Do you really know?

The annual celebration of World Music Day on 21st June is upon us and Do You Really Know? is aiming to strike a chord with listeners. We'll be harping on about music all week long, covering related terms, concepts and famous figures. Who are Abba? A full forty years after their last LP “The Visitors”, Abba have only gone and released a new album! That’s right, with Voyage now available for downloa...

What are subliminals? If you listen to some people out there, they’ll tell you you can improve your self-esteem, change your eye colour, or become a mermaid simply by viewing or listening to certain clips on Youtube. Sounds far-fetched right? Well, the idea is based on subliminal messaging, so let’s discuss how realistic it is. It’s important to distinguish between audio and visual subliminals. Th...

What is sadfishing? Since the advent of social media, we’ve gotten used to seeing highlight reels of people’s lives on our newsfeeds. But in recent years, people have been more and more willing to share posts about moments of sadness, rather than acting like everything’s perfect all the time. More authentic, or simply another veiled form of attention seeking and like hunting? The practice has been...

What is Jurassic Park? The recently released Jurassic World Dominion concludes the storyline which first started out in the original Jurassic Park trilogy, from 1993 onwards. Reviews of the latest film have so far been poor, but that won’t take anything away from the legendary franchise’s legacy. Let’s look back at some of the main talking points and secrets behind Jurassic Park. How did Jurassic...

Today is the World Blood Donor Day. This event brings awarness on the importance to donate blood and it encourages people to become a donor. What is the World Health Organization? The World Health Organization is a United Nations agency that is responsible for international public health. In the case of a global health pandemic, such as the ongoing Coronavirus crisis, the WHO has a central role in...

What are carbon bombs? 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 Tanzania...

What are umbrella species? Within an ecosystem there are many different species, and it can be difficult for conservationists to come up with specific strategies to protect every single one of them. That’s why some have started focusing on umbrella species, because of the benefits that protecting them has for other co-occurring species. It’s as if they’re putting an umbrella over the entire surrou...

What is rewilding? Over the history of life on planet Earth, there have been five mass extinction events, due to changing sea temperatures, volcano eruptions and the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. And now experts fear a sixth mass extinction is underway, this time directly linked to human activity. According to a study published in Biological Review in January 2022, 10% of the plane...

What is the Russian Oil Embargo? The EU unanimously took this decisive measure on the night of 30th May 2022, a little over 3 months since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. Between now and the end of the year, the Union’s 27 member states will cut imports of Russian oil by 90%. Russia is one of the three biggest oil producers in the world, after Saudi Arabia and the United States. The embargo...

What is low tech? In the struggle against climate change, politicians are getting behind technological innovation. But some experts believe that, rather than high-tech, we should instead be banking on the simple, robust and reparable solutions offered by low tech. The all-powerful nature of high-tech has been called into question for decades, with regular controversies and debates on subjects like...

What is Tetris? 6th June sees the anniversary of one of the most successful and addictive video games of all time: Tetris! Pretty much everyone is familiar with the game concept: it involves moving and rotating falling shapes to form gapless lines which then disappear. In theory you can carry on ad infinitum, but the shapes fall faster and faster the longer you play, thereby increasing the difficu...

What is the thyroid? 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 unawar...

What is mental load? Mental load, or emotional labour, is a sociological concept often relating to the daily management of a household. Research has shown that within traditional families, the strain of mental load is more often than not taken on by women. It’s become a feminist issue due to this imbalance. Early discussions relating to mental load date back to the 1980s. Sociologists noted how wo...

What is asthma? According to figures published in the Lancet in 2020, asthma had affected around 260 million people the previous year, causing 455,000 deaths. The condition can’t be cured, but with the right management it can be kept under control, so people with asthma can still lead active lives. Asthma symptoms are brought on by inflammation of the respiratory system, and more specifically the...

What is Stranger Things? On 27th May 2022, one of Netflix’s most iconic shows made a long-awaited return. Many series and films were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Stranger Things was no exception. But the fourth season is now available for streaming, and has already broken a Netflix record, with 287 million viewing hours on its opening weekend. Let’s discuss how the series, which was f...

What is ecological debt? With World Environment Day coming up on 5th June 2022, let’s take a moment to consider a concept which highlights both the scale of the climate crisis and inequalities between different areas of the world. Discussions around ecological debt are closely linked to that of overshoot and the overuse of planet Earth's resources. As regular listeners know, humans have now long b...

What is a zombie company ? If you’ve ever seen horror movies, you’ll know that when you see a zombie, you should start running! Well, the term is also used in the world of business to describe companies which are hugely indebted and only able to pay their fixed costs and interest, but not actually able to reduce the debt itself. Much like the horror film creatures, you could say these companies ar...

What is gender dysphoria? Gender dysphoria describes the unease that people can feel when there is a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity. So for example a person with male genitals and facial hair might not identify as a man. This unease can cause depression and anxiety in some cases, and have a real impact on a person’s daily life. How is this label different from more commo...

What is monkeypox ? This viral infection gets its name from first being discovered among lab monkeys in Denmark in 1958, although its natural reservoir remains unknown. It’s a cousin of the now eradicated smallpox virus. The first human infections date back to 1970 and cases are rare, occurring mainly in central and Western Africa, where the virus is endemic. Until recently, the only four identifi...

What is mom shaming ? Just like with body shaming or slut shaming, mom shaming is another example of how women are often subjected to disproportionate criticism, and made to feel guilty about their choices, in this case specifically about parenting methods. The term refers to how mothers are criticised or even humiliated, for the way they bring up their children and fulfil their role as a mother....

What is cultured meat? The world’s ever-growing human population is eating meat in greater quantities than ever before. Yet at the same time, we’re also increasingly conscious of the environmental impact, as well as ethical issues around animal slaughter.  So imagine if you could eat meat without any animals being harmed, and with 96% less greenhouse gas emissions! Well, that is actually possible...

What is Top Gun ? 36 years on from his breakthrough performance in the original Top Gun film, Tom Cruise is back to star as Pete Mitchell in follow-up Top Gun: Maverick, which hit cinemas at the end of last week. Let’s look back at how the original, directed by Tony Scott in 1986, became a cult film and has remained relevant in popular culture to this day. Of course the challenge now is for Top Gu...

Yesterday, on may 28, was the menstrual hygiene day. We wanted to bring awarness on period poverty. What is period poverty? Menstrual hygiene products are an essential expense, but many women on low incomes find that the cost is out of their reach. This is known as period poverty and it affects more people than you might think, even in developed countries. A survey in the UK found that over 40% of...

What is the Cannes Film Festival ? Every year in May, film stars and fans flock to the French city of Cannes for a 10-day celebration of cinema, or as it’s referred to in the host country, “the seventh art”. Well, not quite every year; just like many large events, the Cannes film festival has had to adapt over the last couple of years. The 2021 event took place in August, while in 2020 it had to b...

What is Fortnite? This multi-player battle royale game first came out on PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One in September 2017, before being adapted for other formats like mobile or the Nintendo Switch in 2018. As of November 2017, Fortnite already had 20 million players. A real boom followed in 2018 and 2019. By June the following year, there were over 125 million, and in May 2020 the game’s official...