Do you really know?

“Birds of a feather flock together”, the old saying goes. But does that apply when it comes to romantic relationships? After all, we also say that opposites tend to attract, an idea which has been sold to us through Disney fairytales, romcoms and countless love songs over the years. But in 2023, a group of British and American scientists decided to put this notion to the test, by delving into a va...

When someone tells you not to do something it often becomes even more tempting, which is why, as a teenager, when your parents forbade you from seeing a certain boyfriend or girlfriend you felt even more passionate about them. Now psychologist have looked into what causes this so-called  ‘Romeo and Juliet effect’. Psychologists at the University of Colorado chose the name of Shakespeare's play fol...

Have you ever fallen head over heels for someone as soon as you met them? It certainly doesn’t happen to us on a regular basis, but it’s pretty common for a person to say they’ve experienced love at first sight at some point in their lives.  Psychcentral.com references a a survey of over 5,000 adults, which found that four in ten of them had had a love-at-first-sight experience, while psychologist...

Valentine's day is here and Do you really know is ready to celebrate love! Is there really such a thing as love at first sight? What is Romeo and Juliet syndrome? It's time to decipher some of the preconceived ideas that we have in society and rarely call into question. Let's separate reality from myth in this series of dedicated episodes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

You know how ginger and oysters are said to rev up your sex drive? We’ve talked about aphrodisiacs in the past on Do You Really Know but today we’re going to talk about foods and drinks that can do the exact opposite. They're called anaphrodisiacs, and they're known for putting a damper on your libido. Well, topping the list is alcohol. Despite its reputation as a social lubricant, it's actually t...

The question asked in the title of today’s episode might seem a little strange. After all, we all sit the same way on the toilet, right? Straight up with our knees at a 90-degree angle. But in fact that might not be the best for our digestive system.  Stomach doctors, also known as gastroenterologists, suggest that this position can actually make it harder to go. And that’s not the only reason why...

Making a slip-up at work might not seem like a big deal most of the time, but on occasion it can lead to disappointment and frustration. And no matter how careful we try to be, all it takes is a moment of distraction or a misunderstanding, and boom – mistake made.  The thing is it happens to all of us, every day. Posting on Linkedin in 2016, Leading Edge Safety Systems CEO Graham Edkins wrote that...

Muscle pain generally occurs after an intense sports session. "They are due either to unusual muscular work, or to an increase in the intensity of a workout, or to the resumption of a sporting activity after a break". According to Sports coach William Chanconie. In fact, muscle soreness results from micro-lesions in the muscle fibres and signals that the muscle has been damaged.  When you feel pai...

The World Health Organisation says that children between the ages of two and five should get no more than one hour of sedentary screen time per day, while children under two shouldn’t get any at all. But the general consensus is that many parents don’t enforce those guidelines, and many toddlers end up overexposed to digital devices as a result. Increasingly, early childhood professionals are repo...

During winter, we tend to huddle indoors in an understandable bid to stay warm. But while this makes for a cosy setting, it also becomes a major breeding ground for virus transmission. The dry air in offices, public transport and our homes can strip the moisture from our nasal passages, leaving us more susceptible to infections. The nose, mouth, and eyes serve as the primary gateways for viruses t...

You may have heard of AI art generators, tools that use artificial intelligence to create images based on language prompts. For example, you can type “a picture of Elmo from Sesame Street in the style of Pablo Picasso”. These tools are fun and impressive, but they also pose a serious threat to artists who share their work online. AI art generators rely on large datasets of existing images to learn...

Did you get roped into taking care of your neighbour's dog again? End up laughing at a colleague’s awkward joke about your outfit? Or say yes to a last-minute task that your boss dropped on you out of nowhere? Your instinct may have been screaming "no," but as usual, you found yourself chuckling uncomfortably and reluctantly saying "yes" through clenched teeth.  This compulsion to avoid disappoint...

When it comes to what proportion of people speak more than one language, estimates vary but the general consensus is that at least half of the world’s population do so. If you're bilingual, you may well have encountered a fascinating phenomenon: that a new personality seems to emerge when you switch languages. In March 2017, Quartz ran an article on the subject, written by Nicola Prentis. Prentis...

In November 2023, a spooky makeup trend took TikTok by storm. Users posted images of themselves with full-coverage, pale foundation for a ghostly vibe, intense grey contouring, hidden eyebrows, and pencil-altered lips. The aim behind those creative efforts was actually to resemble humanoid creatures, and elicit a particular reaction known as “uncanny valley” from viewers. And the trend garnered a...

Have you ever heard ot the stairs test? Experts say it’s an excellent gauge of a person’s overall health. The idea is to run up as many flights of stairs as your body allows you to. If you can’t manage two flights at a brisk pace, you may need to consider lifestyle changes to improve your health. Meanwhile if you can climb eight or more, the chances are you’re in excellent health already. But beyo...

Mugging is a form of robbery that involves violence or the threat of violence against a person in a public place. It’s also known as street robbery or personal robbery. However, would-be muggers have been foiled by a recent covert police operation in London which aimed at reducing street theft.  Brave officers posed as potential victims by wearing expensive luxury watches to tempt thieves and hang...

During the Covid-19 health crisis, our approach to work underwent significant changes, largely thanks to the surge in remote work. This shift allowed people to reassess their priorities and determine where they genuinely wanted to live. Dreary lockdown periods also led to heightened awareness of our anxieties and life choices. So it’s no real surprise that many people chose to flee the cities they...

If there are any teenagers out there listening in, chances are you have faced an acne breakout at some point in the recent past, or perhaps you're even going through that now. Rest assured, that was the case for many of us adults too when we were your age, and for some people, acne continues to be a nuisance into adulthood. It’s tied to a number of factors including hormonal shifts, genetics, life...

The Scottish have a long history of cultural and political ties with Scandinavia, dating back to the Viking era. Many Scottish place names, words, and traditions have Nordic origins. For example, the word loch comes from the Old Norse word for lake, and the kilt is similar to the plaid worn by the Norsemen. The Scottish also share a love of nature, adventure, and whisky with their Scandinavian cou...

In the period from 2018 to 2020, the life expectancy at birth for women in the UK was 82.9 years, while it was just 79 for men. That’s according to data from the Office of National Statistics. And that disparity is a common trend across various countries and even among certain other species of mammals, like great apes. There certainly are, and they span both biological and behavioral factors. Dr....

According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, people in wealthier countries are happier on average, but only up to a point. Even in so-called "emerging" countries like Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey, there was a correlation between rising wealth levels and the percentage of happy people. Interestingly though, in well-off nations, people don't necessarily attribute their happiness directly...

The microwave first emerged in the 1950s and has since become a common fixture in kitchens worldwide. 2018 data from Statista showed that 93% of UK household now own a microwave, with that figure also being over 90% in the United States according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Love it or hate it; you can’t deny that it’s hard to beat the microwave for convenience when it comes to quickly r...

The world of cinema is full of films and sagas which leave their mark on a generation, sometimes becoming cult films. And another phenomenon is becoming more and more common: that of the spin off. Spin-off films involve the creation of a new work based on the original, focusing on the story of a secondary character. There are a number of reasons why directors and screenwriters have chosen to carry...

In this day and age, it’s common to feel stressed every day, even right through to the evening. Have you ever struggled to lower your stress levels when it comes to bedtime, and taken a long while to fall asleep as a result? The worry of not getting enough sleep then just gets you even more frustrated; it’s a vicious circle. If you’re falling victim to anxiety and fatigue for that reason, it’s tim...

The Green Belt is a policy for controlling urban growth in the United Kingdom. It refers to a ring of countryside where urbanisation will be resisted for the foreseeable future, maintaining an area where local food growing, forestry and outdoor leisure can be expected to prevail. The Green Belt policy was first introduced in 1935 by the Greater London Regional Planning Committee, and now covers 14...