Do you really know?

There are different types of anti-anxiety patches, but one of the most popular ones is from a company called NuCalm, they say that its discs provide the neurochemistry to accelerate the onset of the relaxation response. You may have seen them on celebrities like Meghan Markle, who was recently spotted wearing a NuCalm biosignal processing disc on her wrist. It’s a small blue sticker which claims t...

Incel is a portmanteau word which is short for “involuntary celibate”. These people are single despite themselves, and have abandoned any hope of one day finding love or even sex. The incel community is overwhelmingly made up of young men, who are particularly active online, expressing their hatred towards women. Members of this subculture are obsessed by the fact that women apparently refuse to h...

Avoiding weight gain is just so difficult sometimes, isn’t it? It’s not enough to eat only healthy foods, you also have to combine those healthy foods in the right way.  That’s because when we eat different types of foods together, they interact with each other in our digestive system. Depending on their characteristics, some foods get digested faster  than others. What can happen to our bodies if...

In July 2023, the White House recognised that the United States was facing a “grave threat” in the form of a highly addictive drug called xylazine, introducing a six-point plan in response.  Dealers mix xylazine into supplies of fentanyl, itself a dangerous drug which kills thousands of Americans each year. The street name for xylazine is “tranq” or “tranq dope”, but it has also been called the “z...

A lot of things happen to our bodies when we fall in love. Some of the obvious physical reactions are getting butterflies in the stomach, dilated pupils and a racing heartbeat. Another one that many of us have experienced is losing our appetite.  You know the feeling: you're so smitten with your new crush that you can barely eat a bite. You skip breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and instead spend hour...

The olive theory actually started trending on Tiktok as of early 2023, leading younger generations to get familiar with How I Met Your Mother and one of its most popular relationship theories. At the time of recording, the #olivetheory hashtag has accrued over 130M views. Fans of 2000s sitcom How I Met Your Mother can no doubt remember how the main character Ted Mosby is a hopeless romantic, and s...

The vagus nerve is the longest and most complex of the cranial nerves. It carries both motor and sensory information and supplies reinforcement to the heart, major blood vessels, lungs, stomach, esophagus, and intestines. It is often called the “rest and digest” system, because it helps the body to calm down and conserve energy after a stressful situation. It plays an important role in the parasym...

The idea of carbon footprint dates back to the early 2000s and ironically was introduced by oil giant BP. But recently, a new concept was created: the climate change shadow. It's a relatively recent addition to the ever growing list of terms relating to climate change. American writer Emma Pattee introduced the idea of the climate shadow in a blog post for Mic.com in December 2021, as a more compr...

Have you ever cursed your luck at having a partner who snores, or spends the whole night tossing and turning in bed? It can be tempting to consider abandoning them to go and sleep on the sofa instead. Evidence suggests that sleeping next to someone does indeed have a pretty significant impact on adults’ sleep, whether that’s a partner, family member or even a pet. Researchers from the University o...

During the 15th annual BRICS summit in Johannesburg in 2023, the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that 6 new member countries would be joining the bloc in 2024.  Historically composed by Brazil, Russia, India and China, the BRICS countries control a significant amount of natural resources, making it a key actor in the world. They started to organize summits as an intergovernmental...

You might think that shampoo is essential for keeping your hair clean and healthy, but there  are other ways to wash your hair that don’t involve harsh chemicals or plastic bottles.  In fact, some people claim that ditching shampoo altogether can make your hair softer, shinier, and more manageable.  Why do we use shampoo in the first place? So, how can you clean your hair without using shampoo? Wh...

Do you have an ex who seems to always get back in touch whenever they’re feeling lonely and have no one else in their sights? Or how about this: Perhaps you had a crush on someone, and that person played along, taking you out from time to time only to eventuall you they’ve finally hooked up with another person they’d been in love with for ages, but never told you about? Well if either of those sce...

For many people, asserting themselves at work is a real challenge. There’s a lot of possible reasons for that, including stress, anxiety, new responsibilities, deadlines, personal issues or a lack of self-confidence for example. But there is an active congitive strategy, actually a pretty simple one, based on the psychological concept of "self-distancing," that could help you overcome these obstac...

Think back to when you were a kid and there was a type of vegetable you simply wouldn’t go near, let alone eat. It might have been broccoli, Brussels sprouts or spinach for example. Or perhaps another type of food like seafood, which now as an adult you actually quite like, or  can tolerate at least. It’s not a coincidence; there are scientific explanations for why our taste preferences evolve wit...

Eating raw fish like sushi and sashimi has never been more popular, whether that’s in restaurants or on supermarket shelves. The good news is that such dishes are rich in fatty acids and vitamins from the A, D, and E groups, which brings a host of health benefits. But on the flipside, they can also be sources of contamination. It’s mostly down to improper handling and storage at seafood markets, o...

Salt is a common ingredient in many foods, and it’s essential for our health. Salt is made up of sodium and chloride, two minerals that help regulate fluid balance, blood pressure, nerve and muscle function.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adults should consume less than 5 grams of salt per day, which is equivalent to about one teaspoon. However, most people eat more than that....

Marketing technique shrinkflation is becoming more and more common in large retail stores, in particular down to the ongoing war in Ukraine. It sees manufacturers quietly reducing the size of their products, but maintaining prices at the same level. Shrinkflation is often a result of an increase in raw material prices and other production costs, but is seen as a form of hidden inflation and has be...

On September 6th, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres released a 96-word statement in which he referred to “climate breakdown” having begun. It was in response to a report from the World Meteorological Organization, which highlighted the impact of record-breaking heatwaves across the globe this summer. June, July, and August 2023 are the hottest three-month period ever recorded. The WMO says tha...

According to the American Academy of Sleep medicine, 50% to 85% of adults experience occasional nightmares, with 2% to 8% of people having nightmares that cause sleep problems. No one likes having nightmares, do they? These vivid, distressing bad dreams often cause us to jolt awake, heart pounding, in fear or anxiety. They can feature threatening scenarios, monsters, or deeply unsettling experienc...

A frenemy is a person who is both a friend and an enemy. In fact the term is a blend of the words “friend” and “enemy”, and it was first used in print by the American journalist Walter Winchell in 1953. Although Jessica Mitford, of the infamous Mitford sisters also claimed in 1977 that the word was invented by one of her sisters: "... an incredibly useful word…coined by one of my sisters when she...

It's often said that colour preferences are simply a matter of personal taste, but actually some have been backed up by science, especially in the field of art history. For the last two centuries, it has been customary in art and design to come up with colour combinations based on what is known the colour wheel. It’s a visual representation of the spectrum of colors, organized in a circular format...

When sitting, some of us cross our legs at the knee, while others do so at the ankle. According to a study published in Neuropsychologia in 1994, 62% of people cross their right leg over the left, 26% do the opposite, and 12% have no preference. Sitting with your legs crossed can be comfortable as it helps relieve weight on the buttocks and reduces excessive arching of the back. Doing it occasiona...

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...

Friendship is often said to be eternal, to withstand the test of time and distance. We expect friends to accept everything about us, but it's not always that simple. Just like any relationship, they can become complicated and sometimes toxic. Not all friendships are always worth keeping, and certain signs can indicate when one is nearing its end. Friendships should be a source of joy, support, and...

You’ve probably heard of jetlag, the feeling of fatigue and disorientation that occurs when you travel across different time zones, but did you know that you can experience a similar phenomenon without leaving your home?  It’s called social jetlag and is caused by changing your sleep patterns. It happens when you change your sleep schedule on the weekends to fit your social life. Why is social jet...