The researchers studied particulate matter (PM) collected from different areas of the Port of Southampton, on the United Kingdom’s south coast. The findings, published in Environment International, say the samples were “highly enriched” with tracers of heavy fuel oil combustion and were “markedly more pro-inflammatory” than particulate matter from other sites. Three metals found make it easier for viral infections such as rhinovirus-16 and SARS-CoV-2 to replicate.

The scientists conclude that particulate matter emissions from heavy fuel oil combustion may have disproportionate health effects compared to PM from other sources and lead to poor viral infection outcomes. As yet, such emissions are unregulated.

Matthew Loxham, professor of respiratory biology and toxicology and senior author of the study, explained: “the ultrafine particles contained in these ships’ emissions can penetrate deeper into the lungs than larger sizes of particulate matter, and may be able to enter the bloodstream, but particles of this size are essentially unregulated and generally not monitored. We found that exposure of cells to these particles, and vanadium – the most enriched element in the particles – was both pro-inflammatory and facilitated the replication of viruses.”

Dr. Nat Easton, lead author of the study, noted the pollution in question “increases in concentration when the wind was coming from the direction of the cruise ships, and when cruise ship presence was higher,” and suggested the higher concentrations at the cruise terminal compared to the rest of the port could be due to ‘hoteling’ cruise ships as well as differences in fuel origins and berth occupancy times.”

Responding to the findings, a spokesperson for Associated British Ports (ABP), operator of Southampton’s port, highlighted the cruise sector’s contribution of “around £1bn a year to the economy of Southampton and the wider region.” Describing the Port as “a major employer and a responsible neighbour,” the representative said they “are proud of the role we and the wider port community have played in accelerating air quality improvements in Southampton.”

The Port was the first in the UK to introduce large-scale shore power connections so vessels can shut off their engines for zero emissions at berth in the port. The Port also says it conducts “state of the art real time air quality monitoring” that “demonstrates that emissions like nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter are well within National Air Quality Objective mean annual limits.”

Pushing back further about the research results, the Port said it is “concerned about some important aspects of the methodologies of the study and the strength of inference of some of findings that have been presented to the media.”

Similarly, a representative for Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) defended the sector, saying: “Cruise lines are committed to responsible operations and continue to invest in environmental technologies and practices in pursuit of net-zero emissions by 2050.”

Meanwhile the researchers are calling for current regulations to be “strengthened” to include particulate matter variations, and ultrafine particles in general, “to better mitigate health effects resulting from exposure.”

L’article New study suggests cruise ship pollution could increase risk of viral infections est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Weight-loss medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide have moved rapidly from specialist clinics into mainstream culture. They are discussed at dinner tables, in boardrooms and across social media, and they are increasingly shaping how people think about food, health, confidence and mobility. Yet a fresh analysis published in The BMJ offers a cautionary message for stakeholders hoping to interpret the trend too narrowly: weight loss does not automatically translate into better quality of life.

The review assessed 262 randomised trials involving 99,791 participants and 19 obesity drugs. It found that some treatments produced substantial reductions in body weight after one year, led by tirzepatide and CagriSema, but most did not show clinically meaningful improvements in quality-of-life measures. Greater weight loss was also associated with more side effects, higher discontinuation rates and, in some cases, loss of lean mass.

Why this matters for travel

Travel is closely tied to physical comfort, confidence, and perceived freedom of movement. For some travellers using obesity medicines, weight loss may make long-haul flights, walking tours, adventure activities, or resort experiences feel more accessible. Destinations and operators may see growing demand for wellness trips, active holidays, and post-weight-loss lifestyle travel from people who previously avoided certain kinds of journeys.

But the BMJ findings suggest the tourism sector should avoid assuming that pharmacological weight loss equals a straightforward improvement in travel experience. Gastrointestinal side effects, fatigue, treatment burden, and muscle loss can all affect how people plan and enjoy trips. A traveller may lose weight but still need flexible itineraries, rest periods, accessible transport, medical guidance or reassurance around food and medication storage.

Airlines and hospitality may need to rethink comfort, not just capacity

The travel industry has sometimes framed obesity in terms of seat width, passenger weight, and operational costs. The new evidence points to a more human-centred interpretation. If many users do not report meaningful quality-of-life gains after one year, airlines, hotels, cruise operators, and attractions should continue investing in inclusive design rather than assuming medication trends will reduce the need for it.

That means comfortable seating, clear mobility information, non-stigmatising service, flexible dining options, and easy access to medical support remain commercially relevant. GLP-1 use may change some passenger profiles over time, but it does not remove the need to serve travellers with different body sizes, health conditions, and levels of stamina.

A new chapter for medical and wellness tourism

The boom in obesity medicines is also likely to influence medical tourism. Patients already travel for bariatric surgery, cosmetic procedures, and lower-cost care. As GLP-1 access expands, a new category of traveller may emerge, as people seek consultations, prescriptions, follow-up care, or post-weight-loss procedures abroad. Some may look for destinations offering integrated programmes that combine medical oversight, nutrition, exercise, mental wellbeing, and recovery.

However, the study’s findings also underline the risks of marketing weight-loss travel as a quick transformation. Tourism businesses entering this space will need credible clinical partners, transparent pricing, realistic claims, and strong aftercare pathways. Because weight regain after stopping treatment remains a concern, short-term packages that promise lasting change could expose travellers to disappointment and providers to reputational risk.

Food tourism faces subtle shifts

GLP-1 medicines can reduce appetite and alter eating patterns, which may have implications for restaurants, hotels, cruise lines, and gastronomy and food production tours. Some travellers may prefer smaller portions, lighter menus, protein-forward meals, or alcohol-free experiences. Others may want to participate in food culture without overconsumption, making tasting menus, shared plates, and flexible dining formats more attractive.

For destinations known for gastronomy, this does not mean food tourism will decline. Instead, it may become more experiential and less volume-driven. Storytelling, provenance, local producers and sensory experiences could matter more than abundance. The opportunity is to design hospitality that welcomes travellers whose relationship with food is changing without making them feel singled out.

L’article Weight-loss drugs are changing travel but not always as industry expects est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The “marathon a month” challenge will start in 2027 and see participants logging their walking activity online and via phones and smart wear, with people incentivised to meet the 26-mile (42 km) goal through rewards including sports shopping discounts.

NHS England is initiating the project in partnership with Olympic medallist Sir Brendan Foster, who has form in establishing sporting events such as the Great North Run. The ambition is to attract 100,000 walkers to the scheme.

It is anticipated that doctors and other healthcare workers will also promote the scheme among their patients since it comes in response to research showing that almost 17% of deaths are associated with a sedentary lifestyle, defined as less than 30 minutes of moderate exercise per week. In 2025, around 12 million people were found to fall into that category by a Sport England survey.

Foster has said that reaching 100,000 participants would create the world’s biggest ever marathon, and pointed to the health benefits of even small walks, taken regularly. “If someone walks 30 minutes five times a week, they could gain up to four extra years of healthy life,” he noted.

While Foster has expressed strong belief in the power of digital incentives such as being able to record performance data and streaks, the plan is also to bring public and private sponsors on board, and Techradar has reported that the government is in talks with various high street brands about lending their support.

Guidelines on how to take part in the English scheme are expected to be published in the months to come. For now, though, details about registration and exactly what the rewards might be are yet to be confirmed.

It is also unclear whether the scheme will be nationwide, though that is unlikely since the United Kingdom’s health services are devolved, meaning that Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland develop their own health strategies. In Scotland, where a walking step count challenge has been happening since 2014, participants have clocked up over 66 billion steps.

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Increasing the population’s physical activity is a priority for the UK government, which announced in June a plan by the Department for Transport and Active Travel England to ensure at least 60% of children in England are walking or cycling to school within the next 10 years. Less than half (47%) of children aged five to 16 make the journey to school under their own steam, current data reveals.

L’article England to reward people for walking 30 minutes a day est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Mental health research is one of the areas where scientists still face major limitations in experimentation. Many psychological conditions cannot be reliably recreated in animals, and testing them directly in humans raises ethical and practical challenges. In this context, researchers are looking for alternative tools that can help them understand emotional and cognitive processes in a controlled environment. The study highlights that large language models could act as a flexible testing ground for early-stage research into talk-based therapies. This could be particularly relevant for developing new psychological interventions before they are tested in clinical trials.

To explore this idea, researchers exposed the AI models to written scenarios designed to trigger specific emotional responses. These included situations linked to fear, sadness, anger, disgust and stress, such as job interviews, arithmetic tasks, spoiled food, or descriptions of illness and bodily fluids. The models showed increased “emotional scores” after these prompts, suggesting they adapted their responses to match the scenario. “Our results show that large language models can reproduce patterns of human affective and cognitive processes under controlled conditions,” researcher Dr Magdalena Wekenborg explained. The team also found that sadness-inducing scenarios led to a negativity bias, where models completed ambiguous sentences in a more negative way, similar to patterns seen in humans with low mood.

The study also tested whether these simulated emotional states could be reduced. Researchers used a mindfulness-style breathing exercise, often used in psychotherapy, to observe whether the models would “calm down” after the intervention. Results showed a reduction in emotional scores after the exercise, suggesting that structured prompts could influence the models’ outputs in a consistent way. The researchers argue that this could make LLMs useful for testing early versions of talking therapies in a safe and repeatable environment. “This enables new, data-driven experiments in psychological and biomedical research that were previously not possible,” noted Jakob N. Kather from TU Dresden.

Despite these findings, experts urge caution in interpreting the results. According to researchers commenting via the Science Media Centre, the language used in headlines can be misleading, as it may suggest that AI systems genuinely experience emotions. Alba María Mármol Romero from the University of Jaén stressed the difference between simulation and experience, noting the importance of distinguishing “replicating (feeling) and simulating (calculating).” She also pointed out that AI systems can behave unpredictably and may reflect biases in their training data. Another expert, neurosurgeon Héctor Aceituno Cea, warned that the study should not be misread, adding that the key point is “AI has feelings or is ready to act as a therapist,” which the authors do not claim.

Researchers also highlight technical limitations. AI models can produce different answers depending on small changes in wording or context, and they may generate incorrect or fabricated information known as “hallucinations.” Because of this, scientists describe the work as a proof-of-concept rather than evidence of emotional understanding in machines. Even so, the ability to reproduce human-like response patterns under controlled conditions is seen as a useful step for exploring new methods in psychological research. The study suggests that AI could support early-stage testing of therapeutic ideas, while remaining far from replacing human therapists or experiencing emotions.

L’article AI language models can simulate human emotions, a study finds est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Anno 2026, the average person spends a lot of time on their phone screen. According to a survey commissioned by Virgin Media O2, for example, UK adults spend around four hours per day on their phone – 36% of which unintentionally. And data gathered by health data management firm Harmony Healthcare IT show Americans are spending an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes per day on their phone.

Of course, global screen time numbers have surged along with the rise of social media. Once, people only used their mobile to call and text. Meaning that unless they had a very social life, they weren’t spending hours on end scrolling. Yet the arrival of social media shook things up.

Firstly, there an unending stream of content to be found online nowadays. Secondly, as proven by the fact that Meta and YouTube were ordered to pay $6 million by a US court in March 2026 as their platforms were found to be designed in such a way as to be addictive, it is harder than ever to look away.

And yet, spending too much time staring at a (phone) screen should be avoided at all costs. While spending four times a day on your screen one or two days on end isn’t likely to cause any long-lasting damage, when it becomes a habit, our health is being put under considerable pressure. Eye damage, back issues, increased levels of depression, anxiety… the list of risks is long and bleak.

While tuning down your screen time isn’t necessarily an easy task, it is one that is very likely to make your life better. These five habits will set you on your way.

1. Track your time

In order to determine exactly how big your screen time problem is, you need to start collecting data. By activating Digital Wellbeing (Android) or Screen Time (Apple), you will immediately know exactly how much time you spend looking at your screen and which apps are the biggest culprits.

While you want to avoid getting too caught-up in numbers – which might lead to even more anxiety – there’s nothing like a little reality check to get things going. Those four hours a day spent scrolling through TikTok could undoubtedly be put to better use.

“We’re really bad at estimating about time we spend doing things, particularly around tech use. Being able to notice when you’re using it when you don’t want to or need to is a really important first step,” Etchells, a professor of psychology and science communication at Bath Spa University, told the BBC.

2. Turn off notifications

How often have you finally put down your phone, only to pick it up again two seconds later because you got a notification? Right. As every peep causes a small spike of dopamine, it is no wonder that we crave to hear our smartphone make some kind of noise, never mind the reason.

For some people, turning off all but the most essential of notifications – think calls and messages – can be a great way of getting the ball rolling. Yet beware: if this means you’ll start checking every single app thirty times a day to make sure you haven’t missed anything, you’d better try something else instead.

3. Apply social distancing

Human beings tend to be lazy. One of the reasons why smartphones are more likely to create a form of addiction is the fact that they’re always there. In the sofa, on the toilet, at a bar, and even in bed: most of us keep our smartphone within reach, at all times.

Yet when trying to cut your screen time, there is an actual upside to this laziness. By putting your phone in another room or even by just leaving it on your desk while you’re sitting in the sofa, chances are, you will be less tempted to inadvertently start scrolling.

This rule becomes even more important when we’re talking bedtime and sleep. If you are used to keeping your smartphone on your nightstand and if scrolling is both the first and the last thing you do on a day, try putting it in another room instead. In the hall, in the dressing room, or in the bathroom: as long as it’s not within reach, al is well.

4. Make your phone less appealing

While turning off notifications and putting your phone at a distance are already a great way to start making it less attractive, it is possible to go even further. For example, most phones allow you to switch the screen to greyscale, filtering all those picture-perfect colours away. You could also choose to adapt your lock screen, not by changing it into some appalling picture (unless that works for you) but by opting for something that reminds you of something in the real world that matters to you. With a little luck, you’ll be turning your attention to that instead.

Another, more radical option could be to (temporarily) use a so-called dumb phone instead. In essence, instead of a modern smartphones, they are more alike the cells used in the 90s and early 00s. Some applications also allow you to turn your own phone into a dumb phone. However, especially when you need to use the internet professionally or even when you’re used for example do your groceries through an app or to scan a QR-code to look at a menu, dumb phones can quickly become unpractical.

5. Create new habits

“Passive screen time is like eating sugar but for your brain. It ‘tastes’ good, and you want it now, but you’re not actually feeding yourself. You’re not giving your brain any nutrition. Instead, replace screen time with an intentional healthy habit that feeds your brain in a healthy way. Lifestyle medicine activities, like exercise, good sleep, social connection, and stress management, function like ‘nutrition’ for your brain and mental health,” Maris Loeffler, MA, Family and Marriage Therapist, and member of the Stanford Lifestyle Medicine Cognitive Enhancement pillar, explains in an interview with Lifestyle Medicine Stanford.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when you want to spend less time on your screen is the fact that you might want to start thinking of new ways to use your time. Reading a book, going to a museum, meeting up with friends, gardening, working out, getting those eight hours of sleep per night… Anything works, as long as it works for you.

L’article 5 effective ways to reduce your screen time est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Climate change has a widespread on our planet and health. While flooding, wildfires, and other natural catastrophes might make more tangible victims, extreme heat is causing the biggest number of deaths according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The impacts of climate change are a clear and present danger, and its most immediate and lethal manifestation is extreme heat. Heatwaves are no longer freak weather anomalies. They are now a recurring crisis inflicting suffering, claiming lives and fracturing our health systems and infrastructure. Over just the past 4 years, heat has claimed more than 200 000 lives across the EU and its associated countries,” Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, writes in a statement released at the launch of WHO’s new guidance to protect lives from extreme heat.

Aside from the fact that most of these deaths were entirely preventable, they also mark just the tip of the iceberg. According to Kluge, millions more people are affected both physically and mentally by the heat. Italy, Spain, Germany, and Greece experienced the most premature deaths due to extreme heat.

Problems and solutions

In order to combat the negative outcome of extreme heat on people’s health, several options present themselves. For example, there are individual actions. Keeping out of the heat, keeping one’s home cool, keeping hydrated, and other initiatives are essential to stay safe. But they aren’t sufficient, says the WHO, who pushes for a coordinated, powerful, and institutional response.“Today, we transition from diagnosing the problem to delivering the solution. We are launching the second edition of the WHO Heat–Health Action Plans Guidance. While tailored for Europe, the Guidance can be adapted globally. Put simply, heat–health action plans save lives. They enable cities and countries to anticipate, prepare for and respond to extreme heat in a coordinated way. This is why WHO recommends countries, regions and cities to use this Guidance to develop, implement and improve their plans,” Kluge explains.

In its document, the WHO delivers a wide range of solutions that are likely to make a big difference regarding the number of heat-related deaths both within Europe and outside. From greening cities for more shade to creating networks of cooling centres, from social services checking that older people stay hydrated to training teachers and child carers to recognise the signs of heat-related illness, from introducing breaks or flexible shifts, so workers avoid the midday sun, to ensuring there is enough staff on shift in health facilities during heatwaves – the solutions are “practical, within reach, and scalable.”

The launch of the WHO Heat–Health Action Plans Guidance marks the second publishing of its kind, after a first version was launched in 2008. In the 2026 edition, the latest findings from research and practice were taken into account in order to respond as best as possible to the ongoing climate change.

L’article WHO urges Europe to act as extreme heat causes 200,000 preventable deaths in 4 years est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The research, published in the journal Nature, was led by scientists from Helmholtz Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and collaborating institutions. The team developed an AI-powered platform called MouseMapper, capable of creating a detailed three-dimensional “atlas” of the entire body at cellular resolution.

Researchers say the technology could transform the study of obesity and other systemic diseases by allowing scientists to analyse the body as a fully interconnected system rather than focusing on individual organs in isolation.

Mapping the entire body in unprecedented detail

To build the atlas, scientists labelled nerves and immune cells in mice using fluorescent markers before applying tissue-clearing techniques that rendered the animals optically transparent while preserving cellular structures.

Using advanced light-sheet microscopy, the team generated high-resolution 3D scans containing tens of millions of cellular structures across the body. MouseMapper then automatically analysed the data, identifying 31 organs and tissue types while mapping immune cells, nerves and anatomical regions simultaneously.

According to the researchers, the system enables scientists to detect inflammation and structural damage across multiple organs without preselecting areas of interest.

“MouseMapper is built on a foundation model, which means it generalises far beyond the data it was originally trained on,” said Ying Chen, co-first author of the study.

Obesity found to damage facial nerves

The team tested the platform on mice fed a high-fat diet that induced obesity and metabolic dysfunction similar to that seen in humans.

The AI atlas revealed widespread inflammation and tissue alterations across fat, muscle, liver and peripheral nerves. However, one of the most striking discoveries involved the trigeminal nerve, a major facial nerve responsible for sensation and motor functions.

Researchers found that obese mice had significantly fewer nerve endings and branches in this region, suggesting impaired sensory function. Behavioural experiments confirmed that the animals responded less to touch and sensory stimulation compared with lean mice.

Scientists then examined the trigeminal ganglion, which contains the cell bodies of facial sensory neurons. Using spatial proteomics, they identified molecular changes linked to inflammation and nerve remodelling.

Remarkably, many of the same molecular signatures were also detected in tissue samples from people with obesity, suggesting that the nerve damage observed in mice may also occur in humans.

“We revealed previously unknown structural and molecular changes in the trigeminal ganglion and its facial branches, and the same molecular signature was conserved in human tissue,” said Dr Doris Kaltenecker, senior scientist at the Institute for Diabetes and Cancer at Helmholtz Munich and first author of the study.

“This kind of finding simply cannot emerge from studying one organ at a time,” she added.

Towards digital twins and faster drug discovery

The researchers believe MouseMapper could revolutionise the study of complex diseases that simultaneously affect multiple organ systems, including diabetes, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and autoimmune disorders.

The team’s long-term ambition is to develop highly detailed “digital twins” of organisms, allowing scientists to simulate disease progression and test treatments computationally before moving to laboratory experiments.

Such technology could significantly accelerate drug discovery while also reducing the need for animal testing.

“Our goal is to create a comprehensive framework for understanding how diseases affect the body as an interconnected system,” said Professor Ali Ertürk, director of the Institute for Biological Intelligence at Helmholtz Munich and professor at LMU Munich.

“Our long-term vision is to build truly realistic digital twins of mice in health and disease: cell-level atlases that we can query, perturb and screen computationally,” he said.

The researchers have also made the whole-body datasets publicly available online, enabling scientists around the world to further investigate how obesity reshapes tissues and organ systems.

L’article New AI atlas reveals obesity’s hidden impact across the entire body est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

On 17 May 2026, the World Health Organisation classified Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), but held back from giving the outbreak the status of “pandemic emergency, despite evidence it has spread from rural communities to the cities of Bunia and Goma.” 

After having consulted the #DRC and #Uganda where the #Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus is known to be currently occurring, I determine that the epidemic constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), as defined in the provisions of IHR.

My full… pic.twitter.com/zhYVEyxSI8

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 17, 2026

However, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director-General, has expressed deep concern about “the scale and speed of the epidemic” in affected regions, noting in a social media post on 24 May that “more than 900 suspected cases have been identified so far, including 101 confirmed cases.” The WHO estimates the number of deaths linked to the Ebola outbreak in DRC at 220, while Congolese authorities put the national figures at 131 deaths and 500 cases. 

Against that background, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has brought in measures that include screening air arrivals from outbreak areas and restricting entry for non-US passport holders who have visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, or Uganda, within the past 21 days. Visa services for the US have been suspended at the US embassy in Kampala. These actions could be adjusted “as additional information becomes available,” the CDC said. 

In Europe, though, current vigilance is taking place in a piecemeal way, by individual airlines. From Brussels—a city considered a European gateway for the former Belgian colony DRC—the national flag carrier operates daily flights, seven days a week, to Kinshasa.  

Brussels Airlines says it is monitoring the situation and is “in contact with all relevant authorities and will adjust our operations should this be necessary.” Joëlle Neeb, Senior Media Relations Manager, told Euronews: “all flights are operating as scheduled, and no additional protective measures are in place.”

She also highlighted that cabin crew are trained in following infectious diseases protocols and that anyone “with an infectious disease … is evacuated by a specialist ambulance from the military hospital.” The airline had not yet received any specific guidance from the Public Health Ministry, she said.

Q: How does the #Ebola virus spread from one person to another?
A: Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood, body fluids, or tissues of an infected person, including someone who has died from the disease. It can also spread through contaminated objects such as bedding,…

— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) May 23, 2026

Belgium’s Foreign Affairs Security Ministry is powerless to ban travel to identified countries but has “formally discouraged” all travel to the DRC provinces of Ituri and North Kivu at the heart of the outbreak.

When it comes to higher international instances, the European equivalent of the CDC has so far rejected calls for entry screening measures across the bloc. Celine Gossner, a specialist at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, questioned the resource-heavy strategy, saying it has “limited effectiveness.” The ECDPC is, however, sending experts to assist the DRC in planning and putting in place its control measures. 

At the time of writing, according to an official spokesperson for the European Commission, no formal requests for assistance had been made to the bloc from any of the affected partners. 

L’article Should European airports be screening passengers for Ebola?   est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

For many Gen Z respondents, these so-called psychic moments are linked to simple daily instincts rather than anything mystical. The Talker Research survey found that common examples include knowing when something feels “off,” sensing when someone is not telling the truth, or feeling when it is the right time to leave a situation. Around 33 percent said they can sense when something is wrong, while 28 percent mentioned detecting dishonesty. Another 26 percent reported having a gut feeling about when to walk away from something, which they later believed was the correct decision.

@notcarolinerosee everything i’ve ever found out has been through a dream no other source #fyp ♬ original sound – d0mcab

Across generations, intuition appears to be a regular part of decision-making, even if people describe it differently. The survey found that about 71 percent of Americans rely on intuition at least sometimes, while only around 11 percent say they do not believe in it at all. On average, respondents reported having about 18 moments per year that they considered “psychic” or strongly intuitive. Gen Z stood out with roughly two such moments per month, compared with about one per month among baby boomers.

These intuitive experiences also appear in practical daily situations. Around 25 percent of respondents said they had a bad feeling before something happened, while a similar percentage reported simply “knowing” an outcome in advance. About 24 percent said they thought of someone just before that person contacted them. Other examples included 22 percent sensing that someone could not be trusted, and 19 percent saying they knew what someone was going to say before they said it.

@beausmother listen to yourself a little more #healing ♬ Ontario (Slowed) – Novo Amor & Lowswimmer

Differences between generations also appeared in specific areas where intuition was strongest. Gen X respondents were the most likely to say they could correctly predict outcomes, at around 21 percent. Millennials reported a stronger connection between dreams and intuition, also at about 21 percent. When it came to dating, both Gen Z and millennials reported similar levels of intuition at around 14 percent. Financial intuition was also shared across generations, with Gen Z and baby boomers showing similar confidence at about 14 percent.

Adam Dickinson, a former FBI intelligence analyst and current intuition advisor, said that intuition is often connected to the brain recognising patterns based on previous experiences. He explained that intuition usually feels calm and steady, while anxiety tends to feel repetitive, urgent, and stressful. Many respondents admitted they struggled to tell the difference between the two. According to the survey, around 35 percent said they were not confident they could separate gut feelings from anxiety.

The growing interest in intuition is also linked to wider social and online trends. Content related to astrology, tarot cards, manifestation, and similar beliefs has become increasingly visible on social media platforms such as TikTok. At the same time, many respondents said therapy and mental health support had helped them better understand their emotions and internal reactions. However, technology use, including AI and constant online activity, was also seen by many participants as reducing trust in personal instincts.

L’article Gen Z says intuition helps guide daily decisions, survey reveals est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

“This is the first study to test several of the major hypotheses for human handedness in a single framework,” explains Thomas A. Püschel, one of the study authors and a professor of anthropology at the University of Oxford.

A paper published in PLOS Biology journal reveals how the team looked at “handedness” data from over 2,000 individuals, across 41 species of monkeys and apes. Using Bayesian models, combining existing biological knowledge and genetic and physical observations, they tested various evolutionary explanations for handedness. The factors ranged from diet to tool use, to social structure, habitat, body, and brain size.

The two variables that made the most difference to the modelling were bipedalism and brain size, leading the researchers to set out a two-stage explanation for human handedness.

First, humans began walking upright on two legs, which freed up their hands for use other than self-propulsion. This in turn meant humans who developed “specialized hand use” for transporting items, communicating, or using tools were more likely to survive and pass on their genes.

The scientists note that other tree-dwelling primates also exhibit stronger preferences for using one hand over the other, which they say is because propulsion through branches requires such precision and coordination. Humans simply began using their specialist hand differently when they no longer needed it for getting around.

The real leap however came when Homo sapiens emerged, with far bigger brains than their ancestors. Homo sapiens were far more likely to be right-handed than Homo erectus and Neanderthals, the researchers say.

Still to explore though are: the reason why left-handedness can still be found at all in human populations; and the extent of the impact of “education” and culture on right-handedness rates. In many human communities, right-handedness was conceived of as socially preferable, and children who exhibited a preference for using their left hand used to be forced to “learn” how to use their right hand instead.

The research team also suggests further studies on other species of animal to ascertain whether other bipedal creatures such as kangaroos or parrots, who show a leaning for one “hand” over the other, evolved the tendency in the same way.

L’article Human right-handedness linked to walking on two legs and brain evolution, scientists say est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.