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If you want to live well into your 80s, 90s or even to 100, you might want to listen to what Dick Van Dyke has to say on the subject of longevity. The actor, remembered for his starring role in beloved classics Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins, will be reaching his century in just a few days. And according to the screen legend, one of the things he attributes his exceptionally long life to in his positive outlook.
Now listening only to centenarians about why they think they’ve lived so long ignores all the people who did the same thing but died younger anyway. But in this case research agrees with Van Dyke. And if you’re someone who struggles to be an optimist at the best of times, psychologist Jolanta Burke has a few tips on being more positive.
One thing you probably shouldn’t do for a long life is start vaping. But unfortunately many young people appear to have picked up the habit after being taken in by misinformation that, because vapes are less harmful than cigarettes, they’re totally harmless. Andy Levy explains why our brains are predisposed to accept this fallacy. Plus we take a look at artist Nnena Kalu’s historic Turner prize win through the eyes of someone who
has worked with and been inspired by her.
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Heather Kroeker
Commissioning Editor, Health + Medicine
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Dick Van Dyke’s advice to stay positive may actually be pretty sound.
PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive/ Alamy
Jolanta Burke, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
While we can’t control everything that impacts our health, making room for a more positive outlook in life can help support both wellbeing and longevity.
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Aleksandr Yu/Shutterstock
Andy Levy, Edge Hill University
Teen vaping offers a powerful lesson in how misinformation shapes behaviour.
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Nnena Kalu has won the 2026 Turner Prize.
James Speakman/PA
Lisa Slominski, Kingston University
Nnena Kalu’s win shows how contemporary art can be more inclusive if more facilitation, like that provided by ActionSpace, can be supported.
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World
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Mark Chadwick, Nottingham Trent University
US forces have seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, a move Caracas has called an ‘act of piracy’.
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Roman Birke, Dublin City University
The new US national security strategy says Europe faces ‘civilizational erasure’ due to high levels of immigration.
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Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham; David Hastings Dunn, University of Birmingham
America’s new vision of its place in the world has left its European allies wondering whether Nato can survive in its current form.
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Elisabeth Schweiger, University of Stirling
The US and its allies have long used violence and ‘targeted killings’ to further their foreign policy aims.
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Politics + Society
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Jake Phillips, University of Cambridge; Hannah Gilman, Arden University
There are currently 74 people serving whole-life sentences.
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Arts + Culture
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Anthony Smith, University of Salford; Laura Minor, University of Salford
Though Netflix has always cultivated an image as television’s great disruptor, the company has persistently adopted, adapted and copied the conventions of legacy television.
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Julia Toppin, University of Westminster
Musician, mother, widow: this moving account of an extraordinarily creative life details the highs and lows of walking the earth as a woman.
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Emma Stafford, University of Leeds
On his journey to find home he must overcome all sorts of evil.
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Business + Economy
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Steven Daniels, Edge Hill University
Less than 4% of young workers now belong to a union.
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Caroline Brophy, Trinity College Dublin
Farmers are struggling to adapt to climate change and its challenges, but new research has some helpful advice.
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Lorna Stevens, University of Bath
Festive advertising is often designed around things that sparkle.
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Education
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Yaz Iyabo Osho, University of Westminster; Naomi Alormele, University of Northampton
Black women often carry out work their colleagues don’t, such as promoting equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives.
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Environment
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Caroline Brophy, Trinity College Dublin
Farmers are struggling to adapt to climate change and its challenges, but new research has some helpful advice.
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Samantha Ward, Nottingham Trent University
Exotic animal cafes are marketed as harmless fun, but research findings suggest a more complex truth.
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Gulnaz Anjum, University of Limerick; Mudassar Aziz, University of Oslo
With pollution levels far above global limits, residents face rising respiratory illness, cardiovascular stress and mounting mental health impacts.
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Catalina Turcu, UCL
Global environmental talks are in crisis.
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Health
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Robin Bailey, University of Cambridge
Health anxiety is real, common and costly – but healthcare has yet to catch up.
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Gulnaz Anjum, University of Limerick; Mudassar Aziz, University of Oslo
With pollution levels far above global limits, residents face rising respiratory illness, cardiovascular stress and mounting mental health impacts.
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Science + Technology
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Caroline Brophy, Trinity College Dublin
Farmers are struggling to adapt to climate change and its challenges, but new research has some helpful advice.
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Samantha Ward, Nottingham Trent University
Exotic animal cafes are marketed as harmless fun, but research findings suggest a more complex truth.
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Ilya Ilyankou, UCL
This technology was developed in response to the stark disparity in how urban safety is experienced by women and men.
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Podcasts
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Gemma Ware, The Conversation
Anthropologist Michael Rose speaks to The Conversation Weekly podcast about how a official sounded the alarm about organised crime in Timor-Leste.
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