Amanda Ruggeri

Foetal alcohol syndrome: Why fathers need to watch what they drink too A father's alcohol consumption has long been overshadowed by the focus on what a mother drinks. But that could be about to change following new research.

Delighted that my BBC story "Foetal alcohol syndrome: Why fathers need to watch what they drink too" has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Medical Journalists' Association awards! You can read the story here: www.bbc.com/future/artic...

So nice to wake up to the news that I've won in the Technology category for the 2025 American Society of Journalists and Authors Writing Awards! Many congrats to all the winners. You can read the original story here: www.newscientist.com/article/mg26... @asjahq.bsky.social

Mineral v chemical sunscreen: Which one should you be using? Some people are trading chemical sunscreens in favour of mineral versions because of fears over toxicity, pollution and effectiveness. Is there actually any difference?

Read more in my story for the BBC: www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Does that mean there’s no difference between so-called chemical vs mineral sunscreens? No. But a lot of the claims people make about the differences — including, yes, that chemical sunscreens have been proven harmful — don't reflect (...see what I did there) the current state of the science.

In fact, research has shown that modern mineral sunscreens absorb the vast majority of UV radiation — about 95%. Only a small portion (4–5%) is reflected or scattered.

In other words, both types work primarily by absorbing UVR.

You may have heard that "chemical" sunscreens absorb UV radiation, but that mineral ones reflect it — physically blocking UV rays like an umbrella deflects rain.

As I learned recently while reporting and researching my deep-dive on chemical vs mineral sunscreens for the BBC, isn’t actually true.

How the abnormal gets normalised – and what to do about it As we browse the news, it's easy to become desensitised to awful events. Amanda Ruggeri explores the psychology, and the steps you can take to avoid it happening.

More about how the abnormal gets normalized, and what to do about it, in my BBC piece here: www.bbc.com/future/artic...

10) Automate your actions. Motivation fades; systems stick. Calendar monthly letters, set recurring donations, schedule volunteer hours so future you keeps showing up.

9) Look with fresh eyes. Sometimes it takes distance to see that something isn’t normal, or acceptable. Some researchers suggest talking to someone in a different country, reading international reporting, or (if you can) traveling. It’s one way to shift from resignation to awareness.

8) Zoom out. One way to stay grounded is to think long-term. That might mean looking backward (how did we get here?) by swapping some daily headlines for history books. Or it might mean looking forward: what might this mean in 10, 100, even 1,000 years? Seek out big-picture analysis, too.

7) Diversify your information diet. The brain craves novelty, so feed it. Even if you care about one issue in particular, seek out multiple outlets and media types. Don’t just doom-scroll headlines: read foreign policy analyses, watch a documentary, read poetry, and get different perspectives.

6) Recognize the signs of being desensitized. Sometimes, we get used to things we don’t want to get used to - without even realizing it. The first step is to reflect. What have you grown accustomed to in your home, community, or country that you wish were different? Start there.

5) Find your people. When we’re overwhelmed, it’s common to withdraw. But the research says we should do the opposite. Taking action in community doesn’t just make our efforts more effective—it also makes us more resilient and protects against burnout and empathetic distress.

4) Think small, concrete, everyday actions. Humans struggle with “slow violence" - harm that builds gradually, like climate change. Researchers suggest meeting it with “slow resistance”: incremental acts like sharing an article or biking instead of driving. Everyday actions add up.

3) Try mindfulness. Even a 60-second breath or body scan can lower anxiety and keep you engaged. One study found that when physicians were taught short meditation techniques, they stayed more emotionally engaged with patients while also feeling less distressed.

2) Distinguish self vs other. When we can tell our pain and distress from someone else’s, we can regulate our emotions better, avoid empathy fatigue and stay in the game for longer. Compassion is a good motivator, but always notice whose emotions you’re carrying.

1) Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. 24/7 news is new, and overload may be causing us to shut down from the topics we need to engage with most. Some researchers suggest consuming the news only at specific times, or using an app to lock you out of social media after a certain amount of scrolling.

When the world feels like it's on fire, switching off is tempting. But we need to stay involved now. more than ever. How do we stay engaged and informed without losing our minds... or stamina? Here are 10 tips from the research:

These countries don't fluoridate their water – here's why With water fluoridation of drinking water under the spotlight in the US, we look at why some countries choose not to add the mineral to supplies.

In total, fluoridated drinking water reaches more than 400 million people worldwide. Yet not every country in the world adds fluoride to the water. In fact, most do not. But the reasons why — and what they do instead – might surprise you. My latest for the BBC: www.bbc.com/future/artic...

First introduced in the city of Grand Rapids in the US state of Michigan in 1945, community water fluoridation today is practised in about 25 countries, including parts of the UK, Spain, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia and Brazil.

How climate change could affect arsenic in rice Rice is a staple food for billions of people around the planet, but a new study suggests climate change may increase arsenic levels contained within the grain.

Read more in my latest piece for the BBC: www.bbc.com/future/artic...

The scientists found this could mean tens of millions more cancer cases in countries where rice is an everyday staple. And half of the global population consume rice every single day.

It's important to remember that the relative risk to any particular individual of rice consumption (even as arsenic levels rise) is slight. But across populations, even small risks add up.

Given that inorganic arsenic consumption can raise the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, foetal and infant mortality, and developmental neurocognitive effects, this represents yet another growing health issue presented by climate change.

A new study has found that, as carbon emissions rise and the Earth continues to warm, inorganic arsenic levels in rice will, too. And this could impact levels of chronic disease around the world.

Wakefield was struck off the medical register, and the paper was ultimately retracted for its lack of veracity.

To this day, about 20% of people remain concerned that vaccines, particularly the MMR vaccine, are associated with autism. //END

Subsequent investigation by the journalist Brian Deer revealed not just these huge financial conflicts of interest, but that Wakefield had fabricated data in his paper, as well as violated research ethics in how he had taken samples from children.

Not only had he received over half a million pounds to act as an expert witness from lawyers in cases against vaccine manufacturers, but he had been applying for patents for his own competing vaccines, for which he projected that he would earn over £28 million pounds ($43 million at the time).

5) There were even more issues with this study, but here's another big one: The lead author, Andrew Wakefield, had serious (and undisclosed) conflicts of interest.

4) The paper wasn't even initially presented as anything to do with the vaccine: that was buried in the discussion section as a suggestion for something to investigate, a speculation they didn't have to justify.