The people who are addicted to daydreaming

Some people daydream for hours on end, playing out a single storyline for decades – and it can be hugely distressing. Here’s how to tell when your daydreaming has gone too far.

Brain freeze reveals a lot about your health

If you’re having ice cream headaches often, it might be worth seeing if it runs in your family and taking a second look at your non-brain-freeze headaches too.

Emma Barnett: We can’t ignore this disease that leaves one in 10 women like me in agony

Women tell the BBC presenter how endometriosis affects their lives, as she challenges ministers to take action.

Why do we want to be remembered after we die?

Research shows that considering how we will be remembered when we die can help us improve our mental health and find more meaning during our lives – including if we are still young.

A neuroscientist’s guide to thinking smarter in the 21st Century

In her new book, The 21st Century Brain, scientist Hannah Critchlow explores the overlooked skills that will be necessary to flourish in the age of AI – and how we can cultivate them.

Ebola virus

How health workers in DR Congo are treating Ebola and staying safe

There are currently no approved drugs that target Bundibugyo – the species of Ebola responsible for this outbreak.

Two possible Ebola cases in Brazil ruled out as patients test negative

The two patients had recently returned from the DR Congo and Uganda respectively.

Three Ebola vaccines in development amid growing outbreak fears

IAVI, Moderna and the University of Oxford are all working on new vaccines.

How 20 minutes in nature can boost your health

Spending just 20 minutes in nature can lower blood pressure, heart rate and stress levels.

Want a better night’s sleep? Go camping

No beds, more birdsong: why outdoor sleep can make for better slumber which continues after you return home.

The Nordic approach to getting outdoors

Unwinding in the open air is so ingrained in the culture, some companies build it into the working week. But is it under threat in an increasingly global and digital society?

Don’t feel like exercising? Maybe it’s the wrong time of day for you

Time your workout to your body clock, health researchers advise based on latest evidence.

The hiking movement to reclaim green spaces

Racism and unequal access to green spaces are just two reasons people of colour spend less time in nature. Meet the groups working to bring the benefits of the great outdoors to all.

A natural cure for loneliness

There is an ever-growing list of the benefits of nature prescriptions – now researchers say nature could offer a cure for loneliness too.

Five minutes of exercise a day could help you live longer

Small increases in physical activity as part of our daily lives can bring long-term benefits to our health.

Three fun challenges to slow your brain’s ageing

Chasing longevity: The business of not ageing

Why eating fibre is good for your brain

Parents weren’t always this tired. What changed?

Our ancestors probably didn’t suffer as much from parental sleep deprivation, leading some scientists to reconsider guidelines for today’s new parents.

Your phone’s blue light isn’t ruining your sleep

The micro-dreaming game that helps you sleep

How people woke up before alarm clocks

Children need to move more. Here’s how to help

Children are less physically active than they used to be. Scientists are finding effective ways to encourage children to move more, leaving lasting benefits on their health.

Why an uneven heart rate could be a good thing

Food labels are actually affecting your health

How enjoying your food could help you lose weight

Science says dating app users fall into the same cycle. Here’s how to spot it

Download, burnout, delete, repeat: Dating app users follow a predictable and dangerous pattern. These are the signs you’re falling for it – and how to escape.

Six families, six very different summer trips

This baffling syndrome makes fathers feel pregnant

Is it limerence, infatuation or love? How to tell

What’s Up Docs?

All in the Mind

The Food Programme

The Food Chain

Complex with Kimberley Wilson

Health Check

In Touch

The Easy Wellness Podcast with Vinny Hurrell & Cate Conway

The Music & Meditation Podcast

Inside Health

The end of the passive wellness retreat

The new generation of hotel spas is selling treatments that promise better sleep, lower stress and longer, healthier lives.

How an ecological blunder led to a national health crisis in Japan

A decision made 70 years ago to reforest vast swathes of Japan with just two kinds of tree has come back to haunt the country.

How chewing more could boost your memory and brain health

While it’s widely known that chewing more improves digestion, research suggests it can also help reverse mental ageing.

The banned hallucinogenic drug raising hopes for PTSD treatment

Trials on veterans suggest the potent hallucinogen could provide a new treatment for PTSD, but scientists still don’t know how it works.

These breathing techniques could reduce your stress in minutes

Spending a few minutes on your breathing can not only bring instant stress relief, but also benefit your health in the long term.

Magic mushrooms could help people quit smoking

Nicotine is highly addictive, but new research is showing that psychedelics can shift people’s worldview in ways to help them give up cigarettes.

Finding ‘hidden sperm’ in men deemed infertile

A new AI-powered technology is locating sperm cells in men who were told they had none – and giving couples who have been trying for years another chance at having children.

Nine ways to cope with your seasonal allergies

From the most effective medications to the most common triggers to avoid, we examine science-backed advice that should reduce your seasonal suffering.

Aspirin can reduce the risk of cancer – and we’re starting to understand why

The 4,000-year-old drug, most commonly used to treat pain, prevents certain tumours from forming and spreading across the body – findings that are already changing health policies.

Is AI making us forget how to think?

As large language models take over more and more cognitive tasks, researchers are warning this mental outsourcing comes with a cost.

Dad brain: How fatherhood remakes men’s minds

From before their babies are born, men undergo serious hormonal changes that can powerfully influence their behaviour – with consequences for their child’s wellbeing.

I gave up eating sugar. This is what I learned

Foods with added sugar are everywhere – even in some surprising places. So how easy is it to go without sugar and what difference can it make to your health?

Here’s why you might want to be rained on

Humans are more sensitive to the smell of rain than sharks are to blood. And rain has some surprising benefits for our bodies too – especially when it comes to our mood.

‘It felt like science fiction’: The cancer therapy changing lives

After nearly 100 years of development, treatments that bolster the body’s immune system to fight cancer are coming of age – and saving patients’ lives.

Are ‘ancient grains’ really better for you?

Unlike commonly farmed crops like wheat, ancient grains have maintained genetic properties from their wild ancestors – and they’re linked to many health claims, including that they contain more nutrients than their modern counterparts.