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Close to nature: Green spaces within and around city schools improve the mental development of young children, a study has found.

The findings may partly be explained by reduced exposure to traffic pollution, experts believe.

Other influences could include the psychological effect of having views of fields and trees rather than roads and buildings.

Spanish researchers found that each step increase in surrounding greenness led to a 5% improvement in the development of short-term, or working, memory over a period of one year.

It also improved the progress of “superior working memory” – the ability to update memories with changing information – by 6%, and reduced inattentiveness.

Surgery re-think: The long-term benefits of knee surgery for middle-aged or older patients are outweighed by the negative consequences, a study has found.

Although rare, patients can suffer from infections, deep vein thrombosis, cardiovascular problems, pulmonary embolism and even death.

The research, led by the University of Southern Denmark, involved the analysis of 18 different studies and and found that

patients experienced less pain for the first six months after surgery – but not for any longer, while there was no effect on their ability to physically function at any stage.

Eye watering: Contact lenses may increase the risk of eye infections by altering the make-up of bacteria living on the eyeball.

Researchers found the lenses appeared to transfer bugs from the skin to the eye, upsetting the bacterial ecosystem and triggering infections and inflammation.

Lead scientist Dr Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, from NYU Langone Medical Centre in New York City, said: “Our research clearly shows that putting a foreign object, such as a contact lens, on the eye is not a neutral act.

“These findings should help scientists better understand the long-standing problem of why contact-lens wearers are more prone to eye infections than non-lens wearers.”