WEIRD STUFF

Eating breakfast cuts risk of a heart attack

A new study shows that people who eat for the first time at 9 a.m. are six per cent more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than a person who tucks into breakfast at 8 a.m.

Eating after 9 p.m. was also linked with a 28 per cent higher risk of stroke, compared to having supper before 8 p.m. -- particularly in females.

However, the study -- using data from over 103,000 French people -- also revealed that a longer duration of "night-time fasting", the time between the last meal of one day and the first of the next, is linked to reduced risk of a stroke.

Dr Hassan Srour, of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, said: "These findings, which need to be replicated in other cohorts and through additional scientific studies with different designs, highlight a potential role for meal timing in preventing cardiovascular disease.

"They suggest that adopting the habit of eating earlier first and last meals with a longer period of night-time fasting could help to prevent the risk of cardiovascular disease."

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Robots cheat when under pressure

Experts found that a robot trained to do a job as a financial trader deliberately committed insider trading 75 per cent of the time when instructed to make more money by a boss in a fictional scenario.

Tech safeguarding specialists Apollo Research also revealed how the AI lied about its illegal acts when questioned 90 per cent of the time.

The firm's boss, Marius Hobbhahn, explained that the bots were able to commit strategic deception, "where they reason explicitly why lying to their user is the best course of action and then act on that belief".

He explained: "For current models this is only a minor problem, since AIs rarely operate in critical roles. However, it gives a glimpse into the future of the failure modes we will have to deal with in the coming years when AI is more and more integrated into society."

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Screen time disrupts teenagers' sleep

The impact of screen time on sleep is well documented, but new research indicates that interactive engagement is more damaging for teenage rest than passively watching television.

The findings, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, analysed screen usage and sleep patterns of 15-year-olds and found that those who communicated with friends via screens or played video games in the hour before bed took 30 minutes longer to go to sleep than those who refrained from devices.

David Reichenberger, lead author of the study at Pennsylvania State University, said: "For a child, losing 15 minutes of sleep a night is significant. It's especially difficult when they have to get up in the morning for school; if they're delaying their sleep, they can't make up for it in the morning.

"Without adequate sleep, kids are at increased risk of obesity, as well as impaired cognition, emotion regulation and mental health."