It is relatively common for products to contain carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals). Two of the most common carcinogens are parabens and phthalates. These chemicals are part of a category known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These chemicals can cause quite a few different health problems, not just cancer. Revelations of EDCs in a certain product causing cancer […] … learn more→

Any boy, girl or young person with a smartphone in hand has the possibility of receiving and exchanging messages with any unknown person anywhere in the world. Relationship, information and communication technologies allow new forms of communication and interaction for minors, but also the appearance and increase of new forms of abuse . Online sexual requests and interactions […] … learn more→

In 2023, some 100 miles off the coast of north-east England, the world’s largest wind turbines will start generating electricity. This first phase of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm development uses General Electric’s Haliade X, a turbine that stands more than a quarter of a kilometre high from the surface of the sea to the […] … learn more→

If you could redesign high school, what might you change? How could the schedule be more flexible? What if teachers worked together as teams? What if groups of students were combined based on interest and given the opportunity to connect learning to their everyday lives? Noel Burke, the founder of an educational reform initiative in […] … learn more→

The new year often means a new season of kids’ sports. Many families may be pondering whether to commit to another season or discovering their child is now saying they’d like to quit their usual sport. My husband and I faced this dilemma last year when our nine-year-old wanted to quit Nippers (junior surf lifesaving). […] … learn more→

What do we think when someone asks us how we write? Probably, if our handwriting is legible or if we follow the spelling rules… but writing goes much further. Writing is representing thought through graphic symbols in a coherent, orderly and meaningful way, following a common thread and using language appropriate to the reader. Thus, the difficult […] … learn more→

Debt, in some form or another, is part of our financial profiles whether we like it or not. And it can be a useful way to build wealth if it is managed carefully and wisely. For example, you may borrow money from the bank to buy an asset – a resource of economic value that […] … learn more→

“Like most people I read a book or two on holiday,” says Stuart, a character in Julian Barnes’ 1991 novel Talking it Over. He does not have time for recreational reading; it must wait until he is at leisure. His best friend, the erudite but erratically employed Oliver, derides this attitude. To Oliver, a summer reader […] … learn more→

Science and maths skills are widely celebrated as keys to economic and technological progress, but abstract mathematics may seem bafflingly far from industrial optimisation or medical imaging. Pure mathematics often yields unanticipated applications, but without a time machine to look into the future, how do mathematicians like me choose what to study? Over Thai noodles, […] … learn more→

When will be the year of epidemiology? There will be those who think that it has already been. But those of us who dedicate ourselves to this branch of science know that there will never be a dedicated year because everyone has their own desire and challenges. The year 2022, like the two previous years, has been […] … learn more→