Men and women are turning to genital fillers for pleasure and size – here’s what can go wrong
NMK-Studio/Shutterstock.com Fillers are everywhere now – smoothing lines, plumping cheeks, adding volume around the eyes, nose and lips in clinics up and down the country. But some men are now having fillers injected into their penises to increase their size. These fillers often contain hyaluronic acid, a substance naturally found in the body that draws […]
China is exploring humanoid robots for war – but what role could they play?
At the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, a humanoid robot named Tiangong Ultra ran the 100-metre sprint in a staggering 8.64 seconds, shattering Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt’s legendary human world record of 9.58 seconds. The internet laughed at the robots’ awkward, lurching finishes and spectacular falls – but the laughter masked a chilling reality. […]
New insights into how the brain responds after a severed nerve is repaired could boost recovery
We carry a map of our bodies around in our brains. It’s not a literal picture, but an organised pattern of brain activity. So, touch different fingers and different parts of the brain respond. Remarkably, this arrangement is highly consistent from person to person. Known as the somatopic map, where somato means “body” and topo […]
Synthetic data could ease people’s concerns about privacy breaches. But who gets to create it?
Population-wide data without the privacy risks? IR Stone/Shutterstock For the past decade, most public debates about data have revolved around a familiar anxiety: too much of our personal information is being collected from our records and our online activity, and then shared and monetised. That concern has not gone away. But a shift is now […]
British food was complex, multicultural and flavourful in the 18th century – despite what you might think
King George enjoying a meal by James Gilray (1792). The Met, CC BY-NC The stereotype of bland British food is notorious, and people mock the horrors of jellied eels and overcooked vegetables. Even roast beef and pudding are seen as uninspired compared to the cuisines of other nations. But British food is and has historically […]
North Sea drilling is a distraction: low-carbon transition hinges on prioritising people and jobs
Oleksii Sidorov/Shutterstock Keeping global temperatures within safe limits is incompatible with new fossil fuel extraction, as stated by the International Energy Agency. This should be reason enough to oppose any new North Sea extraction of fossil fuels. The UK oil and gas industry is already in terminal decline, producing just a fifth of the oil […]
Sweden elections: why immigrants are underrepresented at the polls
The Swedish election has turned into a nail-biter. With the majority of votes counted in the contest for the national parliament, only a few tenths of a percentage point separate the left-leaning opposition “red-green” bloc and the incumbent centre-right coalition. This group is commonly known as the “Tidö” bloc. The opposition Social Democrats, led by […]
Houthi rebels’ control of Red Sea oil chokepoint exposes deep divisions in Brics
Houthi rebel forces have seized the Yemeni port of Mokha as well as Mayyun Island overlooking the Bab el-Mandab strait. This gives Iran’s most powerful remaining proxy force in the Middle East nearly complete control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast. Directly or indirectly, Tehran now has a chokehold on around 12% of global trade […]
Why the consequences of the ‘empty nest’ can be real – and serious
pics five/Shutterstock September is traditionally the time of year when many young people go to university or college, often leaving parents and carers facing an “empty nest”. But an empty nest doesn’t just mean a quiet home. Sometimes for the older generation there are also difficult questions about the next phase of their life. The […]
How to build a nutritious emergency food stockpile
Andrii Zastrozhnov/ Shutterstock A UK government watchdog has said UK homes aren’t prepared for the possibility of food supply disruptions that could come from disasters like cyberattacks, power cuts, disease outbreaks or extreme weather. The current government recommends that the public stock up on non-perishable food that doesn’t need cooking. But this vague guidance doesn’t […]