Breathing polluted air may make you worse at maths and language
Air pollutants can creep into your brain as you breathe, deteriorating your brain tissue and damaging your cognitive function – and it’s worse for men
Naked mole rats may become good parents by eating their queen’s faeces
It’s common for naked mole rats to eat faeces, and the hormones within their pregnant queen’s waste could trigger them to become more attentive to her pups
If the cashless dream goes sour, it will be the poorest who suffer
A few central banks are considering whether to issue digital analogues of cash, but unless done carefully, it could leave the most vulnerable out of pocket
AI can make high-definition fake videos from just a simple sketch
AI can now make incredibly realistic fake videos, known as deepfakes, in high definition. The tool is freely available meaning anyone can make convincing fakes
Doomed crew seeking Northwest Passage didn’t die from lead poisoning
The Franklin expedition disappeared in 1845. One theory suggests lead in the crew’s diet impaired their judgement – but a new analysis suggests otherwise
Flashing checkerboard patterns let us see a picture that doesn’t exist
Using patterned light to illuminate an object and then flashing those same patterns on a screen can let our eyes build up an image that isn’t really there
Colourful clownfish carry an unusual health warning for predators
Many animals use bright colours to advertise their toxicity – but clownfish are colourful because their sea anemone hosts are venomous
Nose breathing in yoga may calm the mind by slowing brainwaves
When meditators take deep breaths through their nose it causes nerves in their nasal passages to fire more slowly, and brainwaves follow suit [we can’t say the brain fires more slowly
We can train ourselves to be better at knowing when we are wrong
Humans have an awareness of the limitations of our knowledge – and we can get better at judging when we might be making a mistake
Women in England to be allowed to have abortions at home
Women who are less than 10 weeks pregnant will soon be able to have abortions at home, bringing England in line with Scotland and Wales