Five non-alcoholic cocktails to take you past dry January: Mateusz Gzik/Shutterstock More people, particularly young people, are opting to drink less or are cutting it out all together. This change in habits has inspired a healthy industry of non-alcoholic distillates offering reasonable substitutes for gin, rum and whisky, to be stirred up in “mocktails”. But …
How to talk to someone about conspiracy theories in five simple steps: These conversations may be difficult, but they're important Aloha Hawaii/Shutterstock People’s first instinct when engaging with conspiracy believers is often to try and debunk their ideas with factual and authoritative information. However, direct confrontation rarely works. Conspiracy theories are persuasive, often playing on …
Five big challenges for Lula’s presidency of Brazil: The storming of democratic intuitions in Brazil’s capital – the supreme court, the national congress and the presidential palace – on January 8 further exposed the deep divide that the nation’s new government has to address. Newly elected president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, now faces even …
How to spot a cyberbot – five tips to keep your device safe: Malware is designed to hide in your device Jaiz Anuar/Shutterstock You may know nothing about it, but your phone – or your laptop or tablet – could be taken over by someone else who has found their way in through a back …
Five ways to make part-time working easier and more available, according to new research: fizkes/Shutterstock Economic inactivity and the rising cost of out-of-work benefits are high on the UK government’s agenda right now. But new research into working patterns during the COVID furlough scheme suggests that both employers and the government could be missing a …
Are the fish in your aquarium happy? Five things to look out for: Beautiful landscape/Shutterstock If 1,500 captive mammals suffocated to death in a zoo, their suffering would spark an outcry. So when a Berlin hotel aquarium exploded at the end of 2022, why did so few people comment on the welfare of the fish? …
Five ways to reduce your mortgage repayments in 2023 – and why rates have risen so high: Many people are trying to tighten their belts right now. PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Around 4 million UK households will face higher mortgage costs in 2023 with average monthly payments expected to increase from £750 to £1,000. Banks’ …
Kids and money: five ways to start the conversation: Children feel empowered and learn more about financial independence when they understand basic concepts. Prostock-studio/Shutterstock When it comes to teaching young children about the world, parents may feel that some topics – like politics and religion – are too tough to broach. Money is another. Parents …
Five ways to avoid pain and injury when starting a new exercise regime: Make sure you include a good warm-up. Drazen Zigic/ Shutterstock Getting in the habit of exercising isn’t easy. Not only is finding the time to exercise a major deterrent for people, the fear of aches, pain and injuries is also a reason …
Five human technologies inspired by nature – from velcro to racing cars: Many of humanity's innovations have taken inspiration from the natural world. Alessandro De Maddalena/Shutterstock Nature has, over millions of years, evolved solutions to adapt to an array of challenges. As the challenges facing humanity become more complex, we are seeing inspiration being increasingly …
Five tips for developing and managing your budget — even in tough economic times: Budgeting offers more opportunities to save money. Getty Images There’s nothing quite like a new year to prompt us to take stock of our lives, our health, our goals – and our finances. Many people will start 2023 by contemplating how …
Five space exploration missions to look out for in 2023: Artist's impression of Starship cruising past the Moon. Space Exploration Technologies Corp./SpaceX Flickr, CC BY-SA It’s been an eventful year for space exploration, with successes including the completion of Nasa’s Artemis 1 mission (finally), the inauguration of the James Webb Space Telescope, and the completion …
Not sure how to keep your kids busy and happy these holidays? Here are five tips.: Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP via Getty Images When holidays roll around, many parents begin to appreciate just how tenacious teachers have to be to keep children engaged for weeks at a time. Some, faced with children they describe as “too playful”, …
Five on-screen references to Hanukkah to help you celebrate this Jewish festival: Owing to a quirk in the Jewish lunar calendar Hanukkah coincides with Christmas this year. While it predates the Christian festival – it is mentioned in the Bible, in the gospel of St John (“And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the …
Five options for restoring global biodiversity after the UN agreement: EDGAR PHOTOSAPIENS / shutterstock To slow and reverse the fastest loss of Earth’s living things since the dinosaurs, almost 200 countries have signed an agreement in Montreal, Canada, promising to live in harmony with nature by 2050. The Kunming-Montreal agreement is not legally binding but …
Five ways you can help stop biodiversity loss in your area – and around the world: Dawn Quadling/Shutterstock Biodiversity refers to the variety of life found on Earth and underpins the natural systems which grow our food, cleanse our air and water and regulate our climate. Human life cannot exist without it. But around one …
Five historical hot cocktails that are perfect for cold weather: An illustration from Charles Dickens's Bleak House of men drink hot toddys. It is cold outside and there’s nothing quite like a hot drink to warm the cockles. In the history of British mixed concoctions, there are arguably more hot drinks than cold for one …
Five unusual energy-saving tips to help you slash your bills: Heat the room you'll spend the most time in. Nikodash/Shutterstock As temperatures drop over the winter period and the cost of energy rises across the UK and Europe, how to spend less money on gas and electricity is on everyone’s minds. The UK energy regulator …