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Unmissable Stories for the Curious-Minded

Can You Catch Alzheimer’s? In the U.S., Around 1 in 9 people aged over 65 have Alzheimer’s disease. Five people who were previously treated with a contaminated growth hormone went on to develop symptoms of early Alzheimer’s. However, scientists caution that the disease is not transmissible like a virus or bacterial infection. You would need ‘incredibly artificial’ and ‘out-of-date’ medical practices to pass on Alzheimer’s, says one researcher.
Know Your Enemies: 21-year-old Greta Thunberg and four other environmental activists are on trial this week for protesting in October during an Energy Intelligence Forum that hosted gas and oil industry leaders. Thunberg said: ‘we must remember who the real enemy is.’
Can Fathers Help Boost Body Positivity? Research suggests that a child’s body image develops by age 11. Findings indicate that young people with body dissatisfaction tend to make more frequent appearance-based comparisons on social media. However, there is evidence that having a positive relationship with one’s father can help protect children against low self-worth.
Repin Reclassified: The 19th-century Realist Russian painter, Ilya Repin, has been reclassified as Ukrainian by Finland’s largest art museum, the Athenaeum, following an extensive campaign from Ukrainians. According to research conducted by the journalist, Anna Lodygina, the renowned painter was born in a territory that is now modern-day Ukraine.
Majority of Students Embrace Unreliable AI: A survey by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) of over 1,000 UK undergraduates found that 53 per cent of them use AI to help with essay writing. Worryingly, one in three students did not know that AIs like to ‘hallucinate’ — make up facts, citations or book titles to fill in the gaps.
Mind Your Language! British politics has been hit by a wave of profanity-spitting MPs. Amongst others, Labour leader Keir Starmer recently quoted the word ‘shitshow’ to describe the government’s childcare policy. Some argue that the increasing popularity of ‘unparliamentary language’ could be a sign of the times. Words such as ‘shit’ and ‘fuck’ have been rising in popularity, though not amongst the British public who expect more from their politicians.