Do you really know?

Fear of the dark is very common for children and usually starts between the ages of 5 and 10. At this age, children become more aware of the dangers around them. However, they often have difficulty correctly assessing just how real these dangers are. Usually, this fear disappears naturally as children gain confidence and grow up, but in rarer cases it may persist into adulthood. Principally, it is...

Halloween is here and if you’re anything like us, you’ll be frantically doing some last-minute pumpkin carving or stocking up on sweets for trick-or-treaters. Maybe you’re going to a Halloween party dressed up as a ghost, witch or any other kind of spooky creature. But have you ever wondered where all these quirky customs came from? While Halloween seems like a very modern celebration, its origins...

In November 2023, a spooky makeup trend took TikTok by storm. Users posted images of themselves with full-coverage, pale foundation for a ghostly vibe, intense grey contouring, hidden eyebrows, and pencil-altered lips. The aim behind those creative efforts was actually to resemble humanoid creatures, and elicit a particular reaction known as “uncanny valley” from viewers. And the trend garnered a...

Ghost stories told around a camp fire, visiting a haunted house or watching a scary film are all common Halloween activities. We clearly enjoy scaring each-other and feeling scared, even though it seems completely counter intuitive. There are a number of reasons for this, which we'll explore in the episode. Fear is an emotional response to danger, both real or perceived. Our body releases a mixtur...

It's not uncommon for sparks to fly in unexpected ways during intimate moments; sometimes literally! You’ve most likely gone in to kiss someone only to get a small shock when your lips touch. You may have also noticed it tends to happen more often in winter. Have you ever wondered what actually causes these jolts of electricity between couples? Let’s unravel the science behind the mystery. Isn’t i...

In economic terms, a speculative bubble refers to a situation in which the price of an asset becomes heavily overvalued. An asset could be anything from company shares and property to cryptocurrencies. But eventually, reality catches up. Investors begin to realise the asset isn’t actually worth as much as they thought, confidence fades, and many rush to sell. When everyone sells at once, prices co...

According to the NHS, approximately 1,600 babies are born every day in the United Kingdom. But what often goes unspoken are the nine months leading up to this event—the periods of anxiety, doubt, and self-discovery that mothers inevitably experience.  A study published in Evolution, Medicine & Public Health journal in April 2023, found that 62% of women grapple with a panic-inducing fear of pregna...

We've all experienced that strange sensation of stepping out of the bath or swimming pool, and noticing grooves which have formed on the tips of our fingers. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It's not just because our skin absorbs water and swells up, as you might think. It's actually also down to our nervous system being at work, causing our blood vessels to constrict. So, what's happening...

In this day and age, it’s common to feel stressed every day, even right through to the evening. Have you ever struggled to lower your stress levels when it comes to bedtime, and taken a long while to fall asleep as a result? The worry of not getting enough sleep then just gets you even more frustrated; it’s a vicious circle. If you’re falling victim to anxiety and fatigue for that reason, it’s tim...

Who are the Red Hot Chili Peppers? With their new album Unlimited Love having been released on 1st April, let’s talk about the famous Californian funk rock group. The band has cited many influences, and they have been associated with a number of musical genres, including funk rock, alternative rock and rap rock. The Red Hot Chili Peppers unique style is precisely one of their distinctive character...

As the sun sets on this rainy Sunday evening, reality sinks in. You didn't quite muster the energy to venture out, and now it's back to the grindstone. Tomorrow's Monday, signalling the return to work, and with it, a familiar wave of anxiety known as Monday morning syndrome, or the Monday blues.  It's not officially recognised by the medical community, but many people identify with those feelings....

What are the latest advances in lung cancer treatment? In April 2022, findings from the large scale CheckMate 816 clinical trial were presented to the American Association for Cancer Research. The trial looked into the effectiveness of immunotherapy drug Nivolumab, combined with chemotherapy to treat lung cancer patients. The findings were promising, showing that this particular treatment combinat...

You’re no doubt familiar with IKEA as the king of flatpack furniture. But you may not be aware that the Swedish company’s name is also associated with a cognitive bias. It’s all to do with how we assign greater value to objects when we make or assemble them ourselves. Now that might seem counterintuitive but it’s become an established marketing tactic over the years. What was their evidence? Why o...

Lemon water is a popular drink that many celebrities and wellness gurus swear by. But is it really as good as they claim? Or is it just another fad that has no scientific basis? Lemon water has been linked to several health benefits, such as hydration. Drinking enough water is essential for your overall health, as it helps prevent dehydration, which can cause fatigue, headaches, dry skin, and cons...

Muscle pain generally occurs after an intense sports session. "They are due either to unusual muscular work, or to an increase in the intensity of a workout, or to the resumption of a sporting activity after a break". According to Sports coach William Chanconie. In fact, muscle soreness results from micro-lesions in the muscle fibres and signals that the muscle has been damaged.  When you feel pai...

Seventy-four percent of 18 to 24-year-olds use AI every day, according to a February 2025 Ipsos  study. No surprising really, chatbots now handle so much for us: emails, translations, studying, even creative projects. It almost makes you wonder how we ever managed before. But as fast as these models improve, they still make mistakes. And some researchers warn they could face a bigger problem: AI i...

Mistletoe is a small evergreen parasitic plant that grows in clusters on trees. It has white berries and it has been used for centuries as a symbol of love, fertility, and peace. The Greeks used mistletoe as a cure for all sorts of ailments while the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder noted it could be used as a balm against epilepsy, ulcers and poisons. The Druids came to view it as a sacred symbol...

Let’s face it there are certain sounds that are just annoying to be exposed to, or sometimes even to think of! Someone chewing loudly with their mouth open, slurping soup, or making noise while eating pasta are a few examples.  But for some people, the impact of these sounds goes beyond being simply annoying; they bring on strong negative reactions. Those people have a neuropsychiatric condition c...

If you're aged between 30 and 40, you're part of Generation Y, also known as the ‘millennials’ You may have already said to yourself that the next generation, Gen Z, look much older than their age. Millennials grew up amid the rise of the wellness industry and numerous public health campaigns that promoted healthy living, think about the messaging around eating five fruits and vegetables a day, st...

You’ve probably already walked by a stranger spreadeagled on the ground. Chances are that if you saw several people already offering assistance, you carried on walking by. That’s due to what is known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect is a psychosocial phenomenon which typically crops up in emergency situations. It shows that the more other people are already intervening to help, the le...

Have you ever really wanted to try something new, but avoided doing so because you were afraid of being judged? Maybe pursuing a hobby that could be seen as uncool, wearing a flashy outfit or sharing your opinion on a controversial topic for example. Well if that sounds familiar, then you might just be a victim of FOPO! What does that stand for? Is having FOPO actually a problem then? In under 3 m...

Have you ever seen the Black Mirror episode called "Be right back"? It aired back in February 2013 and sees a character called Ash die in a car accident, leaving behind his pregnant wife Martha. During Ash's funeral, Martha’s friend Sarah tells her about a company which creates AI versions of dead people, by using personal data they had shared online. Initially reluctant, Martha eventually caves i...

Single women in your late 20s or early 30s, has anyone ever suggested that you absolutely must find a partner or you’ll end up being a “cat lady”? What an annoying, not to mention ignorant, stereotype, right? It might be tempting to explain all that to the person saying it, but do they really deserve your attention? Let’s talk about where the cat lady character actually comes from. Isn’t there a ‘...

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...

The World Health Organisation says that children between the ages of two and five should get no more than one hour of sedentary screen time per day, while children under two shouldn’t get any at all. But the general consensus is that many parents don’t enforce those guidelines, and many toddlers end up overexposed to digital devices as a result. Increasingly, early childhood professionals are repo...