Scared of the phone? Here's how to overcome that fear We’re rarely separated from our mobile phones, but many people still suffer from a true, deep fear of making a phone call (Credit: Getty Images) Does hearing the phone ring make you panic? Does the thought of making a call give you cold sweats? We’re rarely separated from our mobile phones these days, but many people still suffer from a true, d

Gun ownership has traditionally been associated with the right wing in America but the election of Donald Trump has prompted some left-wingers to join gun clubs - and even start preparing for the collapse of society. "I really didn't expect to be thinking about purchasing a gun. It was something that my father did and I rolled my eyes at him." Clara, a 28-year-old nursing student, grew up in the M

Luke Brett Moore, a young Australian, had just lost his job when he discovered his bank was mistakenly allowing him unlimited credit. It was too good an opportunity to miss. As he explains here, in his own words, he started spending and didn't stop - until one day there was a knock on the door. It seems unbelievable but my intention was never to take all the money from the St George Bank and not p

Google made its first agreement to purchase all the electricity from a 114-megawatt wind farm in Iowa in 2010 Google has confirmed it will hit its target of offsetting 100% of the energy used at its data centres and offices against power from renewable sources. The firm first made the commitment in 2015 to go 100% renewable by 2017. In a blog, external, the company said it was now the largest corp

Many of the fake news websites that sprang up during the US election campaign have been traced to a small city in Macedonia, where teenagers are pumping out sensationalist stories to earn cash from advertising. The young man sitting in the cafe looks barely more than a boy - he hasn't shaved for a few days, yet he's a long way off achieving designer stubble. The hair on his chin and cheeks is stil

India is in the middle of an extraordinary economic experiment. On 8 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave only four hours' notice that virtually all the cash in the world's seventh-largest economy would be effectively worthless. The Indian government likes to use the technical term "demonetisation" to describe the move, which makes it sound rather dull. It isn't. This is the economic equiva

Honda Accord (US) review: about as exciting as oatmeal, but it’s the mid-size benchmarkMid-size sedans don’t get more vanilla than this. And in the case of the Honda Accord, that’s a good thing

On virtually every street corner in the country’s cities, visitors can find local sweet shops selling hundreds of types of sugary confections, from gulab jamun (fried balls of dough soaked in sugar syrup), to barfi (a sweet made from thickened milk with lots of sugar). Now, that penchant for sweets – and the country’s fast-growing middle class – is creating a burgeoning industry: locally sourced a

People are more businesslike and more business-focused at breakfast meetings, before work starts, than they are later in the day (Credit: Alamy) If you need to persuade someone in business, you might be missing out on the best time of day if you’re only scheduling drinks, dinner or long lunches. For Ryan Estis, breakfast isn’t just the most important meal of the day — it’s also the time for his mo

Could moving to a new country make you wealthier?For some people, living abroad has become a shortcut to realising their financial ambitions. And for those willing to plan ahead or make the most of what they have, there are great benefits to be had. But it’s all about what you want to achieve. A glimpse at the 2016 HSBC Expat Explorer survey reveals 38% of almost 27,000 expats interviewed claimed

How much rest do we think we need, who is getting the most, and what are the most restful activities? The results of the world's largest survey on rest indicate that to feel truly rested, a lot of us want to be alone. Last November an online survey called The Rest Test was launched to investigate what rest means to different people, how they like to rest and whether there is a link between rest an

Some teenage pregnancy education programmes involve 'magic dolls' being looked after for a weekend Teenage pregnancy prevention programmes which use "magic dolls" to simulate the needs of a new baby do not work, according to a study in The Lancet., external More than 1,000 teenage girls who took part in programmes in Western Australia were more likely to become pregnant than girls who did not take

Tesla's lowest-cost car yet, the Model 3, will also have the self-driving hardware Electric carmaker Tesla says all cars it now builds will have hardware needed to drive completely on their own. But despite the cameras, sensors and radars being introduced, it is still expected to be years before the vehicles become fully self-driving. Tesla introduced its Autopilot system last year, allowing some

Those worried about the health impacts of Caesarean sections say babies born that way miss out on the health benefits of a natural birth. Now, as Alanna Collen writes in this week's Scrubbing Up, some experts are suggesting a simple swab could mean that doesn't have to be the case. Shortly after his wife gave birth by emergency Caesarean section in 2012, US scientist Rob Knight waited for the midw

There’s no pain quite like the one you experience when you hit your funny bone. But what is going on to create such an odd feeling? Everybody knows that smacking your funny bone isn’t all that funny, but did you know that the prickling feeling you feel from smacking it isn’t from your bones at all? Instead, the decidedly unpleasant sensation comes from the ulnar nerve, a set of sensitive fibres th

Some people just need less. Do you? (Credit: Getty Images) Is it true that some people need only a few hours of sleep? Helen Thomson talks to a woman whose genes might hint at how we all could survive on less shuteye. What would you do if you had 60 days of extra free time a year? Ask Abby Ross, a retired psychologist from Miami, Florida, a “short-sleeper”. She needs only four hours sleep a night,

Look closer at eye movements and you can find out what’s happening inside somebody’s head, says Mo Costandi. It’s sometimes said that the eyes are windows into the soul, revealing deep emotions that we might otherwise want to hide. Although modern science precludes the existence of the soul, it does suggest that there is a kernel of truth in this old saying: it turns out the eyes not only reflect

People should listen to music for no more than one hour a day to protect their hearing, the World Health Organization suggests. It says 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults, external are at risk of permanently damaging their hearing by listening to "too much, too loudly". It said audio players, concerts and bars were posing a "serious threat". WHO figures show 43 million people aged 12-35 have h