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

The problem with recycling clothes and textiles

The vast majority of textiles are made from blends of different fibres and use different chemicals so proper recycling is complex

"There are no shortage of plants and people talking about them if you know where to look."

What's behind our growing interest in plants?

While the risk of an in-flight complication due to 5G interference may be very low, possible risks are taken very seriously. Photo: Simlinger/ Shutterstock

Could 5G really stop your plane taking off?

'One of the biggest reasons people may experience "gymtimidation" is because many see the gym as an unfamiliar or intimidating place.'

6 ways to get over your 'gymtimidation' anxiety about the gym

Clíodhna's Rock in Co Cork today. Photo: John/The Memory Trail https://www.thememorytrail.com/place/3149

Clíodhna: the Cork goddess, banshee and queen of the fairies

'Commitment to the common good is often a universal motivator'

How can we get more people to get booster shots?

Russian naval units holding an exercise in October 2021. Photo: Yuri Smityuk/TASS via Getty Images

Why are Russian naval and air forces setting up off Irish waters?

'One of the findings was that blue medical masks were found to increase facial attractiveness more than other types of masks.'

Do face masks on Bumble or Tinder make people more attractive?

Goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher during a Republic of Ireland training session. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

How can Irish soccer develop the next Caoimhín Kelleher?

Fr Edward Daly leads the group carrying the body of Jack Duddy, who was shot dead in Derry on Bloody Sunday. Photo: Stanley Matchett/Getty Images

How Bloody Sunday changed American minds about Northern Ireland

Can Emmanuel Macron hold onto the Élysée Palace in April?

Will Macron win a second term as French president?

'The results of this study suggest that the identity of a speaker is a potential cue pointing to danger: familiar speakers are deemed safe, while unfamiliar speakers could pose a threat.' Photo: Kinga Cichewicz/Unsplash

How your brain keeps you safe while sleeping

'Putin sees NATO's "open door" accession policy as a threat to Russia, but this is an entirely fictitious scenario, disconnected from recent history'

Why Russia's interest in Ukraine is about more than NATO

'The 'housing for all' framework is on the right track, but tweaking around the edges won't cut it'

Will increased housing supply solve the affordability problem?

'While we used to experience technological change incrementally, graduates now experience it all at once as they transition from college to their new jobs.' Photo: Brooke Cagle/ Unsplash

What do new graduates think of the workplace?

Work and careers

More Brainstorm

Brainstorm TV

How search dogs find missing people

It takes years of experience, dedication and a lot of scientific knowledge to train and work a search dog

Playlist

How search dogs find missing people

Oh Danny Boy, oh boy, oh boy

How babies are born wired to learn languages

David Bowie's Irish links: music, art, literature and Tipperary

The summer Garth Brooks didn't come to town

How can we make Ireland more bike-friendly?

History

Bully's Acre in Dublin, a popular hunting ground for medical students seeking bodies for dissection. Photo: Shane McCorristine

The dark, grisly history of body-snatching in Ireland

A billboard poster for Des O'Malley's Progressive Democrats during the 1992 General Election. Photo: Rolling News

A short history of small Irish political parties with big impacts

A soup pot in the interior of a 19th century Famine cottage in Co Kerry. Photo: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Where does the phrase 'taking the soup' come from?

Henry at Waterford, Ireland, 18 October 1172. Illustration by James E. Doyle (1864). Image: Historical Picture Archive/ Corbis via Getty Images

The royal visit: what did Henry II do in Ireland 850 years ago?

John Lavery's High Treason, Court of Criminal Appeal: The Trial of Sir Roger Casement 1916

The story behind the controversial painting of Roger Casement

From Booterstown to Burma: Laurence Carroll/U Dhammaloka (other five names not listed)

The Irish Buddhist who ended up on trial in Burma in 1911

Two of the main figures in the 1970 Arms Crisis: Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney

All you need to know about the 1970 Arms Crisis

Podcasts

A queue for the new supermarket in Shannon. Photo: Shannon Group archives

How to build a new town in Ireland

Is the cactus on your desk the reason why you keep seeing ads for house plants?

Why do some ads follow me around online?

"Life has taught us that keeping family pets can have an incredibly positive impact on our lives." Photo: Getty Images

The physical and emotional benefits of living with a dog

"Pain is a subjective experience. No other person, and no test, can tell who is or is not in pain, or how severe the pain is."

Back pain: are you saying it's all in my head?

"Whatever the weather, remember that men and women experience temperature differently in the same space the next time you get into a battle of the thermostat in the office."

Why do women feel the cold more than men?

Ideas

"We know pigeons use visual cues and can navigate based on landmarks along known travel routes"

How do pigeons find their way home?

The young wine-taster by Philippe Mercier. Photo: Imagno/ Getty Images

Who wants a parsnip wine? A round of drinks in Georgian Ireland

For fans who have colour vision deficiency, the green/red kit clash between Ireland and Wales causes some problems

What's it like to be colour blind?

Dancing in the moonlight: the badgers killed on Irish roads tend to be distracted non-local animals

'Dead badgers on roads get noticed'

Emma Raducanu salutes the crowd after her US Open victory in September. Poto: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

How Emma Raducanu shows being good at maths is great for sport

Democracy with a ballot paper in one hand and a light sabre in the other. Photo: Stefano Buttafoco/ Shutterstock

What Star Wars can teach us about the decline of democracy

Flowers left in tribute to and remembrance of the late Ashling Murphy near the site of her murder in Tullamore

Why do some men kill women?

Editor's Choice

A fishy way to get more protein into your diet

How much protein can fish provide us with?

$Tupolev TU-95 bombers fly over Moscow's Red Square during a Victory Day military parade in May 2016. Photo: Marina Lystseva\TASS via Getty Images$

Why are Russian military aircraft flying in Irish airspace?

70,275 Irish patients were on a trolley in Irish hospital emergency departments in 2021

The trolley crisis in Irish hospitals has not gone away

'Stories like this formed part of an oral tradition that regulated death and dying, a sort of Irish book of the dead'. Photo: Getty Images

'Don't kick that skull or the dead will come after you!'

The cameras are always on. Photo: Getty Images

Here's how to stop facial recognition systems in their tracks

In simplistic terms, cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling that we experience when we identify a gap between what we believe is right and an act we have committed.

Why you should never dig a bigger hole to defend your mistakes