This is Everyday Science with Clare Wilson, a subscriber-only newsletter from The i Paper. If you’d like to get this direct to your inbox every week, you can sign up here.
Hello, and welcome back to Everyday Science.
This week I have been learning about a medical condition that I had not previously heard of – a form of liver damage that is surprisingly common, thought to affect up to one in 10 people.
In my defence, the condition was only named three years ago, and many doctors may also not know about it.
It arises when there is a combination of moderate levels of drinking along with being overweight or having other “metabolic conditions” that often accompany weight problems, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or type 2 diabetes.
“Even a moderate amount of alcohol can lead to liver scarring if combined with being overweight or other metabolic problems,” says Dr Naina Shah, a liver specialist at King’s College London. “Most people don’t realise how easy it is to damage your liver.”
Shorts – Quick stories
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George Michael in 1985 during the Wham! years (Photo: Michael Putland/Getty)
music
Careless Whisper voted nation’s favourite
George Michael’s beloved 1984 hit has been ranked the number one track for the eighth year running.
His 1986 hit A Different Corner came in at number two.
I’m never gonna dance again
Careless Whisper came top of Smooth Radio’s All Time Top 500 list.
Michael’s first breakaway single from Wham!, he penned the lyrics when he was just 17-years-old.
Smooth Radio presenter Kate Garraway said: “It’s a fitting tribute to one of the greatest artists of all time.”
George Michael: Outed wil be broadcast on Channel 4 (Photo: Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty)
MUSIC
7 min read
Top of the pops
1Careless Whisper – George Michael
2A Different Corner – George Michael
3Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
4Man In The Mirror – Michael Jackson
5Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel
19-year-old suspect appears in court over alleged bomb hoax
The Birmingham man was
accused of false communications which led a Peter Kay arena
show to be evacuated.
Caption: Handout photo taken with permission from the X social media site of Steve Aspinall of the Utilita Arena in Birmingham which was evacuated on Friday evening. The Peter Kay gig has been evacuated after a “potential suspicious bag” was found, police say.. Issue date: Friday May 1, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Steve Aspinall/PA Wire
NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Photographer: Steve Aspinall
Provider: Steve Aspinall/PA Wire
Source: PA
Everything you need to know
Omar Majed, 19, appeared at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court today.
He had been arrested over an alleged bomb hoax at the Utilita Arena.
He did not give a plea to his only charge of communicating false information to police.
The case was sent to crown court, where Majed will appear on 1 June.
NEWS
2 min read
Go deeper on this topic
Comedian Peter Kay was ushered off stage mid-performance at the arena on Friday after a “suspicious bag” was reported. The show was cancelled and police later said “nothing suspicious was found” during searches.
The show was part of Kay’s ‘Better Late Than Never’ national tour, which will see all proceeds donated to 12 cancer charities.
Majed was disruptive throughout the hearing, eventually taken down to the cells after he shouted that proposed bail conditions were “not acceptable”.
Peter Kay on stage at The Brit Awards in 2010 (Photo: Getty Images)
Ditch Strictly and
slash licence fee – radical plan for BBC cuts
The plans would see the BBC forced to ditch popular shows
like The Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing.
Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly’s farewell on the BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special gave the BBC a festive viewing boost (BBC Studios)
What you need to know
GB News has submitted a plan for overhauling the national broadcaster.
The proposal would force the BBC to limit itself to areas commercial competitors are struggling to fund such as educational programming.
The £180-a-year TV licence would be drastically cut and only paid by households which use the BBC.
Criminal sanctions for non-payment would be abolished.
Analysis
4 min read
Why is this significant?
This comes as the Government consults on a new BBC Charter, which will set out the funding and governance of the corporation for the next decade.
Some of the proposals are markedly similar to those advocated by its star presenter, Nigel Farage. Any similarities between the GB News plan and Reform’s policies are entirely coincidental, the channel said.
Analysis
4 min read
A ‘blueprint’ for Reform
It’s a 30-page blueprint for a reduced BBC. Reform could use it as an off-the-shelf prescription if it won power. But the Tories could too if they were really being radical.”
an anonymous gb news insider
GB News is launching a national talk radio station (Photo: GB News)
Caption: MOSCOW, RUSSIA – APRIL 28: Russian President Vladimir Putin holds an umbrella while visiting the Federal Center For Disaster Medicine, on April 28, 2026 in Moscow, Russia. On the Day of the Emergency Medical Worker, Putin visited the Federal Disaster Medicine Center of the National Medical and Surgical Center named after N.I.Pirogov and took part in the opening ceremony of new emergency departments in the regions via video link. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
Photographer: Contributor#8523328
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2026 Contributor#8523328
WORLD NEWS
Public mood plummets in Putin’s Russia
After years of war fatigue and sky-high inflation, for beleaguered Russians, a recent internet crackdown was the last straw.
What you need to know
The Kremlin recently cracked down on internet usage and messaging apps.
Mobile internet is regularly shut down across the country, allegedly to combat Ukrainian drone attacks.
Across society, criticism of internet restrictions is growing.
One state-owned pollster found Putin’s approval ratings had fallen to 65.6 per cent, their lowest level since the start of the war.
Analysis
5 min read
Public opinion tanks
App crackdown
There have been restrictions on popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
Caption: MOSCOW, RUSSIA – MARCH 31: A woman attempts to access the internet using her smartphone while walking near the Kremlin, on March 31, 2026 in Moscow, Russia. Russian authorities announced a complete block on the Telegram messaging app and the introduction of a fee for accessing international mobile internet traffic, while Apple blocked the download of VPN apps to bypass restrictions in the country. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
Photographer: Contributor#8523328
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2026 Contributor#8523328
Caption: FILE – A woman checks her phone as she walks through Red Square at sunset, in Moscow, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov, File)
Photographer: Pavel Bednyakov
Provider: AP
Source: AP
Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Maxed out
Instead, there has been a drive to create a government-backed alternative messaging app called Max.
PR problem
Last month, criticism by Russian influencer Victoria Bonya over internet restrictions went viral.
Caption: FILE – Victoria Bonya poses for photographers upon arrival at the amfAR gala at the Arsenale di Venezia, in Venice, Italy, on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)
Photographer: Scott A Garfitt
Provider: Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP
Source: Invision
Will this impact Putin?
The internet disruption is the kind of mistake which can create a bigger internal effect, more than Ukraine or rising prices, because it’s something which affects everybody irrespective of social class or income.
Dr Anna Matveeva, visiting senior research fellow at King’s College London’s Russia Institute.
Caption: Women hold their cellphones in Red Square, in Moscow, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Photographer: Alexander Zemlianichenko
Provider: AP
Source: AP
Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press
FASHION
What to expect from this year’s Met Gala
Caption: FILE – Zendaya Coleman attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on May 6, 2024. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Photographer: Evan Agostini
Provider: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Source: Invision
Copyright: 2024 Invision
The legendary fundraising ball at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art takes place tonight.
Here’s your ultimate guide to the biggest date in the fashion calendar.
What to expect
The Met Gala takes place every year on the first Monday in May.
Each year’s ball has a different theme based on the costume institute’s spring exhibition.
This year, the theme is Fashion is Art, based on the museum’s current Costume Art exhibition.
Guests begin to arrive on the red carpet from 11pm UK time.
You can watch the Vogue livestream from the red carpet across their digital platforms, YouTube and TikTok.
The BBC will also run a live page updating as celebrities arrive.
Stars turn out for fashion’s biggest night
This year’s Fashion is Art theme is as broad as ever, allowing for differing interpretations and scathing reviews of celebrities’ sartorial choices.
The chairs of the 2026 gala are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour.
Caption: Fashion designs are displayed next to statues in the “Classical Body” section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibition, “Costume Art,” on May 2, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Photographer: Charles Sykes
Provider: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Source: Invision
FILM
3 min read
Setbacks ahead of the big event
The event has already drawn some criticism, with billionaire Jeff Bezos and wife Lauren Sanchez Bezos appointed as co-chairs and sponsors of the event. This led to calls for a boycott of the benefit.
Caption: Cast member Zendaya attends a premiere for the television series “Euphoria” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 7, 2026. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Photographer: Mario Anzuoni
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
Caption: Activists project protest messages highlighting issues of wealth inequality, climate accountability, and labor rights, onto the Empire State Building on the eve of the Met Gala, the star-studded fundraiser known for its extravagant fashion and high profile guests, in New York City, U.S., May 3, 2026. REUTERS/David ‘Dee’ Delgado
Photographer: David Dee Delgado
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
Actress Zendaya and her bold looks styled by Law Roach have become a key fixture of the event. But on Friday, Elle confirmed she would not be attending this year in another blow.
In 2023, liver doctors from medical societies around the world agreed the name for liver damage caused by moderate drinking along with weight problems would be MetALD – for metabolic dysfunction and alcohol-related liver disease.
In the UK, alcohol consumption has been slowly declining over the past couple of decades, but obesity is on the rise. That might explain why the number of people with liver disease is rising, said Professor Neil Guha, a hepatologist at Nottingham University Hospitals. “The risk factors make each other worse.”
Doctors from medical bodies across Europe published a strategy for liver disease prevention and treatment this week, which said both alcohol and unhealthy diets are twin drivers of liver deaths. Published in the medical journal The Lancet, it called for stricter regulation of both alcohol and food industries.
MetALD is usually seen in people who are overweight or have other metabolic risk factors, who are drinking more than 17.5 units a week if they are women, or 26 units if they are men.
NHS guidelines say men and women should aim for no more than 14 units a week, ideally spread over three or more days, with drink-free days each week. That’s about six pints of beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine.
“I do not think public awareness of MetALD is high in the UK,” says Dr Shah. “It is a relatively new medical term, and many people still do not realise that liver disease can be caused by a combination of alcohol and poor metabolic health, not just by very heavy drinking alone.”
The link between weight and liver damage
Being overweight can interact with drinking because fat is a key part of how alcohol affects the liver.
When the liver breaks down alcohol, this disrupts its functioning and causes it to make and store fat. A fatty liver is one of the earliest signs of alcoholism.
If excessive drinking continues, the liver develops a mild form of scarring called fibrosis, and finally cirrhosis, a permanent form of scarring. Cirrhosis can lead to liver failure and liver cancer.
Weight comes into it because people can also develop a fatty liver and progress to cirrhosis without drinking any alcohol at all, if they are overweight or have other metabolic risk factors.
“If you do a liver biopsy, you can’t tell the difference between someone who’s got purely alcohol-related liver disease and purely metabolic-related liver disease,” says Professor Guha.
Doctors now know that fat build-up caused by diet can combine with fat build-up caused by alcohol to accelerate progression of cirrhosis. “MetALD is liver damage caused by a double hit,” said Dr Shah.
She diagnosed MetALD in a man last week, who had developed jaundice, when the skin takes on a yellow tinge, often a sign of problems with the liver.
He was initially investigated for a different illness, as his alcohol consumption did not seem typical of someone with a drinking problem, at two-to-three glasses of wine after work, about five days a week, which is about 27 units.
But the man was classed as just into the BMI category of obese, but not very obese, says Dr Shah.
And tests showed that he had liver damage caused by MetALD. “That was a shock to him. He professed that he had never drunk heavily in his life. But his weight was a bit of an issue. We know that these two risk factors stack up together, which increases the risk.”
It is unclear why having high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes would also play a role – but both conditions are now seen, not as isolated illnesses but as part of a broader syndrome of poor metabolic health that often accompanies obesity.
Dr Shah says the age profile of people with liver damage has been changing, with both younger people and quite elderly people attending her clinics.
“Some of my patients are as young as their early twenties. To develop chronic liver disease in your early twenties, you have to start drinking at least in your teens.”
If people are worried they may have MetALD, they can ask their GP for a blood test, which could then lead to a liver scan at hospital, if the results are concerning.
In most cases, scarring of the liver can be reversed by stopping alcohol consumption and weight loss. Weight loss injections such as Mounjaro and Wegovy may also help people lower their alcohol intake.
“A proportion of people can get rid of scarring following complete abstinence,” says Dr Shah.
I’ve also written
This week, nearly 60,000 people will be extremely stiff and sore, after completing the London Marathon. Here is what’s happening to their bodies.
I’ve been watching
The new series I’ve been enjoying is Netflix’s Big Mistakes, starring and co-created by Dan Levy, who also starred in and co-created the award-winning Schitt’s Creek series.
Levy plays a gay pastor, who is trying to keep his sexuality a secret from his flock, while coping with annoying family members and an improbable mix-up with gangsters. So far, it has had me laughing and cringing in equal measures.