Science has offered a boost to self-identified ‘night owls’, confirming that some individuals naturally operate on a later chronotype, or sleep pattern, than early risers.

An Imperial College London study further found that these night owls, particularly older individuals, demonstrated superior performance on cognitive tests during their preferred mental peak.

This cognitive advantage was observed to be less pronounced among younger participants.

Nonetheless, most would agree the world is stacked in favour of early risers. But a 2024 study by Stanford researchers (published in Psychiatry Research) found that it’s not all unfounded bias – falling asleep past a certain hour seemed to be linked to worse ageing, regardless of chronotype.

The study looked at the mental health and sleep patterns of 73,888 participants from the UK Biobank.

The researchers wanted to look at how our natural preference for sleep, combined with how we actually slept, affected our mental wellbeing.

• night owls who went to bed later (aligned evening types),
• night owls who slept earlier than they preferred (misaligned evening types),
• morning larks who got up early (aligned morning types),
• and early birds who slept later (misaligned morning types).

Misaligned morning types had a higher risk of mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.

But night owls who didn’t get to sleep as late as they wanted to had lower incidences of those conditions.

This surprised the researchers, who had expected better mental health among people who slept when their chronotype wanted them to.

Dr Jamie Zeitzer, lead author of the study, told Stanford: “We found that alignment with your chronotype is not crucial here, and that really it’s being up late that is not good for your mental health.”

The study was run on middle-aged to older adults – 14% of people over 60 worldwide have mental health issues, which can affect our physical wellness too.

Per the paper: “To age healthily, individuals should start sleeping before 1am, despite chronobiological preferences.”

This paper only looked at existing health data, which means it didn’t find a cause – only an association.

Dr Zeilter himself said his team thought the data “didn’t make any sense” and spent six months trying to disprove it, but couldn’t.

While he has no firm reasons for the link, though, Dr Zeilter theorised that it could be down to the decisions we make when we hit our mental stride.

“If I had to hazard a guess, morning people who are up late are quite cognisant of the fact that their brain isn’t working quite right, so they may put off making bad decisions,” he told Stanford.

“Meanwhile, the evening person who is up late thinks, ‘I’m feeling great. This is a great decision I’m making at 3 o’clock in the morning’.”

He also suggested that “there are fewer social constraints late at night because you have fewer people around who are awake”.

This week, a red weather warning is in place across parts of the UK due to extreme heat.

Gardeners know this can spell disaster for some plants – especially potted plants, which you should move into the shade (if at all possible) during the soaring temperatures.

Potted plants have shallower soil and hold less moisture.

This is particularly true, the University of California’s Agricultural and Natural Resources (UC) site explained, for some pots over others.

UC’s site reads: “Terracotta isn’t the best when trying to keep your plant alive during a heatwave. It dries out quickly and so does the water you applied.”

That’s because terracotta is porous, meaning it absorbs and wicks away water quite quickly.

In “normal” UK weather conditions, that’s not a problem – in fact it can prevent plants like basil from becoming waterlogged and experiencing conditions such as root rot.

But when it’s really hot and dry outside, Homes & Gardens explained, it might cause more of an issue, especially if it’s unsealed (coated with a water-resistant substance).

“It allows for quick evaporation, meaning plants will dry out much more quickly,” the publication said.

Additionally, UC said, “plants often come home from the store in thin, black plastic pots that also heat up significantly in the sun”.

This is especially likely if you have a smaller pot, as these retain less water.

Step one is to keep an eye on the weather forecast and act preemptively. Watering your plants deeply in the morning of a hot day can go a long way to keeping them safe – and this is especially true of potted plants (terracotta and thin, dark plastic ones especially).

Mulching might help, as can adding self-watering tools.

If you can move terracotta or thin, dark plastic pots to a shady area, do so “until you can repot a plant into another safer container on a cloudy day,” UC continued.

“Pick big, thick plastic or heavy ceramic pots with decent-sized drainage holes” instead.

We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.

When your kids have sensitive skin and are prone to allergies, finding the right sunscreen can feel like an absolute minefield.

I know because I’ve been there. I’ve tried many over the years – from brands such as Childs Farm, Nivea and Ambre Solaire (among others!) – but while they might’ve worked for one of my kids at any given point, unfortunately they never seemed to work for both.

After my youngest had a reaction to a popular children’s sun cream earlier this year, I swiftly realised I needed to do a bit more research into the best sunscreens for sensitive, young skin.

Thankfully, around the same time, HuffPost UK spoke to Dr Bisola Laguda, paediatric dermatologist and spokesperson for the Skin Health Alliance, about what exactly makes a good children’s sunscreen.

Some of these factors include:

• A SPF of 50 or over,
• ‘Broad spectrum’ protection,
• Water resistant,
• Fragrance-free,
• Opting for mineral sunscreen if they have sensitive skin.

On that last note, Dr Laguda said: “The mineral contents – often zinc oxide or titanium dioxide – sit on top of the skin and reflect the UV rays. This is often a more preferable option over chemical sunscreens, which penetrate the skin and absorb the rays, leading to potential irritation.”

After looking into sunscreens with zinc oxide in them (and realising very few UK drug stores stock them), I came across Blue Lizard, an Aussie brand whose offering is a little more expensive than your usual drug store sunscreen – but, in my opinion, is worth every penny.

At £21 a tube, it’s not cheap. But the five-star reviews swayed me. “Best suncream I’ve ever bought. Kids’ skin is protected and it doesn’t seem to interfere with eczema and dry skin. My go-to,” said one Amazon shopper.

“Our little one does not mind having this put on and there seems to be no irritation to skin or eyes,” added another, marvelling at the ‘smart cap technology’ which turns the bottle cap blue in harmful UV light – a handy reminder you need to top up your skin protection.

I bought a bottle off Amazon a few months back and am about to make my second purchase (we went abroad and have tackled multiple heatwaves with it so it’s been used non-stop).

I’m pleased to report that in those few months, neither of my children have experienced itchy rashes or skin sensitivity as a result of wearing it. Nor have they had sunburn (despite spending a fair bit of time in the pool and on the beach when we went to Italy).

The cream is easy to apply and isn’t too greasy. It changes my kids’ skin colour ever-so-slightly – but, for the sun protection offered, it’s a fair trade-off.

With extreme heat and sunshine forecast this week, I’d definitely recommend this sunscreen if you’re in the market for something for sensitive skin.

In fact, I’m going to go and buy some right now (before I forget).

Andy Burnham faced some good-natured teasing from opposition MPs as he was sworn in as the Makerfield MP on Monday afternoon.

The former Greater Manchester mayor won the north-west by-election last Thursday with more than 55% of the vote.

He is now widely expected to be the next prime minister after Keir Starmer’s resignation on Monday morning.

While there is still plenty of time for other MPs to join the subsequent leadership contest, Burnham is the only one to have publicly stepped forward so far.

Even Ex-health secretary Wes Streeting, who had promised to enter any leadership race, withdrew and backed Burnham on Monday.

All eyes were on the Makerfield MP’s swearing-in ceremony as a result.

When his name was announced in the Commons, Labour MPs cheered delightedly, but opposition MPs quipped, “Who?” and “Rome is saved.”

One joked, “he’s not the Messiah!”, to which Burnham replied, “naughty boy”.

Another MP on the opposition benches made a comment about “turning water into wine” while Burnham signed his paperwork.

He smiled, and then shook the hand of Commons Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, before leaving the Chamber.

Burnham stood as the Labour candidate for Makerfield after Josh Simons stood aside in May to give the party’s most popular politician a chance to get into No.10.

Burnham was first elected as the Labour MP for Leigh in 2001 and went on to serve in both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s governments.

He ran in two Labour leadership races, first in 2010 and then in 2015, but lost both and ran to be Greater Manchester mayor instead.

Burnham started to be seen as a leadership rival to Starmer last September during the Labour Party conference, despite not being an MP at the time.

However as the government continued to decline in the opinion polls and the prime minister was criticised for conducting too many U-turns and for a flurry of scandals within his top team, Burnham’s popularity continued to grow.

He is widely expected to win any leadership race or effectively face a “coronation” if he runs uncontested.

Starmer’s successor will be the UK’s seventh prime minister from the last decade.

After his swearing in, Burnham went to Westminster Hall to pose for photos with the rest of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

He appeared jubiliant while surrounded by his supportive peers after nine years away from the Commons.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Andrew Rannells is opening up about a past romance that not only involved a fellow celeb but also his role in one of the most popular shows of the last decade.

During a recent episode of The Daily Beast’s Obsessed podcast, the former Girls star — who played Elijah Krantz, Hannah’s gay ex-boyfriend from college and later roommate throughout the show’s six-season run — revealed that he once had a “very brief” relationship with Anderson Cooper in his mid-20s.

This experience, he claimed, ultimately went on to inspire a storyline for his character in the Lena Dunham-created comedy.

“I told Lena and [co-showrunner] Jenni Konner a story about when I was 25 that I had dated Anderson Cooper, and I told them about the experience and what that was like, and then it became the story that Elijah had in the series,” he claimed.

The storyline in question emerges in Girls’ penultimate season, when Elijah starts dating an older, successful news anchor named Dill Harcourt, played by Corey Stoll.

Much like Andrew’s real-life tryst with Anderson Cooper, however, Elijah and Dill’s relationship proved to be short-lived.

Their romance came to an end in the season five finale after Dill turned down Elijah’s proposal to be his boyfriend, telling him he’s looking for “someone less aimless”.

Even so, Andrew told Obsessed host that Lena found his fling with the CNN broadcaster compelling enough to build the Dill character around it.

“When I told them that, they were like, ‘Oh, that’s a fun story’,” the Grammy winner said.

During Girls’ run, there was speculation about the real-life inspiration behind Dill, but no one involved with the show ever officially confirmed any connection.

When Corey Stoll was asked in a 2016 interview with Queerty whether Dill had been modelled after Anderson Cooper, he declined to draw any parallels.

“I don’t know,” he insisted. “I was playing Dill Harcourt. I did not base this character on anybody.”

Similarly, Andrew initially pushed back against theories linking Dill to his one-time lover while discussing Elijah and Dill’s breakup episode with Elle that same year.

“I think the general idea that he’s this powerful, you know, adult, is what’s important,” the Tony nominee explained.

“For my money, his job could have been any number of things. It just represents that he’s very much from the outside of these characters’ world.”

He continued: “When we shot that party sequence from Sunday’s episode, it was in this beautiful apartment, in beautiful clothes — it’s probably the best I’ve ever been dressed on the show — and it felt very foreign, like all of a sudden we were shooting this completely different show, because we were in this very grown-up situation. That’s what Dill represents.”

Meanwhile, the New York Post asked self-proclaimed Girls fan Anderson whether he believed Lena had based the character of Dill on him, but the former 60 Minutes host mentioned another media figure instead.

“I just met Lena Dunham at Sundance, and she didn’t mention anything to me, but I’d be flattered,” he told the outlet in 2016.

“Wait — is that the guy Andrew Rannells’ [character] is dating? I thought he was more of a [Bill] O’Reilly character. I’m a friend of Andrew’s. I should ask him.”

We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.

When you think of sex toys, you most likely think of pastel vibrators and dildos for women. But, news flash: sex toys aren’t just for people with vulvas.

Despite the unfortunate fact that two in five men have never used a pleasure device, there is actually a booming male sex toy market. And I’m making it my mission to normalise sex toys for men.

For too long, sex has been painted as something that should only happen between two people – preferably a man and a woman – and involving penetrative penis-in-vagina sex.

But it’s 2026, people! We’ve moved on from boring and restrictive ideals about sex – or at least, it’s about time we did, because there is so much pleasure to be had from experimenting with sensations we’ve never experienced before.

So whether you’re a complete newbie to the male sex toy market, or a practiced masturbator (what a label) I’ve asked the experts what you should look for in a male sex toy, and rounded up the best to shop now.

Best male sex toys at a glance:

“Sex toys for men can vary based on needs and desires, with many becoming more upgraded as the market changes,” according to Tim Lagman, resident sex expert at pjur.

Just as there are plenty of different types of sex toys for women, there are also a variety of male sex toys, including:

• Masturbators
• Strokers
• Suction sex toys
• Prostate massagers
• Butt plugs and anal beads
• Cock rings
• Couples’ sex toys
• Penis pumps
• Penis extenders
• App-controlled sex toys

Now, that list might sound a little intimidating, and let’s be clear: this isn’t to say that you need one of each kind of male sex toy. Rather, it’s important to recognise that there are so many ways of getting off, and all you need do is find what kind of sex toy appeals to you, according to Todd Baratz, in-house expert for #LUBELIFE.

“Instead of asking what the best toy is I’d encourage people to ask, ‘What experience am I looking for?’” he recommends. “Consider whether you’re curious about trying something new, looking for more intense or different sensations, or interested in hands-free pleasure, prostate play, or enhancing partnered intimacy. The best toy isn’t necessarily the most popular one, and the answers to those questions will most likely guide you better than whatever happens to be trending online at the moment.”

Other things to consider include:

“Look for body-safe materials that are made of high-quality silicone, ABS plastic, stainless steel, or glass from reputable manufacturers,” says Lagman. “Make sure the toys are easy to clean, as difficult cleaning may damage the toy more quickly over time.”

“Beginner toy users may want to look for simpler products before investing in advanced devices,” Lagman adds. “Noise level can also be considered depending on your living situation.”

“Compatibility with lube is another factor to take into consideration so your toys last longer,” he says. Most sex toys are compatible with water-based lube, but stainless steel and glass sex toys might be better used with silicone sex toy, as it lasts longer, which can be great for anal play especially.

“More expensive doesn’t always mean better,” Lagman explains. To help you find your ideal sex toy, we’ve rounded up 13 of the best male sex toys across a range of price points, for beginners and expert sex toy users alike.