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Thailand Tightens the Lid on Cannabis: Next week, a new bill is making its way to ban recreational cannabis in Thailand. After it was legalised in 2022 to help revive the economy post-pandemic, the country has seen a negative surge in consumption. A recent Coldplay concert in Bangkok smelled ‘like marijuana,’ complained one attendee.
Post-Pandemic Blues: This week is Children’s Mental Health Week. As school absenteeism rises to 22.5 per cent, mental health is being cited as a leading cause of school absences following the Covid pandemic. According to a 2023 NHS report, over 20 per cent of eight to 16-year-olds were struggling with a mental health disorder.
Starmer the Slasher: Keir Starmer slashed Labour’s green budget pledge from 28bn to a more conservative 4.7bn per year, citing economic hardship as a reason for the cut. Mike Childs from Friends of the Earth says the move is ‘short-sighted,’ and that ‘real political leadership to confront the climate crisis’ is necessary.
A Baby-Gobbling Universe? Why does our universe keep expanding? One recent proposal argues that it does so by colliding with and absorbing smaller, (baby) parallel universes. The theory implies that our universe rapidly expanded at one point because it collided with a larger (parent) universe.
Are You Being Pill Shamed? In 2020, 770 million adults worldwide were considered medically obese, with the figure expected to exceed one billion by 2030. Research reveals that those who choose non-conventional methods of weight loss, including surgery and appetite-suppressing pills such as Ozempic and WeGovy, are likely to suffer social stigma for rejecting diet and exercise.
Should AI Become Humanities ‘Co-Pilot’? Researchers predict that in 50-100 years, AI technology will guide most of our decision-making. The benefits of using AI to decipher and revive ancient religious inscriptions and faded cave paintings could help alter people’s relationship with faith and spirituality, argues Prof. Sreevas Sahasranamam. The flip side, however, is a rise in misinformation and extreme online content with extremist organisations deploying AI technology to manipulate the truth by creating video fakes and misrepresenting religious texts and symbols.