Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at You

You are more likely to engage with a podcast if you listen to it through your earphones, rather than a speaker. You feel closer to what you hear, and are therefore more likely to change your views and behaviour. Those are the findings of recent research at the University of California, San Diego. As one...

Pet sitters are in high demand these days, as millions of people have returned to work, and must leave their cats and dogs during each day. According to the British Pet Food Manufacturers Association, one in ten households welcomed a new pet during the first seven months of lockdown. According to Adzuna, a job search...

A recent study has found that doing 6000 steps a day can reduce your risk of an early death, if you are aged over 60. People under the age of 60 should aim for between 8000 and 10,000 steps a day. However, taking more than 8000 steps a day has no particular benefit, and the...

How much daily stress do you allow to stick to you? When it comes to coping with stress, David Almeida, a professor of human development at Pennsylvania State University, says that people can be divided into two categories. ‘Velcro’ people allow the stressful moment to stay with them, leaving them irritable and frustrated. ‘Teflon’ people...

These boomerang-shaped little birds have recently been added to the list of endangered birds because they have a severe housing crisis: modern homes do not have nooks and crannies for them to nest in. Swifts are in serious decline: they have faced a 58 per cent drop in their numbers since 1995. Because modern homes...

The on-going rise in energy costs is eye-watering. Here are some well-proven ways to save money: Always turn off the lights when you leave a room. Forget about maintaining an ‘ambience’ in your home. Turn down your thermostat by at least a degree. Or two. Or three? Get some LED bulbs – they are six...

Summer brings mosquitoes. We avoid them by using sprays, zappers or citronella candles. But now scientists may have found another way to discourage these blood-sucking pests. A recent study in Nature Communication suggests that we might also consider not wearing red clothes. It seems that mosquitoes see only certain wavelengths of light, and therefore only...

Should you insure your stall at the fete? Packed lunches are back in style Out and about on the roads? Remember the NEW Highway Code Make time for your older relatives Older mums Time to take some responsibility for our health Where is the best place to get engaged? Something to think about if you...

It is a lovely sunny day for the village fete, and you have booked a stall to raise funds. Just as you are unloading, one of the organisers comes over and asks if you have your own insurance for the fete, and then gives you a list of things that cannot be sold. You wonder...

With food prices soaring, who needs a bought sandwich or salad? They can cost nearly £8 a day from LEON or Pret or other food outlets. Instead, it seems we are investing in plastic food containers (John Lewis reports sales are up 64 per cent on last year) and taking our own lunches to work....

When did you last read the Highway Code?  Various ‘fundamental’ changes were recently made which will surely affect you. For example, there is a new hierarchy of road users, where drivers now have new responsibilities to watch out for people who are walking, cycling, or riding a horse. Another example is that cyclists are now...

Many of our older people are lonely.  They lost touch with their families during the pandemic, and it seems that they have still not caught up again. A recent survey by Age UK found that as many as 27 percent of people aged 60 and over admit that they speak less to their families now,...