The Best of BBC News (World)

It’s hard to reason through problems, but there are ways to be more objective and less biased in your thinking.

«The idea makes intuitive sense: by switching to the third person, our descriptions of the situation will start to sound as if we are talking about someone else rather than ourselves. This sense of detachment would allow us to see the bigger picture, rather than getting caught up in our own feelings.»

Sleep paralysis has inspired paintings and horror stories. Now scientists are starting to understand why people wake from dreams unable to move.

«Some see angels and later believe they have had a religious experience. Researchers think these hallucinations may have fuelled belief in witches in Early Modern Europe, and could even explain some modern claims of alien abductions.»

The #grindset mentality has long endured – but some people are finding hustle culture is losing its lustre.

Controlling the action in a dream is an appealing concept that has attracted enormous attention over the years, but there could be risks if inducing them infringes on sleep quality

«schizophrenia, psychosis or bipolar disorder, or manic phase, should avoid inducing lucid dreams as it might exacerbate those conditions»

Blinking conveys more information than you might think and it's hard to make robots do it properly.

Aircraft currently leave a major footprint on the world's climate, so can the aviation industry hope to reach net zero by the middle of the century?

Airships could offer a much cleaner and quieter alternative for some aspects of the aviation market. In a former airship factory, a new generation are taking shape.

A man who had not walked for two years was able to move all his limbs thanks to new technology.

Retailers are struggling to make their products accessible, and customers are taking them to court.

The problems caused by plastic waste are rapidly increasing around the globe, but it still serves a useful purpose in food packaging. Can plastic still be a green option?

«brands have transitioned away from refillables to single-use packaging faster in the global North than in the South; it simply made more economic sense,»

Invented by the region's Moorish rulers 1,200 years ago, Valencia's irrigation system is now a model for sustainable farming.

France is facing a widespread dearth of Dijon mustard, which news outlets wasted no time in attributing to the war in Ukraine. But the story is a whole lot spicier than that.

We know fish as a healthy food, but pregnant women are told to limit consumption. Do the health benefits of eating fish outweigh the risks, particularly as stocks grow more depleted?

A growing and influential intellectual movement aims to understand why human progress happens – and how to speed it up. Garrison Lovely investigates.

For millennia, people slept in two shifts – once in the evening, and once in the morning. But why? And how did the habit disappear?

What are the consequences of southern India outperforming the rest of the country?

The homegrown brands that have found their way into the homes and hearts of millions of Indians.

Most mammals, including our closest living relatives, have fur. So why did we lose ours?

Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky discusses his startling and unexpectedly sublime photos – 'an extended lament for the loss of nature' – with Gaia Vince.

Address the real reasons you procrastinate and you’re more likely to start achieving your goals.

«“make your focus as simple as ‘What’s the next action – a simple next step – I would take on this task if I were to get started on it now?’”.»

Procrastination gets the best of all of us, to the detriment of our work, happiness and health. But a new theory could provide us with the easiest way to kick the habit.

These Ukrainians say their Russian relatives only trust the narratives they see on TV at home.

Because of his miscalculations, there's a new iron curtain at the Russian leader’s door - writes Allan Little

In Denmark, the Nordic concept of friluftsliv – or unwinding in the outdoors – includes troll hunts, shoreline biking and stargazing in Scandinavia's first International Dark Sky Park.

«the Nordic concept of friluftsliv – or unwinding in the outdoors»

In the dusty plains of present-day Sindh in southern Pakistan lie the remains of one of the world's most impressive ancient cities that most people have never heard of.

Our world is awash with a rainbow of colours, but certain shades can have a surprising impact on our ability to concentrate, our mood and even our taste.

«And if you want a child to concentrate, you might consider painting a classroom in a vivid palette and so bolster their reading scores.»

Speaking a second or even a third language can bring obvious advantages, but occasionally the words, grammar and even accents can get mixed up.

«our languages aren't just static throughout our lives but shifting, actively competing and interfering with each other.»

Spread over a vast, remote landscape in north-western Saudi Arabia are millennia-old archaeological remains that could change our understanding of prehistory.

When old age starts depend on where you live in the world. But it may also partly depend on how you view ageing. Can you delay it with a positive attitude?

Through apparently spontaneous change or through mishap or illness, our eyes can change colour in surprising ways.