Do you really know?

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...

Let’s take a moment to consider a concept which highlights both the scale of the climate crisis and inequalities between different areas of the world. Discussions around ecological debt are closely linked to that of overshoot and the overuse of planet Earth's resources. Every year we continue to consume too many resources, and pollute the planet. If we consider that as mounting ecological debt, le...

Maybe you’ve considered going vegetarian in the past for ethical reasons, linked to the environment or animal welfare for example. But you may have had second thoughts, out of fear of your body being prone to dietary deficiencies. A lot of people assume that going veggie leads to deficiencies and potential health problems. But that’s not necessarily true. It really comes down to how you eat, which...

YouGov data from 2019 showed that 49% of Brits shower once per day, while 20% do so 4 to 6 times per week. And 6% even shower more than once per day! That’s despite dermatologists saying that we don’t really need to shower every day. According to health professionals, both routines come with certain benefits. You might want to know the pros and cons of each option. For example, a morning shower ca...

Picture the scene: a woman is sitting in a bar, when a man comes up to try to talk to her. She finds him attractive, but acts disinterested and more or less ignores him, in order to not seem desperate. The man gives up and leaves the woman alone, but she then feels dissatisfied that he hasn’t persisted. It might seem like a counterintuitive approach, but according to American psychotherapist Ellno...

Popular fantasy might suggest that we need to have hours of sex in order to be satisfied, but is that actually true? A study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2005 looked into intravaginal ejaculation latency time among 500 heterosexual couples from five different countries. Now intravaginal ejaculation latency time might sound like a complicated term, but basically it just means how...

What's your relationship with spiders like? Some people are pretty terrified of them, and for many their first reaction is to grab something to squash them with. Most likely, encountering spiders at home is a regular occurrence, and they're actually more beneficial than you might think. Aren’t they dangerous though? What are the benefits of having spiders in my home then? Why do they come into my...

What is de-extinction? The process of de-extinction is all about bringing extinct species back to life. It became known in the 2010s, thanks to an ambitious plan from American geneticist George Church, who dreamed of resurrecting the woolly mammoth, an animal which has been extinct for 3700 years. Fast forward to the 2020s and Church’s bioscience startup Colossal is now eding closer towards making...

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”. If you’re obsessed with having a tidy work environment, you may want to consider that that quote comes from none other than Albert Einstein, one of the most renowned geniuses in human history. Given that Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, and even Steve Jobs were also known for working in messy environments, you...

Have you ever been on an aeroplane and wondered how on earth a vehicle weighing tens of thousands of kilograms can even take off, let alone stay in the air for hours on end? Well, whatever the type of plane is, the basic principle is pretty much the same. It has to overcome the pull of gravity, the force that draws everything towards Earth’s centre. What does an aeroplane need to fly then? How so?...

Most of us have to go through a painful breakup at some point in our life. Even if you thought you’d found your soulmate, started planning a grand future together and so on, sometimes things simply don’t work out. Maybe your partner ended it unexpectedly, or maybe you did so yourself. But one question that often rears its head is whether it’s a good idea to remain friends after the breakup. It mig...

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...

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...

Since January 2026, Afghanistan has been operating under a new Code of Criminal Procedure, and for women, the situation has deteriorated further. In some cases, the law now allows a husband to legally administer corporal punishment to his wife. The provision comes from a new legal text introduced by the Taliban, published on January 4, 2026. The Afghan human rights NGO Rawadari obtained a copy and...

In the days of yore, clothes were scrubbed with soap, brushes, and sheer elbow grease. But today, laundry detergents have revolutionized the way we clean our garments. These modern marvels remove stains without requiring Herculean effort. But navigating the overwhelming array of choices in the detergent aisle can be overwhelming.  The French consumer magazine 60 millions de consommateurs carried o...

On average the human heart beats at a rate of 1.16 times per second, or 100 times per minute. Sometimes the heart rate gets faster, slower or is irregular. And the older we get, the more likely we are to experience heart palpitations. The first thing to underline is that these palpitations are completely normal and harmless 90% of the time. Furthermore even if they’re particularly intense, that do...

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...

Some expired food products are easy to identify, due to an unpleasant smell, mould, swollen packaging or abnormal colour for example. But others show no visible changes in texture, colour, or smell. In such cases, you might well ask yourself if the item is still safe to consume. To begin with, it's important to note that some products don’t expire, as long as they’re stored in the right conditions...

Musculoskeletal disorders, like back pain and arthritis, are recognized as occupational diseases in Western countries which have a large office workforce. The UK’s Health and Safety Executive lists some of the causes of these disorders as repetitive work, particularly using the same hand or arm action, carrying out a task for a long time and working with display screen equipment. Pain or stiffness...

It’s a scene that plays out in millions of homes across the world every day. There’s a sense of anticipation as the lights go out, only for the room to be lit up by candles as a friend or family member brings in a yummy-looking birthday cake. Guests start singing more or less in unison, more in less in tune, depending on how much alcohol has been consumed, and the birthday girl or boy politely wai...

According to a 2016 WHO study, 25% of the global population is likely to develop a mental disorder during their lifetime. But of course there are certain habits that we can adopt to diminish that risk, or treat the situation. These include getting counselling, regular physical activity and a proper sleep routine. Another beneficial habit is journaling, or "therapeutic writing”, as it’s also known....

Plant milks have been all the rage for a number of years now, and they’re gradually taking up more and more space on supermarket shelves, to the detriment of animal milks. In 2020, British shoppers spent £100m more on plant milks compared to the previous year, according to research from Mintel. That was a rise of over 30%, demonstrating their growing popularity. They are considered a viable altern...

These days, with the internet and social media, we’re exposed to fake news more than ever, misleading or false information presented as fact, sometimes to influence opinion or create confusion. Sometimes it’s easy to spot… but not always. And it gets even trickier when it comes from someone we like or trust, like an influencer. With their reach and visibility, they can spread this kind of content,...

Meditation is often sighted as a great way to relax, reduce stress and help us focus, but it can be difficult for lots of people to do in the traditional sense. However, meditation can be achieved without ever sitting down cross legged and focusing on your breathing. “The whole idea with mindfulness is training your brain, you can do this just as well by being intentionally mindful throughout the...

Depersonalization, a dissociative psychological syndrome, can be incredibly destabilising. It often takes years for sufferers to identify it. Characterised by altered self-perception, individuals may feel dead, detached, or anaesthetised. They might not recognize themselves in the mirror and struggle to distinguish between reality and a dream. According to Stanford University School of Medicine, t...