Will Butler-Adams: Brompton Bicycle’s evangelist-in-chief

The engineer is convinced that folding bikes can help solve global problems and improve our lives – and that they are reasonable value for money

Will Butler-Adams jumps on a Brompton and races off towards some industrial sheds at a rapid pace, almost as fast as he is talking. The engineer, who has been the chief executive of the British folding bikes firm for 14 years after joining 20 years ago, is enthusing about its new marketing, testing, spares and refurbishment facilities, which opened near its headquarters in Greenford, west London, last year.

Inside the rather dull grey sheds is an array of colourful bikes, some being “tortured” in testing tanks or waiting patiently to be fixed in a wall of cubicles – the physical manifestation of the more exciting rapid expansion of the brand during the pandemic. Continue reading…
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Londoners plan to create first new wild swimming ponds in 250 years

East London group hopes to raise enough money to turn concrete wasteland by River Lea into a ‘brownfield rainforest’

A concrete-covered, brownfield industrial storage site does not scream out wild swimming haven. But a community group is hoping to transform the east London plot – currently used by Thames Water – into what is believed to be the capital’s first new wild swimming ponds since Hampstead Ponds were created in 1777.

Under the proposed plans, residents want to buy the government-owned 5.68-hectare site on the polluted River Lea in Waltham Forest and turn it into a “brownfield rainforest”, featuring two free-to-use pools, community spaces, an anaerobic digester, a cafe and a make-and-repair hub. Continue reading…
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My adult ADHD drugs felt like a lifeline. Then came the scary side-effects …

After a year on prescription stimulants, I started to unravel. Would a desperate experiment with street narcotics make me see things differently?

At first being diagnosed with ADHD came as a relief. I cried in the psychiatrist’s office: maybe I wasn’t lazy after all. He gave me pills that, within days, offered me a glimpse of what I thought a neurotypical person’s brain might feel like: focused and smooth, like a game of leisurely tennis rather than a ball machine going berserk.

Dexamphetamine felt like a silver bullet. Suddenly I could plan ahead, follow entire meetings, and pack a bag without having a nervous breakdown. Gone was the constantly harried feeling that had bullied me into perpetual motion for most of my 34 years. There seemed to be more time in each second to listen, absorb and think. I no longer wanted to punch people in the back of the head when they were blocking my way in the supermarket. Continue reading…
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Researchers Are Working on a New Rapid COVID-19 Immunity Test

Glucose meters, which are widely available, could help test how much immunity people have to COVID-19.
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School sport was a hellscape for me. At 41 I’m hooked on exercise for the first time

I felt self-conscious in PE class from the age of five because I was slower than everyone else. So I checked myself out of an active lifestyle until well into adulthood

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As most folks in their early 40s can attest, our bodies don’t bounce back like they used to. I never learned how to move my body. I was a pudgy kid who became an adult majestic chonklord, and the messaging in gyms was clear – I didn’t belong and shouldn’t try.

I’m now hooked on exercise for the first time. All it took was a stay in hospital with bilateral pneumonia and the lung rehab that followed to get me on this new, triumphant track. I can’t believe I missed out for so long on the joy of strength and the pride that comes after a huffy-puffy trot around the block. Continue reading…
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‘It’s not a political thing’: Jeremy Vine on cycle safety – and that helmet cam

While riding around London, the BBC presenter talks about the dangers and benefits of getting about on two wheels

Cycling along a busy one-way street in central London, followed by a black Mercedes and a line of other cars, Jeremy Vine ponders how best to stay safe: move a bit closer to the side, allowing room for a potentially close overtake, or stick to the centre of the lane?

“It’s a bit of a conundrum,” he admits. “Let’s take the primary position and see if we get any argy-bargy. Think of it as an experiment.” Continue reading…
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Group chat overload: have we reached peak WhatsApp?

From pictures of puppies to deadly political manoeuvres, WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging platform. But is it losing its appeal?

Every morning before she leaves for work, Rosie, a 28-year-old physiotherapist, chats with her three housemates. Sometimes they commiserate or celebrate over the weather or football results; sometimes one of them has good news about a job interview to share or lets off steam about their latest dating app disaster.

The friends moved out of the house they shared in Bristol last summer when they left college, and they live in different towns now, but their WhatsApp group, named after the road they lived on together, starts pinging with messages around 7.30am most days. “I live on my own now, and I miss having company,” says Rosie. “Some of the others have moved back in with their parents, which has its own challenges. We make each other laugh and keep each other sane. We don’t get to meet up much, but the group chat has kept our little gang alive.” Continue reading…
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COVID-19 May Have Long-Term Effects on the Brain

Researchers find that for years after getting COVID-19, people are at greater risk for brain fog, psychosis, seizures, and dementia.
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How to Build Up Your Heat Tolerance to Prepare for a Hotter World

Plus, what to know about how humans can—and can’t—adapt to rising temperatures.
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U.S. Offers Extra Monkeypox Vaccine Doses for Gay Pride Events

The U.S. is setting aside an extra 50,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine for places with upcoming gay pride events, health officials said Thursday.
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