When your head reminds you of the excesses of the day before. Does the quality of the drink have an impact on the pain? Are there any remedies approved by science? Can you prevent a hangover? Since when do we have hangovers ( or “vesalgia” for scientists)? Probably for much longer than wine and other fermented drinks […] … learn more→
Monthly Archives: December 2024
Why does drinking alcohol give you a headache?
Climate media attention is growing, but so is news overload and misinformation
We receive so much stimuli and information every day through our digital devices that we often feel overwhelmed and overwhelmed. We have greater access to information than at any other time in history. Does this help us better understand the risks we face and the measures needed to tackle the climate crisis once and for […] … learn more→
Conscious breathing can reduce anxiety and depression – tips for how to do it
Breathing is a thing we do without thinking; it keeps us alive. But there is far more to this most basic of biological functions. Conscious breathing can reduce stress, anxiety and depression and prevent insomnia. Christiane Brems, author and clinical professor in psychiatry and behavioural sciences, describes where to start if you’d like to develop a […] … learn more→
The longer the race, the closer it gets: women are closing in on men when it comes to ultra-endurance events
Men are dominant at most athletic events but ultra-endurance sports (exercising for six hours or more) represent a unique domain where the performance gap between men and women is narrowing significantly. In traditional endurance events like marathons, men consistently outperform women by about 10%. However, in ultra-distance competitions this disparity can be as small as 4%. In some […] … learn more→
Walking into stress in 2025? Take steps now to prepare
Five years ago, I began a research project into emotional labour, compassion fatigue and burnout in Alberta’s educational workers. The results from the earliest study suggested a wide scope of emotional and mental distress among teachers, educational assistants, school leaders and support staff. This distress has been documented globally and across Canada, suggesting educator mental and emotional well-being continues to decline […] … learn more→
Polarization and misinformation: the challenge of understanding and interpreting public opinion in the digital age
The European Parliament elections last June confirmed trends that had been observed in previous years: a shift to the right, polarisation and difficulty in forming governing majorities . Countries such as Austria , France and some German regions are evidence of these changes. These trends were also reflected in the US presidential elections on 5 November, where Donald Trump emerged as the clear winner . […] … learn more→
An AI system has reached human level on a test for ‘general intelligence’. Here’s what that means
A new artificial intelligence (AI) model has just achieved human-level results on a test designed to measure “general intelligence”. On December 20, OpenAI’s o3 system scored 85% on the ARC-AGI benchmark, well above the previous AI best score of 55% and on par with the average human score. It also scored well on a very difficult mathematics test. […] … learn more→
Work or play? The rise of online ‘kidfluencers’ is raising complex legal and ethical questions
Videos of children opening boxes of toys and playing with them have become a feature of online marketing – making stars out of children as young as two. Twelve-year-old influencer Ryan Kaji, for example, earns US$30 million a year on YouTube leading one of the most popular children’s channels. His empire was built on toy unboxing. […] … learn more→
Social media firings, anti-union contracts and corporate surveillance: are employers our biggest threat to free speech?
Free speech has become a political hobby horse in today’s world of increasingly divisive populism. On the one side, the cancel culture left is accused of erecting ideological barriers that silence the expression of political opinions that do not conform to the party line. On the other, the right often supports no-holds-barred public dialogue, including […] … learn more→
The “deconstructed guy”, a valued figure of post-#MeToo masculinity
Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex features three working-class English high school girls – Tara, Skye and Em – who go out clubbing with other young people. One of them, Baddy, embodies a form of “manly” masculinity: full of confidence, he is enterprising […] … learn more→