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Neuroscience is showing the fascinating differences between our relationships with cats and dogs. The so-called love hormone, oxytocin, surges in our brains when we see a dog. But for cats, the pattern is closer to how we respond to other humans, as this fascinating article from neuroscientist Laura Elin Pigott explains.
Oxytocin rises in both cats and their owners in the moments when cats feel truly safe. Human brains also reserve those oxytocin spikes for when we spend time with people we feel close to. Which leads me to wonder, does my little cat, who insists on regular face massages and cuddles, just want me for the oxytocin?
England has spent the last few weeks wrangling with a campaign to fly the St George’s flag that some claim is an outburst of patriotism and others see as an attempt to intimidate migrants and people of colour. But another part of the UK has been dealing with the issue of politicised flag flying for years. So here’s what Northern Ireland can teach its neighbour.
And researchers from OpenAI have identified why bots like its own ChatGPT so commonly make things up – and proposed a solution. But the cure could be worse than the disease.
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Jenna Hutber
Commissioning Editor, Science
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Is oxytocin surging through their brains?
Zhenny-zhenny/Shutterstock
Laura Elin Pigott, London South Bank University
When you cuddle a cat, the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin is rising in both your brains.
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Flags flying from lamp posts along the Shankill Road in Belfast in 2000.
Dominic Bryan, Queen's University Belfast
I’ve contributed to at least six reports assessing the tensions around flags.
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Glitches beyond the imagination.
Sarah Holmlund/Alamy
Wei Xing, University of Sheffield
The cure is likely to be worse than the disease.
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World
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Marieke Riethof, University of Liverpool
Brazil’s democracy stands firm with conviction of Jair Bolsonaro over coup attempt.
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Rafeef Ziadah, King's College London
A glossy 38-page plan for the redevelopment of Gaza envisages a futuristic mix of smart manufacturing, luxury resorts and the ‘voluntary relocation’ of Palestinians.
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Politics + Society
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Martin Farr, Newcastle University
Mandelson took the UK’s most important diplomatic post knowing he was sitting on a ticking bomb – and Starmer will pay the price.
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Jonathan Darling, Durham University
Asylum housing needs to come back under public control.
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Arts + Culture
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Cynthia Johnston, School of Advanced Study, University of London
The new show at Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery covers the late medieval age to the Arts and Crafts Movement.
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Kate McNicholas Smith, University of Westminster
Could this film about hidden queer lives have worked better as a series?
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Business + Economy
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Rachel Scarfe, University of Stirling
The employment rights bill will affect the working conditions of millions of people in the UK.
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Jonathan Silver, University of Sheffield
The leaked redevelopment plan pays homage to mega projects in the Gulf.
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Environment
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Shweta Singh, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick; Frederik Dahlmann, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
We are building an AI-powered future that consumes like an industrial past.
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Nicole Bulawa, Lancaster University
It’s not only the appearance of petrol stations and fuel pumps that has been imitated. The basic principles of charging and refuelling are very similar.
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Health
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Craig Beall, University of Exeter; Natasha MacDonald, University of Exeter
New insights into the diabetes-dementia connection.
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Trevor Treharne, University of Oxford; Carl Heneghan, University of Oxford
Inflated death tolls in the news don’t just mislead; they can misguide public fear, funding and policy.
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