Do you really know?

November is synonymous with Black Friday, great deals but what cost? Over consumption is endangering our already fragile planet. Is it time to change our ways? This week Do You Really Know is highlighting concepts and initiatives about reducing our consumption. You might not be able to afford a Balenciaga coat, a Prada bag or a Chanel suit, but you could probably stretch to a branded baseball cap,...

In our increasingly urbanised world, it’s important to make time for reconnecting with nature. The latest study to grab our attention in this area was conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and published in December 2022. It looked into the so-called 3-30-300 rule, which was theorised by Spanish forest researcher Cecil Konijnendijk in 2021.  It's made up of three criteria, which ea...

What is myopia? According to a 2019 study from the Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science journal, almost 60% of all humans will have some form of myopia by 2050. That means as many as 5 billion people will be short-sighted, unable to clearly see objects more than 5 yards away. And that’s not at all; already one in three people suffer from myopia, a figure which rises to nearly 50% in some...

Have you ever felt like your horoscope was written just for you? Or a fortune’s cookie advice seemed incredibly relevant? You may be surprised, but it’s actually not such a coincidence after all. This psychological phenomenon is known as the Barnum effect. It’s a cognitive bias that occurs when people believe that generic personality descriptions and statements apply specifically to them. It may e...

The idea might seem like something out of a fantasy, but “Foreign Accent Syndrome” is a genuine, albeit very rare, neurological condition! It sees a person begin to speak with an accent different to the one they had prior to having a stroke; one which makes them sound like they come from an entirely different country! Since the first case was discovered in France in 1907, there have only been abou...

This week, we're looking back at 10 words and phrases that have been on everyone's lips in 2022. From the Uber Files leak to "shrinkflation" in stores or "quiet quitting" at work, refresh your memory on some of the events and phenomena that best sum up the year gone by. Little did Eminem know when he invented obsessed super fan Stan for a track on The Marshall Mathers LP in 2000, that over two dec...

American psychiatrist Stephen B. Karpman coined this social model of human interaction in 1968. It describes the roles that we take on in unbalanced social relations. Relations which lead us to take one of three roles within Karpman’s triangle. These are three roles in Karpman's triangle. These are the victim, the persecutor and the saviour. And the role we take on unconsciously leads someone else...

November is synonymous with Black Friday, great deals but what cost? Over consumption is endangering our already fragile planet. Is it time to change our ways? This week Do You Really Know is highlighting concepts and initiatives about reducing our consumption. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, roughly a third of all produced in the world goes to waste. What’s more the United Nations’ Fo...

Let’s think back to January 6th 2021, when the U.S. Capitol was invaded by radical pro-Trump activists. Of course since then, Donald Trump has left the White House. But, with hindsight, how should we remember his mandate and this event in particular?  Political scientist Baraba F. Walter recently looked into the US's current instability and went as far as describing it as an anocracy. That’s a ter...

For a number of years now, we’ve been hearing that the future of transport is electric, in particular due to the impact of fossil fuels on global warming. But there are a number of drawbacks, including cost, battery life, battery recycling, charging time which mean some people are reluctant to get on board. There are also fears that the switch to electric vehicles won’t be quick enough to meet env...

In January 2024, the renowned French perfumery Guerlain is set to unveil a groundbreaking range of products inspired by quantum physics. Their marketing promises a revolutionary approach to skincare, stating: "After 20 years’ research, Guerlain has created Orchidée Impériale Gold Nobile, revealing a new cosmetic rejuvenation pathway for skin, born of quantum science.". In layman’s terms, Guerlain...

Ending up in tears when preparing a dish with onions can be pretty darn inconvenient. No sooner have you started chopping them up, you find your eyes getting watery and stinging. Of course, those tears aren’t related to any feelings of sadness; rather they’re down to a series of chemical reactions. Like a lot of fruit and veg we buy at the supermarket, onions are still technically alive when harve...

Have you ever walked into your living room, kitchen or bedroom and completely forgotten what you went there for? It can be pretty annoying, and a little unsettling too. You might start wondering if you’ve got memory problems. This mental block phenomenon actually has a name: the doorway effect. It happens to most people from time to time. Through a series of studies run by Gabriel Radvansky and hi...

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 types of attachment were theorized by British psychologist John Bowlby in the 1950s. They are widely used to help us understand how we react to situations in our relationships, whether it be with romantic partners, friends or family members.   Bowlby relied on research on the impact of early separations between infants and their mothers, and emphasized the importance of attachment relationship...

Heatstroke is a medical emergency that happens when your body temperature gets too high and you cannot cool down. This can harm your vital organs and even kill you if not treated quickly. Heatstroke can be caused by being exposed to high temperatures, such as during a heatwave, or by working out too hard, such as during a marathon. It is different from heat exhaustion, which is a less severe condi...

Sorry to end the week with bad news but tomorrow, January 16th, is Blue Monday, often cited as the most depressing day of the year. Blue Monday has existed since 2005, and is based on an equation which takes into account various factors. However, its detractors criticise the idea as pseudoscience and say it is driven by money.    Since the first Blue Monday equation was devised by psychologist Cli...

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...

Smoothies can be seen pretty prominently in organic food stores and supermarkets during the summer. They’ve been a popular choice for years now and come with a reputation for being healthy too. Many people believe that they’re a convenient way of consuming fruit and vegetables, and that they’re also effective at preventing snacking between meals.  What’s the difference between a smoothie and fruit...

November is synonymous with Black Friday, great deals but what cost? Over consumption is endangering our already fragile planet. Is it time to change our ways? This week Do You Really Know is highlighting concepts and initiatives about reducing our consumption. All week long we’ll be discussing anticonsumerist trends as an alternative to Black Friday. Zero waste is a good example of one that has b...

Does that ring a bell? How many of you spent hours in front of the Smurfs as children? We’re sure you remember the smiley little girl with blond hair, a white dress and high heels. In case your memory has faded, in the wonderful world of the Smurfs, Smurfette is created by the evil wizard Gargamel to sow discord! How curious that the role of agitator is reserved for a female character... Add to th...

More and more people across the world are struggling with burnout. According to a Future Forum survey of over 10,000 workers from February 2023, as many as 42% of workers experience it, an all-time high. When signs of exhaustion emerge, the ideal solution is, of course, total rest, but it's often a luxury that few can afford. An alternative for preventing burnout is what's known as the "42% rule."...

Olive oil, a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet, boasts a rich composition of essential fatty acids, vitamins A, D, E, and K, along with polyphenols. These antioxidants are celebrated for their role in decelerating cellular ageing. Fatty acids, a pivotal component of lipids, include some that our bodies cannot produce, underscoring the necessity of sourcing them from our diets. Predominantly co...

Imagine being drunk, without having drunk a single drop of alcohol, it seems completely implausible, and yet for some is a reality. South-West media shared the story of a motorist who appeared in court in Bruges in 2022 after being found to have too much alcohol in his blood twice in the same year. The man, in his forties, was eventually acquitted, proving that the tests were not the result of a n...

The origins of Covid-19 still remain somewhat hazy, over three-and-a-half years since the virus began spreading across the world. That has led to a number of prominent conspiracy theories, with 25% of people in the UK believing that Covid was definitely or probably a hoax. That finding was part of an April 2023 survey by Savanta for King’s College London and the BBC. It also established that belie...