Do you really know?

No doubt you’ve heard at some point in your life that girls are more mature than boys. As a result, we tend to forgive childlike behaviour in men more easily, even in adulthood. Living with immature men can be a struggle for their partners. What’s more, Peter Pan syndrome is sometimes used as justification for behaviour that’s difficult to live with. You may remember that we discussed the topic in...

ChatGPT is a computer program from a company called OpenAI. It along with other forms of AI are changing the way we communicate, create, and learn. They can help us with various tasks, such as writing emails, coding, designing presentations, and much more. However, to use AI effectively, we need to know how to interact with it.  How to use prompts? What are the factors you have to consider? What a...

Also known as community science, citizen science is the active participation of amateurs or non-professional scientists in research. In recent years, it’s grown in a number of fields, becoming bigger and more networked thanks to new technologies and connectivity. It’s a link between professional researchers and volunteers who are interested in science and want to help it progress. Why would we wan...

Right from primary school age, we tell children that if another boy or girl has teased them, it’s “because they like them”. And playful teasing happens a lot in dating well into adulthood. If it’s ever happened to you, you might have laughed along out of fear of appearing oversensitive. But really it’s a form of verbal abuse, which is often used intentionally to manipulate another person’s emotion...

Do you ever feel like time is slipping through your fingers? That you had several hours to complete one or two simple tasks, but you didn't notice the clock ticking away? The problem might stem from poor time management or a tendency to procrastinate. It could also result from an inability to isolate yourself from sources of distraction. Let’s delve into a productivity strategy that could potentia...

Warm summer nights often bring unwelcome guests into our homes in the form of mosquitoes. For now we fortunately don’t have any mosquito-borne diseases being transmitted to humans in the UK, but with the warmer temperatures brought on by climate change, it may only be a matter of time until that changes. You may have noticed that some of us seem to attract more mosquito bites than others, even wit...

Have you ever wondered how our expectations can impact the way we perceive and interact with others? Well, it’s actually been demonstrated that beliefs and attitudes can lead to outcomes that align with those beliefs, due to what’s known as the Pygmalion effect. 20th century American psychologist Robert Rosenthal coined the term in 1968. He had teamed up with San Francisco elementary school princi...

As summers get hotter, more and more people are turning to air conditioning to cool down buildings and vehicles. Not only does it make us more comfortable and productive, and can also save lives; after all, in the US, extreme heat is the single deadliest form of extreme weather. But air conditioning has some drawbacks, such as high energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and indoor air pollu...

Sunscreen is essential when on holiday, and in the summer in general. But it doesn’t come cheap, and often the contents aren’t fully used by the time the holiday is over. It’s tempting to reuse bottles from one year to the next, to save money and reduce waste. What many people don’t know though is whether sunscreen remains effective once it’s been opened, or whether using an out-of-date product is...

You may remember that we discussed the idea of intersectionality in a previous episode of Do You Really Know?. The term describes how characteristics like race, class, gender, sexual orientation and physical ability “intersect” when it comes to social discrimination. Well, today we’re going to talk about a more recent term for the unique type of discrimination that black women face: misogynoir. Ju...

Emotional baggage is a term we use to describe the unresolved issues, stress, pain, and difficulties that we carry around from our past experiences. It can weigh us down, affect our relationships, and even prevent us from achieving our goals.  Here are some tips on how to let go and move on.  One way is to shift our thinking. If we struggle with regret, guilt, or resentment because of our past, we...

Back in 2015, 10,000 participants at Newcastle University’s Numbers Festival were asked what their favourite number was. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 12.6% of them answered the number seven, making it the most popular number of them all. Some said they didn't know why they chose seven, but as you know, the number tends to have positive connotations and is associated with luck in particular. That’s espe...

Arranging your fridge isn't just a way to save space. It's primarily about ensuring optimal preservation of food products and thus preventing the proliferation of bacteria. According to UK Research and Innovation, there are around 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness in the country every year. First and foremost, it's important to know that fridges with ventilated or circulated cold air have a m...

We’ve already talked about narcissistic abusers in a previous episode of Do You Really Know? Let’s refresh your memory: narcissistic abusers, or NAs for short, are people with manipulative tendencies, who inflict a range of toxic behaviours on their target and position themselves as victims. Now NA-victim relationships don’t always exist solely between two individuals. There can be one or more add...

If you were born in the 80s or 90s, the chances are you could be answering this question instead of me! Dawson’s Creek was a huge cult hit among millennials. It was pretty much the ultimate 90s teen series. It tells the lives of Dawson, Jen, Pacey and Joey, four teens living in the fictional town of Capeside. They were played by James Vanderbeck, Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes...

Young people have much less of an appetite for sex these days, it seems. The phenomenon has been labelled a “sex recession” in the media and terms like “puriteens” have emerged to describe sex-shy youngsters.  Studies have backed up the idea of a sex recession too. One published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior journal in November 2021 found that the proportion of adolescents reporting no sexual...

Faecal transplant, also known as faecal microbiota transplantation or FMT, is the transfer of stool from a healthy donor to a patient with a disease. The idea is to restore the balance of bacteria in the gut, which can be disrupted by factors such as antibiotics, diet, or infection but it could potentially help with a  range of problems from irritable bowel syndrome to Alzheimer’s.  Why is faecal...

You’ve no doubt already heard of TikTok, the short video app of choice for teens and young adults. Well in the last few weeks a new trend has really taken off, and it’s known as BookTok. The idea is simple: recommend books to your Tiktok followers using the hashtag #BookTok. It’s really catching on and has even led to the emergence of literature enthusiast communities on the platform. The hashtag...

There’s certainly been a lot of progress in breaking down gender roles since the turn of the century, but still traditional expectations persist in the heteronormative dating world. Ladies, have you wondered how many texts it's acceptable to send a guy in a day, or whether using a heart emoji is too much? Gentlemen, do you feel pressure to make the first move, asking a girl out and then initiating...

Whether you're lounging on a beach, exploring a new city, or simply taking a break from your daily routine, finding ways to calm your mind while on holiday is really important for our mental and physical health. We often promise ourselves we’re going to disconnect from day one, but it's not as simple as that.  After all, when we’re at work our brains are constantly processing information, making d...

A lazy girl job is an easy, enjoyable and well-paid job that doesn’t require much passion or effort, and leaves you with plenty of time to live your life outside of work. It might sound too good to be true but some TikTokers have been posting videos of themselves bragging about their lazy girl jobs, such as working from home, answering emails, or doing administrative tasks and the hashtag #lazygir...

Getting restorative sleep and putting an end to back pain are both good reasons to opt for quality bedding. And if another reason was needed: on average, we spend 7-9 hours in bed every night and around a third of our lives sleeping in total. The problem is it can sometimes be like diving into a sea of options when it comes to mattresses. The most common type is the foam mattress, which adapts to...

In Japan, cleanliness is cultural and synonymous with well-being. That’s down in no small part to the influence of Shintoism, the country's oldest religion. While the number of believers has been steadily decreasing for some time, Shinto philosophy and culture are still widely practised. Cleanliness is seen not just as a physical state but also a spiritual one, as it is closely tied to the respect...

Today, we're going to talk about a condition that affects millions of people around the world, but is rarely discussed openly. It's called shy bladder syndrome, or paruresis, and it's a type of social anxiety disorder that makes it difficult or impossible to pee in public restrooms or with people nearby. This happens when people are psychologically blocked, which tightens the sphincters - muscles...

The infamous little belly bulge located around the abdomen can be a source of self-consciousness for many people. Getting rid of it is often one of the main motivations for people looking to lose weight. However, reducing or shedding this abdominal fat can prove to be quite the challenge. But belly fat, also known as visceral fat, isn't only a cosmetic concern. It’s a serious risk factor for many...