Your bedroom could be the unhealthiest room in your home
Mialcas/Shutterstock.com Close the door, shut the windows and turn up the heating, and you have all the ingredients for a sick bedroom in your home – and you spend about eight hours in there every night. Kitchens and bathrooms usually take the blame for stale air and damp. But researchers spent a winter monitoring airtight, […]
Billions are spent on child mental health services without knowing if they work in the long term
SeventyFour/Shutterstock.com Modern medicine increasingly judges itself by long-term outcomes. In cancer care, we routinely compare treatments according to whether patients survive longer. In cardiology, we ask whether interventions prevent future heart attacks and extend life. This long-term data allows healthcare to continually improve. Child and adolescent mental health services are different. Long-term outcomes have received […]
How rewilding could help stop the spread of Britain’s wildfires
Fire is natural in some ecosystems, but almost all British “wildfires” are started by people. Whether they become catastrophic increasingly depends on the landscapes they burn through. That’s why wildfire policy can’t only focus on preventing ignitions – it must go hand in hand with rebuilding landscapes that resist fire. Rewilding is often presented as […]
Donald Trump has made US$2.2 billion in his second term. How does that stack up against other US presidents?
At the end of June – in the run-up to America’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence – President Donald Trump staged the White House’s first-ever professional sporting event. And while the UFC Freedom 250 evening of mixed martial arts was ostensibly part of the July 4 jamboree, […]
How four Asian economies are positioning themselves for the AI age
The global AI race is usually portrayed as a contest between the US and China. But another story is unfolding across east Asia, where countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam are looking to command key parts of the AI value chain. Here, sovereignty is the desired outcome. These governments are trying to […]
Today’s arguments about disability benefits have been raging for 500 years
When politicians debate disability benefits today, the arguments can sound distinctly modern. Concerns about rising welfare costs, accusations of fraud and disputes over who deserves support often dominate headlines and political discussions. But as my new book on 500 years of disability history in Britain shows, these debates are far older than many people realise. […]
Fifa’s failed equity plan and football’s growing welfare crisis
The plan by Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to invite equity investment into the World Cup didn’t last long. Announced on July 28, it immediately provoked hostility from across football. Three days later Fifa sought to reassure critics: “Nobody is selling football. This is not something Fifa would ever entertain.” The proposal was then unceremoniously abandoned […]
Bones are much more dynamic than scientists once believed – they even have a daily rhythm
Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock.com Your bones may seem like the most permanent part of your body: hard, solid and finished. In reality, they’re under constant renovation. Every day, tiny teams of cells are breaking down old bone and building new bone in its place. Throughout life, bones are continuously renewed in a process called “remodelling”. The cells responsible […]
Loneliness may damage health in ways isolation does not – new study
l i g h t p o e t/Shutterstock You can spend every day surrounded by other people and still feel lonely. You can also spend long periods alone without finding the experience distressing. That difference may help explain why loneliness affects health differently from social isolation. In a new study, my colleagues and I […]
Exiled Russian comic Sasha Nezlobin brings laugh therapy to Edinburgh Fringe
I was recently party to the world premiere of Russian stand-up comedian Sasha Nezlobin’s show I’m Фine (spelt with a Cyrillic “ф”, pronounced “f”), previewing ahead of a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe. The expectant crowd had gathered to support Russia’s answer to Michael McIntyre in Nezlobin’s first full-hour set performed in English since […]