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Is heroism defined by one great act?

Covid-19 might be a villain with global ambitions but it’s certainly not without its nemeses. The notion of the hero has become a global motif. In Thailand, artists have launched an online campaign dubbed ‘Support Our Heroes’, while in the US the Democrats have proposed a premium pay scheme for essential workers called the ‘Heroes Fund’.

Philip Zimbardo, professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford University in California says that: “heroism is the best [quality] in human nature, an ideal we can all aspire to. Lately the conception of the hero has probably become diluted – it’s being applied to, say, people who buy the groceries for their neighbour. That’s altruism. That’s being decent. But I think the current Covid crisis will throw more definitive ideas of heroism into the spotlight.”

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Can computer translators ever beat speaking a foreign tongue?

Photo by KOBY Agency @Unsplash

Put crottin de chèvre into Google Translate, and you’ll be told it means goat dung. So, if it appeared on a menu, you might pass. Alas, you would be ruling out a delicious cheese made of goat’s milk that is often served as a starter in France. Such misunderstandings are why Google admits that its free tool, used by about 500 million people, is not intended to replace human translators.

Tourists might accept a few misunderstandings because the technology is cheap and convenient. But when the stakes are higher, perhaps in business, law or medicine, these services often fall short.

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Black Friday: Do you know when you’re being manipulated?

Have you bought anything during this Black Friday or Cyber Monday? If so, this news is of interest to you. And if you haven’t bought anything, too. It is Black Friday week and in shop windows, across websites, on the radio and in your email inbox will be discounts to tempt you. Shoppers are expected to splurge almost £8bn online alone. But all those deals may not all be what they seem. The BBC’s Consumer Affairs correspondent, Colletta Smith, visits Bangor University’s consumer psych lab to learn just how we’re all influenced by taking three tests that will show the extent to which we are sucked in.

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How dating app algorithms predict romantic desire

Lots of apps and websites claim to be able to use data to sort through profiles for better matches. By completing their personality tests, they say they can save your thumb the effort of swiping. The issue for scientists who might want to investigate their data, and journalists who want to fact-check their claims, is that the algorithms are the intellectual property of these companies, so they are not publicly available. Their entire business is based on developing smart match-making algorithms and keeping their formulas private.

What do you think of using dating apps to ‘find love’? Do you think they work?

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Cigarettes: leaders in modern marketing methods?

In the late 19^th century, cigarettes were seen as lower-status than cigars, which –crucially– were proving altogether harder to mechanize but the secret to increase its production –and therefore, sales– was in advertising. The idea originated in Virginia by James Bonsack, an inventor who needed to boost its economy (and actually did). By 1923, cigarettes had become the most popular way for Americans to consume tobacco.

Many early advertising campaigns now raise eyebrows. Lucky Strikes, for instance, were pitched as an aid to slimming. “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet,” ran the tagline.

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Femtech: what is it, a wrong term in the right time?

The meteoric rise of the label “femtech” to describe technology products, apps and hardware addressing women’s health and well-being issues divides opinion. While some say it helps the sector secure vital funding from male-dominated venture capitalists, others argue that it unnecessarily pigeonholes women’s health. Nevertheless, there are some relevant points to be taken into consideration such as Carolina Milanesi, an analyst from Creative Future declares: “If you’re looking at having babies and helping people figure it out, then that is not just a female problem, it’s a family problem“.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think that your opinion might be influenced by your biological sex?

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Identify the signs of scammers in the Spanish market: how to spot fraud when flat-hunting

Martín-Consuegra’s case is one of the many such fraudulent methods used in the rental market in Spain, and which are benefiting from a 50% rise in prices over the last five years. The situation is given current precarious employment and few options to buy properties that live renting as the only option left open.

This is where scammers’ picaresque comes into play through the publication of fake ads that offer inexistent luxury flats under ‘ideal conditions’.

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