Is using the internet good for us?

Health Check

Many of the discussions around how we use the internet focus on its potentially negative impact on our wellbeing, but is that actually the case? A new study of more than 2 million people says being online may actually improve things such as our life satisfaction and sense of purpose.

Claudia Hammond is joined by Professor Matt Fox from the Departments of Epidemiology and Global Health at Boston University to look at what this might tell us about the effects of being able to access the internet.

We also speak to Dr Edgard Camarós from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, to hear about his study looking at ancient Egyptian skulls that’s found signs doctors at the time may have performed cancer surgery.

Claudia and Matt also discuss the latest on a combined vaccine for flu and Covid, as a single shot jab passes an important part of final-stage scientific checks.

And we hear about the ‘bug bounty’ programme paying researchers to find errors in published scientific papers.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Dan Welsh Editor: Holly Squire