Black Salmon Jolanta Burke, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences The self-help industry is booming, fuelled by research on positive psychology – the scientific study of what makes people flourish. At the same time, the rates of anxiety, depression and self-harm continue to soar worldwide. So are we doomed […]

Sam Carr, University of Bath and Chao Fang, University of Bath Paula* had not been living in her retirement apartment for very long when I arrived for our interview. She welcomed me into a modern, comfortable home. We sat in the living room, taking in the impressive view from her […]

People across the UK will have more choice over when to start a family as the government sets out plans to increase the storage limits for eggs, sperm and embryos. Following a public consultation last year, proposals will be introduced to increase the statutory storage limits for everyone from the […]

Gill Margaret Hague, University of Bristol The women who set up the first women’s refuges in the UK in the 1970s changed the world. They saved the lives of many women. And the projects and political actions they began have grown into an international movement which campaigns for justice and […]

Charlie Tye, University of York In trying to understand what prompted a man in Plymouth, England to commit the worst mass shooting in the UK for over a decade, attention has turned to his apparent links with the incel community – an online subculture of people who describe themselves as […]

Not all narcissists are loud. By K Petro/Shutterstock Nikhila Mahadevan, University of Essex Chances are you’ve met a narcissist. Someone who thinks they’re better than everyone else, dominates the conversation and loves the limelight. But scientists are increasingly realising that not all narcissists are the same – some are, in […]

By Dawn Robinson-Walsh: A relative gave me a copy of Saga Magazine, which is pretty interesting. Within was an article by best-selling author, Kate Mosse, who is also a carer for her mother-in-law. Let’s not be rose-tinted, for age brings with it challenges, especially when illness such as dementia is […]

wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock Yvonne Wren, University of Bristol “What did the face mask say to the mouth?” “Let me cover for you!” This timely joke was made not by a professional comedian but by a group of primary school students, who have won the 2021 title of “Britain’s Funniest Class”. It was […]

J.K2507/Shutterstock Jane Setter, University of Reading A recent survey of 2,000 adults in the UK identified the top ten “mispronunciations” people find annoying. Thankfully the majority (65%) of annoyed people do not feel comfortable correcting a speaker in public. But leaving aside the fact that 2,000 is hardly a representative […]

Jessica Robles, Loughborough University Unlike Britain’s royal family, most of us don’t have the option to move to another country when we don’t see eye to eye. But most of us have likely experienced disagreements with loved ones. Conversations are designed to do things – to start some action, and […]