Millions of people around the world turn to AI companions such as ChatGPT. These sites rely on complex algorithms (sets of computer rules) that are very good at imitating empathy, listening and intimacy in conversation. But these companions are products owned by third parties.
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A new study in mice suggests that iron deficiency during pregnancy causes damage to the unborn baby that cannot be reversed. The study was carried out at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry in the US and published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2026. The team fed female mice either enough […]
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We live surrounded by endless images in adverts, films and social media that reduce women to their bodies, or to parts of them, as if they were objects of pleasure rather than whole human beings. Research links this objectification to tolerance of sexual harassment, to sex discrimination, and to body shame, anxiety and depression in […]
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Women's psychological reactions are known to differ from men's, and it is widely believed that women respond more strongly to alcohol and drugs. We used to think the reason was that women's bodies are smaller, so the same amount gives a higher concentration in the blood. A new study suggests the effect on women is […]
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Some small, difficult or emotional moments stay etched in our memory for years, while we quickly and easily forget most details of ordinary days. The reason has to do with a hormone the body releases when we are emotionally stirred: cortisol, the well-known stress hormone. Doctors know that cortisol helps fix memories in place, but […]
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Many countries have stopped switching between summer and winter time and kept one of the two. Researchers at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University in Canada assessed the health effects of both options: standard time (the usual winter time) and summer time, which puts the clock forward a full hour. The team […]
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An American study at the Kessler Foundation in New Jersey suggests that warmer temperatures may reduce the ability of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to carry out mental tasks and process information. The researchers found a link between outdoor temperature and levels of brain activity. Patients showed an unusual increase in brain activity that was […]
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Ninth-grade students at a school in Denmark carried out an experiment that caught the attention of scientists around the world, and its results may make you think twice about filling your home with wireless devices. Five schoolgirls ran the experiment after noticing that sleeping with their mobile phones next to their heads made them less […]
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A new study from the University of Michigan suggests that heavy use of social media may be a sign of strong self-love, or narcissism. The researchers say that college students in their early twenties who score high on narcissism post frequently on Twitter, while narcissistic middle-aged adults, in their thirties, post more on Facebook. The […]
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A new study at Duke University says that people who play video games are not just training themselves to press controller buttons fast: they learn to react faster to what they see. The researchers add that gamers see the world differently, with the ability to pick up more information from their surroundings. One difficulty the […]
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A new study explains why humans are obsessed with forbidden pleasures, comparing it to Adam and Eve's fixation on the apple in paradise. The study, due to be published in the journal Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, says that people pay more attention when something is socially forbidden, and that this extra attention works at […]
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A stroke happens when blood cannot reach part of the brain, either because a vessel is blocked (a clot) or because a blood vessel in the brain bursts. Without quick treatment, the part of the brain starved of blood dies, which can cause disability or even death. Symptoms of a stroke include: Testing for a […]
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