National Weather Warning

The folklore, food and rituals of the Chinese New Year

One of the most important holidays in China, the New Year festival involves many traditional celebrations and activities

"When they met people they were unfamiliar with, most of the babies were able to match the language they used to the language of the person."

How your bilingual baby's brain handles two languages

Standing guard: the National Hurling Leagues are back this weekend

The Brainstorm digest - 6 great stories from the last 7 days

Best of Brainstorm

"As part of the process to improve the sliotar, a colour change was also suggested" Photo: Green Fields Digital Sports Technology

The story behind hurling's new yellow sliotar

"To paraphrase Star Trek's Spock, trade will continue but not as we know it after Brexit."

How supply chains and logistics get goods from A to B

Lord Mayor Of Cork Terence MacSwiney who died on hunger strike in 1920

The links between the 1920 Cork hunger strikes and China

"Irish culture is proudly child-friendly, yet children appear to be a very low priority in the political agendas of many mainstream parties"

Why free childcare in Ireland should be an election issue

Many people believe open-plan offices were devised by Satan in the deepest caverns of hell

How to design a better office

Many factors contribute to traditional musicians' susceptibility to performance-related musculoskeletal disorders from posture to pub sessions

Protect your local traditional musician

Traditional Music

"Current evidence clearly highlights the risks and negative implications of using physical activity as a deterrent, or punishment to food choices"

Why linking food choices with physical activity isn't a good idea

"A hacker could gain access to your smartphone through your smart salt dispenser because they are connected" Photo: Getty Images

Do you know what your fridge is doing?

More Brainstorm

Election 2020.

"Irish culture is proudly child-friendly, yet children appear to be a very low priority in the political agendas of many mainstream parties"

Why free childcare in Ireland should be an election issue

"Even the Taoiseach regrettably refers to us as a climate laggard"

4 climate change questions to ask general election candidates

"Brexit is not simply about the technicalities of the UK exit from the EU and it has also stirred discussion of constitutional change"

Why Ireland's general election is important for the UK's future

Health & Fitness.

"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

"Research shows that strength training has been linked to reducing an individual's injury risk and enhancing bone strength and health."

So you want to know about strength and conditioning...

Strength And Conditioning

"The more times we expose ourselves to anxiety, the anxiety decreases"

What you need to know about anxiety, panic and worrying

"The health benefits of exercise won't last if you don't sustain your exercise regime"

9 things people say about exercise that aren't true

Health and Fitness

"Weight training can help to prevent injuries by strengthening and stabilising muscles, bones, ligaments and tendons and ultimately improving joint stability"

10 reasons why more women should lift weights

Beyonce rocking a kale sweatshirt in the video for "7/11"

How Beyonce and other celebrities made kale and seaweed hip

"Log all of those positives: every compliment, every smile, every nice comment." Photo: Getty Images

How to boost your self-esteem

Podcasts.

A cyclist in Oslo, a city slowly but surely reducing the number of cars in its city centre. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell/AFP/Getty Images

Reclaiming the streets from the car

"We inherited our emphasis on State secrecy from the British, but we enthusiastically embraced it"

Why does the State have so many secrets on its ...

"We've got really difficult social issues in Ireland which overlap with carbon reduction and climate change"

Is it time to give nuclear power a chance?

"Kids don't necessarily need the latest Buzz Lightyear or Woody or Paw Patrol to play"

Why risky play is good for kids

"The organisms are not fussy about what gut they live in"

What happens when the drugs don't work?

Successful executives are often charismatic, confident and driven, characteristics sometimes linked to Antisocial Personality Disorder

My boss is a psychopath: why bad people get good ...

Lana Del Rey: "call her Doris Doomsday" Photo: Darren Gerrish/BFC/Getty Images

Songs for the end of the world: pop music and ...

Ideas.

"Have you ever stumbled upon a derelict abandoned building somewhere and "had an urge" to scale it like something out of Mirror's Edge?"

When videogame experiences become part of everyday life

"We can use gossip to learn about the rules of behaviour in social groups and get closer to each other" Photo: Getty Images

The science of gossip: 4 ways to make it less toxic

Will many acts follow Coldplay's lead when it comes to touring?

Why Polly Gray from Peaky Blinders is a feminist icon

How to turn the story of a music venue into cultural heritage

Ireland.

"It seems that these young people are neither Irish in Ireland nor African in Africa"

The mixed race Irish kids who feel like outsiders

A night at the cinema in the 1950s. Photo: Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images

How cinema brought the world to rural Ireland in the ...

A solitary coral on Fanore beach, Co Clare. Photo: Anthea Lacchia

The strange creatures that lived in Ireland millions of years ...

Some happy customers disembark from the Viking Splash Tour

How blood-thirsty Vikings became the stars of Irish tourism

"Ó Riada's work has led to a generic Celtic sound that continues to influence scoring practices in international film"

More than Mise Éire: the film and TV music of ...

How Ireland's foreign policy told the story of the country

A home to call your own: "what happens to your mental health and well-being when you find yourself locked out?"

How long-term renting is impacting on our mental health

Climate Change.

"Thunberg's trans-Atlantic journey...helped to shine a light on the uncomfortable realities of human-induced global warming"

The Greta effect

Nicole Moore receives treatment from nursing students Lauren Cottle and Maxine Kidd with Sean McDaid from St John Ambulance after she was injured during the Flood Disaster Simulation at Ulster University in 2018. Photo: Martin McKeown/Inpresspics.com

Why nurses should be prepared for climate change

Can we win the global war against air pollution?

How can we deal with rising sea levels and increased flood risk?

5 ways an Irish household can reduce carbon emissions

More Climate Change

Editor's Choice.

"There's very good evidence that poverty makes you miserable, but then again wealth doesn't necessarily make you happy"

How to win the lottery and not lose your head

"For some, the blocklist served as a much-needed defence against the worst that Twitter offers"

Can blocking people en masse make Twitter a better place?

The way it used to be: Toomey's pub, Hollywood, Co Wicklow (now the Hollywood Inn). Photo: Hans Silvester/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

The death of the Irish rural publican