Constantly on edge at work? It could be anticipatory stress
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock In Nosferatu (1922), one of cinema’s most haunting images arrives before the vampire himself: his shadow. Something is approaching, but we don’t know exactly what it is, or what will happen when it arrives. The fear lies in the anticipation. This is called anticipatory stress, and it can affect us in our work lives. […]
Medieval monks were early ecologists and left a wealth of knowledge for later generations of gardeners
An illustration from the Wellcome Collection of a medieval monk’s herb garden. Wellcome Collection For whatever the land you possess, whether it be where sand And gravel lie barren and dead, or where fruits grow heavy In rich moist ground; whether high on a steep hillside, Easy ground in the plain or rough among sloping […]
Checking in to a fictional world: the enduring appeal of literary hotels
Burgh Island is a tidal island off the southern coast of Devon and is famed for its association with Agatha Christie. Mark Naylor/Shutterstock At a literary event at Burgh Island Hotel in south Devon recently, the novelist Catherine Newman remarked that whenever she looked down from the island’s steep cliffs while walking, she half-expected to […]
The government has delayed the toughest spending decisions – but here’s what we do know after the budget
Prime Minister Andy Burnham congratulates Chancellor John Healey after his first budget. © House of Commons, CC BY-NC-ND John Healey’s steady-as-she-goes budget was a picture of a government doing its best to offer “what help we can afford”, while weathering the economic storms. But despite its 98 policy measures, decisions on some of the biggest […]
Not all antihistamines are the same – and some may affect your brain more than you think
Tatiana Yashina/Shutterstock Millions of people take antihistamines for allergies, but some of these medicines can make you sleepy, slow your reactions and affect your concentration. Others are much less likely to have these effects. Knowing the difference can help you choose an allergy treatment that won’t interfere with your day. Antihistamines work by blocking histamine, […]
Silence of the Lambs: Hannibal Lecter makes his stage debut in this inventive touring production
When you think of the serial killer and former forensic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, what comes to mind? I would bet good money it’s Anthony Hopkins in Jonathan Demme’s 1991 film Silence of the Lambs, talking about eating someone’s liver with fava beans and a nice chianti. This film, an adaptation of Robert Harris’s book of […]
Hauntology examines how what happened in the past – and what didn’t – informs the present
The spooky is a hugely popular phenomenon in British culture, demonstrated in what now seems like a month-long Halloween celebration, a rich tradition of horror cinema and a growing interest in the uncanny. But, there are other manifestations of haunting. At York St John University, the Hauntology and Spectrality Research Group explores the ways in […]
Massive sinkholes open up across Turkey as it struggles with drought and climate change
Sinkholes are opening up across Turkey as farmers look for new sources of water. Yalcin Sonat/Shutterstock Turkey’s central Anatolian plateau is one of the country’s most important agricultural regions, producing wheat, maize, sugar beet and other crops. Yet beneath its cultivated fields, the ground is becoming increasingly unstable. Large sinkholes, some tens of metres wide […]
Chemists create disappearing tattoos: here’s the science behind how they work
How handy would it be if you could make your tattoos invisible for a job interview in the morning, and reveal them again for a party in the evening? This sounds like science fiction, but it may soon be reality. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed invisible tattoo ink than can be […]
Raye’s ambitious Mercury Prize-winning album is a testament to female creative freedom
Making an album might seem like a strange project in an age of streaming, when so many listeners rarely listen to albums from start to finish. For Raye, however, the album is not merely a selection of individual singles: it is a piece of highly personal storytelling. This Music May Contain Hope – the album […]