WEIRD STUFF

Digital devices stunts toddlers' speech

Screen time is depriving toddlers of vital speech development. Research has found that the average tot is missing out on hearing more than 1,000 words spoken by adults every day because they are glued to devices such as iPads.

Experts tracked 220 Australian families over a period of two years to analyse the relationship between family screen use and the language environment.

For every additional minute of screen time, the three-year-olds in the study were hearing seven fewer words, speaking five fewer and engaging in fewer conversations.

Professor Angela Morgan, leader of the speech and language group at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, which had no involvement in the study, said: "To my knowledge it's the most robust examination of looking at screen time and interactions between parents and children that we've had available.

"For all children, the biggest opportunities for language learning are of course in those first few years of life ... we know that early predictors do predict your later language outcomes, so it is really important that they've been looking at this question in the early years."

Hugs boost women's happiness

Women who are hugged regularly are more likely to be happy in a relationship.

Scientists say that females who receive more embraces, cuddles and touches are likely to be satisfied with their partner, according to a study of over 1,000 women between the ages of 18 and 72.

Hugs and even holding hands can do the trick for men looking to please, as physical contact enhances a woman's body satisfaction.

Boffins at Indiana University - writing in the Journal of Sex Research - said: "Ours is the first study to show that the physical nature of affectionate touch is a form of communication about one's body.

"Recipients see it as a message of positiveness about their body, in part because the affection was placed there."

The researchers added: "Our results offer possible avenues for bolstering an individual's sense of comfort with their body by encouraging gentle, voluntary (rather than requested) affirmative touch, such as holding hands or hugging, on a regular basis."

Jupiter's alien search stumbles

Hopes of finding alien life on Jupiter have suffered a major blow.

Europa, the fourth-largest moon on the gas giant, has long been thought of as a potential location for extraterrestrials due to the presence of liquid water but a new study has cast doubt on its suitability for other forms of life.

Researchers at Princeton University in New Jersey have discovered that there is less oxygen on the moon's surface than expected, making it harder for cells to be able to function in the environment.

The scientists have refused to rule out the possibility of finding aliens on Europa but say there is a "narrower range to support habitability" than previously thought.

Dr. Jamey R. Szalay, the leader of the study, said: "Unless Europa's oxygen production was significantly higher in the past, the O2 production rates found here ... provide a narrower range to support habitability than previous model-driven estimates."

Iron deficiency linked to long COVID

Low iron levels have been pinpointed as the cause of long COVID.

Millions of people have experienced symptoms such as fatigue and shortness of breath long after an initial coronavirus infection and experts are convinced that low iron levels in the blood could be a key contributory factor to persistent health issues.

A team at Cambridge University analysed 214 people, around half of whom reported long COVID symptoms in the months following their infection and found that inflammation and low iron levels in the blood could be detected as early as two weeks following an infection in those who reported long COVID later on.

Dr Aimee Hanson, who worked on the study during her time at Cambridge, said: "Iron levels, and the way the body regulates iron, were disrupted early on during SARS-CoV-2 infection, and took a very long time to recover, particularly in those people who went on to report long COVID months later.

"Although we saw evidence that the body was trying to rectify low iron availability and the resulting anaemia by producing more red blood cells, it was not doing a particularly good job of it in the face of ongoing inflammation."