2 h. ago Wood burning and gas cooking hugely costly to healthcare systems, New Zealand study finds

Experts suggest replacing gas hobs with electric ones, saying it is a win–win for health and the climateAir pollution from wood burning and gas cooking is massively costly to our healthcare systems and the economy. These are the conclusions of a peer-reviewed study from New Zealand that calculated the cost of hospital treatment, days off ill and early deaths from the air pollution produced by fireplaces, stoves, gas cooking and un-flued room heaters.Indoor air pollution from New Zealand’s 523,000 wood burners was estimated to account for 446 hospital admissions for heart and lung problems, and 101 early deaths annually, in a country with a population of just over 5 million people. Breathing fumes from gas cooking indoors created more than 1,000 hospital admissions, 208 early deaths and more than 3,000 new cases of childhood asthma each year. Continue reading...

Society

8 h. ago World on track to add nearly two months of superhot days each year, study finds

The research also highlights the significant positive impact of global efforts to reduce heat-trapping gas emissions

Politics

21 h. ago Scientists reveal the surprising age at which your brain reaches its peak

With each passing day, you may feel like you're getting further past your peak. But panic not - as a new study suggests your best days may still lie ahead of you.

Politics

27 h. ago The world is heading to add 57 superhot days a year, but study indicates it could have been worse

A new study finds the world is on track to add nearly two months of dangerously hot days each year by the end of the century

Politics

3 d. ago Scientists uncover exact amount of daily steps that improves health and it’s lower than 10,000

A new study has found that just 2,200 steps per day could improve health, but it didn’t have the most optimal results for every lifestyle

Science

7 d. ago Female athletes have faster reaction times on day they ovulate, study finds

Variation of 80 milliseconds ‘a big difference’ at elite level, while they also make fewer mistakesFemale athletes have reaction times 80 milliseconds faster and make fewer mistakes on the day they ovulate, according to research.Researchers at University College London (UCL) studied how different stages of the menstrual cycle and levels of activity affected women’s brain function. They tracked 54 women aged 18 to 40 not using hormone-based contraception and grouped them according to how much exercise they took: inactive (reported not taking part in any form of structured exercise), recreationally active (taking part in at least two hours of structured exercise a week), competing in any sport at club level, and elite (competing in any sport at national or international level). Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Just one can of diet soft drink a day can raise risk of liver disease by 60%, study finds

New research finds both sugary and artificially sweetened beverages have significant impact on liver health

Events

1 week ago Laughing just once a day can cut risk of depression, study finds

Laughter is often said to be the best medicine, easing all troubles that may come our way. And it seems there may be some truth to the claim.

Events

2 w. ago Texts to parents highlighting missed school days help improve attendance – study

A trial evaluation found texts stating, for example: ‘Tom has missed five days this term’ had a small positive impact on school attendance.

Culture

2 w. ago NASA says giant China dam shifted Earth's axis and made days shorter

The Three Gorges Dam in China has had a surprising impact on Earth's rotation, causing our days to lengthen ever so slightly, according to a new study from NASA

Politics

2 w. ago The sign in your morning pee that shows you’re ‘suffering chronic stress’ – and 5 colours to watch for

EVER stopped to peer down into the toilet bowl after your morning wee? A quick glance could give you insight into how stressed you might get that day. A new study by Liverpool John Moores University found that people who woke up with darker urine had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol when placed...

Politics

2 w. ago Just four days of eating junk food can impact your brain health and could lead to dementia, study warns

Eating a diet high in junk food could harm the brain within days and increase the risk of dementia, new research suggests.

Events

2 w. ago Time of day you should drink coffee to lower heart attack and stroke risk

A new study has found that drinking coffee at a certain time of day could reduce your risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke

Events

2 w. ago ‘I’ve never driven a car. I can’t cook. I’m a lost cause’: meet Australia’s top quizzers

They study for hours a day. The competitions have zero prize money. So what keeps quiz champions going for glory – and how do they win?Get our weekend culture and lifestyle emailIssa Schultz has a daily schedule that not many could compete with.“I get up, I make a coffee, I go on the computer and I do quizzes. I take a break for lunch and then get back on the computer for more quizzes,” he says. “It sounds like an illness, and others may diagnose it as that, but I am that obsessed. It’s not an exaggeration to say I treat it as an eight-hour job – a full-time day.” Schultz is Australia’s #1 ranked quizzer, the name for the people who take trivia very seriously. It’s a hobby he’s structured his entire life around. For about six weeks a year, Schultz films the Channel 7 show The Chase Australia, where he serves as one of the quizshow’s “chasers” – the experts whom contestants must topple if they want to take home the prize money (his nickname on the show, fittingly, is The Supernerd). ...

Transport

3 w. ago Is your daily fizzy drink making you depressed? New study links just half a can of cola or lemonade a day with low mood

Cans of fizzy drinks have long been blamed for weight gain and tooth decay-and now scientists have explored if they could be affecting your mental health.

Politics

3 w. ago Better Days review – modest, honest study of woman trying to grapple with a drinking problem

Valérie Bonneton is terrific in French drama about women in rehab that gets a little carried awayThis French rehab drama begins with some painfully realistic scenes showing the grim slog of maintaining a hidden drinking problem. At night, after her kids go to bed, mum of three Suzanne (Valérie Bonneton) gets a box down from a high cupboard. Inside is her stash of vodka, which she carefully siphons into mineral water bottles for the next day. There is no pleasure in her drinking; it makes her foggy at work and detached from her boys. Bonneton, better known in France for comedy roles, is terrific, with her warm, worn performance, not a scrap of sentimentality in it.Suzanne hits her rock bottom after a car accident; the court puts her sons into the care of their grandparents and orders her into rehab. First comes denial. “Some wine with dinner,” she tells the doctor who asks her about her drinking at the all-female unit. Other residents include Diane (Michèle Laroque), a famous actor w...

Politics

3 w. ago Manchester United cult hero who won 2008 Champions League faces prison time for failing to pay £142,000 child maintenance after fathering NINE children

Reports claim he will be allowed out to study or do community work during the day, but have to return to his lock-up at night, under a more lax 'semi-open regime' only if there is prison overcrowding.

Sport

4 w. ago Touch grass: How Gen Z stopped going outside and why it matters

As a new study reveals that most British young people stay indoors for days at a time, it starts to make sense of why we’re witnessing the mass decline of mental health – and the continuing rise of the age of rage, writes Helen Coffey

Politics