talking about motifs that you could find on an ugly Christmas sweater. It’s truly become a popular gift option and wardrobe staple of the holiday season in recent years. The concept originated with commercial impetus in the 1950s in the United States, before ga...

Prior to February 2022, the scenario of a women’s basketball star being traded for an arms dealer might have seemed inconceivable. But that’s exactly what happened last week, when Russia and the United States exchanged prisoners at Abu Dhabi airport. Phoenix Mercury player Brittney Griner was arrested a week prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine beginning, for allegedly possessing cannabis oil in...

Last weekend brought snowfall across much of the United Kingdom, offering a clear sign that winter is here. Now with temperatures this low, the instinct for many of us may be to cuddle up in bed under a blanket. But the subject of today’s episode is all about getting outdoors whatever the weather. Friluftsliv is a Norwegian term that more or less translates as “open-air living”. You could call it...

Surprising as it may seem, balance is more important than you might think. In September of 2022 the British Journal of Sports Medicine published the results of a ten year study which involved more than 1,700 middle-aged participants. They concluded that not being able to balance was associated with an almost twofold increase in risk of death.    Volunteers were asked to stand on one leg with their...

32 years ago today, Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, saw unprecedented student protests. As night fell on June 3rd 1989, the Chinese military entered the square with a number of tanks and opened fire on the unarmed crowd.  The number of deaths is estimated between 1,000 and 2,000, in what became known internationally as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Thus ended seven weeks worth of pro-de...

When it comes to expressions about skin, the English language is not lacking. For example, we can be thick or thin skinned, or have someone under our skin. To show indifference, we say “it’s no skin off” our noses, and when we get excited we “jump out of” our skin.  The sheer number of different idioms reflects the deep links the skin has with our brains. Sometimes these links are visible and give...

Winter is coming and this year in particular people are wondering how to strike the right balance between comfort at home and continually rising energy bills. 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 h...

This small butterfly-shaped gland is situated at the bottom of the neck, wrapped around the windpipe. It plays an important role in a number of bodily functions, but isn’t as well known as it should be.  According to The American Thyroid Association, over 12% of the country’s population will develop a thyroid disorder at some point in their life. Many people are actually unaware of the fact that t...

This Saturday sees the 2022 Nobel Prize award ceremony take place in Stockholm. Like every year, it’s held on 10th December, to coincide with the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. Tradition also dictates that the Prize laureates are announced in October. This year’s laureates include Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger in Physics, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morton Meldal and K. Barry Sh...

In recent weeks, one of the world’s most famous singers has been generating even more headlines than usual, but for all the wrong reasons. It all started on 3rd October at Paris Fashion week. Kanye West, now known as Ye, wore a T-shirt with the words “White Lives Matter” on it. The slogan has been linked to white supremacists in the US. Following that incident, fellow rapper P Diddy defended Ye in...

The cost of living crisis has seen food prices increase by as much as 65% according to the Office for National Statistics meaning that the average British household spends an extra £600 pounds a year on food. But considering that there is also about 4.5 million tonnes of food waste annually the possibility of reducing wasted food as well as bills has never been more needed. Reducing your bill at t...

In social sciences, a generation refers to a group of the population whose members are around the same age and have hence lived through the same era. Think the baby boomers, Generation X, Millennials… and now Generation Covid! While they may be significantly less at risk of serious illness from Covid-19, young people are bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s economic consequences. Their development...

Every year, 1st December is World AIDS day. To mark the occasion, let’s look back at the story of the Act Up group. Act Up started causing a buzz in New York in 1987, four years after the AIDS virus had been discovered. The highly organised group met several times a week to discuss their action plan. They demanded more prevention and communication campaigns from the state, better access to care, t...

In late November 2022, fighting killed at least 18 in a rural area of the Putumayu province in South west Colombia, near to the borders with Ecuador and Peru. It involved two dissident groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC for short. It has reignited tensions in an internal armed conflict which has spanned six decades, despite the government and FARC signing a pea...

This portmanteau word describes the feeling of “living through a period of war, inflation, and political instability,” Collins said it chose the word as it “sums up how truly awful 2022 has been for so many people”. The Collins team consulted their  8 billion-word database as well as a range of media sources, including social media, to create an annual list of new and notable words and how they ar...

There are tiny fragments of plastic pretty much everywhere in the ocean, in the ground and inside animals, including humans! These are known as microplastics, and their potential impact on human health and the environment is a cause for concern.  Microplastics aren’t a specific type of plastic per se. The term is used to refer to any fragments which are under 5 mm in length. Some examples are poly...

Have you ever noticed that you tend to have your best ideas in the shower? If so, you’re not alone! A 2014 study conducted by cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman found that 72% of people get creative ideas while showering. So it’s really not a coincidence. Science has shown that taking a shower is actually a perfect combination of a few factors which allow for optimal creativity. Struggling...

Ardent fans and onlookers alike have probably noticed the diva’s disappearance from major social media platforms, including Instagram. Before deactivating her accounts, Britney assured her followers on Twitter she was just taking a break to celebrate her engagement and promised to be back soon.  However, there seems to be more to the story. According to the Guardian, the star’s account has been a...

Have you ever looked at a piece of toast, a cloud or a nearby house and had the impression there’s a face in it, looking right back at you? If you’re like most people, it happens to you on a regular basis, and once you’ve seen the face, you just can’t un-see it! It’s down to a human tendency known as pareidolia. The psychological phenomenon comes from the Greek words para, meaning “beside” or “bey...

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...

John Lewis has released its annual Christmas advert; entitled ‘The Beginner.’ It follows the progress of a middle aged man as he slowly, painfully and determinedly learns how to skateboard. The montage ends by revealing that he is doing all this to make his foster daughter feel welcome when she comes to stay with them for Christmas. It's touching and, for all but the most cold hearted, brings a te...