Archives

Tabis are so over – what the mainstreaming of the split-toe shoe says about how fashion loses meaning

Margiela’s Tabi boots. Creative Lab/Shutterstock The tabi shoe, a divisive style which features a cloven hoof-like split, has its origins in 15th-century Japan. In 1988, fashion designer Martin Margiela reimagined the split-toe silhouette for a high-fashion boot for his brand’s inaugural runway collection. While the style became synonymous with Margiela, because of its historic origins, […]

Parasitic worms could hold the key to treating immune system diseases – here’s what we know

Roundworms. MRAORAOR/Shutterstock.com For millions of years, parasitic worms have had to survive inside animals without being destroyed by their hosts’ immune systems. To do that, they have evolved remarkably effective ways of dampening the immune response. Scientists are now trying to understand those tricks and work out whether they could be turned into medicines for […]

Coolcations: tourism boom is taking a toll on chillier destinations

Coolcation destinations include places like Loch Katrina in the Scottish Highlands. ABO PHOTOGRAPHY/Shutterstock Rising numbers of visitors headed for destinations in northern Europe in the summer of 2026, seeking respite from the heat. For years, summer holidays in Europe have followed a familiar pattern: head south in search of sunshine. But climate change is beginning […]

Nobel prize in chemistry awarded for work on mirror-image molecules

Shutterstock AI generator The 2026 Nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to two researchers for their work on mirror-image molecules. Frances’s Henri Kagan and Japan’s Kensō Soai were announced as this year’s winners during a news conference in Stockholm. Some molecules, like amino acids, the building blocks of proteins in living beings, exist in […]

Zack Polanski’s Urdu video: multilingual campaigning is good for politics

The Holborn and St Pancras byelection takes place on October 8, in the London constituency vacated by former prime minister Keir Starmer. Labour might be hopeful of holding the seat, but the leader of the Green Party Zack Polanski is also on the ballot paper. During his campaign, Polanski addressed voters in English and in […]

The circumstances you grow up in are linked to how long you live

Eugen Thome/shutterstock Poorer people, on average, live shorter lives. This pattern can be seen even in wealthy countries with extensive welfare systems. In Norway, for example, 40-year-old men in the richest 1% could expect to live almost 14 years longer than those in the poorest 1%. In the US, the equivalent gap is nearly 15 […]

Success for Andy Burnham’s national care service will depend on home essentials

For a national care system to be successful, people need a home where they are happy and comfortable. fizkes / Shutterstock With Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s plans for adult social care reform in England, including a move towards a national care service, much of the focus has been on who receives care and who provides […]

Can picking up a book really improve your brain?

Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB/Shutterstock Picking up a book for half an hour may feel like simple downtime, but reading for pleasure appears to do more than just entertain us. Research suggests it can support aspects of cognition and wellbeing, while also helping us understand and connect with other people. Reading for pleasure, also called “leisure reading” or […]

Smokers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s – we may have found out why

olesea vetrila/Shutterstock Smoking is one of the biggest causes of ill health and early death. Yet smokers seem to have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than non-smokers – by around half according to some studies. This surprising link was first reported more than 50 years ago, when researchers in the UK and the […]