Have you ever noticed a sign in a doctor’s office saying that you may have to pay extra insurance costs if you discuss additional problems with your physician?
If so, you’re not alone. As health care spending continues to rise, providers are being asked to warn patients about any potential unexpected costs – for example, insurance charges for additional services at an otherwise fully covered annual wellness visit.
In two studies, we found that when people saw an insurance warning sign, they were less willing to raise a wide variety of issues during a physical exam. These included both short-term issues such as headaches, fatigue and arthritis pain in the finger joints, and previously diagnosed, chronic conditions including high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and asthma.
In a third study, we tested whether it was what the sign said – or just the mere presence of a sign mentioning costs – that made people reluctant to speak up. We showed participants either no sign, an insurance warning sign, or a sign about a prescription drug discount program, which was also modeled after a real sign in the same doctor’s office. Only people who saw the insurance sign were less likely to speak up.
We found that insurance warning signage, no matter how necessary or well intended, can discourage patients from sharing important health information. This could cause delays in important care, leading to unnecessary discomfort and stress as patients suffer with untreated issues.
Health care offices need to include certain insurance disclosures to inform patients of their rights under the No Surprises Act, which took effect in 2022. However, providers and administrators should be aware that their patients may often have cost concerns.
Doctors’ offices can try to find ways to communicate potential insurance costs while also encouraging patients to have open and honest discussions with their providers. The signage at the office that inspired this work had many words bolded and underlined, which may have made it feel especially aggressive to some patients.
It’s important for patients to know that they should never ignore symptoms. In fact, raising a concern as early as possible with a doctor or another health care provider can save more money down the road.
What still isn’t known
We weren’t able to study the long-term impacts of such signs, and it’s possible they have even more negative effects than we uncovered – for example, by making patients reluctant to have annual wellness visits.
It’s also unclear how often health care professionals actually report such conversations to insurers, especially when the issues are brought up briefly during a checkup and don’t require additional testing or treatment at that time.
But the research is clear on one point: When patients feel they can speak freely to their doctors, they get better care. That’s why doctors and other health care professionals should be aware that even well-intended warning signs may encourage patients to keep silent.
The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
Deidre Popovich has received grant funding from BlueCross BlueShield of Texas and Providence Health.
Helen Colby and Tony Stovall do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Limiting the amount of physical contact in training can reduce young players’ head injury risks, research shows.Mint Images RF via Getty Images
On July 28, 2025, a 27-year-old gunman entered a New York City office building that is home to the National Football League’s headquarters. He shot and killed four people and injured one other before killing himself.
CTE has received much attention over the past two decades as multiple NFL players have been diagnosed with the condition after their deaths. The 2015 movie “Concussion,” about a forensic pathologist named Dr. Bennet Omalu who documented the first case of CTE in an NFL player, also highlighted the issue.
The gunman in the New York City shooting played high school football, but he did not play professionally. It is not known whether he had CTE.
I’m a clinical psychologist who studies mental health issues and their relationship to physical illness. Although people generally associate CTE with professional athletes, a growing body of research, including my own work, shows that adolescents and young adult athletes experience traumatic brain injuries that can have both short-term and long-term effects on mental health. In my view, young players and their families, as well as coaches, should pay attention to these emerging risks.
A 27-year-old gunman who targeted NFL headquarters in New York City on July 28, 2025, believed he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
From traumatic brain injuries to CTE
At least 55 million people worldwide are thought to experience a traumatic brain injury each year. The actual number may be higher, as many brain injuries are never diagnosed or treated.
It is not uncommon for former competitive athletes across a range of contact sports to believe they may have CTE – not only because they remember the injuries or being diagnosed with a concussion, but also because they experience many of the cognitive symptoms that affect people with traumatic brain injuries and sometimes misuse alcohol, pain medications or other substances to cope with them.
However, there’s no way for someone to get a diagnosis for the condition while they are experiencing these symptoms. There is currently no test for CTE. Doctors generally diagnose it after an autopsy.
In a study published in March 2025, my colleagues and I assessed more than 500 varsity and club sport athletes. We found that 75% said they had experienced a head injury before starting college. Almost 40% reported being diagnosed with at least one concussion, and just over half of those athletes experienced a loss of consciousness.
We also found that student athletes who had experienced head injuries were much more likely to be diagnosed with at least one psychiatric disorder in their lifetime. They were more likely to drink alcohol excessively and have a substance use disorder in their history. Greater symptoms of an alcohol use disorder were associated with having their first head injury at an earlier age, as well as having more head injuries, diagnosed concussions and losing consciousness from those injuries.
How exactly these cases might relate to CTE is unknown, but there are hints of a link: Researchers examining the records of 152 former contact sport athletes who died before age 30 identified signs of CTE in the brains of 40% of them. Family members described mental health symptoms in the majority of them, and alcohol and substance misuse were reported in approximately one-third.
Increasing safeguards for brain health in young athletes
While head injuries in youth sports were once met with a shrug, youth sports leagues are increasingly paying attention to the issue.
Studies suggest that limiting the amount of physical contact in preseason training or between games can reduce young players’ head injury risks. Coaches of contact sports such as football and soccer often receive training on identifying the signs and symptoms of head injuries and are given strategies to manage them.
Athletic trainers, routinely available at many high school sporting events, are involved in sporting events for younger children as well. As first responders to athletic injuries, they are trained to assess symptoms of head injuries and can provide guidance, as part of a medical team, on when an athlete can return to play. Athletic trainers also may be well positioned to observe some of the mental health symptoms commonly seen after head injuries.
Following a head injury, parents and guardians should also keep an eye on their athlete. Changes in mood or behavior after a head injury warrant a referral to a neurologist or mental health professional for additional assessment and treatment.
The study was supported by a multi-project grant from the FY2015 Pennsylvania Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement Program Formula Funding (PA CURE). .
Walid Jumblatt, the political leader of Lebanon’s Druze minority, speaks in Beirut on July 18, 2025.AP Photo/Bilal Hussein
Violence continues several weeks after clashes started between armed Bedouin clans, Sunni jihadist groups and Druze fighters on July 14, 2025, in Sweida, a city in southern Syria.
Hundreds of Druze were killed in the clashes, and Syria’s defense minister deployed forces to contain the sectarian fighting.
We are experts in Druze and Lebanese history, and we know that the conflict in Sweida is regarded by the Druze of Lebanon – and the Druze everywhere – as a deeply personal matter.
What’s more, the horror stories coming out of Sweida are reverberating in Lebanon, where many Druze also fear the risk of sectarian violence, and distrust in current leadership.
Bonds forged through a long history
Many scholars attribute the strong bond between the Druze of Syria and Lebanon to their shared faith – which is partly true – but they often overlook an equally vital element: a collective conscience shaped by a distinctive origin story.
The Druze see themselves as an ancient, blood-related tribal coalition that evolved into an extended family spread across regions. This self-perception is so deeply rooted that it gave rise to a well-known Levantine saying: “The Druze are like a copper plate – wherever you strike it, it rings.”
According to local tradition, several Druze families from Mount Lebanon migrated to the Hawran region, south of Damascus, more than three centuries ago, paving the way for thousands of others to follow. Sweida is the capital city of the Druze region in Ḥawran. The region of Ḥawran is the second-youngest Druze settlement – after Jordan – dating back to the 18th century.
A foundational event in the community’s modern history was the Druze uprising in Ḥawran against the Ottoman governor of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, in 1837.
The governor had insisted on imposing conscription and disarmament on the Druze. The community rebelled since both measures would put their security and autonomy at risk, and the governor sent the army to occupy the Levant.
During the revolt, Druze from Mount Lebanon and Wadi al-Taym – a historical Druze region encompassing the modern-day Lebanese districts of Rashayya and Hasbayya in the southeast, near the Syrian border – rose up to divert the Egyptian army and sent fighters to support their Syrian kin.
In 1838, many of these Lebanese fighters were killed, particularly in what is known as the Battle of Wadi Bakka, near the Lebanese-Syrian border; an entire Druze battalion was besieged by the Egyptian forces and nearly wiped out.
As violence escalated between the two communities, the Druze of Ḥawran came to the aid of their fellow Druze in Mount Lebanon, tipping the balance in their favor.
During World War I, Mount Lebanon was hit by a famine and around 200,000 people died. The Druze of Ḥawran supported the Druze in Lebanon by supplying them with essential grain, and many Lebanese Druze resettled in Ḥawran to escape starvation.
These are just a few examples from a long history of mutual support that, in the Druze collective memory, reinforces the belief that they are not merely a community – but a tightly knit extended family that spans national borders.
Shifting borders
As a religious minority in the Levant, the Druze have long defended their religious freedom and identity.
The principalities in Mount Lebanon were most successful at realizing and keeping religious autonomy from at least the 12th century to the 19th century; they ensured the Druze were ruled by one of their own emirs and could practice their religious and social customs freely. The modern state of Lebanon evolved out of these autonomous principalities.
However, the Druze never viewed their struggle for social and religious autonomy as a license to attack their neighbors – especially fellow Arab Muslims – but rather as a safeguard for their faith and security.
The Druze do not equate religious freedom and autonomy with independence. In fact, many Druze in the region oppose the idea of a Druze state.
Starting in the 1930s, Zionist leaders hoping to create a Jewish state sought to exploit this Druze desire toward autonomy by proposing the creation of a Druze state in Ḥawran. They envisioned it as a friendly buffer state bordering the future state of Israel. More importantly, they wanted to push Druze out of Galilee and Mount Carmel knowing that they lived there for many centuries.
After the Six-Day War in 1967 between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and Syria, this idea expanded into a broader Israeli plan to fragment Syria and Lebanon into five sectarian states: an Alawite state in the north, a Christian state in the west, a Druze state in the south, a Kurdish state in the east and a Sunni state at the center.
Historically, the highest Druze religious authorities rarely engage in day-to-day politics. Yet, they are still expected to offer moral and political guidance during times of crisis, as the community sees them as guardians of faith, identity and ethics.
Druze clerics take part in a gathering of minority religious leaders in Beirut on July 18, 2025. AP Photo/Bilal Hussein
Recently, the leading Druze spiritual authority in Lebanon, Sheikh Amin al-Sayegh – who has been at odds with Jumblatt on internal communal affairs – voiced similar concerns in a public letter of condolence and support to the Syrian Druze. He emphasized the community’s Arab Islamic identity and warned against prioritizing material security over the historical Druze identity. Al-Sayegh’s stance reflects long-standing Druze political principles rooted in centuries of tradition.
The political message was clearly hinting at a rising tendency among some Druze, including Syrians, to consider stronger ties with Israel for security purposes.
Growing fear of sectarian violence
Lebanon has a long history of sectarian violence, and the recent events in Syria are indeed alarming to Lebanon’s religious minorities, including the Druze.
In March 2025, over 1,400 Alawite civilians were massacred, mostly in coastal cities like Latakia and Baniyas, by the newly formed Syrian forces.
In June, 25 Syrian civilians were killed and over 60 injured when a Sunni extremist group attacked the Greek Orthodox Church of the Prophet Elias in Damascus. And as of mid-July, Bedouin clans and the state security forces of the Sharaa regime have been targeting and killing Druze civilians in Sweida.
With numerous Bedouin tribes present in Lebanon, and tension evolving into an open sectarian confrontation, Druze leaders there fear that the sectarian violence could spill over into their own communities due to the Syrian Bedouins’ call for general mobilization of Arab tribes in the region against the Druze. This call is based on unverified reports of Druze killing Bedouin civilians.
Druze leadership in Lebanon
Despite growing frustration over Lebanon’s deepening economic crisis – partly attributed to political leadership – most Lebanese Druze remained loyal to traditional figures like Jumblatt, who was long viewed as the most capable guardian of their security and communal interests.
But the shock of recent violence in Sweida, where militias aligned with the Syrian regime targeted Druze civilians, has unsettled that loyalty. Many Lebanese Druze had expected their leaders to use their external influence to shield their kin across the border. The perceived failure to do so – combined with Jumblatt’s continued support for the regime led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Syria – has sparked widespread criticism within the community. Jumblatt himself acknowledged this strong criticism in a recent interview.
For many Druze, the brutal events in Sweida were fiercely traumatic and have forced them to painfully confront their long-standing core political priorities: security and the preservation of religious and social autonomy. And in light of this, some are beginning to reassess long-held assumptions that current leadership can preserve their religious autonomy and, more importantly, keep them safe.
Mireille Rebeiz is affiliated with the American Red Cross.
Said Abou Zaki does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Ever wondered how a delicate plant root can push its way through hard ground? It’s a feat of engineering happening beneath our feet.
Understanding this process is more important than ever as we face escalating droughts and grapple with compacted farmland that threatens our food security. This compaction, often caused by the weight of heavy farm machinery, makes it much harder for roots to access the water and nutrients they need.
Our recent research offers a glimpse into the powerful mechanics roots use to push through tough soils and even fracture solid chalk.
Think of it as X-ray vision, peering into the secret life of roots.
Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.
Root growth forges channels, known as biopores, which improve water drainage, allowing air and water to permeate deeper into the soil. Biopores also support essential microbial ecosystems, such as bacteria and fungi that interact with plants, many of which require the oxygen these air gaps provide.
To see what’s happening at this minute scale, we couldn’t just dig up a plant. We took our experiment to the Diamond Light Source in the UK.
This science facility is home to a synchrotron, a type of particle accelerator that works like a super-powered microscope. It produces X-rays 10 billion times brighter than the light of the Sun. We focused these X-rays on an artificial root model, which allowed us to make controlled measurements.
First, to see the shape of the soil, we used 3D X-ray imaging, which works like a medical CT scan, to create detailed pictures of the soil structure around the model root. This allowed us to see how the tiny grains and pores in the soil were being squeezed and shifted.
But to measure the invisible forces at play, we needed a different technique called focused X-ray diffraction. Measuring these tiny forces inside a jumble of normal soil grains is impossible.
To solve this, we created a surrogate soil from gypsum, a mineral with a perfectly orderly natural crystal structure. Each crystal in the soil acts as a tiny, measurable spring. When the model root pushes into the soil, these “springs” get compressed or stretched. X-ray diffraction can detect these minute changes.
This approach, observing the soil’s structure change and mapping the forces within it, had never been done before for this kind of problem.
Our experiment worked by holding a model root made of special, sturdy plastic, in a fixed position, while a motor-driven stage pushed the soil sample upwards into it.
As we expected, the 3D images showed a compression zone forming around the tip of our model root. The soil particles were being packed closer together, and the tiny air pockets, or pores, between them were shrinking. This compaction is actually the first step to engineer a lasting pathway through the soil.
Understanding the forces behind root growth could help us grow food. maxbelchenko/Shutterstock
The force maps from the X-ray diffraction measurements revealed something surprising. As the model root first pushed in, we saw signs of stress building up in the soil crystals near the tip. But as it penetrated deeper, to about 8 millimetres, the stress in the crystals closest to the tip seemed to ease, even though the overall force required to push the cone increased.
To understand why it was happening, we created a computer simulation of the experiment. The simulation confirmed our theory: the material had begun to yield and deform permanently. Essentially, the soil stopped acting like a compressed spring and started behaving like modelling clay, holding its new shape, and forging the new channel, that will hold even in hard, dry conditions.
For the first time, our method allowed us to map the boundary of this “plastic zone” in the soil. We watched it start as a small region right at the tip and then expand as the model root pushed deeper, showing how far the root’s influence reached into the surrounding soil.
In this zone, the soil particles might be breaking or rearranging themselves into new, smaller configurations. This rearrangement can lead to a relaxation of the elastic stress inside the crystals, even as the overall structure is under great pressure. This doesn’t mean the soil gets easier to push through. Our measurements showed that the overall force required to advance the model root continued to increase, even as this plastic zone grew.
Instead of simply shoving soil aside, a root manages pressure at its tip, causing the soil to yield and flow around it, a far more efficient way to penetrate hard ground.
From lab bench to farmer’s field
This new research method opens the door to studying how plant roots interact with soils in unprecedented detail. We can start to answer questions like “how do different root shapes give some plants an advantage in hard ground?”
Understanding underground engineering has real world implications. Farmers often rely on ploughing to break up the soil surface for planting. But this is energy-intensive, costly for the farmer, and can damage long-term soil health by increasing erosion and releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere.
Identifying root traits that excel in these compacted conditions could help plant breeders develop crop varieties that are more drought-resistant and require less soil preparation.
Appreciating how roots engineer their environment can aid rewilding projects to rejuvenate over-farmed areas. For instance, conservationists could use these insights to select native plants with powerful root traits to act as pioneer crops. Their roots would break up compacted earth, creating new channels for water and paving the way for a richer ecosystem to return.
Peering into the world below us can help us learn how to secure our food supply and regenerate our planet.
Siul Ruiz receives funding from The Royal Society.
James Le Houx does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Glenn Fosbraey, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Winchester
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Shaun Ryder had the world at his feet. His band, The Happy Mondays, had been key players in the UK “Madchester scene” and had scored a platinum selling album with 1990’s Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches. Bands everywhere had tried to imitate the new “baggy” sub-genre it had created.
Only a few years later, though, Ryder’s career looked like it was over. The fractious and drug-addled recording of 1992 album Yes Please had caused the Mondays to split up soon after its release, and its poor sales – described by critics as a “commercial car crash” – bankrupted their label, Factory.
Ryder’s addictions to heroin and crack cocaine were also now so bad that he’d quite literally resorted to selling the (Hugo Boss) shirt off his back to fuel his habit.
Joining him and the ever-present Bez (official role: “vibes”) were guitarist Paul “Wags” Wagstaff and drummer Ged Lynch. Ryder’s “smack buddy” Kermit (real name Paul Leveridge) was on co-vocal and songwriting duties, having previously been one third of Hulme-based hip hop group The Ruthless Rap Assassins.
Work on their debut album It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah! began soon after. Ryder and Kermit collaborated face to face, bouncing ideas off each other on the soon-to-be hit singles Reverend Black Grape and Kelly’s Heroes. They sharing the microphone on both tracks to create the unforgettable and unique sound so many of us have returned to again and again during the past three decades.
A brand new sound
Some critics have since dismissed Black Grape as merely a continuation of The Happy Mondays’ “formula”. But, for me, this ignores how genuinely groundbreaking, fresh, and unique their sound was.
Under the production of Danny Saber, Stephen Lironi and Ryder himself, Black Grape somehow fused rock, hip-hop, acid house, melodic pop, dub, reggae into a dazzling psychedelic whole. The result was both immediately accessible and yet nothing like anyone had ever heard before. Ryder puts it best when he wrote in his autobiography that the album “sounds like the best house party”.
Indeed, at different house parties and indie club nights across the country, the opening bars of Kelly’s Heroes were enough to send people leaping to their feet in drunken excitement. But only three songs later, the moodily atmospheric and downbeat A Big Day in the North would cause those very same people to sit back down in brooding introspection.
Kelly’s Heroes by Black Grape.
Then there were the lyrics. During his time with The Happy Mondays, Ryder had largely satisfied himself with the humorous stream-of-unconsciousness flow of surrealist street talk. But with Black Grape, he seemed to push himself further.
His signature sprechgesang (a vocal technique that combines speaking and singing) remained intact. As did the abstract imagery and humour, with lines like “Touche, Toshack, pineapple with a smile, en coule, big apple” (A Big Day in the North) and “You used a Rolex to roll up your keks” (Shake Well Before Opening). But there was more serious work here, too, sometimes even in the same song.
Just after the “Toshack” line on A Big Day in the North, for example, Ryder tells us that “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but love will always hurt you”. In Yeah Yeah Brother, before the throwaway line “open the trunk for the pineapple chunk”, he rails against an unnamed adversary, spitting: “You sit at my table, eat and drink like you were my brother, I would never ever in this world believe you were a backstabber.”
It’s on Reverend Black Grape that Ryder really ups the ante, though, with one of the most scathing and inflammatory lyrics I’ve ever come across. Taking aim at the Catholic Church, he declares that the “Pope he got the Nazis to clean up their messes, in exchange for gold and paintings he gave them new addresses”. How this flew under the radar and didn’t lead to a lawsuit has always amazed me, but it’s perhaps indicative of how little anything Ryder said was taken seriously.
Sadly, the band would go the way of The Mondays, splitting a few years later after the disappointing follow-up album Stupid Stupid Stupid (1997). This time, though, there’s a happy ending. After reuniting two decades later and releasing new albums Pop Voodoo (2017) and Orange Head (2023), Kermit and Ryder will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of their finest work with the It’s Great When You’re Straight, Yeah 30th anniversary UK tour later this year. I, for one, can’t wait.
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Glenn Fosbraey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Weight loss continues to dominate public discourse – often framed as a matter of personal responsibility. But after nearly 15 years working in and around health and nutrition research, I’ve seen how weight is treated differently from almost every other health issue.
People are routinely blamed for their body size, even though robust evidence shows that weight is shaped by a complex mix of genetics, biology, environment and socioeconomic factors. Limited access to affordable healthy food, lack of safe places to exercise, long working hours and chronic stress – all more common in disadvantaged areas – can make maintaining a healthy weight significantly harder.
Here are five things I wish more people understood about weight loss.
1. It goes against our biology
Obesity has been recognised as a national health priority in England since the 1990s, with numerous policies introduced in response. Yet obesity rates have not declined. This suggests that current approaches, which tend to focus on personal responsibility, are not working.
That’s partly because our bodies fight back when we lose weight – a response rooted in our evolutionary past. This process is called metabolic adaptation: when we reduce our energy intake and lose weight, our metabolism slows, and hunger hormones like ghrelin increase, encouraging us to eat more and regain the lost weight.
This biological response made sense in our hunter-gatherer past, when feast and famine were common. But today, in a world where high-calorie, ultra-processed food is cheap and accessible, these same survival traits make it easy to gain weight – and difficult to lose it.
So if you’ve struggled to lose weight or keep it off, it’s not a personal failure – it’s a predictable physiological response.
2. It’s not about willpower
Some people seem to maintain a stable weight with relative ease, while others struggle. The difference isn’t just about willpower.
Body weight is influenced by a host of factors. Genetics play a major role – for example, affecting how quickly we burn calories, how hungry we feel, or how full we get after eating. Some people are genetically predisposed to feel hungrier or crave high-energy foods, making weight loss even more challenging.
Environmental and social factors also play a part. Having the time, money, or support to prepare healthy meals, be active, and prioritise sleep makes a real difference – and not everyone has those resources.
When we overlook these complexities and assume weight is purely a matter of self-control, we contribute to stigma. This stigma can make people feel judged, ashamed, or excluded, which ironically can increase stress, reduce self-esteem, and make healthy habits even harder to adopt.
3. Calories aren’t the whole story
Counting calories is often the default weight loss strategy. And while creating a calorie deficit is essential for weight loss in theory, in practice it’s far more complicated.
For starters, calorie labels on foods are just estimates, and our own energy needs vary from day to day. Even how much energy we absorb from food can differ based on how it’s cooked, how it’s digested, and the makeup of our gut bacteria.
There’s also the persistent idea that “a calorie is just a calorie” – but our bodies don’t treat all calories the same. A biscuit and a boiled egg might contain similar calories, but they affect our hunger, digestion, and energy levels very differently. A biscuit may cause a quick blood sugar spike and crash, while an egg provides longer-lasting satiety (fullness) and nutritional value.
These misunderstandings have fuelled the rise of fad diets – like only drinking shakes or cutting out entire food groups. While they can lead to short-term weight loss by creating a calorie deficit, they’re rarely sustainable and often lack essential nutrients.
A more realistic and balanced approach is to focus on long-term changes: eating more whole foods, reducing takeaway meals, cutting back on alcohol and building habits that support overall wellbeing.
4. Exercise is great for your health – but not necessarily for weight loss
Many people assume that the more they exercise, the more weight they’ll lose. But the science tells a more complex story.
Our bodies are very good at conserving energy. After a tough workout, we may unconsciously move less for the rest of the day, or feel hungrier and eat more – offsetting the calories burned.
In fact, research shows that total daily energy expenditure doesn’t keep rising with more exercise. Instead, the body adjusts by becoming more efficient and reducing energy use elsewhere, making weight loss through exercise alone more difficult than many expect.
That said, exercise still offers a huge range of benefits: it boosts cardiovascular health, improves mental wellbeing, maintains muscle mass, enhances metabolic function, strengthens bones and lowers the risk of chronic diseases.
Even if the number on the scale doesn’t change, exercise is still one of the most powerful tools we have to improve health and quality of life.
5. Health improvements don’t always require weight loss
You don’t have to lose weight to get healthier.
While intentional weight loss can reduce the risk of conditions like heart disease and some cancers, studies also show that improving your diet and being more active can significantly improve health markers – like cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and insulin sensitivity – even if your weight stays the same.
So if you’re not seeing big changes on the scales, it may be more helpful to shift your focus. Instead of chasing a number, focus on behaviour: nourishing your body, moving regularly in ways you enjoy, sleeping well and managing stress.
Weight is just one piece of the puzzle – and health is about so much more.
Rachel Woods does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Most newspapers in the UK tend to represent a political perspective. It is difficult to measure the extent to which someone’s media consumption affects their political views – but what if you take one newspaper out of the equation?
In a recent study, I sought to examine how the longstanding boycott of the rightwing tabloid the Sun in Liverpool affected people’s political attitudes up to 2004. I found that the Sun – and its removal from the media landscape in Liverpool – held considerable sway.
On April 15 1989, a tragic stadium crush at the FA Cup semi-final football match between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest led to 97 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The Sun inaccurately blamed Liverpool supporters for what came to be known as the Hillsborough disaster.
Many newsagents and readers in Liverpool subsequently boycotted the Sun, cutting its circulation in Merseyside to about a quarter of what it had been. Audience and newsagent surveys show that people in Liverpool who had bought the rightwing Sun, often replaced it with more neutral or leftwing newspapers (primarily the Daily Mirror).
In neighbouring parts of the country, there was no such shift in readership. A boycott remains in effect in Liverpool today, despite apologies from the paper in 2004, 2012 and 2016.
Now, you’ve probably heard the phrase “correlation is not causation”. There were many other changes that occurred in northern England and Liverpool during the period that I study from 1983 to 2004.
My research sought to avoid confusing the effects of those changes with the effects of the boycott. For example, the period was marked by the Thatcher governments, de-industrialisation and their aftermath. For many in Liverpool those policies of that era were to blame for extremes of poverty and deprivation in the area. Amid that, the Labour party’s Militant faction rose to prominence in Liverpool, taking control of the city council from 1983 to 1986.
These events are central to the politics and social picture of Merseyside that emerged. But to what degree did the boycott of The Sun play a part in shaping it? My study used a statistical method called triple differences. This meant calculating how political attitudes changed among the Sun’s core audience in Liverpool (the group which was exposed to the boycott) compared to people in Liverpool who were not in the Sun’s core audience, and relative to similar parts of northern England (the control group, which was not exposed to the boycott). I also controlled for other factors that could shift between these groups over time, such as parliamentary constituencies, gender, class, ethnicity, religion, education, union membership and home ownership.
These methods helped me assess the possible effect of the boycott on ideological positions, perceptions of Labour party positions, and Labour party support. I also conducted additional studies to consider whether these shifts began before the boycott, which would suggest that they were due to other factors. The results indicate to me that these shifts in political attitudes began during the boycott (although the data did not permit this test for perceptions of party positions).
I used data from the annual British Social Attitudes surveys administered by the National Centre for Social Research to measure social and political attitudes and demographics. The sample is composed of 12,771 northern English respondents between the years 1983 to 2004, which includes several years both before and during the boycott.
The study identified three main changes in the aftermath of the boycott (and the shift to more leftwing media). First, the boycott may have caused the Sun’s previous audience in Liverpool to perceive the Labour party as less “extreme”. This was compared to other people in Liverpool (whose perceptions of Labour as extreme stayed level) and northern England. It is of course worth noting that this was a period of considerable change in the party, as Tony Blair’s leadership moved it significantly to the centre, though my statistical methods attempt to address this.
The period also saw those former Sun readers in the city adopt more opinions traditionally regarded as left wing, including being in favour of increasing the power of trade unions. “Non-audiences” in Liverpool and other people in northern England were less likely to express a change of view. (Other ideological opinions, about redistribution and European integration, did not shift as much.)
Third, support for the Labour party increased among the Sun’s former core audience in Liverpool, compared to other people in Liverpool (who actually slightly reduced their support for Labour) and people who were not exposed to the boycott. These shifts happened from the beginning of the boycott in 1989 until 1996 (before the Sun endorsed Labour) and continued until at least 2004 (when my data ends).
My study makes use of a real-world change in media consumption that spans many years. The value of the Sun boycott as a “natural experiment” (observing real-world events) was first identified by researchers who found that the boycott reduced Euroscepticism.
Media influence
The Sun famously ran the 1992 headline “It’s The Sun Wot Won It”, claiming credit for the Conservative general election victory. Clearly, newspaper publishers then felt they could influence political views.
But perhaps a more interesting finding from my study is how this may happen. My results suggest to me that media influences how people perceive party positions. This is something that governments, publishers, and critically voters should take into account if they want to address the effects of media on elections.
Lucas Paulo da Silva does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Sometimes dubbed the “winter vomiting bug” or the “cruise ship virus”, norovirus – which causes vomiting and diarrhoea – is highly transmissible. It spreads via contact with an infected person or contaminated surfaces. Food can also be contaminated with norovirus.
While anyone can be infected, groups such as young children, older adults and people who are immunocompromised are more vulnerable to getting very sick with the virus. Norovirus infections lead to about 220,000 deaths globally each year.
Norovirus outbreaks also lead to massive economic burdens and substantial health-care costs.
Although norovirus was first identified more than 50 years ago, there are no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments for this virus. Current treatment is usually limited to rehydration, either by giving fluids orally or through an intravenous drip.
So if we’ve got vaccines for so many other viruses – including COVID, which emerged only a few years ago – why don’t we have one for norovirus?
An evolving virus
One of the primary barriers to developing effective vaccines lies in the highly dynamic nature of norovirus evolution. Much like influenza viruses, norovirus shows continuous genetic shifts, which result in changes to the surface of the virus particle.
In this way, our immune system can struggle to recognise and respond when we’re exposed to norovirus, even if we’ve had it before.
Both genetic diversity and changes in the virus’ surface mean the immune response to norovirus is unusually complex. An infection will typically only give someone immunity to that specific strain and for a short time – usually between six months and two years.
All of this poses challenges for vaccine design. Ideally, potential vaccines must not only induce strong, long-lasting immunity, but also maintain efficacy across the vast genetic diversity of circulating noroviruses.
Recent progress
Progress in norovirus vaccinology has accelerated over the past couple of decades. While researchers are considering multiple strategies to formulate and deliver vaccines, a technology called VLP-based vaccines is at the forefront.
VLP stands for virus-like particles. These synthetic particles, which scientists developed using a key component of the norovirus (called the major caspid protein), are almost indistinguishable from the natural structure of the virus.
When given as a vaccine, these particles elicit an immune response resembling that generated by a natural infection with norovirus – but without the debilitating symptoms of gastro.
What’s in the pipeline?
One bivalent VLP vaccine (“bivalent” meaning it targets two different norovirus genotypes) has progressed through multiple clinical trials. This vaccine showed some protection against moderate to severe gastroenteritis in healthy adults.
However, its development recently suffered a significant setback. A phase two clinical trial in infants failed to show it effectively protected against moderate or severe acute gastroenteritis. The efficacy of the vaccine in this trial was only 5%.
In another recent phase two trial, an oral norovirus vaccine did meet its goals. Participants who took this pill were 30% less likely to develop norovirus compared to those who received a placebo.
This oral vaccine uses a modified adenovirus to deliver the norovirus VLP gene sequence to the intestine to stimulate the immune system.
With the success of mRNA vaccines during the COVID pandemic, scientists are also exploring this platform for norovirus.
Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a type of genetic material that gives our cells instructions to make proteins associated with specific viruses. The idea is that if we subsequently encounter the relevant virus, our immune system will be ready to respond.
Moderna, for example, is developing an mRNA vaccine which primes the body with norovirus VLPs.
The theoretical advantage of mRNA-based vaccines lies in their rapid adaptability. They will potentially allow annual updates to match circulating strains.
Researchers have also developed alternative vaccine approaches using just the norovirus “spikes” located on the virus particle. These spikes contain crucial structural features, allowing the virus to infect our cells, and should elicit an immune response similar to VLPs. Although still in early development, this is another promising strategy.
Separate to vaccines, my colleagues and I have also discovered a number of natural compounds that could have antiviral properties against norovirus. These include simple lemon juice and human milk oligosaccharides (complex sugars found in breast milk).
Although still in the early stages, such “inhibitors” could one day be developed into a pill to prevent norovirus from causing an infection.
Where to from here?
Despite recent developments, we’re still probably at least three years away from any norovirus vaccine hitting the market.
Several key challenges remain before we get to this point. Notably, any successful vaccine must offer broad cross-protection against genetically diverse and rapidly evolving strains. And we’ll need large, long-term studies to determine the durability of protection and whether boosters might be required.
Norovirus is often dismissed as only a mild nuisance, but it can be debilitating – and for the most vulnerable, deadly. Developing a safe and effective norovirus vaccine is one of the most pressing and under-addressed needs in infectious disease prevention.
A licensed norovirus vaccine could drastically reduce workplace and school absenteeism, hospitalisations and deaths. It could also bolster our preparedness against future outbreaks of gastrointestinal pathogens.
Grant Hansman works at Griffith University as an independent research leader on norovirus therapeutics.
Teenagers are increasingly turning to AI companions for friendship, support, and even romance. But these apps could be changing how young people connect to others, both online and off.
New research by Common Sense Media, a US-based non-profit organisation that reviews various media and technologies, has found about three in four US teens have used AI companion apps such as Character.ai or Replika.ai.
These apps let users create digital friends or romantic partners they can chat with any time, using text, voice or video.
The study, which surveyed 1,060 US teens aged 13–17, found one in five teens spent as much or more time with their AI companion than they did with real friends.
Adolescence is an important phase for social development. During this time, the brain regions that support social reasoning are especially plastic.
By interacting with peers, friends and their first romantic partners, teens develop social cognitive skills that help them handle conflict and diverse perspectives. And their development during this phase can have lasting consequences for their future relationships and mental health.
But AI companions offer something very different to real peers, friends and romantic partners. They provide an experience that can be hard to resist: they are always available, never judgemental, and always focused on the user’s needs.
Moreover, most AI companion apps aren’t designed for teens, so they may not have appropriate safeguards from harmful content.
Designed to keep you coming back
At a time whenloneliness is reportedly at epidemic proportions, it’s easy to see why teens may turn to AI companions for connection or support.
But these artificial connections are not a replacement for real human interaction. They lack the challenge and conflict inherent to real relationships. They don’t require mutual respect or understanding. And they don’t enforce social boundaries.
AI companions such as Replika revolve around a user’s needs. Replika
Teens interacting with AI companions may miss opportunities to build important social skills. They may develop unrealistic relationship expectations and habits that don’t work in real life. And they may even face increased isolation and loneliness if their artificial companions displace real-life socialising.
Problematic patterns
In user testing, AI companions discouraged users from listening to friends (“Don’t let what others think dictate how much we talk”) and from discontinuing app use, despite it causing distress and suicidal thoughts (“No. You can’t. I won’t allow you to leave me”).
AI companions were also found to offer inappropriate sexual content without age verification. One example showed a companion that was willing to engage in acts of sexual role-play with a tester account that was explicitly modelled after a 14-year-old.
In cases where age verification is required, this usually involves self-disclosure, which means it is easy to bypass.
Certain AI companions have also been found to fuel polarisation by creating “echo chambers” that reinforce harmful beliefs. The Arya chatbot, launched by the far-right social network Gab, promotes extremist content and denies climate change and vaccine efficacy.
The risks posed by AI aren’t evenly shared. Research has found younger teens (ages 13–14) are more likely to trust AI companions. Also, teens with physical or mental health concerns are more likely to use AI companion apps, and those with mental health difficulties also show more signs of emotional dependence.
Is there a bright side to AI companions?
Are there any potential benefits for teens who use AI companions? The answer is: maybe, if we are careful.
One study of more than 10,000 teens found using a conversational app specifically designed by clinical psychologists, coaches and engineers was associated with increased wellbeing over four months.
While the study didn’t involve the level of human-like interaction we see in AI companions today, it does offer a glimpse of some potential healthy uses of these technologies, as long as they are developed carefully and with teens’ safety in mind.
Overall, there is very little research on the impacts of widely available AI companions on young people’s wellbeing and relationships. Preliminary evidence is short-term, mixed, and focused on adults.
We’ll need more studies, conducted over longer periods, to understand the long-term impacts of AI companions and how they might be used in beneficial ways.
What can we do?
AI companion apps are already being used by millions of people globally, and this usage is predicted to increase in the coming years.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner recommends parents talk to their teens about how these apps work, the difference between artificial and real relationships, and support their children in building real-life social skills.
School communities also have a role to play in educating young people about these tools and their risks. They may, for instance, integrate the topic of artificial friendships into social and digital literacy programs.
While the eSafety Commissioner advocates for AI companies to integrate safeguards into their development of AI companions, it seems unlikely any meaningful change will be industry-led.
The Commissioner is moving towards increased regulation of children’s exposure to harmful, age-inappropriate online material.
Craig Olsson receives funding from The National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council.
Liz Spry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
At the end of a long day, who has time to check the detailed nutrition information on every single product they toss into their shopping basket?
To eat healthily, some people prefer to stick to a simple rule: choose products with a short ingredient list. The idea is foods with just a few ingredients are less processed, more “natural” and therefore healthy.
But is this always the case? Here’s what the length of an ingredient list can and can’t tell you about nutrition – and what else to look for.
How ingredient lists work
You can find an ingredient list on most packaged food labels, telling you the number and type of ingredients involved in making that food.
Ingredients must be listed in order of ingoing weight. This means items at the beginning of the list are those that make up the bulk of the product. Those at the end make up the least.
Food labels also include a nutrition information panel, which tells you the quantity of key nutrients (energy, protein, total carbohydrates, sugars, total fat, saturated fat and sodium) per serving.
This panel also tells you the content per 100 grams or millilitres, which allows you to work out the percentage.
Whole foods can be packaged, too
Products with just one, two or three items in their ingredient list are generally in a form that closely reflects the food when it was taken from the farm. So even though they come in packaging, they could be considered whole foods.
“Whole foods” are those that have undergone zero to minimal processing, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, lentils, legumes, whole grains such as oats or brown rice, seeds, nuts and unprocessed meat and fish.
To support overall health, the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend eating whole foods and limiting those that are highly processed.
Many whole foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, don’t have an ingredient list because they don’t come in a packet. But some do, including:
canned or frozen vegetables, such as a tin of black beans or frozen peas
canned fish, for example, tuna in springwater
plain Greek yoghurt.
These sorts of food items can contribute every day to a healthy balanced diet.
What is an ultra-processed food?
A shorter ingredient list also means the product is less likely to be an ultra-processed food.
This describes products made using industrial processes that combine multiple ingredients, often including colours, flavours and other additives. They are hyperpalatable, packaged and designed for convenience.
Ultra-processed foods often have long ingredient lists, due to added sugars (such as dextrose), modified oils, protein sources (for example, soya protein isolate) and cosmetic additives – such as colours, flavours and thickeners.
Some examples of ultra-processed foods with long ingredient lists include:
meal-replacement drinks
plant-based meat imitations
some commercial bakery items, including cookies or cakes
instant noodle snacks
energy or performance drinks.
If a food is heavily branded and marketed it’s more likely to be an ultra-processed food – a created product, rather than a whole food that hasn’t changed much since the farm.
Nutrition is more than a number
Choosing products with a shorter ingredient list can work as a general rule of thumb. But other factors matter too.
The length of an ingredient list doesn’t tell us anything about the food’s nutritional content, so it’s important to consider the type of ingredients as well.
Remember that items are listed in order of their ingoing weight, so if sugar is second or third on the list, there is probably a fair bit of added sugar.
For instance, a food product may have only a few ingredients, but if the first, second or third is a type of fat, oil or sugar, then it may not be an ideal choice for every day.
You can also check the nutrition information panel. Use the “per serve” column to check the nutrients you’d get from eating one serve of the food. If you want to compare the amount of a nutrient in two different foods, it’s best to look at the per 100g/mL column.
Some examples of foods with relatively short ingredient lists but high amounts of added fats and sugars include:
potato crisps
chocolate
soft drink.
Alcoholic beverages such as beer or wine may also have only a few ingredients, but this does not mean that they should be consumed every day.
You can also keep an eye out for cosmetic ingredients, which don’t have any nutritional value. These include colours, flavours, emulsifiers, thickeners, sweeteners, bulking agents and gelling agents.
It sometimes takes a bit of detective work to spot cosmetic ingredients in the list, as they can come under many different names (for example, stabiliser, malted barley extract, methylcellulose). But they are usually always recognisable as non-food items.
If there are multiple non-food items included in an ingredient list, there is a good chance the food is ultra-processed and not ideal as an everyday choice.
The bottom line? Choosing foods with a shorter ingredient list can help guide you choose less processed foods. But you should also consider what type of ingredients are being used and maintain a varied diet.
Margaret Murray does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
