Why £72 million doesn’t come for free – the risks to Reform UK of taking cash from mega-donors
British politics looks set to be dominated in the coming weeks and months by the £72 million donated to Reform UK. This is because, and there’s really no other way to cut the cake here, this is an astonishing amount of money. The donations to Reform came in the space of just one weekend – […]
Abdominal aortic aneurysms can cause years of anxiety, even without symptoms
A healthcare professional explains an abdominal ultrasound to an older patient. Ultrasound is used to detect and monitor abdominal aortic aneurysms. BearFotos/Shutterstock Some people describe it as a ticking timebomb. Others learn to live with information they can neither see nor feel, but cannot forget. This is what it can mean to be diagnosed with […]
Andy Burnham wants to run a ‘cost of living government’ – here’s what he can learn from families living through the crisis
Richard M Lee/Shutterstock Parliament is back in session, and Andy Burnham is set to put his promise of becoming a “cost-of-living government” into practice. Since 2021, economic and geopolitical instability has led UK households to struggle with a fall in real disposable income and inflation, particularly around food and energy prices. Families are under sustained […]
Greyhound racing just turned 100, and says its dogs are fine. But are they?
Motion-blurred greyhounds in coloured racing jackets racing around a floodlit track at night. Craig Allen/flickr, CC BY-NC This year, greyhound racing in Britain turns 100 years old. The first race ran on July 24 1926 in Manchester, where six dogs chased a mechanical hare around a track. Recently, the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) […]
The real reason Britons are more medicated than Danes
It is tempting to tell a tidy story in which people in Britain take too many pills because they exercise too little and eat too poorly, while Danes stay slim by cycling everywhere. The assumption is that Britain relies on medication to fix lifestyle failures, whereas Denmark relies on prevention. But are Britons actually more […]
Scientists are divided over plans to artificially dim the sun – here’s what they’re actually arguing about
No, President Joe Biden did not engineer Hurricane Milton. No, the ice-crystal contrails left behind high-altitude aircraft are not “chemtrails” sprayed by governments to control the weather or manipulate populations. No, state-run cloud seeding did not cause the record floods in Dubai. Yet claims like these are widespread online and increasingly find their way into […]
Tech leaders are calling for an ‘AI slowdown’ – but what would that mean in practice?
Alexander Supertramp / Shutterstock On Saturday, Donald Trump said, “We’re leading China on AI… and, frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins.” But the danger the world is waking up to is that this is a game both the US and China could lose, potentially fatally, with AI itself […]
The demise of the single-handed backhand is a watershed moment for tennis
Every year since the first Wimbledon Championship in 1877, a male player with a one-handed backhand has featured in the singles semi-finals of a grand slam. That 149 year streak ended at this year’s US Open when Stefanos Tsitsipas, the last remaining single-hander in the draw, exited the tournament in the round of 16. This […]
Iron overload: how tea, coffee, red meat and alcohol can affect absorption
YARUNIV Studio/Shutterstock Most of us are used to hearing about the risks of not getting enough iron. Yet having too much iron in the body can also cause serious health problems. Iron overload occurs when it gradually accumulates in the body. Excess iron can be stored in organs such as the liver, heart and pancreas. […]
Pisa results: England bucks global decline in reading and Wales falls behind
J.P. Junior Pereira/Shutterstock Every three years, the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests the reading, maths and science skills of 15-year-olds in countries across the world. Each Pisa cycle other skills are tested: in 2025, computational problem solving and use of AI were two additional topics covered. Pisa, carried out by the Organisation for […]