Canadian singer Justin Bieber is in the news again, but not for what you might expect. The singer announced this week that he was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease – a disease spread by ticks. Not only is it the most common tick-borne disease in the west – with an estimated 300,000 people being diagnosed with it every year in the US – instances of the disease are also on the rise in the UK. It can cause a range of symptoms, from chronic pain, fatigue, “brain fog”, and arthritis, to mental health problems. Even with treatment, symptoms of Lyme disease might persist for months or even years. So if you plan on spending time in the woods this summer, perhaps consider covering up.

A new study by researchers at Staffordshire University also found that your social class, ethnicity and gender might all impact how you, and your health, are affected by air pollution. Researchers found that those living in lower-income areas were more likely to experience poorer air quality, which had greater consequences for their health.

Elsewhere on The Conversation, we’re pondering whether aliens might already be living among us – what if we just can’t see them? Following British astronaut Helen Sharman’s comments that aliens might not be detectable to human eyes, one researcher ponders this possibility, suggesting aliens might actually be silicon-based lifeforms, not the carbon-based lifeforms we are.

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