A lot can happen in three decades. Since 1995, we’ve seen nine different UK prime ministers, the birth and death of the Minidisc, iPod and DVD. Manchester City sank to the third tier of English football then rose to become champions of Europe. One thing that hasn’t wavered, though, is the popularity of the Beatles.

On November 21, the Beatles’ Anthology 4 was released to an eager worldwide audience, 30 years after the first instalment in the series, Anthology 1, and 56 years after the band split.

Released in November 1995, Anthology 1 was initially met with bemusement by reviewers. Some dismissed its contents as “scrappy old demo tapes, TV recordings, and studio outtakes” which were “of scant interest to anyone but obsessives”. Perhaps there were simply a lot more “obsessives” than critics thought – the public bought the album in droves. Anthology 1 topped charts all over the world with the highest first week of sales ever recorded.

Anthologies 2 and 3 followed in March 1996 and October 1966, respectively. Although they didn’t quite reach the commercial heights of Anthology 1, they still sold in their millions. Their releases also coincided with the peak of Britpop, which came not so much to bury the Fab Four’s legacy as to raise it to new heights with figureheads Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis regularly espousing their idolatry for the band.

The Anthology trilogy may not have been the first outtakes and demos albums (that honour goes to The Who and their 1974 Odds and Sods collection), but they did break new ground in showing how a retrospective of band’s career can move beyond a compilation of previously released tracks.

The Anthologies told the story of the Beatles, tracking their development from amateur cover-artists to bona fide musical pioneers. It showed listeners how their favourite songs were constructed, morphing from, in the case of Strawberry Fields Forever, a home recording, through a series of experimental studio versions, to the finished product.

Most importantly, though, the albums offered intimate access to private spaces. It felt as if we were in Studio 2 with the band, listening to them chatting, playing around, trying things out, then, finally, creating some of the greatest songs ever committed to tape.

Anthology 4

As with all the previous instalments, Anthology 4 shows how the personalities of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were so key to their appeal. Their famous sense of humour and joie de vivre can be heard throughout. On Baby You’re A Rich Man (Takes 11 and 12), following Lennon’s request for bottles of Coke from roadie Mal Evans, McCartney jokingly asks for some cannabis resin before wryly remarking “that’s recorded evidence for the high court tomorrow”.

Harrison laughs at his inability to “do a Smokey [Robinson]” on While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Third Version – Take 27); and Lennon seems to be having the time of his life singing All You Need is Love (Rehearsal for BBC Broadcast). Their humility shines through, too.

On Julia (Two Rehearsals), for example, we hear Lennon speaking with producer George Martin about his struggles with playing and singing it. Here’s the most celebrated artists of all time unsure whether he’s good enough. The recording took place only a matter of months after the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album considered to have changed not only music, but pop culture at large. And when Starr bashfully asks whether anyone “has heard the Octopus one” before giving Octopus’s Garden (Rehearsal) an airing, we genuinely feel his anxiety.

Another extraordinary element of this collection (and the previous three) is the Beatles’ shift from just seeming like a group of lads larking about to a group of musicians creating masterpieces, then back again. It happens so quickly and so naturally that it’s almost disorientating.

More than any of the other Anthologies, the significance of Martin’s contribution is printed in bold, then underlined, twice, in red ink. If anyone ever deserved the accolade of “fifth Beatle” it was he, with his skills as an arranger and composer gloriously evident on I am The Walrus (Take 19 – Strings, Brass, Clarinet Overdub), Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 26), and Something (Take 39 – Strings Only Instrumental).

Sadly, it looks like the well of treasures may have finally run dry. The collection includes several tracks Beatles devotees will have already hoovered up via Abbey Road Super Deluxe, The Beatles (White Album) 50th Anniversary Edition, and Let It Be Super Deluxe. But, when it comes to the Beatles, enough is never enough. As well as the album, there is also an extended version of the 1990s docuseries Anthology airing on Disney+ on November 26th, and a 25th Anniversary edition of the book (also titled Anthology).

Anthology 4 already has something in common with its mid-90s ancestors courtesy of some less-than-charitable press, but whether it will mirror their success remains to be seen. What is for sure, though, is that the Beatles’ commercial juggernaut, well into its seventh decade now, shows no signs of slowing down.

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Glenn Fosbraey, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Winchester

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

For many older adults, staying active often means doing it alone. Walking, jogging or heading to the gym solo have long been the go-to activities for keeping fit. While these are great for physical health, they can lack that spark of competition and teamwork that makes sport so enjoyable. Unlike youth sports, where camaraderie, friendly rivalry and shared goals create excitement, older adults often miss out on that team spirit.

That may be changing. The rise of walking football is offering older adults a new way to stay active through competition, connection and fun.

In October 2025, the Walking Football World Nations Cup will take centre stage in Spain, showcasing the very best of this fast-growing sport. More than 70 teams from over 30 countries will compete across men’s (50s, 60s, 70s) and women’s (40s, 50s, 60s) categories, proving that age is no barrier to international competition.

The inaugural FA Walking Football Cup in 2024 and the expanding network of local clubs across the UK and Europe are helping to cement Walking Football’s place as a recognised and respected sporting format.

Walking football is a slower and low-impact version of traditional football, designed to make the game safer and more accessible for people of all ages and abilities. The rules are simple: no running, minimal physical contact and the ball must stay below head height. This encourages players to focus on skill, control, and enjoyment rather than speed or stamina. It is particularly appealing to older adults and those with health conditions who want to stay active in a structured, social and enjoyable way.

The benefits go well beyond physical fitness. Players often talk about how the game helps them stay active, build friendships and feel part of a community. Research has also shown that it supports healthy ageing by improving wellbeing, balance and social connection. However, some people have been hesitant to join, worried about the risk of injury, especially if they already have health conditions.

In response, new resources such as Uefa’s walking football toolkit and Age UK’s programme have encouraged further research into safety and participation. This growing body of evidence is helping to reassure players and highlight walking football as an accessible, enjoyable and health-promoting way to stay active in later life.

Injury risk

A 2025 study examined injuries during the 2024 FA Walking Football Cup, which featured 84 teams competing across women’s and mixed-gender categories. Across more than 850 hours of play, only 42 injuries were recorded, and most (81%) were minor, allowing players to continue without missing future games.

Injuries were evenly split between contact and non-contact causes, with most linked to tackles (45%). And 12% of all injuries came from running, which is technically against the rules.

A community-based study by the same researchers covered more than 6,300 hours of play and found similar results. Only around one-third of injuries led to missed training or matches. Importantly, both studies also looked at players with existing health conditions and found that only 7%-10% of injuries were related to underlying issues such as joint pain, cardiovascular conditions, or old musculoskeletal problems. This suggests that walking football is unlikely to worsen existing health concerns and can be considered a safe and low-impact way for older adults to enjoy team-based exercise.

Walking football may be redefining what it means to stay active in later life. It gives older adults the chance to experience teamwork, friendly competition, and community through a slower, safer version of the world’s favourite game. With its low injury risk and inclusivity for people with pre-existing health conditions, it offers a welcoming route to staying active and connected.

The upcoming Walking Football World Nations Cup in Spain will celebrate exactly that, showing how people of all ages can continue to enjoy the game, stay healthy and find friendship through sport.

Ian Varley, Associate professor, Nottingham Trent University and Philip Hennis, Senior Lecture in Exercise Physiology, School of Science & Technology, Nottingham Trent University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

“Mineral-only” sunscreens are making huge inroads into the sunscreen market, driven by fears of “chemicals”, a belief that “mineral” products are inherently safer, and confusion about how sunscreens actually protect our skin.

How mineral sunscreens actually work is not widely understood, and neither is what’s actually in them. We tested ten of these sunscreens in the lab and reviewed the ingredient lists of over 100 more to clarify what’s going on.

We verified that many products marketed as “mineral-only” rely on a broad palette of chemicals, not only to make them nicer to use but also to boost their sun protection factor (SPF) rating.

Mineral and chemical sunscreens

Most sunscreens contain just a handful of “active” ingredients: avobenzone, homosalate, octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, oxybenzone, or zinc oxide.

The active ingredients in sunscreens are generally divided into two main categories:

• inorganic ingredients, often described as “physical” or “mineral” – usually titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. These inorganic minerals are often reported to reflect UV rays. The reality is these compounds mostly absorb UV light

• organic ingredients, often called “chemicals” – such as octinoxate, avobenzone, and homosalate. These are organic molecules that strongly absorb UV light and do not break down to form harmful substances.

Sunscreens are often marketed as either “chemical” or “mineral”. Mineral sunscreens are commonly said to “reflect” UV light, but our measurements reinforce what sunscreen experts and formulators know: that both mineral and organic filters work mainly by absorbing UV radiation.

‘Mineral’ sunscreens have chemicals too

The goal of our study was simple: to understand how sunscreens achieve high SPF, and to understand the role of chemistry in sunscreens. We measured the absorption of different frequencies of UV light by pure zinc oxide as well as ten commercially available sunscreens.

We then identified 143 sunscreens listed on Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Adminstration register where zinc oxide or titanium dioxide were the only declared active ingredients. For each product, we also looked at the full list of ingredients – not just the “active” ones – scanning for any compounds known to absorb UV light.

Our measurements on zinc oxide showed strong UV absorption, as we expected from knowing its chemistry. This confirms that mineral sunscreens work via absorbing UV light, just like organic sunscreens.

When we looked at “mineral” sunscreens, we found some use additional UV-absorbing chemicals. We could see this because zinc oxide absorbs light fairly evenly across the UV spectrum, but organic chemicals tend to show “humps” in absorbance in particular frequency ranges.

Indeed, it is difficult to make a very high SPF sunscreen that is pleasant to use by only using mineral filters. The minerals would need to make up around 20% of the sunscreen by weight, but minerals are dense and can easily settle out of the mixture.

The formula would likely need to be thickened to stop the minerals from separating out. The mineral particles can also scatter visible light, leaving a “white cast”, which consumers also dislike.

A solution?

So how do you make a high SPF “mineral” sunscreen that’s lightweight and transparent?

One way is to use smaller mineral particles. These, however, increase the cost of the product and can pose other stability challenges.

Many brands use chemicals such as butyloctyl salicylate and ethylhexyl methoxycrylene to improve the sunscreen’s stability and keep the consistency smooth, but these molecules also strongly absorb UV light. However, these chemical UV filters do not have to be listed as “active ingredients” because their primary role is to serve another function.

In our test of ten products, we found two products claiming to be “mineral only” showed the telltale absorbance hump of organic chemical filters, due to the presence of butyloctyl salicylate and/or ethylhexyl methoxycrylene.

Indeed, we noticed something similar in our review of sunscreens on the therapeutic goods register. At least 48 of 143 sunscreens listing only mineral active ingredients (~34%) contained additional chemicals known to strongly absorb UV light.

We also compared two “zinc-only” children’s sunscreens with very different skin-feels: one is thick, the other silky.

Our in-lab analysis (and the ingredient lists) showed that the silky product included UV-absorbing molecules. These may help make it easier to spread on skin, reduce white cast, and improve film formation.

We also confirmed that SPF increases after a sunscreen dries, with a successful formulation resulting in an even film. Without the right chemicals, the film would bead up, resulting in patchy protection.

The right chemistry

Sunscreen makers are quiet heroes helping us stay safe in the sun. They work really hard to make sunscreens feel good, be effective, and still be affordable.

People often turn to “clean” or “natural” products because they want something gentle. But gentle doesn’t mean avoiding “chemicals”. It comes from using the right chemistry.

Many carefully chosen ingredients are there simply to keep a formula stable, smooth, and safe on hot summer days.

A sunscreen that feels good, spreads evenly, and stays consistent is far safer than one that’s “natural” but separates, goes off, or fails to form a reliable film on the skin.

Anna Wang, Associate Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney; Jon Beves, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney, and Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.