The 2026 World Cup has been a tournament where alcohol brands hoped to win influence through sponsorship
Freer/Shutterstock The 2026 men’s football World Cup has provided great goals, shock results and plenty of entertainment. It has also been extremely lucrative, earning Fifa billions of dollars in broadcasting rights, ticket sales and commercial sponsorship. Those commercial partnerships include alcohol producers, whose brands have appeared across television broadcasts, digital platforms, social media and stadiums. […]
Why some primates have even tougher births than humans
Having a baby is no joke for tamarins. Martin Leber/Shutterstock Scientists have long thought humans have a uniquely difficult birth compared to other primates. And it’s true that from an evolutionary perspective, we face an obstetrical dilemma. As we evolved to walk on two feet, our pelvis changed shape and size and our birth canal […]
Can speaking multiple languages really lower dementia risk? It’s not that simple
Song about summer/Shutterstock.com The risk of dementia rises as the brain ages. One reason is that connections between brain cells weaken over time. Diseases of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s and stroke, can speed this up, eventually leading to dementia, a loss of mental abilities and a loss of independence. Scientists can now estimate a […]
England out of the World Cup, but this team may have helped redefine a nation
The football World Cup is often seen as an opportunity to bring different groups within a nation together as they celebrate their team’s achievements. And while the performance of the England side’s young and dynamic squad may not have taken them to the final, there remains something to celebrate. Thomas Tuchel’s squad has offered a […]
Ann Widdecombe killing: why police have told the public – including Nigel Farage – not to speculate
The death of 78-year-old Ann Widdecombe would have been surprising no matter the circumstances. The former Conservative minister and ex-Reform UK spokeswoman appeared to be in good health, giving an interview just minutes before her suspected killing. Yet, it is the nature of her death – now being investigated by counter-terrorism police – that is […]
What if disabled astronauts are just better suited to space?
yucelyilmaz/Shutterstock The UK Space Agency and space startup Vast just signed an agreement to send Paralympic sprinter and below-knee amputee John McFall into orbit as early as 2027. Most coverage framed it as a victory for inclusion. As a space health researcher, I think something far more interesting happened. For 70 years, spaceflight has assumed […]
Confused about your building’s energy performance? Here’s how to understand Europe’s new labels
Bartolomiej Pietrzyk/Shutterstock Imagine an apartment that could be teleported across Europe. In Spain, its energy certificate might read D. In Germany, the same apartment could earn a C on a scale that runs to H. In Brussels, it might land on B, one of more than 15 subclasses. In the Netherlands, where the scale climbs […]
Ukraine war: Belarus’s highwire act teeters under Russian pressure
The Belarusian dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, spoke at a ceremony for military graduates and officers on July 6. He predictably mentioned the war in neighbouring Ukraine. “No one is going to send you into this slaughter,” he assured them, “we do not need war; it is tragic that it is going on in Ukraine.” Yet, arguably, […]
Confessions II: a euphoric return to form that reveals a more vulnerable Madonna
Madonna’s much-anticipated Confessions II has just broken official chart records, making her the first American woman to earn number one albums across five decades. It’s her tenth number one record. A kind of sequel to 2005’s Confessions on a Dancefloor, it marks a euphoric return to form, released seven years after her last album, Madame […]
Taxi Driver at 50: how Martin Scorsese’s film foreshadowed the manosphere
As plumes of steam rise and dissipate from the grates of New York in the opening frames of Taxi Driver, we see the unsettled brown eyes of Travis Bickle, played by Robert De Niro in a career-defining role. The second of Martin Scorsese’s successful collaborations with De Niro, the pair went on to make another […]