It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Is listening to music while studying a helpful habit or hidden distraction?
New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has shed light on why so many students listen to background music while studying, and whether it helps or hinders their focus
New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has shed light on why so many students listen to background music while studying, and whether it helps or hinders their focus.
The study, led by Dr Lindsey Cooke, surveyed more than 220 university students about whether they listen to music while reading for studying purposes.
The findings suggest that the impact of music on study performance is not universal and instead shaped by individual differences in how people engage with music.
More than half of the students (54 per cent) reported regularly listening to music when reading for study, while 46 per cent preferred silence.
Among those who listened to music, almost all believed it helped their reading.
Students described using music to boost motivation, enhance focus, or block out external noise, with Classical and Rock emerging as the most common genres. Many preferred non‑lyrical, slow music to support concentration.
“Many students feel music helps them get into the zone, especially when they’re studying in noisy or distracting environments,” Dr Cooke said.
Dr Cooke said the findings challenge long‑held assumptions about the cognitive impact of music during study.
“There’s a widespread belief that music automatically drains cognitive resources, but our data shows the story is far more individual,” she said.
The study found that a student’s working memory capacity or tendency to mind wander (daydream) did not influence whether they chose to listen to music or how distracted they felt by it.
Instead, a student’s music engagement, i.e. how personally involved and emotionally connected they are with music, was strongly linked to whether they perceived background music as helpful and whether they chose to use it while studying.
Dr Cooke said this highlights the importance of personal preference in study environments.
“For some students, music genuinely supports their reading experience. For others, it gets in the way. The key is understanding your own relationship with music rather than assuming one-size-fits-all advice,” she said.
The next phase of Dr Cooke’s research will test students’ actual reading comprehension when listening to different types of music, not just perceptions.
The study ‘Music as a distraction during reading: Music listening habits of university students’ is published in the journal Psychology of Music. ECU authors Lindsey Cooke, Ross Hollett & Craig Speelman.
If healthcare was a country, it would be the fifth largest carbon emitter on the planet – between the European Union and the Russian Federation, with CO2 emissions in the sector higher than all of aviation and shipping combined.
Yet, until today, carbon data has been available for less than 1% of the products a clinician or a health system uses each day.
The Lancet MedZero is built to close that gap. Launching today at the 79th World Health Assembly, the platform (www.medzerocarbon.com) is the first to provide comprehensive carbon analytics across the full spectrum of healthcare, from pharmaceuticals and surgical instruments to chest X-rays and blood tests.
Convened by The Lancet and developed by an international academic consortium, it has been designed by clinicians, for clinicians, with over 14,000 entries at launch.
The platform is built to inform decisions at every level of the health system with the aim of helping hospitals and clinics save money, reduce waste, improve patient care, and tackle climate change. For example:[1]
A health policymaker in the UK could identify that a simple switch from polluting incineration to recycling would avoid over 311,000 tonnes of CO2e (the equivalent to taking 212,000 British cars off the road), saving 76 million GBP each year as a result.
A hospital CEO in Singapore, can see transitioning to reusable surgical gowns would reduce CO2e emissions by 4,407 tonnes (equivalent to the annual electricity use of 3,159 HDB households in Singapore), saving around 700,000 SGD annually.
And national procurement experts across the world can compare logistics alternatives, saving over 3.85 million tonnes of CO2e by shifting to lower-carbon freight options for pharmaceuticals, such as shipping, globally (equivalent to nearly twice the national emissions of Malta).
The platform’s launch at the World Health Assembly brought together the Editor in Chief of The Lancet, the Minister of Health of the Philippines, the International Medical Secretary for Doctors Without Borders, the UK NHS’s Chief Sustainability Officer, and the Permanent Secretary of the Thailand Ministry of Public Health.
“The climate crisis is a health crisis. But climate action depends on credible data.” Dr Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet, said ahead of the launch, “The Lancet MedZero plans to create a shared global infrastructure of knowledge about the carbon footprint of health systems. Measurement is the foundation of accountability, and accountability is the motivation for action.”
Until now, that data has been fragmented and inaccessible. The Lancet MedZero was built to change that.
For their hospitals and health systems to turn those commitments into action, they need transparent and trustworthy data to make evidence-based decisions. A surgeon redesigning a care pathway, a pharmacist restocking a hospital supply, a procurement lead renegotiating supply contracts, and a health minister setting national strategy: all of them need product-level carbon data, quickly and reliably.
A global collaboration built for scale
The Lancet MedZero is a global collaboration of clinicians, engineers, data scientists, economists, and public health professionals working to support healthcare decarbonisation worldwide. Convened by The Lancet, it brings together expertise in healthcare delivery, carbon analytics, and system transformation, with contributors from across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. This diversity reflects a shared commitment to advancing sustainable healthcare across regions.
Academic partners:Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP), Thailand; National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan; National University of Singapore; Northeastern University, USA; University of Birmingham, UK; University of Melbourne, Australia
About The Lancet:The Lancet is one of the world’s leading medical journals, published since 1823. It has a long-standing commitment to climate and health, including through the Lancet Countdown, the Lancet Commission on Sustainable Healthcare, and multiple commissions on planetary health, pollution, among others.
NUS Specific Quote
“Singapore’s health system is well-positioned to lead on sustainable healthcare in Asia. The Lancet MedZero gives us the data infrastructure to move from aspiration to action – making it possible for our hospitals and clinicians to make every procurement decision, every care pathway choice, with the climate in mind.”
Professor Nick Watts, Director, Centre for Sustainable Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS)
How NUS contributes to the platform
The National University of Singapore (NUS), through its Centre for Sustainable Medicine (CoSM), is an academic partner of the Lancet MedZero and contributes to the platform in several concrete ways:
Carbon analytics and life cycle data: CoSM researchers contribute primary life cycle assessment (LCA) data for medical products and healthcare services, quantifying the carbon impact of everything from how a product is manufactured to how it is used and disposed of in a clinical setting.
Estimating carbon footprints at scale: CoSM also leads the development of the platform's models for the parts of a product's carbon footprint that are shared across many products - such as how it is shipped, used, and disposed of. This includes building practical methods to estimate the weight of tens of thousands of medical products (since weight drives much of the carbon cost of transport and waste). Together, these methods allow the platform to generate carbon estimates at a scale that would not be possible through manual data collection alone.
Clinical translation and governance: CoSM provides clinical and technical oversight to ensure the platform’s decision-support tools are meaningful and actionable for frontline clinicians, hospital administrators, and policymakers in Singapore and globally.
How the Lancet MedZero benefits Singapore’s healthcare system
Singapore has committed to achieving net-zero emissions for its healthcare sector by 2050, in alignment with the Singapore Green Plan 2030, and has developed a baseline of its healthcare emissions as a foundation for action. The Lancet MedZero directly supports this ambition by giving Singapore’s health institutions access to verified, product-level carbon data that can inform:
Public hospital procurement decisions – enabling MOH and cluster hospitals (NUHS, SingHealth, NHG Health) to choose lower-carbon products without compromising clinical quality or cost-effectiveness.
National sustainability reporting – supporting the MOH in tracking and disclosing scope 3 healthcare emissions as part of Singapore’s international climate commitments.
Clinical care pathway redesign – giving clinicians at public and private institutions access to evidence that supports lower-carbon, cost-saving alternatives in surgical, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic workflows.
As noted in the press release, a hospital CEO in Singapore can already use the platform to model, for example, how transitioning to reusable surgical gowns would reduce CO2e emissions by 4,407 tonnes and save approximately 700,000 SGD annually – equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of over 3,000 HDB households.
Next steps for Singapore
Following the platform’s launch at the 79th World Health Assembly, NUS will:
Continue engaging with key institutional stakeholders and users including hospital leadership, MOH representatives, and the healthcare industry, to present the platform and identify priority use cases for local adoption.
Pilot the platform with the clusters and healthcare institutions to validate the data in Singapore’s clinical and procurement context and generate locally relevant case studies.
Engage academic and industry partners across Singapore to contribute data, expertise, and funding to sustain and grow the platform.
[1] Carbon analytics, volume, and cost data drawn for each of the three examples from www.medzerocarbon.com and underlying data sources.
Rural siblings of people with neurodevelopmental conditions left to go it alone
New research has found siblings of people with neurodevelopmental conditions in regional Australia are struggling with poorer wellbeing.
New Curtin University-led research has found siblings of people with neurodevelopmental conditions in regional and remote Australia are struggling with poorer wellbeing and are more likely to feel overlooked.
The study, which included researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia, involved surveying siblings aged 16 to 30 who currently live, or have previously lived, in non-urban areas on factors affecting their wellbeing such as resilience, social support and general family functioning.
While most participants had autistic siblings, other neurodevelopmental conditions included attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, and intellectual disability.
Researchers found nearly a third of siblings experienced low wellbeing (29 per cent), nearly 40 per cent reported moderate wellbeing and about a third rated their wellbeing as high.
Low wellbeing suggests a person is not satisfied with their life and is likely to need additional external support to become more satisfied.
Lead author Samuel Antonio, a PhD candidate from Curtin’s School of Population Health, said while many siblings reported developing resilience, most relied on themselves or informal community networks for support.
“Participants consistently reported insufficient access to formal mental health services, either citing self-reliance or turning to their local communities to assist with coping with emotional challenges associated with being a sibling to someone with a neurodevelopmental condition,” Mr Antonio said.
“Many participants described feeling overlooked, invisible, or expected to ‘just manage’, even while experiencing significant emotional strain.”
Mr Antonio said resilience and community support were critical to improving sibling outcomes.
“Resilience and social support together accounted for more than half the differences in siblings’ wellbeing, while family functioning on its own was not a strong predictor,” he said.
“Importantly, siblings who felt supported by their local communities — through understanding, inclusion and acceptance — reported better mental health and wellbeing.”
Project supervisor and principal investigator, Dr Chloe Maxwell-Smith, also from the School of Population Health, said the findings reinforce the need for increased investment in sibling‑specific supports in neurodevelopment and clinical mental health beyond metropolitan Australia.
This included accessible one-on-one counselling, peer programs, community education initiatives, and flexible online or hybrid services that reduced travel.
“Siblings are often self-reliant through necessity, and they desire clinical and community supports that acknowledge them first as individuals, not just siblings,” Dr Maxwell-Smith said.
“Improving wellbeing for these siblings doesn’t require a single solution to reduce burden and risk of mental health conditions. What matters is layered support — building individual resilience with psychological supports, strengthening social connections, and empowering communities to recognise siblings as people in their own right.”
Alannah Stojcevic, from the Gippsland region in rural Victoria, took part in the study to share her experience as the sibling of a younger autistic sister.
The 21-year-old said she was grateful to researchers for bringing the lack of support in the regions — both for individuals with a neurodevelopmental condition as well as their siblings — to light.
“Help or supportive services for people like me don't exist as far as I am aware, and they certainly aren't available near me,” Mrs Stojcevic said. “Having someone to talk to about these issues — someone who understands — is a bit of a pipedream for me at this point.
“I sincerely hope this research contributes to positive change in rural communities throughout Australia.”
The study, ‘Wellbeing and Support Preferences of Siblings of Individuals with a Neurodevelopmental Condition in Regional and Remote Australia: A Mixed Methods Investigation’, has been published in Disability and Rehabilitation.
CrossRef citations to date 17 Altmetric Listen Research Article Well-being and support preferences of siblings of individuals with a neurodevelopmental condition in regional and remote Australia: a mixed methods investigation
In recent years, citizen science methodology has gained significant momentum and is becoming increasingly important in large-scale ecological and conservation research. By involving volunteers, it enables a level of spatial and temporal coverage that would often be unattainable within traditional research frameworks. However, the method also comes with specific challenges. One of the main criticisms of citizen science data is that observation density can vary substantially across space and time, making direct comparisons with systematically collected datasets difficult. These patterns may partly reflect real biological differences, for example, in the case of species that occur seasonally or in patches, but they are also strongly influenced by the distribution and behaviour of volunteers.
To address this issue, a research team led by the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research applied a novel approach. They compared a database of more than 300,000 citizen science observations with regional data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) at the municipality level. The citizen science data included projects focusing on arthropods, molluscs, reptiles, birds, mammals, but also on streams and ponds. In simple terms, they examined whether the characteristics of local populations and environments systematically influence the number of submitted observations. One of the key strengths of this approach is that it combines two independent data sources: citizen science data reflect volunteer activity, while HCSO data describe socio-economic and environmental background variables. This independence helps to avoid biases commonly associated with survey-based studies. The applied meta-analysis allowed the identification of both project-specific and general patterns, making the results applicable at multiple levels.
The analysis shows that participation is not random. A positive relationship was found between participation and the proportion of protected areas: in general, municipalities with higher proportions of protected areas receive more observations. Population density shows a more complex pattern: in general analyses, it was negatively associated with participation, but when Budapest was excluded (due to its exceptionally high density and other unique characteristics) the effect disappeared. In this adjusted analysis, the proportion of people with a diploma and the proportion of elderly residents both showed positive correlations with participation.
The study also identified finer-scale patterns. For example, citizen science projects that involve observations in private gardens showed a significant positive relationship with the proportion of children, a pattern not observed in other types of projects. Another interesting finding was that projects focusing on specific habitats tended to receive more observations from municipalities with lower levels of education and income, which may be linked to lower levels of urbanization. At the same time, it is important to interpret these results within their specific context. Participation patterns are influenced by many factors, including the research topic, the effectiveness of communication, and the institutional and social background of each project.
Overall, as the leading author Zsóka Vásárhelyi argues: "the majority of citizen science data are very likely biased"; however, they remain extremely valuable, as long as researchers consciously account for their biases during project design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
The latest Annual Epidemiological Reports from ECDC indicate a surge in bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) across Europe. In 2024, notifications of gonorrhoea and syphilis, alongside congenital syphilis, reached their highest levels in over a decade, reflecting sustained transmission across multiple countries.
The data for 2024 show that gonorrhoea cases reached 106 331, representing a 303% increase since 2015. Syphilis cases more than doubled over the same period to 45 577 cases. Chlamydia remains the most frequently reported STI with 213 443 cases. Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) also continued to see ongoing transmission, with 3 490 reported cases.
Sexually transmitted infections have been on the rise for 10 years and reached record high levels in 2024. Untreated, these infections can cause severe complications, such as chronic pain and infertility and, in the case of syphilis, problems with the heart or nervous system. Most distressingly, between 2023 and 2024, we have seen a near doubling of congenital syphilis, where infections pass directly to newborns, leading to potentially lifelong complications’, says Bruno Ciancio, Head of Unit, Directly Transmitted and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. 'Protecting your sexual health remains straightforward. Use condoms with new or multiple partners, and get tested if you have symptoms, such as pain, discharge or an ulcer’.
Transmission trends vary significantly across different population groups. Men who have sex with men remain the most disproportionately affected group, with the steepest long‑term increases in gonorrhoea and syphilis. Among heterosexual populations, syphilis is rising, particularly among women of reproductive age, the consequences of which are a near doubling of congenital syphilis cases from 78 in 2023 to 140 in 2024 across 14 countries reporting data.
These figures align with findings from ECDC’s monitoring report on congenital syphilis, which highlights missed prevention opportunities, such as gaps in antenatal screening, lack of follow-up and repeat testing, and treatment. The monitoring report also identified broader hurdles to testing and prevention that require action. Thirteen of 29 reporting countries still charge out-of-pocket costs for basic STI tests. Uneven implementation of services and outdated national strategies limit the impact of proven interventions, as many national prevention strategies fail to account for post-pandemic behavioural changes. ECDC recommends that European countries improve antenatal screening protocols to ensure that syphilis is diagnosed and treated promptly and correctly according to the stage of infection, to prevent transmission to the foetus during pregnancy.
In addition, in January 2026, ECDC provided specific guidance on the use of doxycycline for post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) to support STI prevention efforts. People facing higher exposure risks should consult their doctor or other healthcare provider about tailored prevention options. ECDC does not recommend widespread use of doxy-PEP for gonorrhoea due to high levels of antimicrobial resistance and the risk for further acceleration of resistance development.
Reversing increasing trends in STI cases requires accessible prevention services, easier access to testing, faster treatment, and stronger partner notification to stop onward transmission. ECDC urges public health authorities to urgently update national STI strategies and strengthen surveillance systems to better monitor the impact of prevention efforts. Without decisive action, current trends are likely to continue, increasing negative health consequences and widening inequalities in access to care.
Resources: ECDC Annual Epidemiological Reports for 2024
Reusable brick walls for the construction industry
A team from Graz University of Technology has developed a prefabricated brick wall that can be dismantled and re-used without being destroyed. This reduces emissions significantly and conserves valuable resources
The construction sector still has some way to go in terms of reducing the consumption of resources and greenhouse gas emissions. One of these relates to the construction waste produced during the demolition of buildings. Buildings used for rather short periods of between ten and 20 years, such as consumer markets, have a negative impact on the balance sheet. In the Re-Use Ziegelwand project, a team from Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), together with the biggest Austrian brick producer wienerberger, has now developed a solution that decouples the service life of the building materials from that of the building. The centrepiece is industrially prefabricated brick wall elements that are not joined by conventional mortar joints but by using reversible joint solutions. This means they can be re-used several times after a building has been dismantled.
60 per cent CO2 savings over three life cycles
“Bricks are very high-quality building materials and their production is very resource-intensive. It therefore offers enormous advantages if they can be removed non-destructively after a building has been used, and re-used elsewhere,” says project manager Hans Hafellner from the Institute of Building Physics, Services and Construction at TU Graz. “The results of our research to date show that a significant proportion of total emissions can be avoided during the second phase of use through reuse by developing an innovative jointing solution. Considering three life cycles, CO₂ emissions can be reduced by around 60 per cent compared to conventional construction methods.”
A particular challenge in the realisation of the reusable brick walls was to ensure that they could be dismantled and at the same time meet all structural requirements in terms of tolerances, statics, tightness, thermal insulation and stability. In addition to the non-permanent joint solution, the team therefore relied on a few other necessary elements. The brick thickness of the walls is 44 cm and the bricks contain insulating wool to guarantee sufficient thermal insulation. The prefabricated brick walls are also pre-plastered at the factory, which reduces the work involved on the construction site. There are two options when it comes to statics and stability. Either the roof of the building is heavy enough to stabilise the structure or threaded rods which run through the bricks vertically and are pre-stressed provide the necessary stability.
Successful dismantling and reconstruction
The team tested its developments using a demonstrator building. Not only did the joints and wall structures fulfil all the requirements, but the building was still fully functional even after being dismantled and rebuilt at a different location. To ensure that this also applies to buildings after ten to 20 years of use, the researchers rely on what is known as modal analysis. A body, in this case the pre-built brick walls of the building, is stimulated by means of vibrations in order to first determine the natural frequency in a healthy state. If there is a change in the natural frequency at some point during the period of use, it is possible to determine the load-bearing capacity of the walls without having to use destructive test measures.
“The successful construction, dismantling and reassembly of the demonstrator on a large scale confirms the technical feasibility and robustness of the system under realistic conditions,” says Andreas Trummer, who supervised the project at the Institute of Structural Design at TU Graz. “Ultimately, this solution not only benefits the users of the building, as it has a higher residual value at the end of its service life, but also the environment.” In addition to the Institute of Building Physics, Services and Construction and the Institute of Structural Design as well as wienerberger, the Laboratory for Structural Engineering at TU Graz was also involved in the research. The project was funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG.
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
A Reusable Prefabricated Brick Wall System for Circular Construction: Development, Structural Concept, and Life Cycle Potential
Article Publication Date
12-Aug-2026
Laboratory test to check for leaks.
Initial construction of the building with its reusable brick walls. (IMAGE)
