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Unmissable Stories for the Curious-Minded

Grindavík vs the Volcano: Iceland’s fishing town of Grindavik is battling the elements. So far, 4,000 residents have been evacuated to escape overflowing molten lava. Volcanologists say another eruption is likely on the way, making it the third in just over a month.
Trump the Conqueror? Donald Trump dominated the Iowa primaries with 51 per cent of the vote from a pool of primarily older, rural, and working-class voters. He is expected to face Joe Biden again as the Republican nominee.
Who will be Lord of the AIs? This year’s World Economic Forum in Davos continued to exploit the momentum of generative AI systems, such as ChatGPT. With AI-powered misinformation and disinformation being recognised as the biggest threat to democracy, Chinese Premier Li Qiang stressed that ‘human beings must control the machines’ amidst growing world competition for AI development.
Innocuous Video Game Violence? Popular video games such as Grand Theft Auto (GTA) have long been accused of reducing empathy. Research by neuroscientists from Vienna and Stockholm indicates otherwise. In a controlled study of 89 adult males who were given GTA V, no significant changes were detected in their before and after empathetic responses or neural activity when confronted with another person’s pain. It was tentatively concluded that: ‘A few hours of video game violence have no significant influence on the empathy of mentally healthy adult test subjects.’
Young Voters Won’t Save the Tories: Echoes of a 1997-style Conservative carnage have been circulating. A recent poll indicates that just 4 per cent of 18-24-year-olds will vote Conservative and 12 per cent of 25-49-year-olds.
Do the Penguin Walk! As temperatures plummet to -13 across parts of Britain, the NHS released its safety guidelines. The mighty penguin knows a thing or two about staying injury-free while walking on ice, and we should follow their lead. The 3-Step Guide to Walking Like a Penguin recommends: Step 1 – legs out, step 2 – soft knee bend, step 3 – arms out. And off you go!