By Eef Hogervorst, Professor of Biological Psychology, Loughborough University
Inside the body, a 24-hour rhythm, known as the circadian rhythm, quietly coordinates when we sleep, wake, eat and recover. This internal timing system helps keep organs and hormones working in sync. When it becomes disrupted, the effects may extend well beyond poor sleep, with growing evidence suggesting consequences for long-term brain health.
A large 2025 study of more than 2,000 people with an average age of 79 found that those with a strong circadian rhythm had an almost halved risk of developing…
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By Sally Kyd, Professor of Law, University of Leicester
Driving is the one activity carried out by three-quarters of adults in England which has a risk of killing or being killed. But society seems to accept the risks associated with car travel.
As transport secretary Heidi Alexander notes, we would never accept four people a day dying in train or plane…
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By Tom Oliver, Professor of Applied Ecology, University of Reading
You just need to step outside at the right time and look in the right places to reconnect with nature at this time of year.
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By Ye Xue, Research Fellow, China Institute, University of Alberta
Mark Carney’s trip to China is aimed at breaking the ice between Canada and China after years of a frosty relationship.
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By Emmanuelle Khoury, Associate professor, School of Social Work, Université de Montréal
Aline Bogossian, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Université de Montréal
Caron Roxane, Professeure en travail social, Université de Montréal
Rola Koubeissy, Professeure adjointe, Département de Psychopédagogie et d’andragogie, Université de Montréal
Many educators and students living through war and displacement carry difficult emotions into classrooms, but they can also transform them into acts of care and resistance. To understand this, we need to understand their emotional states at a granular level.
Since January 2024, we have been collaborating on a project with the dean and professors at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Ibn Sina College in Nablus, Palestine, with support from
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By Skip York, Nonresident Fellow in Energy and Global Oil, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
US oil companies have never stopped investing and operating in Venezuela’s petroleum industry, despite many changes in the terms of their engagement.
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By Narmin Nahidi, Assistant Professor in Finance, University of Exeter
When Hurricane Delta hit Mexico’s Caribbean coast in 2020, insurance payouts were released within days – not to rebuild hotels or roads, but to repair coral reefs.
In the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, reefs are insured and restoration is taken care of by a local trust. After storms, payouts fund rapid restoration so reefs can keep doing their job: breaking up waves so they don’t erode the shore, reducing…
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By Paul Hough, Lecturer Sport & Exercise Physiology , University of Westminster
Lack of time is often the main reason people don’t exercise regularly. But a type of interval workout recently popularised by actress Jessica Biel could be the solution – with research showing it can improve fitness faster than traditional, steady-pace workouts, such as jogging or cycling.
The Norwegian 4x4 workout has traditionally been used by athletes. It’s a form of high-intensity interval training (Hiit) that involves four-minute sets of very intense cardio exercise, followed by three minutes of very light exercise.…
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By Nathan Waddell, Professor of Twentieth-Century Literature, University of Birmingham
Like many of us, George Orwell saw January as a month to be endured rather than enjoyed. You can picture him steeling himself against its cold, gloom, rain, frost and wind.
And not only because of his ailing, vulnerable body, which was ravaged for so many years by respiratory malfunction. But also because grimacing defiance is the posture January tends to bring out in people. Orwell wasn’t an exception. His attitude to January is soothingly familiar yet peculiarly his own.
At one point in Orwell’s novel Keep…
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By Daisy Fancourt, Professor Psychobiology and Epidemiology, UCL
Vincent van Gogh sliced off his ear with a knife during a psychotic episode. Ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky developed schizophrenia and spent the last 30 years of his life in hospital. Virginia Woolf lived with bipolar disorder, eventually taking her own life as she felt another deep depression beginning.
Many famous creative artists have lived with severe mental illness. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mariah Carey, Demi Lovato, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Mel Gibson have all reported diagnoses of bipolar disorder. Yayoi Kusama, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Cobain and Syd Barrett spoke about experiences…
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