To clean up England’s rivers we need to know how much sewage is dumped – but water firms won’t tell us: A sewer overflow maintained by United Utilities that flows into the River Tame in Greater Manchester. Jamie Woodward, Author provided UK environment secretary Thérèse Coffey has demanded that water companies share plans for how …
Election observers are important for democracy – but few voters know what they do: Members of a European Union election observation team speak to voters in Zimbabwe. Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images Election observers keep watch over polls throughout the world. Their job is to support efforts to improve electoral quality and to provide transparency. …
Bruce Willis has frontotemporal dementia – here’s what we know about the disease: American actor Bruce Willis has frontotemporal dementia, his family has announced. In 2022, the 67-year-old action movie star was diagnosed with aphasia – difficulty with language and speech. Aphasia can occur for a variety of reasons (most commonly stroke) but for Willis, …
Norovirus: what to know about this bug as northern hemisphere countries face outbreaks: Vadym Pastukh/Shutterstock Recently there has been a sharp rise in cases of norovirus, sometimes called the winter vomiting bug, in the UK. According to the UK Health Security Agency, cases in England are 66% higher than the average for this time of …
Pulses are packed with goodness: Five cool things you should know about them: pbd Studio/shutterstock Each year on February 10, the United Nations commemorates what probably sounds to many like a strange occasion: World Pulses Day. But, as a researcher focused on forgotten and underutilised legumes, I think the initiative is an important step towards …
Shrinking: a psychiatrist doesn’t know the “truth” and other issues with the show’s depiction of therapy, according to a clinical psychologist: Shrinking is advertised as the story of the grieving therapist Jimmy (Jason Segel) who has lost his wife and wants to try a new approach to his loss, one that involves honesty, including telling …
Vitamins and supplements: what you need to know before taking them: Supitcha McAdam/Shutterstock If you were to open your medicine cabinet right now, there’s a fair chance that you’d find at least one bottle of vitamins alongside the painkillers, plasters and cough syrup. After all, people are definitely buying vitamins: in 2020, the global market …
Sugary drinks tax may be reducing obesity in girls but not boys – an expert explains what we know: Ann in the uk/Shutterstock The introduction of the UK’s soft drinks industry levy, commonly known as the sugary drinks tax, was associated with reduced obesity among 10- and 11-year-old girls, according to a recent study. So does …
Seychelles is becoming overwhelmed by marine plastic — we now know where it comes from: A green turtle on Aldabra entangled in abandoned fishing gear. Rich Baxter, CC BY-NC-ND More than 1,000km southwest of Mahé, the main inhabited island in Seychelles, lies a ring of coral islands called the Aldabra Atoll. The islands are a …
Magnesium: what you need to know about this important micronutrient: Magnesium has many important functions in the body. Tatjana Baibakova/ Shutterstock There’s been a lot of chat on social media over the past few months about the importance of magnesium supplements. Many suggest that symptoms such as trouble sleeping, tense muscles and low energy are …
It’ll take 150 years to map Africa’s biodiversity at the current rate. We can’t protect what we don’t know: Niassa Special Reserve in Northern Mozambique's is just one of the continent's under-mapped biodiversity areas. Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq The African continent is bursting with biodiversity. In a 2016 report, the United Nations Environment Programme wrote: …
Placebos reduce feelings of guilt – even when people know they’re taking one: GoodStudio/Shutterstock Guilt is a double-edged sword. It can be a reminder to improve and a motivation to apologise. It can also lead to pathological perfectionism and stress and is also closely associated with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Unfortunately, good and bad …
What you need to know about software bills of materials: What you need to know about software bills of materials zvr Tue, 01/24/2023 – 03:00 Modern software development is incredibly complex. Software nowadays is always comprised of a combination of components. These components are typically modules and libraries called by other code or even standalone …
Climate change: Africa has a major new carbon market initiative – what you need to know: Activists press for climate change financing during COP27. Mohamed Abdel Hamid/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Climate finance for the African continent got a boost at the 2022 United Nations Climate Conference (COP27), with the launch of the African Carbon …
Kenya’s Rift Valley lakes are rising, putting thousands at risk – we now know why: A May 2022 drone image of the submerged main entrance to Lake Nakuru National Park. Photo by James Wakibia/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The East African Rift Valley sits between the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia and Mozambique. Within it lie …
Jeff Beck dies of bacterial meningitis – what you need to know about the disease: Influential English guitarist Jeff Beck, who rose to fame playing with the Yardbirds and later fronted the Jeff Beck Group, died on January 10 aged 78 after contracting bacterial meningitis. Bacterial meningitis happens when germs get into the tissues (the …
Shamanism: what you need to know about the fastest-growing ‘religion’ in England and Wales: According to the latest census, an unlikely “religion” is growing in popularity across England and Wales: shamanism. Just 650 people said they subscribed to the belief system in 2011, but that figure has increased more than tenfold over the past decade …
COVID: what we know about new omicron variant BF.7: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock Since the COVID variant omicron emerged in late 2021, it has rapidly evolved into multiple subvariants. One subvariant, BF.7, has recently been identified as the main variant spreading in Beijing, and is contributing to a wider surge of COVID infections in China. But what …