Ania G

 A 54-year-old woman named Jahrah went to work on a rubber plantation and didn’t return home in the evening. Her husband decided to look for her but he only found her sandals, head scarf, jacket and the tools she used at work. Later, when police and residents searched the area around the plantation, they found a 7-meter python with a noticeable bulge in its belly. They caught the snake, cut it open and found Jahrah dead inside. Though such incidents are rare, this isn’t the first time someone in Indonesia has been killed and eaten by a python - two similar deaths have been reported in the country since 2017. I’m glad that there are no pythons or other dangerous snakes in Poland that could swallow someone (except those that are kept as pets in homes). Being attacked by a huge snake must be terrifying. And since the victim's body is digested after some time, if no one realized in time that you were eaten by a snake, no one would even know that you died. Source: https://www.theguardia...

 Recently, researchers conducted a study on the effect of wearing masks on deviant behavior in China. According to this large-scale study co-authored with MIT, wearing masks for health reasons makes people act more morally. It was found that individuals wearing masks were less likely to engage in deviant behavior than those who weren't wearing them which included: breaking parking regulations, running red lights, and cheating for money. At first I thought that a mask might even encourage deviant behavior because those wearing it gain more anonymity, so the result of this study surprised me. However, it seems that wearing a mask increases moral consciousness, as people sacrifice their personal comfort for the collective good. Also, the outcomes of this research shouldn’t be generalized, since it was conducted only in China, so I wonder if the results of such study would be the same in other countries as well. Source: https://scitechdaily.com/wearing-a-mask-can-change-your-behavior/a...

 A wave of protests followed after the British government - despite criticism from environmentalists and scientists - opened a new licensing round for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. One of the demonstrations took place on Friday, when two Just Stop Oil activists threw tomato soup over Van Gogh's masterpiece “Sunflowers” at London's National Gallery. Fortunately, the work was covered in glass and was unharmed, there was only minor damage to the picture frame. One of the activists shouted: "What is worth more? Art or life?”. I believe that life is worth more, but we don’t really have to choose between the two. I agree that fighting climate change is important and should be taken more seriously. But I don't like the fact that these activists reminded us of this by almost destroying the painting in the gallery. The way they protested brought them a lot of criticism, and it would be even worse if the painting was really damaged. However, because what they did was...

Since China introduced the national security law in Hong Kong, thousands of people who have criticized the Chinese government or protested have been arrested and convicted. The promise of Hong Kong's special status has been broken and it’s now becoming like any other Chinese city. This law was even recently used against five teenagers. They were sentenced to three years in a correctional facility for encouraging the subversion of state power and urging an "armed revolution”. I think it’s sad that the legal system is being used to silence those who disagree with the government. And now using this law against people under 18, children, is just sick. Those teenagers who were convicted showed courage to oppose the regime, but at the same time they may have ruined their lives by doing so. I definitely wouldn’t like to live in a place where I can't express my opinions out loud if they’re not favorable to the ruling party. Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/08/ho...

 A new study shows that the covid pandemic has triggered much greater shifts in personality than we would expect to have seen naturally over this period. The researchers found that people are now less extroverted, less open, less agreeable and less conscientious compared with before the pandemic. This has a bad effect on people's mental health and wellbeing, since all these traits affect interactions with the environment. The pandemic made our daily lives look completely different, so I think changes in people's personalities were unavoidable. It’s not surprising that sitting at home all day, not meeting with friends and worrying about our own and others' health was bad for our wellbeing. Many people are now struggling with depression or anxiety, which were greatly affected by the pandemic. I'm sure that the changes in personalities and thinking that took place during the months of the pandemic will be visible for many years to come. Source: https://theconversation.com/...