Weather Warning

Why borders are perfect locations for crime fiction and drama

Borders allow writer, reader and viewer to see the changing nature of contemporary crime and policing

Irish bogs: more than just turf

The inside story of the Irish bog

An aerial view of ruined structures in Beirut after Tuesday's explosion. Photo: Getty Images

What is ammonium nitrate, the chemical that exploded in Beirut?

'A recent study projected a global world population of 8.79 billion by 2100, considerably below previous UN estimates'

Are children going out of fashion?

"Little is known about how our body copes with one-off occasions of overindulgence, and whether they have any effect on our overall health"

Here's how the body reacts to a massive one-off meal

Could our domestic cat population be somehow involved in this pandemic? Photo: Viacheslav Rubel/ Shutterstock

Does my cat have coronavirus?

John Hume addresses a meeting in Derry following violence at the Apprentice Boy Parade, August 1969. Photo: Mirrorpix via Getty Images

John Hume: the Derry boy who went global

A scene from the Abbey Theatre's 1942 production of Sean O'Casey's The Plough And The Stars featuring FJ Mc Cormick, Joan Plunkett, Austin Meldon, Eric Gorman and others. Photo: Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

How theatre promotes conversations around social injustice

Tuam Mother and Baby Home survivor Teresa O'Sullivan as a baby

What the Tuam Oral History Project tells us about Ireland's past

Protestors at a Black Lives Matter rally outside the US Embassy in Dublin in June

Why being Irish matters when it comes to dealing with racism

Clashes occur between unionist shipyard workers and striking republicans on York Street, Belfast in September 1920. Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

'A carnival of terrorism': the story of the Belfast riots of 1920

More Brainstorm

History.

An aerial view of Parteen weir. Photo: used with kind permission of ESB Archives
https://esbarchives.ie

The story of Ardnacrusha's "quiet revolution"

The coffee bar in the Hirschfeld Centre in 1979. Photo: the Irish Queer Archive/ National Library of Ireland

How the Hirschfeld Centre transformed Ireland's gay scene

Crowds gather on Dublin's O'Connell Bridge to mark the new republic in 1949. Photo: Getty Images

Up the republic! How Ireland became a republic 70 years ...

An Irish CND march in Dublin in 1983

The story of Ireland's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

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 ...

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

The links between the 1920 Cork hunger strikes and China

A woman IRA volunteer on active service in west Belfast with an AR18 assault rifle. Photo: Colman Doyle Collection/National Library of Ireland

The story behind an iconic Troubles' photo

Northern Ireland

Ideas.

Many theories exist about why we experience patterns of sensory information when we're asleep

Why do we dream?

Platinum is a versatile metal that plays important roles in many industries, from jewellery and cars to tackling climate change, and saving lives

All you ever wanted to know about platinum

Sheela-na-Gigs: Ireland's mysterious medieval genital carvings

Eggs, pies and milkshakes: when food makes a political point

Meet the Irish craft butcher

Podcasts.

Incoming: we can tell a lot about weather patterns from what happened before

What's the science behind the weather forecast?

"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 ...

Members of the Defence Forces setting up a test centre at the LÉ Samuel Beckett on Sir John Rogerson's Quay in Dublin

Living through history: documenting 2020's coronavirus pandemic

Is the future of work going to be your sofa?

What's next for the 9 to 5 world of the ...

Is running a marathon under two hours humanly possible?

How sport uses science in the pursuit of medals, wins ...

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

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

Why risky play is good for kids

Sport.

Dublin's Sinéad Goldrick and Niamh McEvoy celebrate victory over Mayo in the 2017 TG4 Ladies Football All-Ireland final at Croke Park. Photo: Cody Glenn/ Sportsfile

How ladies' football went from carnival sideshow to Croke Park

Thomas Conneff: "in 1891, he reduced the American mile record to 4 minutes 21 seconds and ran it in 4 minutes 17.8 seconds two years later"

'The little Irish wonder': Ireland's greatest unknown athlete

Are you addicted to exercise?

Why does swimming make you hungry?

Is it time to bring Gaelic games back to the Olympics?

Work & careers.

Is the future of work going to be your sofa?

What's next for the 9 to 5 world of the workplace?

"Today, most subsidiaries are multi-business campuses with diversified sites and a collection of activities that serve multiple businesses"

The changing world of a multinational subsidiary in Ireland

"Expertise does not automatically go hand in hand with the ability to share one's knowledge"

Are you good at sharing what you know with your ...

Has new Taoiseach Micheál Martin picked the strongest group for the challenges ahead?

Will the new government turn out to be good team ...

The new normal: "what's stopping us from switching off? Could it be guilt?"

The downsides of working from home

You on your fourth video call today with that lad from accounts who thinks he's Connell from Normal People

Are you suffering from Zoom fatigue?

"Searches for keywords related to flexible work on the jobs website have risen by 196% in the past two years"

Why working from home is good for you (and everyone ...

Health.

"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?

"As research shows, healthcare is not always a welcoming place for whistleblowers"

Who's going to speak up for Irish healthcare staff?

Coping with the crisis: lessons from those with long-term illness

Have more people had Covid-19 than previously estimated?

Why young people are drinking less than older people

Editor's Choice.

LPT, ARV, LAF, VSL SVT, WTF?

Local property tax: a guide to the A to Z of LPT

"The concept of a second wave portrays the pandemic as a force of nature that is beyond our control"

Why we need to stop talking about a second wave of Covid-19

"Will we see a return to overcrowded beaches this bank holiday weekend with little social distancing and people escaping to holiday homes beyond the 5km limit?"

How to stop people going to crowded beaches this Bank Holiday