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Look up: the amazing sights of the Irish night sky in winter

From the meteor showers to super moons, this time of year gives us a front row seat to one of the most active regions of the galaxy

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Is it a cold or flu? How to tell winter symptoms apart

a rack of clothes with different colors

How confident can you really be in what you're buying?

Consumer Affairs

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The changing world of tattoos

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How Munster rugby and French soccer fans strike the right note

christmas scene tree woman home

Why you feel pressure to adhere to Christmas traditions

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Why we can't help but love cheesy Christmas movies

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Can willpower help you resist Christmas overspending?

Woman lying on a sofa while having a flu and feeling sick.She using a heat pillow for her stomage and a bit of medicine standing on the table.

Have you got the flu? The key issues around this season's flu

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 17: Fallon Sherrock of England throws against Ryan Meikle of England in their First Round match during during day three of the 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace on December 17, 2024 in London, Engl

How exactly did darts become such a phenomenon?

Christmas shoppers on Dublin's Henry Street in 1970. Photo: RTÉ Stills Department

Do you know these 7 great Irish Christmas traditions?

Gay Byrne on The Late Late Toy Show in a Christmas jumper

How to reinvent Christmas jumpers as icons for Irish craft

Christmas Jumper

glass of orange juice

How a daily glass of orange juice could be helping your heart

Cian's Kennels therapy dog

How your family dog is more than just a friend to sick children

Mature woman taking vitamins

Here's why more women may consider HRT during menopause

More Brainstorm

Christmas

As Bob Dylan eloquently put it, 'who's got boots and a suit of red?
Santa's got boots and a suit of red.' Photo: Kamran Aydinov/Freepik

Why does Santa wear red?

Woman in Christmas hat and green sweater catching Christmas gift boxes against the yellow wall.

Why are some people gift-wrapping ninjas and others aren't?

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Why we can't help but love cheesy Christmas movies

Christmas shoppers on Dublin's Henry Street in 1970. Photo: RTÉ Stills Department

Do you know these 7 great Irish Christmas traditions?

The Pogues' festive hit drew on the name of an earlier play and novel by Irish-American writer, J.P. Donleavy. Photo: Getty Images

The story behind The Pogues' beloved 'Fairytale of New York'

'You don't want to be the one who gets blamed for ruining Christmas this year.' Photo: Getty Images

How to survive Christmas with your family and in-laws

Occasions like Christmas can intensify feelings of homesickness. Photo: fizkes/ Shutterstock

How to deal with homesickness on your first Xmas away from home

Health

Woman on a sofa eating soup

How soup helps you recover from colds and flu

LONDON,ENGLAND - MAY 30: A photo illustration of a Mounjaro pen on May 30 2025 in London, England. Mounjaro is a treatment for weight loss and type 2 diabetes. (Photo by Peter Dazeley via Getty Images)

What are the adverse effects of obesity and weight-loss drugs?

roast chicken dinner

Why you should eat your dinner earlier in winter

smart watch

What if your smartwatch could sing your health data to you?

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Could changes in eye sight and hearing mean a risk of dementia?

Audio

Supporters make their way down Jones' Road before 2025 All-Ireland hurling final

Where are the future strongholds of Gaelic games?

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What will Irish towns look like in the future?

Drone

From toys to wars, where will you encounter drones next?

Is time really on your side as the song goes?

Where does the time go?

A worker walks past stored wind turbine blades at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast in 2008. Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

What can be done with 11,000 tons of used wind turbine blades?

Rainwater harvesting encourages public involvement in water conservation efforts. Photo: Getty Images

Why you should be collecting and using rainwater

'While there is currently no indication RIP.ie will be put behind a paywall, its acquisition is a reminder of how much of our memories and culture we entrust to platforms with potentially different priorities.'

How RIP.ie became an Irish cultural phenomenon

More Audio

Nature

The Christmas bird coming to a garden near you

Why do we associate robins with Christmas?

"In Celtic times, people brought holly inside in the winter months to ask for the blessings and protection" Photo: Getty Images

The 12 plants of Christmas

The little wren at large. Photo: Michael Finn

How the wren became the king of all birds

Coral garden found at 1220 m water depth from the Whittard Canyon in 2017.

The awesome deep sea corals off Ireland's coasts

A zebrafish shows off its go-faster stripes. Photo:Ian Grainger/Shutterstock

How animals got their spots and stripes

Editor's Choice

The ECB has highlighted a growing recognition among central banks, finance ministries and civil protection agencies that cash is a critical component of 'national crisis preparedness'. Photo: Getty Images

'Cash is here to stay': why cash is king in emergency planning

GAZA CITY, GAZA - OCTOBER 28: Search and rescue operation continues for Palestinians, stuck under debris of destroyed building, following the Israeli attack on a house in Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza on October 28, 2025. (Photo by Khames Alrefi/A

What does it take to make a ceasefire last?

a woman in a supermarket with a shopping trolley using her phone

Do you feel €50 is the new €20 when you go grocery shopping?

Eugen Sandow bodybuilder fitness guru

How the Victorians invented the gym selfie

a young woman in a VR headset helmet

Could VR headsets help measure the likelihood to commit crimes?

Mauve satellite and space telescope

How Mauve space telescope will show how stars and planets form