Do you really know?

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to boost your protein intake, you might have considered eating a protein bar. They are convenient, come in various flavors and claim to provide you with the essential amino acids your body needs, often attracting people who want to lose weight, build muscle, or simply snack healthily. And, according to a BBC article, the market is booming. A report by Mi...

We’re only a quarter of the way through 2023, and already we’ve seen a number of unexpected images go viral. Examples include Pope Francis wearing a white Balenciaga puffer jacket, Donald Trump being arrested at the foot of the Trump Tower in New York, and Barack Obama and Angela Merkel sharing an ice cream on the beach.  So what do these viral images all have in common? Well of course they weren’...

Having beautiful white teeth of course depends on good oral hygiene to a degree. But brushing and flossing alone aren’t the only factors. The structural integrity of our tooth enamel is actually determined by genetics, meaning some of us are more likely to experience decay than others.  The same goes for dentine, which is the calcified tissue that lies underneath tooth enamel, protecting the denta...

You’re no doubt familiar with what it feels like to be extremely tired after a long sleep. It’s a little like a hangover really: sluggishness, irritability, perhaps a slight headache too. And there’s actually a term for these sensations: sleep drunkenness.  According to the Sleep Foundation, the average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. But optimal sleep duration is unique for...

If you are a pet owner you know how hard it can be to leave your furry friend at home when you go to work. You may worry about their wellbeing, feel guilty for not spending enough time with them or miss their companionship.  According to a BBC article, more than 3 million people in the UK have taken on a pet since the start of the pandemic. Many of them have enjoyed working from home with their fu...

Around the age of 4, children develop a preference for using one of their hands to complete certain tasks, like drawing for example. The same goes for foot preference, when it comes to which foot they use to start going up a flight of stairs, or to kick a ball. It even goes for our eyes and ears. Generally when a child reaches the age of five, their preference for using one side of the body to car...

Dating practices evolve over time along with our ways of life. Over the last two years, Covid-19 restrictions and remote work have had a huge impact on the love lives of singletons all across the world. All of a sudden, it was much less practical to meet a potential suitor face to face. As a result dates became few and far between for many. Now of course, in-person interactions have become safer,...

The first quarter of 2023 has seen food inflation in the UK surpass 16%, according to the Office for National Statistics. Such inflation rates hadn’t been seen for forty years. It’s contributed to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, and an increasing number of people are struggling to afford to buy enough food. With all that in mind, many people’s number one concern right now is keeping their super...

Bread has been a staple of the human diet for over 10,000 years, when our ancestors made flatbread by baking a mixture of flour and water in the sun. To this day, the vast majority of us eat bread on a regular basis, and many of us eat it every day. But it’s been demonised to some extent in recent years, with many dieters saying it’s made up of “empty calories” and ditching it.  What is the nutrit...

The subject of today’s episode is often referred to when people aren’t able to understand one another. It’s an origin myth which comes from the book of Genesis in the Bible. The Tower of Babel story begins with all people in the world speaking a common language. They’re all children of Noah, the only man to have survived the great flood sent by God to punish humans for their sins. To celebrate thi...

According to data from the BBC men still earn more than women for the same work. The difference in wages (for the medium worker) is 9.4%, the same as it was in 2017 when companies were first obliged to publish their figures. The gap remains larger in the public sector at 15.1% compared to 8% in the private sector but neither have changed significantly from previous years.  “The gender pay gap is c...

Whether it’s as kids in the school playground, fooling around with our first partner as a teenager or with our own kids when we become parents, tickling is generally synonymous with moments of playful fun. Of course tickling can bring on strong reactions and some people hate it, so it’s important to only do it to someone if they’re not objecting, no matter how harmless it might seem to you. Some p...

Since the launch of ChatGPT in November last year, there’s been a wave of popular demand for AI technology. The chatbot reached 100 million users in record time, with its appeal stretching far beyond the tech-savvy. After all, it can write essays and songs, summarise documents and hold human-like conversations. But the rapid advances are causing concern in some quarters. In late March, the Future...

Feta cheese is undoubtedly a star ingredient when it comes to summer salads. It goes without saying it plays a starring role in the Greek salad, but it can also add a savoury taste to other recipes like the watermelon salad for example. Feta is one of Kate Middleton’s favourites. But this summer feta isn’t only getting attention by featuring in salad recipes. It’s also made headlines in European p...

Do you ever feel like you’re always in a rush, constantly getting things done at the latest possible time? It could be paying a bill, cleaning our home or even recording a podcast! Well you’re certainly not alone in that respect. According to Deacon Joseph Ferrari, who specialises in the area, 20% of us are chronic procrastinators. And a 2020 survey by Micro Biz Mag found that just 15.6% of people...

As Ronald Reagan’s US Secretary of State during the 1980s, George Shultz played a key role in bringing an end to the decades-old Cold War. He helped build relations with USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as countries in the Asia-Pacific region.  In 1989, Shultz was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his services, the United States’ highest civilian honour. He passed away in Februar...

It’s not news that if you don't get a good nights sleep you will probably not be your best the next day, but while you are snoozing, particularly in deep sleep, your brain is not just powered down, it is busy cleaning out the days toxins, almost like it is ‘washing your brain’ and getting it ready for the next day.   “Sleep is not just a state where things turn off.  Sleep is a very active state f...

Following on from “quiet quitting” and “quiet firing”, conscious quitting is another work-related term that’s gone viral in recent times. It’s based on the results of prominent surveys which have shown that people are increasingly prepared to walk away from a job if they feel their employers’ values don’t match theirs. For example, in February 2023 former Unilever chief executive Paul Polman repor...

Since January 2023, hundreds of thousands of people have been gathering in the streets of Jerusalem. They’re protesting in response to a package of judicial reform bills which would bring in drastic changes to Israel’s legal system. In late March Defense Minister Yoav Galant spoke out about the dangers of the reform and in favour of the protests. He was subsequently fired, sparking turmoil. Even t...

You might be the kind of person that meticulously fills your fridge with your groceries ensuring that every item is in the correct spot or perhaps you just shove them in wherever there is space but there is actual science behind how to best fill your fridge to keep things fresh and avoid waste. But everything you thought you knew may no longer be valid as the UK food authority has just updated its...

On paper, fish have everything required to be an excellent staple to many diets. They’re rich in protein, vitamins, trace elements, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, and aren’t too high in calories. The only downside is that fish live in an increasingly polluted environment. What with heavy metals and plastic waste invading the oceans, more and more people are concerned about the pitfalls of eating...

Shortsightedness or myopia affects long distance vision, preventing people from seeing objects over a few yards away. You may remember we covered the subject on Do You Really Know? a while back and that it has been labelled an epidemic due to ever increasing prevalence worldwide. It’s estimated that a third of all people suffer from myopia, and the World Health Organisation has suggested that half...

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, there are as many as 430 deaths per year due to wrong-way crashes in the United States alone. That might be hard to believe as for most of us driving on the “right” side of the road is as automatic as brushing your teeth. But there is of a course a divide between countries that drive on the left and those that drive on the right. In ancient times...

Ever since Covid-19 lockdowns, many people have developed a taste for interior design and regularly take to Pinterest for inspiration. But as you may well know from experience, buying a few furniture items can quickly add up in cost. As a result, clever internet users have been coming up with solutions to repurpose items bought from Ikea, whose items are available in many different parts of the wo...

Trying to come up with a translation for the Finnish term sisu is a bit of a lost cause. Rotten Tomatoes described it as “a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds.” while the BBC has defined it as “strength, perseverance in a task that for some may seem crazy to undertake, almost hopeless”.  It’s not exactly resilience, because that comes aft...