The Open University

Why asking what causes autism is the wrong question

11 October 2017

The animal rights charity PETA recently made a link between autism and drinking cow’s milk. The article on its website discussed research that linked a diary-free diet with a reduction in symptoms of autism in children. The charity cited two particular research projects which suggest a link between drinking cow’s milk and autism. It was […]

Take a first step into distance learning: free online course with BBC Learning English

9 October 2017

Want to be a distance learner? Don’t know where to start? The OU has teamed up with BBC Learning English to provide a free 10-week online course to teach you how to become a pro. Go the Distance includes animations, explainers, support from academics on writing techniques and interviews with students about their experiences of distance […]

Does poor spelling really mean Donald Trump isn’t fit to be president?

12 September 2017

In the aftermath of a controversial clash of protests in Boston, Donald Trump sent out a tweet about the need to heal the nation – managing in the process to misspell the word “heal”. He then quickly deleted the tweet, resent it with the same mistake, deleted the second attempt, until finally getting it right […]

Top tips on getting to sleep the night before the big day

15 August 2017

Getting to sleep before a big day is never going to be simple. But it can be much easier if you manage your sleep (and your children’s sleep) beforehand. Honorary Associate, Dr Paul Kelley, is an expert in circadian and memory neuroscience, and given his top tips on how to wind-down before the big day: […]

Trumpslation: why Donald Trump’s words give translators so much trouble

7 August 2017

Much has already been written on the difficulty that translators and interpreters have when translating Donald Trump’s speeches and messages into other languages. The president’s frequent mangling of the English language has left interpreters and translators scratching their heads the world over. The most recent challenge for translators was how to translate the president’s inappropriate […]

Women’s Euro 2017 football tournament – all you need to know

26 July 2017

The summer of women’s sport takes to the football pitch with the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 competition getting underway on July 16. It will be the 12th women’s Euro tournament and is hosted by the Netherlands for the first time, who will launch proceedings with a match against Norway in Utrecht. A total of 47 […]

Testosterone in female athletes – gender expert comments

4 July 2017

A new report from The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) says that female athletes with high levels of testosterone, such as Caster Semenya, could have a competitive advantage over their rivals. Currently the Court of Arbitration for Sport has suspended a rule enforcing a limit on naturally occurring levels of testosterone in female athletes […]

How to settle social care funding once and for all

5 June 2017

Branding it a “dementia tax” was inspired – opponents of the Conservative Party’s election manifesto railed against its fundamentally unfair proposals for dealing with the social care costs of increasing numbers of old people with dementia. Theresa May’s U-turn took less than a long weekend. But there is still massive unfairness in the provision of […]

“Could painkillers increase our risk of a heart attack?” OU academic explains

10 May 2017

Research by the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre, published in The British Medical Journal (BMJ), suggests that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) painkillers could increase the risk of heart attacks. The study of five NSAID painkillers, including ibuprofen, concluded that the risk of suffering from a heart attack was as much as 50% greater in those […]

Four myths about diabetes debunked

8 May 2017

The World Health Organisation estimates that the number of people with diabetes is 422m, globally. And between 1980 and 2014 the number of people with the condition almost doubled. Despite the high prevalence of the disease, it is often misunderstood. Here are some common misconceptions about diabetes. 1. Diabetes is purely a disorder of the […]

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Category: Education, languages and health