Do you really know?

What is QAnon? Thanks for asking! The right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory alleges that the United States is run by a cabal of paedophiles who control the media and politics. The only person who can stop this cabal? President Donald J Trump of course. Critics have talked about QAnon beliefs as internet misinformation, while others have described it as a disturbing movement or even a terrorist threat...

What is the anti-vaxxer movement? Thanks for asking! On October 1st the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention and National Foundation for Infectious Diseases launched the 2020-2021 flu vaccine campaign. According to estimates, nearly 200 million doses of vaccine will be available this season. What makes this year’s campaign special is that it’s conducted in the context of the global Covid-1...

‌What is linguistic discrimination? Thanks for asking! Also known as glottophobia, linguistic discrimination is a form of prejudice based on a person’s way of speaking. For example, it could consist of mocking someone for their mother tongue, accent, or the range of vocabulary they use. Victims of linguistic discrimination are judged and treated differently as soon as they open their mouths. Studi...

What is malnutrition? Thanks for asking! World Food Day is celebrated every year on October 16th, commemorating the date on which the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization was created in 1945. Let’s take the opportunity to talk about malnutrition. It’s the consequence of a diet which doesn’t provide a healthy amount of certain nutrients. According to the World Health Organisation, this is due to...

What is LSD microdosing? Thanks for asking! What if it turned out LSD was more than just a hippy drug for those looking to go on a psychedelic trip? Researchers are convinced that microdosing, that is to say taking tiny quantities of LSD, could have a positive effect on productivity, pain and even depression. Let’s go back to 1930s Switzerland. Chemist Albert Hofmann is tearing his hair out, taske...

What is a flight to nowhere? Thanks for asking! With the Covid-19 pandemic putting a halt to long-haul travel, sightseers have found a new way to get their flying fix. Airlines are organising “flights to nowhere”, which take off from an airport, fly around for several hours taking in scenic views, and then land back at their original point of departure.  Great, I’ve been waiting months to take a f...

What is consent? Thanks for asking! Public discussion around the issue of consent has been greatly increased in recent years, thanks to the MeToo movement, and the resulting Harvey Weinstein trial. So when can we consider that a woman or a man has actually consented to having sex?  It’s often blurry isn’t it? When there are lots of signs that make you think you have consent, how are you supposed t...

What is the US Supreme Court? Thanks for asking! Following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020, Donald Trump made clear his desire to quickly appoint a new justice to the US Supreme Court. To understand the importance of this nomination, it’s important to consider the major political influence of the Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court was created in 1789, thirteen years after...

What is gaslighting? Thanks for asking! The term gaslighting refers to psychological abuse where victims are presented with false information by one or more manipulators. This is done deliberately to make them doubt their own memories and perceptions. The term originally comes from a 1930s play called Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton. The film adaptation, a 1944 psychological, thriller depicts a toxic...

What is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? Thanks for asking! Just over a week ago, clashes re-erupted in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The region is to the north of Iran, and east of Armenia. It has a population of around 150,000 according to a 2015 census. Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic enclave, mainly inhabited by Christian Armenians, while Azerbaijan is a Turk...

What is Peyronie’s disease? Thanks for asking! Peyronie’s Disease is a disorder caused when fibrous scar tissue develops inside the penis. It can result in the member becoming curved when erect. While most men with the condition can still have sex, for some it may be painful and erectile dysfunction is a symptom. The disorder isn’t contagious, but does transform the anatomy of the penis and can re...

What is a hysterectomy? Thanks for asking! A hysterectomy is a medical procedure whereby the uterus is partially or totally removed from a woman’s body, thereby making it impossible for her to become pregnant. In mid-September, a whistleblower alleged that forced hysterectomies had been carried out on unsuspecting migrants at an ICE detention centre in the American state of Georgia. Dawn Wooten, a...

What is an antigen test? Thanks for asking! Antigen tests are a rapid way of diagnosing a person with a medical condition. Common examples include tests for the flu, pregnancy and of course COVID-19. Antigen tests use antibodies to identify antigens in the body. The aim of a COVID-19 antigen test is the same as with the more common PCR test. That is to say, whether a person is infected at the mome...

What is a Smart City? Thanks for asking! Nobody knows if the cities of the future will be full of robots and flying cars, but lots of engineers are working towards making them smart. Many dream of these connected cities becoming sustainable utopias, while others see them as the stuff of nightmares, with citizens under constant surveillance. The idea behind the smart city is to use state-of-the-art...

Who are the Uyghurs? Thanks for asking! The Uyghurs are a Turkish-speaking Muslim ethnic group. Some 11 million live in the Xinjiang autonomous region of northwestern China. They are one of 56 ethnic groups living in the country. For decades now, the Uyghurs have been subjected to systemic discrimination and intrusive surveillance from the Chinese authorities. But only in the last few years has th...

What is Peter Pan Syndrome? Thanks for asking! Peter Pan was the original Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, a character from J.M. Barrie’s 1911 children’s novel. But some people also struggle with adulthood for a long time, due to the “real world” responsibilities it brings.   American psychoanalyst Dan Kiley noticed this pattern of behaviour in some of his patients during the 1970s and 80s. He wrote a bo...

What is green hydrogen? Thanks for asking! Green hydrogen is an alternative to fossil fuels which is made by using renewable energy technologies.  In reality, manufacturers have been using hydrogen as an energy source for years, but only grey hydrogen, which has a highly polluting production process. So could green hydrogen be the sustainable fuel of the future? There are certainly promising signs...

What is environmental amnesia? Thanks for asking! Why are we so slow to become aware of climate change and act against it? The explanation may lie in our brains, which are affected by environmental amnesia. This term was invented in 1999 by American psychologist Peter H. Khan. He theorised that humans were forgetting the history of the environment, or more accurately becoming used to its degradati...

What is Amazon deforestation? Thanks for asking! Situated in South America, the Amazon tropical rainforest is home to somewhere between 50 and 70% of the world’s biodiversity, according to the World Wildlife Fund. It stretches across Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana, Ecuador, Bolivia and most of all Brazil, which contains 60% of the Amazon alone. Huge fires are currently r...

What is transhumanism? Thanks for asking! Transhumanism is all about improving the human condition by enhancing our intellect and physiology.  From 2021, billionaire Elon Musk is planning to test brain implants on human beings. With his Neuralink device, he is looking to create an interface to treat and enhance our brains. So is the merging of man and machine just around the corner? The transhuman...

What is OPEC? Thanks for asking! The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an international cartel currently made up of thirteen member states. Over the years, it has played an important role in the global economy, coordinating the petroleum policies of its members. But right now, its influence is waning, due in no small part to the Covid-19 pandemic. OPEC was created in 1960 in Bag...

What is Novichok? Thanks for asking! Novichok is a family of chemical agents which disrupts communication between nerves and muscles. Its name means newcomer in Russian and it was developed in closed laboratories during the Cold War, as part of the Soviet Foliant programme. The international community only discovered the existence of Novichok in the early 1990s, after a Russian chemist revealed th...

What is negationism? Thanks for asking! Historical negationism refers to the practice of manipulating historical records to deny that certain events happened, or distort the narrative around them. The term is relatively recent, having been coined by French historian Henry Rousso in 1987, relating to Holocaust Denial. Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime during the Second World War. Ho...

What is the Great Barrier Reef? Thanks for asking! The Great Barrier Reef is planet Earth’s largest living structure. It has remarkably rich biodiversity, but is gradually disappearing due to pollution caused by humans. Tourists have been absent from the reef since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. But paradoxically, this isn’t likely to help the situation. The reef is located in the sea off...

What is cancel culture? Thanks for asking! Cancel culture is the popular practice of withdrawing support for an individual or company, to such an extent that they become irrelevant as a result. This is usually due to something the person has done or said that is considered offensive. Cancel culture has become an effective tool for so-called social justice movements, with feminist, antiracist and L...