Do you really know?

This summer, relax and learn with Do You Really Know! It's time to learn all about the concepts, words and expressions that surround the summer season! What is vitamin D? Vitamin D was discovered in 1922 by American biochemist Elmer McCollum, who was nicknamed Dr Vitamin by Time Magazine. He found that cod liver oil could still prevent rickets in rats, despite its vitamin A having been removed. Fr...

Research released in 2021 by Censuswide for Tu found that nearly 46% of women ditched nearly 46% of women ditched their bras at least once a week during Covid-19 lockdowns in the name of comfort. And it seems the trend may be lasting despite the worst of Covid hopefully being behind us. We’ve recently seen A-Listers like Dua Lipa, Kirsten Stewart and Lily Allen go braless in public, with the Daily...

Believe it or not, some fires are able to smolder for months underneath snow, even when their flames have been extinguished above ground. Researchers and forest rangers have been aware of the existence of these zombie fires in the Arctic Circle for many years now. But a study published in Nature magazine on May 19th revealed the full extent of the issue. It turns out the threat they pose to boreal...

Those despairing at John Wick Chapter Four being delayed need not count down until March 2023. David Leitch, the director of Deadpool 2 and producer of the original John Wick, presents Bullet Train, which hit UK cinemas on 3rd August 2022. For once, the summer’s big blockbuster isn’t a superhero film, a sequel or a remake! It’s a slick and high octane film with more-or-less all of the action conde...

Back in 2010, Japanese writer Mari Kondo changed how we think about organisation and decluttering with her bestseller The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Behind the book’s grand title is a simple premise: anything that doesn’t bring you joy should be thrown away.  Since then, a new and somewhat similar trend caught on in the late 2010s: death cleaning. It’s mainly designed for people entering t...

Why do we get verrucas? Also known as plantar warts, verrucas are usually found on the soles of the feet, but can sometimes be seen between the toes or on the heels too. You may remember catching one at your school swimming lessons as a child. Verrucas have a reputation for being a nuisance. Firstly, let’s face it, like all kinds of warts they’re pretty unsightly. They look like small, rough, thic...

What is the social credit system? With a population of 1.4 billion inhabitants and a surface area 39 times larger than that of the UK, China has seen mass surveillance systems rolled out in recent decades. Take video surveillance and facial recognition for example, with over 600 million security cameras throughout the country. Or the controlling and censorship of the country’s most popular social...

What is climate shadow, the newest way to measure your impact on global warming? The subject of today’s episode is a relatively recent addition to the ever growing list of terms relating to climate change. American writer Emma Pattee introduced the idea of the climate shadow in a blog post for Mic.com in December 2021, as a more comprehensive metric for each person’s impact on the climate crisis. ...

Why do our bodies need magnesium? Do you suffer from twitching eyes, muscle spasms, restless sleep and irritability? If so, there’s a chance it might just be down to a magnesium deficiency. Indeed, that was the case for as many as 70% of the 8,000 Brits who took part in an 18-month study by testing company Mineral Check from August 2014 to January 2016. And it’s something of a big deal. Magnesium...

What is begpacking ? Begpacking is a portmanteau word, combining the words ‘begging’ and ‘backpacking’. It essentially means begging in order to fund a journey, and the practice has come in for criticism from many quarters. Begpackers are mainly young Westerners travelling around the world, particularly in Asia. Some offer hugs or play music in exchange for money. Others simply sit in the street b...

Am I in a situationship? Sometimes there’s a very thin line between friendship and love. You spend time with someone, you’ve got things in common, you make each other laugh. Things can easily get blurry. Imagine you’ve recently met someone and really hit it off; you’re at each other’s places all the time, maybe you’ve even kissed once or twice on a night out. Maybe it’s gone further than that. A D...

What is the offside rule? Now, now, let’s not get carried away. England may have beaten old rivals Germany on Tuesday evening to seal a place in the Euro 2020 quarter finals, but they still need to win three more matches to lift the trophy at Wembley on July 11th. In the meantime, let’s talk about one of football’s oldest and yet still most confusing rules: law 11, more commonly known as offside....

What’s the best sleeping position? Side, stomach or back; what kind of sleeper are you? Some people say that our sleeping position reflects what kind of person we are. While we can’t really comment on how much truth there is to that, we can say for sure that it has an impact on sleep quality and consequently our mood in the morning. Let’s take a few minutes to talk about our personal favourites. W...

Why should I eat more fermented foods? Each year, International Beer Day is celebrated on the first Friday of August. As you may know, beer is produced using only four ingredients: water, hops, malt and yeast, through a process called fermentation. Of course beer is harmful in excessive quantities, but don’t let that give you any misconceptions about fermented foods. Generally speaking, they play...

What is trauma dumping, the toxic equivalent of oversharing? It’s common for good friends to tell each other about pretty much everything going on in their lives. Within healthy friendships, it’s a way of bonding and supporting one another, especially when one of the friends is struggling. But sometimes this goes drastically overboard, and someone shares something really personal and traumatic wit...

How did Feta cheese end up causing an international legal battle? Feta cheese is undoubtedly a star ingredient when it comes to summer salads. It goes without saying it plays a starring role in the Greek salad, but it can also add a savoury taste to other recipes like the watermelon salad for example. That’s one of Kate Middleton’s favourites. But this summer feta isn’t only getting attention by f...

Why is Y2K style coming back into fashion? If you’re a millennial, you may feel like you’ve been transported back to your teens in recent times, given what young people are wearing. Rest assured, you’re not going crazy. The early 2020s have indeed seen a revival of what’s known as Y2K style.  It’s been influenced by celebs like Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa and Rihanna, who have made frequent nods to the...

What is the three-finger salute? Since the start of February, protesters in Myanmar have been pictured making a three-finger gesture as a symbol of opposition to the country’s recent coup d’état. They’ve taken to the streets to protest against what they see as an attack on democracy. Well it might look like a scout salute but it actually comes from the Hunger Games series of books and films. So wh...

What are parasocial relationships, the one-sided connections between celebs and their fans? This kind of one-way relationship is generally between a fan and a public figure or fictional character. It’s about the feeling of familiarity or even friendship we feel for a celeb without ever actually having had any direct interaction with them. Most of the time of course, said celeb doesn’t even know we...

What are the warning signs of a toxic friendship? Today is World Friendship Day, a chance to reflect on how important friends are in our lives. Generally speaking, having friends is a positive thing which brings us moments of fun and joy. But toxic friendships can exist too and in such cases, the relationship can be more of a burden than anything else, for one of the people involved at least! Let’...

On the occasion of World Friendship Day on 30 July, Do You Really Know puts the spotlight on this feeling that everyone knows. In the age of social networks, what form does friendship take today? What are the new ways to compose together? Discover these concepts, practices and initiatives that make up today's friendship! What is care work? This subcategory of the workforce includes jobs that provi...

Do I have generalised anxiety disorder? Generalised anxiety disorder is a psychological condition, which affects around 3% of all people, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. But it seems to affect certain groups disproportionately. For example, women are twice as likely to be affected as men. Furthermore, less than half of people with GAD receive treatment. What are the...

On the occasion of World Friendship Day on 30 July, Do You Really Know puts the spotlight on this feeling that everyone knows. In the age of social networks, what form does friendship take today? What are the new ways to compose together? Discover these concepts, practices and initiatives that make up today's friendship! What is Galentine's Day? With Valentine's Day less than a week away. But even...

Why do friend breakups hurt so much? We all know that getting over romantic relationships can take time, sometimes weeks, months or years. Many poems, songs and film scenes have been dedicated to expressing the pain of dealing with such situations. But friendship heartbreaks don’t tend to get so much attention, even though they can hurt as much, or even more! What are the main differences between...

On the occasion of World Friendship Day on 30 July, Do You Really Know puts the spotlight on this feeling that everyone knows. In the age of social networks, what form does friendship take today? What are the new ways to compose together? Discover these concepts, practices and initiatives that make up today's friendship! What is coliving? Born in the 2000s on the West Coast of the US, coliving is...