Do you really know?

With the rise of dating apps, it seems more common to have sex without being in love. Sex for sex's sake, promises to be mindless and commitment-free. In short: pleasure without the risk of pain, but this might not be the whole story.  Experts suggest that this trend reflects a deeper change in society. The separation of sex from love and emotional attachment is part of a broader societal shift to...

What fun it is to have an imaginary friend to blame when you get into mischief! If you have children, you may have experienced a rather amusing situation where your little one blames a friend from their imagination for the mess in their room or a broken object. At times like these, it’s hard to reprimand them, especially if they seem genuinely convinced of their innocence. The appearance of an ima...

We don’t know about you, but some nights we just can’t fall asleep without turning onto our stomach. And when we do, we seem to drift off more easily when not using a pillow. But we do sometimes wonder whether doing that could have any negative health impact. Just like your mattress and bed base, the pillow plays a key role in sleep quality, but it’s often the most overlooked part of our bedding....

Using an ATM, paying for petrol or shopping at a retail store are pretty routine things that many of us do on a frequent basis. But it’s important to be aware of the often invisible threat posed by a criminal practice called skimming, which sees fraudsters clone bank cards.  Across the pond in the US, data analytics firm Fico reported a 96% increase in debit card skimming in 2023, and recent month...

Today we’re talking about a diabetes medicine which has gained a reputation for leading to weight loss. Ozempic became popular among Hollywood celebrities for its appetite-suppressing properties. Elon Musk has tweeted about it three times, giving it part of the credit for his having lost 30lb in late 2022. Over on Tiktok, users have also been singing Ozempic’s praises for a while now, with the has...

French novelist Alexandre Dumas first published The Count of Monte Cristo as a novel in 1844, and it went on to gain a reputation as one of the most compelling stories ever written. It was adapted into film at least nine different times between 1912 and 2002, according to Wikipedia, not to mention a couple of notable miniseries along the way, and even a Simpsons parody episode. What’s the story ab...

Every year, an average of four planes and twenty boats vanish in this notorious area. Straddling the line between legend and reality, the Bermuda Triangle has inspired countless adventure novels and films, continuing to captivate the public’s imagination. This vast region spans approximately 500,000 square kilometres, situated between Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Bermuda archipelago. How did the...

There have been many films and documentaries about the thrill and struggle of climbing Everest and with social media it has become an ever more popular destination.  Just this year a French youtuber has broken audience records for his film ‘Kaizen’ about his challenge that he made to conquer Everest in just one year.  Over the past century, over 340 climbers have died on its peaks, with 2015 being...

If the mere smell of a good cup of coffee is enough to get you out of bed, you might want to rethink your early morning ritual. According to nutritionists, drinking coffee right after waking up can have harmful effects. While you might rely on it to wake you up and give you energy, consuming it this early can actually make you more tired. Isn’t coffee a stimulant? What happens when you drink coffe...

You might be surprised to learn that the famous “www” in website addresses didn’t originate in Silicon Valley or New York, but at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known as CERN for short, which is situated on the French-Swiss border close to Geneva.  It was 1989 when British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea for a hypertext system. Essentially, it was a way to...

If you’ve ever had a “conversation” with Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa, you may well have been using a domotics system, without necessarily knowing what that means. The term refers to the use of robotic technology and electronic systems for controlling home appliances and devices. It’s also known as home automation, or simply a “smart home”. And indeed the use of smart home devices has really ta...

You may well have been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so you shouldn’t skip it. But did you know that prior to the industrial revolution, all people would eat for breakfast was leftovers from the previous day, typically meat and eggs. Even then that was only if they were hungry. Otherwise they wouldn’t eat at all. These days, a typical breakfast in the Western world is...

You may have seen headlines in recent weeks about a deeply shocking French court case. A man has admitted drugging his wife with powerful sedatives over a period of a decade and inviting as many as 80 local men to rape her during that time.  Due to the effects of the drugs she had been subjected to, the woman Gisèle Pélicot, had no idea of what was happening to her. The case has led to increased a...

If there’s one unpleasant feeling we’re all familiar with, it’s tiredness. At the start of the new school year, it can be particularly prevalent as you get back into the swing of things after the holidays or rush back to work. According to researchers at Harvard Medical School, fatigue can be classified into three types: Physical fatigue: a lack of strength and endurance, mental fatigue: increased...

Inflation peaked in 2022, but now it’s on a slow and steady decline, reaching 2.5% in June 2024, down from 5.5% in June 2023. Plus, some commercial practices that drove prices up are now better controlled. For example, since July 1, 2024, supermarkets have to label products affected by shrinkflation—where they reduce the quantity but keep the price the same. But even with these changes, you’ve pro...

I don’t know about you but for me not having to set an alarm on a Saturday or Sunday morning is really one of life’s simple pleasures. With my packed work schedule and family life, I often don’t end up getting as much sleep as I need during the week. So it’s really tempting to try to catch up on that sleep debt over the weekend. But then I heard about these studies that have shown that weekend lie...

We all know staying hydrated is crucial for feeling fit and healthy. The general recommendation is to drink between 1.5 to 2 litres of water a day. But let’s be honest, it’s not always easy to stick to that. Ideally, you shouldn’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink water because thirst signals that your body has already lost about half a litre of water. But you might be surprised to learn that you...

It’s fair to say that AI technology is hyper-polarising. Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, many people have been awestruck at how generative AI can write essays, create realistic images and effectively impersonate just about any human with enough training material. But there are just as many detractors as enthusiasts, and AI’s current shortcomings have been exposed in a number of high-prof...

Of course, as the old saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but even as children we all kind of realise who’s seen as physically attractive and who isn’t, don’t we? Let’s take a moment to consider that the global beauty industry was worth $430bn in 2022, according to a report from McKinsey. That was up from $300 bn in 2015, with projections suggesting the $500bn mark would be reached...

Over the years, many surveys have looked into what time of day people say they most enjoy having sex, but the findings have varied drastically. For instance, one run by CBD brand Naturecan in 2023 found that the most satisfying time was 7:30 a.m., with two-thirds of the Brits surveyed preferring morning sex to night-time sex. But more recently, lingerie brand Pour Moi pinpointed 10:09pm on Saturda...

Everyone has lied at least once in their life. But did you know that we lie at least once a day? This surprising conclusion comes from an American study published in 1996. The reasons behind our lies are quite intriguing. Often, we lie to protect the people we care about, this is known as a “white lie.” But that’s not the whole story. According to neuropsychologist and researcher Sylvie Chokron, l...

Since 2020, TikTok has allowed its creators to make money by posting on the platform. To do so, they need at least 10,000 followers and to rack up 100,000 views on their videos over a 30-day period. But with earnings of around 30 cents per 1,000 views, it’s not exactly a get-rich-quick scheme. So to increase the visibility of their videos — and thereby earn more money — some creators have turned t...

Cooking not only destroys bacteria and germs but also makes food more digestible, especially meat.  It changes the taste, appearance, color, and most importantly, the nutritional quality of the food. While food can be roasted, blanched, grilled, browned, or boiled, some methods are healthier than others. What happens when we grill food? Is steaming really the healthiest way to cook? What about les...

Electric toothbrushes come with a head that makes small circular movements automatically. Studies have shown that, for the same amount of brushing time, they can remove up to twice as much plaque as manual toothbrushes. They also help reduce the risk of gingivitis, gum inflammation, and bleeding. However, some electric toothbrushes can be too abrasive on sensitive or weakened teeth, as not all use...

Much like your fingerprints, your body odour is totally unique to you. It varies from person to person based on the chemical makeup of their sweat, which, believe it or not, is actually odourless on its own. Sweat only starts to smell when it comes into contact with bacteria on our skin. Our distinct scent depends not just on this skin microbiome but also on factors like sex, age, genetics, and ho...