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RTÉ Brainstorm - Brainstorm | Opinion, Analysis, Reports, Features | RTÉ

A short history of colourful Irish by-elections

Will the Dublin Bay South by-election better the stories of maggots, donkeys and army mutinies we've seen in the past?

"Even small increases in physical activity lead to improvements in mental wellbeing". Photo: Getty Images

How physical activity in teens leads to better mental health

Just about everyone agrees that the Irish housing system is in crisis - so why does this crisis continue?

Can the 'wicked problem' of housing in Ireland ever be solved?

"Constituency polls are primarily used by political parties to determine their local candidate strategy."

The ins and outs of constituency polling for political parties

Interior of a cabin in Carraroe, Co. Galway. Image courtesy of the National Library of Ireland

How photography told the story of Ireland's 1898 food shortage

Sections of Atlantic cables and grapnel laid in the 1860s. Photo: Science & Society Picture Library/SSPL/Getty Images

The cable connecting Ireland to the Americas

"Put simply, runners get injured when they change anything too quickly". Photo: Getty Images

Why some runners get injured - and how to stop it happening

Woodlice cousin Oxyuropoda ligioides in its 365 million years old continental Irish environment. Illustration: Diane Dabir Moghaddam

The Irish quarry showing us life on Earth 360 million years ago

The German weight lifting championships in Villingen in 1929. Photo: Ullstein bild via Getty Images

Barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells: a history of weightlifting

Republic of Ireland players during the penalty shoot-out at the end of the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Slovakia last October. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images

6 ways to help Ireland qualify for major soccer finals again

"Donning a pair of trainers is no longer frowned upon in the workplace or on more formal occasions." Photo: Zarya Maxim Alexandrovich/Shutterstock

How the trainers we wear every day became cultural icons

A virologist in the biosafety level 4 lab at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany. Photo: DPA Picture Alliance/Alamy Stock Photo

Only 25% of labs handling deadly pathogens score high on safety

Say hello to Dragon, the virtual cat someone paid $170,000 for. Image: CryptoKitties

Do you want to invest in cute cats? There's an NFT for that

"When we looked at what housework the children were doing, it quickly became apparent that it was the girls who bore the brunt of the work" Photo: Getty Images

Irish kids & housework: boys will be boys and girls do the dishes

Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve in west Cork. Photo: Valerio Micaroni

Meet the 1,850 animals and plants we found in Cork's Lough Hyne

More Brainstorm

Spotlight

Ever wondered why one crisp is never enough?

Agnes Bouchier-Hayes on what makes your favourite crisps so tasty and moreish

Ever wondered why one crisp is never enough?

Agnes Bouchier-Hayes on what makes your favourite crisps so tasty and moreish

The maths behind a perfect cup of coffee

Brewing the perfect cup of coffee involves equations as well as beans

Why password rules and restrictions don't work

Does Hazel Murray obey her organisation and change her password every 90 days?

How selfies show what it means to be human in the 21st century

Mary McGill on the links between selfies and major changes in society

Ideas

Livestock were in danger of being cursed or stolen and had to be protected with rituals

A guide to piseogs, Ireland's sinister folk magic spells

Say hello to Dragon, the virtual cat someone paid $170,000 for. Image: CryptoKitties

Do you want to invest in cute cats? There's an NFT for that

The German weight lifting championships in Villingen in 1929. Photo: Ullstein bild via Getty Images

Barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells: a history of weightlifting

Colin the Caterpillar became the source of a dispute between Marks and Spencer and Aldi.

Colin the Caterpillar and the curious case of IP rights

Intellectual Property

On the one road: 'the research suggests that a focus on commonalities rather than differences might play a role in sustained positive relationships'

How the groups we belong to affect how we think, feel and behave

The periodic table: "a landmark event that was to transform chemistry from a tangle of disorganised facts into a disciplined science". Photo: iStock

The afternoon nap which changed the world of chemistry

They'll be there for you (again)

Why we went mad for nostalgia in the last year

Podcasts

"Travelling by electric scooter means you are no longer dragging a tonne of metal with you every time you head out to pick up the milk"

Why it's time to make room on the road for electric scooters

What about my lovely dishes? Image: Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Meet the 18th century Irish gents obsessed with plates and dishes

Would the Dublin Daredevils go on to win the 10 in a row?

Here are some radical ways to solve the GAA's Dublin problem

"Beards were a source of pride and led to nicknames such as Jutting-Beard, Silk-Beard and Old-Beardless"

The hairy history of beards

"Accentism describes a situation where an individual feels as though they have been unfairly judged, treated, or commented on due to the way they speak." Photo: Getty Images

Can your accent really affect your job prospects?

Work and Careers

Ireland

"When we looked at what housework the children were doing, it quickly became apparent that it was the girls who bore the brunt of the work" Photo: Getty Images

Irish kids & housework: boys will be boys and girls do the dishes

A 1860 sketch of convicts in Bermuda. Image courtesy of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.

The story of Irish convicts sent 3,000 miles from home to Bermuda

Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald being sent off against Antrim

No more Davy Fitz: should the GAA bring in silent sidelines?

"Some of the hospital doctors that we spoke to were hopeful that the pandemic would be the catalyst for further health system improvement". Illustration: Eoin Kelleher (@EoinKr)

What Irish hospital doctors learned from working in the pandemic

"Ireland is not typical in the data that emerges around fertility so it can be hard to anticipate Irish trends"

Sex and the Irish: has lockdown led to more babies?

Percy Metcalfe's final designs for the Irish coinage, 1927. Photo: RTÉ Stills Library

How barnyard animals ended up on Irish Free State coins

We have 98 species of native, wild bees in Ireland, including 21 bumblebee species and 77 solitary bee species.

How Ireland caught the buzz for bees

Climate Change

More Climate Change

"Giving someone the information and telling them what to do won't necessarily result in behaviour change"

Why do we find it so hard to stop using plastic bottles?

"In the past there was a strong bias against forestry in Ireland"

Can we plant 22 million trees a year?

Peat bogs in Connemara. Photo: David Lefranc/Kipa/Sygma via Getty Images

How to read the climate history of a bog

"The increase in online shopping with unprecedented parcel volume has reshaped urban distribution patterns."

What's the size of your next-day delivery's carbon footprint?

Online Shopping

"The general public's concerns about flooding have increased for many over the last 10 years, and a large majority of people expect the problem to get worse in the coming decades" Photo: RTÉ

Would you buy a house with a 10% chance of flooding every year?

More Climate Change

Editor's Choice

"Covid-19 has forced us to reflect on this most basic aspect of the human condition: our mortality"

What did we learn about ourselves during the pandemic?

Republic of Ireland players during the penalty shoot-out at the end of the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Slovakia last October. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images

6 ways to help Ireland qualify for major soccer finals again

"Swimmers think they have nothing to say but as they speak a rich voice emerges from the water, echoing the depth of their own place connection"

The joys of outdoor swimming

"Culchies are all too familiar with the annual back breaking ritual, whereas townies seem to think it's archaic"

All you need to know about turf cutting

An engraving of 18th century confectionary delights by Jacques-Philippe Careme. Photo: DeAgostini/Getty Images

How dessert became the bling course at 18th century dinners

Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark

Rewatching Raiders of the Lost Ark 40 years on