The order in which you acquire diseases could affect your life expectancy – new research: Almost two-thirds of UK adults aged 65 and over possess two or more long-term health conditions. EvgL/Shutterstock More than 25% of adults in the UK have two or more long-term health conditions. This increases to 65% for people older than …
Why beaver-like dams can protect communities from flooding – new research: A beaver-like dam at Wilde Brook on the Corve catchment in Shropshire. Daniel Jones, Author provided Low cost, human-made river barriers, similar to those built by beavers, can protect communities at risk of flooding. Our new research has found that such natural barriers intentionally …
How consciousness may rely on brain cells acting collectively – new psychedelics research on rats: Psychedelics can help uncover consciousness. agsandrew/Shutterstock Psychedelics are known for inducing altered states of consciousness in humans by fundamentally changing our normal pattern of sensory perception, thought and emotion. Research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics has increased significantly in the …
Why bilinguals may have a memory advantage – new research: Luis Molinero/Shutterstock Think about being in a conversation with your best friend or partner. How often do you finish each other’s words and sentences? How do you know what they are going to say before they have said it? We like to think it is …
How subtle forms of sexism in financial services led to recent City scandals – what research shows: William Perugini/Shutterstock When I first worked in the City of London, a few years out of university, a company-appointed “style consultant” suggested I would be taken more seriously as a female professional if I wore more make-up and …
How some fish learned to hide behind others to hunt – new research: Griffin Gillespie/Shutterstock Human hunters once used stalking horses as common practice – a domesticated animal (or a wooden replica), which people guided towards their quarry while crouching behind it. People believed the stalking horse would not spook wildfowl, allowing them to approach …
Exercising during a hospital stay linked with faster recovery – new research: As little as 25 minutes of walking a day had benefits. Photo_imagery/ Shutterstock When a person is admitted to hospital for any reason – whether due to illness or to undergo surgery – it’s expected they will spend the duration of their stay …
Linking police and healthcare data could help better identify domestic abuse – new research: Healthcare professionals can play a vital role in identifying and helping people who are experiencing domestic abuse. HTWE/Shutterstock Identifying domestic abuse victims earlier could help to reduce future emergency medical admissions. Our new research shows how this could be done before …
Net zero: direct costs of climate policies aren’t a major barrier to public support, research reveals: Amid headlines of wildfires raging across Europe and Africa and flooding in China, the UK government took the bewildering choice to expand fossil fuel extraction. Prime minister Rishi Sunak declared that more than 100 new oil and gas drilling …
Hiring refugees is not just ‘doing a good thing’ – research shows it can also help businesses: Pressmaster/Shutterstock The global refugee population is more than 26 million people, according to some estimates. Such largescale movements of people affect many countries and have created significant interest among business and management researchers in recent years as companies …
Elon Musk crowdsourced Twitter’s new X logo but research shows shifting focus to the ‘everything app’ may be premature: A succession of upheavals have characterised Elon Musk’s leadership of Twitter since he acquired the social media platform in November 2022 – from his U-turns on the acquisition, to firings and rehirings and a significant drop …
Long COVID: brain function still affected for some up to two years after infection – new research: LightField Studios/Shutterstock Difficulties with cognitive functions or skills, such as the ability to recall memories, concentrate on tasks, or find the right words in conversation, are commonly reported following a COVID infection. These symptoms are often referred to …
When mafia threatens democracy: research shows ordinary people are less honest in countries hit by organised crime: Organised crime casts a long shadow, driving violence and an illicit economy. But our research has uncovered some more subtle dimensions to its influence, too. We’ve found that organised crime can undermine the civic honesty of ordinary, law …
COVID: a gene mutation could help explain why some people don’t get symptoms – new research: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock One aspect of the COVID pandemic that has fascinated both scientists and the public alike is how the infection affects people differently. I’ve previously discussed the potential reasons some people have managed to avoid infection completely. But …
Horizon Europe: how the UK’s delay in rejoining EU funding scheme is damaging scientific research: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock Horizon Europe is the largest and richest funding programme for scientific research in the world. Run by the European Union (EU), it has a budget of €95.5 billion (£83 billion) spread over seven years – from 2021 …
How classic psychology warped our view of human nature as cruel and selfish – but new research is more hopeful: DorSteffen/Shutterstock There are a number of classic experiments and theories that every psychology student learns about, but more recent research has questioned their findings so that psychologists today are reevaluating human nature. One example is …
Mental illness in fathers may increase the risk of preterm birth – new research: MiniStocker/Shutterstock Mothers with a mental illness are more likely to give birth too early, according to research. But the risk of preterm birth can also be affected by a father’s mental health. In our new study published in the journal PLOS …
Pandemic healthcare disruptions led to more preventable hospital admissions – new research: Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock It’s well known that the COVID pandemic created unprecedented disruption in how healthcare was provided and delivered globally. With the emergency phase of the pandemic now behind us, it’s important to understand if and how these disruptions affected people’s health. In …