Learner profile: Open-minded
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New young faces join the billionaires’ club
Can we learn anything useful from the latest list of billionaires? It now runs to thousands of people, one of them still a teenager – but the editor who oversees it is worried.
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Alarm over growth of ‘human stock market’
Should selling the power to decide your personal choices be illegal? A new app allows people to pay for the pleasure of ‘controlling’ someone else’s life. Harmless fun? Or a slippery slope?
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Coming soon – the truth about flying saucers
Are UFOs a sign of growing alien interest? The former head of American intelligence has said that sightings are far more common than we thought, and promised dramatic revelations to come.
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Shaking hands ‘will come back’ after Covid-19
Will we ever shake hands again? Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, some have suggested the age of the handshake is over forever. But one scientist thinks shaking hands is in our DNA.
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Chilled out Finns are world’s happiest people
Should all countries be more like Finland? The Scandinavian state has been named the world’s happiest nation – again. Now some say we could all learn from the Nordic way of life.
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Tension as UK raises cap on nuclear weapons
Will the next world war be a cyber-war? Britain’s defence review predicts increasingly volatile and aggressive digital conflicts – and imagines nuclear missiles as a desperate last resort.
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Bidder pays £50m for unique string of code
Are non-fungible tokens the future of art? The price was a new high for an artwork that exists only digitally, beating records for physical paintings by greats like Turner, Seurat and Goya.
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The rock from the birth of the Solar System
Can we learn all about the universe without leaving Earth? A meteorite that landed in a Gloucestershire driveway on Sunday has been hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.
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McCartney is a Dickens for our day, says poet
Should Paul McCartney get a Nobel prize? News of a new 900-page autobiography has sparked comparisons with Charles Dickens – and a claim that the former Beatle is a major literary figure.
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NASA starts the search for life on Mars
Is the Mars story more about psychology than science? It is presented as the ultimate quest for knowledge but many believe it tells us more about our deepest desires and dreams.
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Row intensifies over vaccine passports
Are they a good idea? Several countries already require proof of vaccination to allow travel. Some hope these passports can help reopen the economy; others are bitterly against them.
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Porknite! Fun-loving pigs learn video games
Do video games improve intelligence? Scientists have used them to teach pigs about rules and rewards. Research on humans shows gaming can enhance memory, spatial awareness and multitasking.
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Build-up of traffic on the outskirts of Mars
Could Mars be the answer to our problems? As spacecraft from three different nations hurtle towards the red planet, the creation of a colony there looks more and more plausible.
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World’s richest man, 57, gives up top job
Could you be as rich as Jeff Bezos one day? The world’s wealthiest man has shown ingenuity and ruthlessness as the head of Amazon, but there has also been an element of luck in his success.
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Shops now just a click away from oblivion
Could town centres be more fun without shops? As online retailers take over more and more traditional stores, planners are thinking of ingenious new ways to lure us back to the high street.