Three ways boredom can actually be a benefit
Tiantip Deedet/ Shutterstock Boredom is something many of us will do everything we can to avoid. We fill our time with social media, books and TV programmes and keeping our schedules packed with plans. But boredom doesn’t always need to be seen as something negative. Boredom may, in fact, be good for you – but […]
The ten best short novels under 150 pages – chosen by experts
Which short novel would you recommend? ProStockStudio/Shutterstock A novel doesn’t need to be a hefty tome to change your life. Forget War and Peace (1,200 pages) or Les Misérables (1,400 pages); these expert recommendations are under 150 pages – short enough to tear through over a weekend. 1. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (2011) In […]
What really happens to your data when you click ‘delete’?
Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock Deletion is a common part of modern life. We send files and folders to the recycle bin all the time, and often get rid of unwanted personal accounts. But do you know what really happens when you hit the “delete” button? The process of deletion is often poorly explained by tech providers. Lack […]
The EU has fined Google a billion dollars for ignoring competition rules – but will it have any effect?
The European Commission’s decision to fine Google €890 million (US$1 billion) for failing to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act sounds like a significant financial and political intervention against one of the world’s largest technology companies. The ruling is certainly further evidence of Europe’s desire to regulate US big tech platforms more strictly. But […]
Air filters don’t stop you catching infectious respiratory diseases, landmark study indicates
Who wants to get rid of the Hepa filter? Monkey Business Image/Shutterstock.com There was an energetic push to install air-filtering devices in schools and care homes when the COVID pandemic struck. However, these devices had rarely been tested in real situations looking at infection outcomes in people. Because there was no solid proof that these […]
New theory on how six-tonne Stonehenge rock was transported from Scotland thousands of years ago – on a glacier
muratart/Shutterstock Built from stones weighing between 2 and 25 tonnes, the structure of Stonehenge demonstrates a scale of construction hard to imagine before the invention of the wheel. The mystery deepens when you consider that the stones are not from the local bedrock. So why these stones, and how did they get there? Recent work […]
A.I. at 25: the Spielberg film that feels more unsettling than ever
A quarter of a century ago, Steven Spielberg released one of the most unusual films of his career: A.I. Artificial Intelligence, a futuristic fairytale about a robot boy programmed to love. Yet the movie’s origins lay not with Spielberg but another giant of cinema. For more than two decades, Stanley Kubrick had wrestled with the […]
Violent crime in your area could be affecting your mental health
William Barton/Shutterstock Victims of the approximately 1 million violent crimes committed in England and Wales every year may experience physical, emotional and financial harm, and feel more fearful and less trusting. But our new research shows the harmful effects of violent crime also reach beyond their victims, and can affect the wellbeing of whole neighbourhoods. […]
Donald Trump has launched another ‘Red Scare’ in the US – it’s a favourite tactic of the right
President Donald Trump’s recent speech at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial was a key moment in his carefully choreographed America 250 weekend. Though partisan and rambling in typical Trumpian style, the speech stood out for its focus on a theme which has increasingly dominated his rhetoric over recent months: the dangers of communism. Communism is […]
Wildfires: why media coverage doesn’t always make the climate connection
The front page of the Times on July 25 carried a photograph of three people sitting under a striped parasol on the sand near Lacanau in southwest France, looking out to sea. Beyond them, the sky was rust-orange as a wall of wildfire smoke climbed above the treeline. The caption described it as a “dramatic […]