Do you really know?

What is Ocean Viking? Thanks for asking! The Ocean Viking humanitarian vessel now has well over 500 survivors on board, located in waters between Italy, Malta and Libya. It has carried out a number of rescue operations in the last week. According to NGO SOS Mediterranee, who operate Ocean Viking, survivors on board are mainly refugees and migrants. Many are minors, some of whom were attempting the...

What is the orgasm gap? Thanks for asking! July 31st is National Orgasm Day in a number of Western countries, including the UK, US, Australia and Canada. Kudos to anyone who already had that holiday noted on their calendar! The annual event’s purpose is to celebrate sexual climax and raise awareness around related issues. Which leads us nicely onto today’s topic: the orgasm gap! Research has consi...

Who is Quentin Tarantino? Thanks for asking!    What’s your favourite Tarantino film? Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, Inglorious Bastards or perhaps Django Unchained? Every last one of his releases have had a huge impact. They’ve often been big hits among critics and popular opinion. So his recent confirmation of plans to retire following his next film has understandably drawn a lot of at...

What is a heat dome? Thanks for asking!   The Pacific north-west is typically a mild region when it comes to weather. But in late June, Western Canada experienced record temperatures, with the province of British Columbia hit particularly hard. Temperatures are usually around 21° on the Pacific coast, but reached 49.5°C in Lytton, a village around 100 miles to the North-east of Vancouver. Cities o...

What is the Olympic flame? Thanks for asking! As Japan prepares to host the delayed 2020 Olympics, let’s look at one of the Games’ iconic symbols, the Olympic flame, and how it spreads the values of the Olympic movement. It brings a sense of identity to the Games, much like the Olympic rings and its Latin motto Citius Altius Fortius. Throughout the Games, the flame burns inside the Olympic stadium...

What is the glass ceiling? Thanks for asking! When talking about diversity and inclusion, the glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier stopping those in minorities from obtaining upper-level workforce opportunities. The metaphor is most often used when talking about women. They may find their careers stagnating, unable to progress beyond a middle-management role, through no fault of their own....

What is the offside rule? Thanks for asking! Now, now, let’s not get carried away. England may have beaten old rivals Germany on Tuesday evening to seal a place in the Euro 2020 quarter finals, but they still need to win three more matches to lift the trophy at Wembley on July 11th.  In the meantime, let’s talk about one of football’s oldest and yet still most confusing rules: law 11, more commonl...

What is Auroville? Thanks for asking! Imagine a world without politics, religion or nationality. Well, Auroville is perhaps as close as you’ll come on Planet Earth. The small community, which has been labelled as utopian, was born in South India half a century ago, near to the city of Puducherry. Also known as the Universal Town, Auroville has close to 3000 inhabitants, from over 50 different coun...

What is Straight Edge? Thanks for asking! The music you’re listening to comes from 1980s American hardcore punk band Minor Threat and it’s called Straight Edge. It might only last 46 seconds, but turned out to be hugely influential. The song name was adopted by the Straight Edge movement, which is associated with abstinence from alcohol, drugs, animal products and promiscuous sex. Several decades...

What is Oceanix City? Thanks for asking! It might sound like a theme park or the latest sci-fi comic series, but Oceanix City is actually a futuristic architecture project thought out for the climate refugees of years to come. It’s a mobile floating city, designed to welcome those whose homes are under threat from rising sea levels. That could apply to a high percentage of the world’s population i...

What is zythology? Thanks for asking!  With bars and pubs open for business again, there’s plenty more opportunity for each of us to discover our inner zythologist. The cool-sounding word zythology derives from the Greek zythos, for beer, and logos, for study. Wait a minute! Are you saying there’s such a thing as the study of beer? That’s right! The field is also known as beerology, but it’s about...

What is the Tigray Region? Thanks for asking! On June 11th, the USA and European Union issued a joint call to end what they described as a “humanitarian nightmare”, occurring in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Tigray is situated in the northwest of the country, bordering Eritrea and Sudan.  According to a UN statement at the start of the month, 90% of the war torn region’s population needs emergenc...

What is coliving? Thanks for asking! Born in the 2000s on the West Coast of the US, coliving is an emerging form of residential community living. Generally speaking, colivers each have their own private space within a shared property. They also share a number of other services. It’s kind of like a hybrid between a hotel and traditional flat-sharing. In cities like New York, Berlin or Tokyo, you ca...

What is polyandry? Thanks for asking! When we talk about polygamy, we often automatically think of its most common and accepted form, which is known as polygyny. That’s when a man is married to two or more women. But discussions around polyandry, also known as female polygamy, are a lot rarer. In South Africa, the government published a green paper proposing to reform marriage laws. Polygyny is al...

What is the global minimum tax? Thanks for asking!  At the end of last week, finance ministers from the G7 countries met in London and formally endorsed a global minimum corporate tax rate. Going forward, companies will have to pay a minimum of 15% tax on their profits. The framework is part of an effort to stop multinationals, and in particular the GAFA companies Google, Amazon, Facebook and Appl...

What is sea snot? Thanks for asking! In the last few weeks, a thick and foul-smelling foam known as mucilage has appeared in the Marmara Sea on Turkey’s northwestern coast. It’s been unofficially dubbed sea snot by observers, which might sound like a name invented on a school playground. But there’s nothing funny about the environmental impact of this outbreak, which is a result of global warming...

Who is Bo Burnham? Thanks for asking!    Five years after Bo Burnham’s last comedy special, he released Inside on Netflix on May 30th. To mark the occasion, let’s discuss one of American comedy’s brightest talents.   Many have put Burnham up there among the ranks of the world’s elite comedians. He’s multi-talented, with his shows mixing music, singing and clever jokes.   As a straight white man, h...

What is the Smurfette Principle? Thanks for asking! Does that ring a bell? How many of you spent hours in front of the Smurfs as children? We’re sure you remember the smiley little girl with blond hair, a white dress and high heels. In case your memory has faded, in the wonderful world of the Smurfs, Smurfette is created by the evil wizard Gargamel to sow discord! How curious that the role of agit...

What are sensitivity readers? Thanks for asking! The role of sensitivity reader first appeared in the United States. Authors and publishing houses recruit these $200 per hour beta readers to go over works with a fine-tooth comb before they are released. The purpose is to make sure there are no offensive stereotypes, relating to race, religion or gender for example, or instances of cultural appropr...

What is live shopping? Thanks for asking! Technological disruption and the Covid-19 pandemic have combined to bring on new trends, one of which is live shopping. If the shops are closed or you don’t have time to go there, another alternative exists, in addition to standard online shopping. It’s a new kind of shopping experience, where customers see items on video before deciding to buy them. What’...

What is Friends? Thanks for asking! On May 27th, all eyes were on HBO Max, who aired a Friends reunion special, 17 years after the sitcom’s 236th and final episode. It was the first time since then that the six main cast members had appeared together publicly to talk about the show. Friends was hugely popular throughout the ten years it aired, and is still consistently among the most watched shows...

What is BookTok? Thanks for asking!   You’ve no doubt already heard of TikTok, the short video app of choice for teens and young adults. Well in the last few weeks a new trend has really taken off, and it’s known as BookTok. The idea is simple: recommend books to your Tiktok followers using the hashtag #BookTok. It’s really catching on and has even led to the emergence of literature enthusiast com...

What is the Tiananmen Square Massacre? Thanks for asking! 32 years ago today, Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, saw unprecedented student protests. As night fell on June 3rd 1989, the Chinese military entered the square with a number of tanks and opened fire on the unarmed crowd.  The number of deaths is estimated between 1,000 and 2,000, in what became known internationally as the Tiananm...

What is a virus variant region? Thanks for asking! The Indian variant known as B.1.617 is causing concern in Europe, particularly due to a steep rise in infections since early May. It recently spread into the United Kingdom, where it is currently taking over as the dominant variant. As a result, Germany reclassified the UK as a virus variant region on May 23rd. Travel between the UK and Germany is...

What are zombie fires? Thanks for asking! Believe it or not, some fires are able to smolder for months underneath snow, even when their flames have been extinguished above ground. Researchers and forest rangers have been aware of the existence of these zombie fires in the Arctic Circle for many years now. But a study published in Nature magazine on May 19th revealed the full extent of the issue. I...