Ice baths and snow meditation: can cold therapy make you stronger?

When Scott Carney set out to debunk the health benefits of extreme cold, a strange thing happened. He tells Tim Adams about lighting his ‘inner fire’

Hey, personality quiz, what if I want to use a sauna and be introverted?

We’re fascinated by what quizzes might show us about ourselves, but being human means being unpredictable – doesn’t it?

Worrying about the risk of future regret is a rubbish way to spend your time, and therefore something you’re likely to regret

The death of a loved one creates an inner wound that can’t be ignored. Healing it requires work, says Julia Samuel

Our brains evolved to make sense of uncertainties, says Beau Lotto, so there’s no need to fear doubt

What if you could increase the attention you paid to every moment, no matter how humdrum?

We’re taught to seek our individuality, but perhaps we should just try to fit in and resist the craze for self-improvement, says Svend Brinkmann

Sharing knowledge is a form of playing, say Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach. And it depends heavily on others

The spirit of this centuries-old philosophy has been hijacked. It’s time to get back to its original meaning, says Roman Krznaric