I spoke to allergists for my latest BBC piece, and one theme came up again and again: a lot of people are treating hay fever in ways that aren’t especially effective. Here are 5 research-backed tips:

Within the first 24 hours of the war on Iran, a girls’ elementary school was struck by missiles, and at least 165 people were killed, most of them little girls. Within days, major outlets and humanitarian organizations around the world were treating it as a big news story.

Calling someone “undocumented” instead of an “illegal immigrant” isn’t about being politically correct. It’s about being accurate. And I’m going to explain exactly why using an example you probably haven’t heard.

Delighted that my BBC story "Foetal alcohol syndrome: Why fathers need to watch what they drink too" has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Medical Journalists' Association awards! You can read the story here: www.bbc.com/future/artic...

So nice to wake up to the news that I've won in the Technology category for the 2025 American Society of Journalists and Authors Writing Awards! Many congrats to all the winners. You can read the original story here: www.newscientist.com/article/mg26... @asjahq.bsky.social

You may have heard that "chemical" sunscreens absorb UV radiation, but that mineral ones reflect it — physically blocking UV rays like an umbrella deflects rain. As I learned recently while reporting and researching my deep-dive on chemical vs mineral sunscreens for the BBC, isn’t actually true.

When the world feels like it's on fire, switching off is tempting. But we need to stay involved now. more than ever. How do we stay engaged and informed without losing our minds... or stamina? Here are 10 tips from the research:

First introduced in the city of Grand Rapids in the US state of Michigan in 1945, community water fluoridation today is practised in about 25 countries, including parts of the UK, Spain, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia and Brazil.

A new study has found that, as carbon emissions rise and the Earth continues to warm, inorganic arsenic levels in rice will, too. And this could impact levels of chronic disease around the world.

Numerous high-quality studies on 100s of 1000s of children have found that children who are vaccinated do not have higher rates of autism or other developmental disabilities, *and* that there's no plausible mechanism for which vaccines could cause autism. Where did this idea originally come from?

If you're sniffling more this allergy season, could climate change be to blame?

Imagine that one out of every two funerals you attend, every year, is for a child under the age of 15.

Iron deficiency is the most common micronutrient deficiency in the world, affecting 1 in 3 people. Left uncorrected, it can cause fatigue, weakness and dizziness, among other symptoms — and is a leading cause of disability. And many people have no idea they have it. www.bbc.com/future/artic...

PSA: It is not vaccines OR other public health measures like sanitation that have brought about huge declines in child mortality. It’s both. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, because we recognize this when it comes to many other forms of health. Most of us understand that:

Let’s talk about the impact of the measles vaccine on not just measles *cases*, but deaths – including in higher-income countries. In 2024, a group of leading scientists reviewed the impact of the last 50 years of vaccination around the world, including measles vaccination. Here’s what they found:

We've all heard about Big Pharma. So... are we ready to talk about Big Wellness? THREAD:

Measles is a dangerous disease. Around the world, about 373 people die of measles every day. The vast majority of them are children, and are unvaccinated. But one of the least commonly known risks of measles isn’t from the measles disease itself. THREAD:

On "just asking questions"—a thread:

There's a logical fallacy that's popping up everywhere at the moment—from health to politics. This is the belief that something is inherently better if it is "natural". But this argument is fundamentally flawed. More in my latest column for the BBC: www.bbc.com/future/artic...

I keep hearing the argument that the Trump administration "couldn't ask for a stronger mandate from the public". While it's no surprise that that's the narrative put forward by the current administration, a lot of the public seems to believe it, too. But I think facts matter, so let's discuss 👇

Join us and award-winning journalist @amandaruggeri.bsky.social for a free webinar on disinformation, as well as how to spot and stop it on social media. Plus, you'll hear about the launch of our open-access learning tool to combat disinformation. ⌚When: 17/02, 1pm-2pm thewea.info/signup_

A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning that, despite having no bearing at all on a claim's actual merit, can – very confusingly – make that claim sound more convincing. There are dozens of these, but one that's especially common online and off is an ad hominem attack.

Like a lot of us, I fell for the false claim this week that Meta was automatically signing people up to follow the potus and vp accounts on IG. Unlike a lot of us, I’m a journalist who covers misinformation.