The vagus nerve is the longest and most complex of the cranial nerves. It carries both motor and sensory information and supplies reinforcement to the heart, major blood vessels, lungs, stomach, esophagus, and intestines.

It is often called the “rest and digest” system, because it helps the body to calm down and conserve energy after a stressful situation. It plays an important role in the parasympathetic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system is a part of the autonomic nervous system, which controls the functions of the body that are not under our conscious control, such as breathing, heartbeat, digestion, and so on.

So, what are the benefits of stimulating the vagus nerve? And how can you stimulate it ? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:

Does sleeping next to someone improve sleep quality?

Why is the BRICS bloc expanding?

How can you clean your hair without using shampoo?

A podcast written and realised by Amber Minogue.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The idea of carbon footprint dates back to the early 2000s and ironically was introduced by oil giant BP. But recently, a new concept was created: the climate change shadow.

It's a relatively recent addition to the ever growing list of terms relating to climate change. American writer Emma Pattee introduced the idea of the climate shadow in a blog post for Mic.com in December 2021, as a more comprehensive metric for each person’s impact on the climate crisis. 

What exactly contributes to my climate shadow? Isn’t that very similar to a carbon footprint? How useful is the concept of a climate shadow? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions !

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:

How can you clean your hair without using shampoo?

What is the Batman effect?

What is cookie jarring in the dating world?

A Bababam Originals podcast, written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

First broadcast : 10/08/2022

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever cursed your luck at having a partner who snores, or spends the whole night tossing and turning in bed? It can be tempting to consider abandoning them to go and sleep on the sofa instead.

Evidence suggests that sleeping next to someone does indeed have a pretty significant impact on adults’ sleep, whether that’s a partner, family member or even a pet. Researchers from the University of Arizona looked into the matter, and published the results of their study in Sleep journal in June 2022, under the title Bed Sharing Versus Sleeping Alone Associated with Sleep Health and Mental Health. 

Was it a positive impact? And what if my partner snores loudly or wakes up suddenly during the night? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here :

How can you clean your hair without using shampoo?

What's the ideal temperature to stay healthy at home?

What is cookie jarring in the dating world?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the 15th annual BRICS summit in Johannesburg in 2023, the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that 6 new member countries would be joining the bloc in 2024. 

Historically composed by Brazil, Russia, India and China, the BRICS countries control a significant amount of natural resources, making it a key actor in the world. They started to organize summits as an intergovernmental organisation in 2009 and the annual summits have taken place ever since. 

But if they are already so powerful, why are they expanding? Which countries have joined? And what are the goals behind that? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here :

How can you clean your hair without using shampoo?

What's the ideal temperature to stay healthy at home?

What is cookie jarring in the dating world?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might think that shampoo is essential for keeping your hair clean and healthy, but there  are other ways to wash your hair that don’t involve harsh chemicals or plastic bottles.  In fact, some people claim that ditching shampoo altogether can make your hair softer, shinier, and more manageable. 

Why do we use shampoo in the first place? So, how can you clean your hair without using shampoo? What are the advantages of shampoo? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here :

Can you get food poisoning from raw fish?

Should you be reducing salt in your diet?

Why do we get nightmares?

A Bababam Originals podcast, written and realised by Amber Minogue.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The World Health Organisation suggests that 18° C is the perfect temperature to set your heating to, but in reality that is just an average. There are a number of variables to take into account. 

For example, certain rooms might need to be heated more than others. And generally speaking, when we’re away from home or sleeping at night we can turn the heating down or off completely. That’s right, it can depend on age and medical conditions like thyroid problems for example. Where a certain temperature might be comfortable for some, for others it might be less bearable.

Isn’t it true that some people are more sensitive to the cold than others? Which rooms need to be heated more than others then? What should you do if your home is humid? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the latest episodes, click here:

Why was Kanye West’s Twitter account suspended?

How can you save money on your food bill?

Why is 'permacrisis' the new dictionary word of the year?

A Bababam Originals podcast, written and produced by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

First broadcast : 11/12/2022

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you have an ex who seems to always get back in touch whenever they’re feeling lonely and have no one else in their sights? Or how about this: Perhaps you had a crush on someone, and that person played along, taking you out from time to time only to eventuall you they’ve finally hooked up with another person they’d been in love with for ages, but never told you about? Well if either of those scenarios sounds familiar, you may well have been a victim of cookie jarring.

Where does the name come from? What forms can cookie jarring take? How can I avoid being cookie-jarred? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here :

Can you get food poisoning from raw fish?

Should you be reducing salt in your diet?

Why do we get nightmares?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many people, asserting themselves at work is a real challenge. There’s a lot of possible reasons for that, including stress, anxiety, new responsibilities, deadlines, personal issues or a lack of self-confidence for example. But there is an active congitive strategy, actually a pretty simple one, based on the psychological concept of "self-distancing," that could help you overcome these obstacles and become more confident in the workplace: the Batman effect.

Why Batman? Does it work for adults too? How can I use the Batman effect then? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here :

Can you get food poisoning from raw fish?

Should you be reducing salt in your diet?

Why do we get nightmares?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all know someone who talks in their sleep, or occasionally sleepwalks around the house, perhaps even heading to the kitchen to prepare a nighttime snack. These kinds of episodes aren’t especially rare. But some forms are relatively unknown, one of which is sexsomnia.

It’s a form of parasomnia, which means undesirable behaviour which occurs while falling asleep, during sleep, or while waking up. As you may have guessed from the name, sexsomnia consists of sexual activity, ranging from aroused moaning to exhibitionism, masturbation, fondling or even penetration. Just like with sleepwalking, a person with sexsomnia usually has no recollection of their acts the next day.

It must be pretty rare to suffer from sexsomnia, mustn’t it? Does sexsomnia affect certain groups of people more than others? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here :

What is a frenemy?

Which colours go well together according to science?

Why is sitting with your legs crossed bad?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

First broadcast : 19/08/2021

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Think back to when you were a kid and there was a type of vegetable you simply wouldn’t go near, let alone eat. It might have been broccoli, Brussels sprouts or spinach for example.

Or perhaps another type of food like seafood, which now as an adult you actually quite like, or  can tolerate at least. It’s not a coincidence; there are scientific explanations for why our taste preferences evolve with time.

What tastes do children actually like most then? Does this hypersensitivity decrease with age then? Do other factors play a role in changing our food preferences? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here :

Why do we get nightmares?

Has the climate breakdown really begun?

What is a frenemy?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

In partnership with upday UK.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices