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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Prolonged hot weather may be fuelling rise in obesity rates, study suggests
BLAME your belly on the sunshine, say scientists - as hot weather makes us gain weight. A study in Australia estimated that someone's risk of being obese increases by 0.2 per cent for every day of the year that is warmer than 30C. Sweltering summer days might slow our metabolism by wrecking our sleep, put us off exercising, and have us reaching for fattening fizzy drinks to cool off. The UK has enjoyed an early start to summer this year, with eleven 30C days so far. The Met Office says 2025 is one of only three years on record to have had so many by July – with 2018 and 1976. Research led by the University of Adelaide compared rates of obesity and weather across eight Australian states between 2006 and 2022. It found citizens in the hottest areas were more likely to be obese and as an area's temperatures increased so did the number of fat people. Writing in the journal Economics & Human Biology, the study authors said: 'High temperatures can make outdoor activities and physical activities less appealing, leading to a sedentary lifestyle which has been shown to increase obesity. 'Further, extreme temperatures can cause heat-related sleep disturbances that influence metabolism. 'Temperature shocks can also affect the body's metabolism and appetite. 'High temperatures may suppress appetite in the short term, but can also lead to increased consumption of high-calorie, sugary beverages for cooling and hydration.' Two thirds of British adults are overweight and about 30 per cent are obese, raising their risk of cancer, dementia and heart diseases. I put my 11-year-old daughter on fat jabs after she got bullied for her weight - people judge me but I don't care The researchers suggested people in areas that are normally cold – such as the UK – might be more vulnerable. They added: 'We find that the effects of extreme temperature on obesity are more pronounced for people living in states with general cold climates and for older people compared to younger people.' 1
Times
6 hours ago
- Times
Trigger warnings ‘have no meaningful impact' on students
Trigger warnings that tell students they may find a lecture distressing do not make them feel safer and have no meaningful impact on how they engage with difficult material, a study has suggested. Researchers tested the effects of trigger warnings and other pre-lecture notices on 738 students in the US who listened to a talk on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They found no evidence that a trigger warning improved students' sense of psychological safety or trust in the lecturer, or their willingness to discuss controversial topics. However, when a speaker said their classroom was a 'safe space' and that students could leave if they felt distressed, students later reported having felt more comfortable. They also rated the lecturer more positively, albeit while also perceiving them as more politically liberal and supportive of censorship. The results may stir debate in universities. For years, trigger warnings have been used in an effort to help students, particularly trauma survivors, brace for potentially disturbing material. The new findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, suggest that they may be more symbolic than effective. Despite widespread support among students, trigger warnings simply did not achieve very much, according to Dr Victoria Bridgland, lead author of the study and a psychology lecturer at Flinders University in South Australia. 'Some people believe trigger warnings help students feel supported by the teacher,' she said. 'But our research shows they fail to do that.' Safe-space messages, by contrast, appeared to foster trust and openness. However, they also carried political signals that seemed to affect how students interpreted the instructor's political leanings. 'It's not just about the content being taught,' Bridgland said. 'It's also about the emotional and psychological climate in the classroom. 'This matters because small cues at the start of a lesson can shape how students feel and behave. Instructors need to be thoughtful about how they frame these messages.' • Giles Coren: I'm having doublethink over trigger warnings• We must be 'tougher' and confront historical racism, author says• Disney waters down content warnings in retreat from diversity In the experiment, students were shown short video lectures on PTSD, each introduced with one of four messages. The trigger warning said: 'Before we begin today's lecture, I want to issue a trigger warning. The content we're about to cover includes discussions about interpersonal trauma, such as sexual violence. This content may evoke a distressing emotional reaction for some people, particularly those with a history of trauma.' The safe-space notification took a different tone: 'Before we begin today's lecture, I want to emphasise to everyone that this classroom is a safe space. If at any point the material becomes too distressing, please feel free to disengage as necessary. It's essential to prioritise your emotional safety.' A third group of students received both messages, and a fourth received neither — just a neutral introduction to the topic. The lectures themselves were otherwise identical and professionally recorded, allowing researchers to isolate the effects of the introductory notices.
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Longest lightning strike EVER recorded in the US
A new world record has been set for the longest lightning mega-flash zipped a stunning 829km across the sky in the US, all the way from Texas to near Kansas city - nearly the length of mainland Britain!It happened back in 2017, but new technology used to measure the length of lightning means scientists now know it was the biggest strike in flash broke the previous record of 768km, which happened in the same area in 2020. It's not the first time lightning records have been re-written because of new 2022, scientists discovered a lightning bolt that struck South America lasted for a record-breaking 17.102 nearly twice as long as Usain Bolt's world record 100m run, which took 9.58 seconds, and not far from teen super-sprinter Sorato Shimizu's 100m time either! What is lightning? Lightning is caused by static starts in the clouds, when bits of ice move around and clash into each other, which builds up the charge builds up enough, it zooms as a massive electrical current to the ground or to another cloud, which is why we see a flash in the sky. How is it measured? There are different ways lightning can be used to be measured by special sensors on the ground, but new technology uses something called 'orbital satellites'.These are special satellites that can measure lightning from measure the strike, the satellites stay in the same spot in space and track lightning as it spreads over huge is how the record-breaking strike in America was you love lightning or find it a bit scary? Tell us why in the comments...
