Not all fruits and vegetables are equal when it comes to heart health, our research shows
The flavanols found in many fruits and vegetables are beneficial for heart health. nadianb/ Shutterstock Fruits and vegetables are an important part of our diet. They provide nutrients and fibre, and many contain additional compounds (known as bioactives) that can improve health. But not all foods are created equal – with big differences in the […]
Magic mushrooms and Alzheimer’s: what one remarkable case can tell us
CYAM/Shutterstock Magic mushrooms are better known for producing hallucinations and altering people’s sense of reality than for treating brain diseases. Most people associate them with tripping, rather than Alzheimer’s disease. But a report on an individual patient has prompted scientists to ask whether psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, could have unexpected effects on […]
Trump has backed away from renewed war with Iran – here’s why
The US and Iran stepped back from the brink of returning to all-out war on June 11. Hours after saying the US military would carry out strikes against Iran for a third consecutive night, Donald Trump postponed the attack. The Iranian military had said the US would “receive a more severe response than before” if […]
Germany pulled the plug on flagship FCAS fighter jet – the implications for European defence are worrying
The effective collapse of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) fighter jet programme is a major setback for European defence cooperation. France, Germany and Spain have spent nearly a decade trying to develop what was intended to become Europe’s premier next-generation combat aircraft, only for the programme to succumb to disputes over leadership, the distribution […]
What John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary means for Keir Starmer and the UK
John Healey resigned as defence secretary following continued disagreement between Downing Street, the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence over the defence investment plan. Healey said the plan falls “well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”. His departure on June 11 was followed by Al Carns’ resignation […]
Windfarms on this Scottish isle are contentious – renewables must work for local people too
Turbines owned by the Galson Estate Trust, Lewis, Scotland. Laure Leglise, CC BY-NC-ND The landscape on the remote Isle of Lewis is striking: a mix of rugged terrain, peatlands, moorlands, lochs, sandy beaches and cliffs. This island at the northern end of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, has one of the UK’s highest levels of fuel […]
Do you lose your whole day to one appointment? ‘Waiting mode’ may be why
voronaman/Shutterstock You have a 3pm appointment. It’s now 10am and somehow your entire day already feels out of reach. Maybe you find yourself unable to start anything properly. You feel on edge, waiting for something to begin, or end. You check the time again and again. Even a positive, planned event, like a friend visiting […]
Why tiny amounts of vitamin B12 matter more as we age
Berna Namoglu/Shutterstock Two micrograms is an almost unimaginably small amount. It weighs less than a tiny fragment of a grain of table salt. Yet adults need only around this amount of vitamin B12 each day, depending on the guideline used, to support red blood cells, nerves and DNA production. In 2026, it is 100 years […]
What is the Common Travel Area? Why the Ireland-UK border arrangement isn’t a ‘loophole’ for migrants
A horrific knife attack in Belfast has exacerbated tensions which have spilled over into widespread disorder. Much of the violence has targeted migrants and ethnic minorities. Hadi Alodid, 30, a Sudanese refugee who entered the UK in 2023 via Ireland, has been charged with attempted murder. Politicians of all stripes have used the attack to […]
AI doesn’t just help us think, it thinks instead of us: what this means for the process of learning
Deep in Book VII of Plato’s Republic, Socrates describes prisoners chained inside a cave, mistaking shadows cast on a wall by firelight for reality itself. They name the shadows, debate them and develop expertise about them. The prisoners are completely, sincerely wrong, and they have no idea. The cave isn’t a place of stupidity, it’s […]