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Discover the world of deep learning, where machines learn independently through artificial neural networks inspired by the human brain. Explore how these networks can recognize letters, words, and faces in photos, and how neural networks are trained to identify different types of cats in images.

What is a pension fund?A pension fund is a retirement scheme created by a company or public employer in order to save money for its employees. Belonging to a pension fund may be compulsory or optional. Employees make contributions to the fund, as do employers most of the time. When an employee retires, they can choose to receive a lump sum right away, or a series of regular payments throughout their retirement, like an annuity. That’s how a funded pension scheme works, because the plan has enough assets to pay retirees for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, with unfunded plans, payments are made directly from contributions and no capital is accumulated. The pension fund system first developed in Scotland, with the creation of the “Scottish Widows” scheme in 1815. That insured widows of Scottish soldiers killed during the Napoleonic wars with France. Nowadays, pension funds are particularly common in the United States, but the largest pension fund in the world is Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund. It was created in 1954 and now manages assets of $1.4 trillion.Pension plans rely on asset management companies to look after the contributions they receive. These companies, generally banks, insurers or specialists, aim to maintain the capital held in the fund and make a profit. American global investment management corporation BlackRock is the number one in the world, with over $7 trillion in assets managed as of the end of 2019.Their activities are strictly regulated. Each country has its own prudential standards. All capital collected must be divided between a number of asset classes. The primary law governing pension plans in the USA is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.Some funds are defined benefit pension plans, whereby the pension payment or lump sum is guaranteed. But these are getting rarer and rarer, giving way to defined contribution schemes. This means only the contributions collected are guaranteed.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is 5G?5G is the fifth and newest generation of mobile connectivity. Its commercial rollout has already begun, with the four major US carriers having begun deployment in 2019. The GSMA estimates that 5G will account for 20% of all global connections by 2025. What’s more, this technological advance is at the heart of many economic and geopolitical issues. But associations and researchers have also warned on the potential risks 5G represents to health and the environment.Supporters of 5G have made big promises. Compared to 4G, the technology should allow for connection speeds which are 10 to 100 times faster, with minimal latency. These connection speeds are perfect for playing the most demanding of online games and streaming series in the highest quality available without any loading.Above and beyond that, 5G marks a further step in the development of “Smart cities”, in which all kinds of connected objects communicate between one another. One of the main technologies standing to benefit from 5G is the driverless car. It’s anticipated that the reaction time of self-driving cars will improve to 1 millisecond thanks to 5G, making them smarter and safer. That’s why this new generation is presented by governments as being a major strategic industrial development.On the other hand, associations have warned about risks of insomnia, infertility and even cancer. The World Health Organisation does indeed class electromagnetic waves as a possible cause of cancers.Experts have responded by saying that 5G waves have a length of around 3.5 GHZ, thus smaller than 4G waves. Therefore, they couldn’t cause cell damage, but may still be harmful to skin, eyes, eardrums, nerve endings and blood circulation.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is blue light?Blue light is a type of high-energy visible light, with a wavelength between 400 and 450 nanometers. It is emitted by many sources of light, from the Sun to LED screens. Scientists have issued warnings about the dangerous nature of blue light. All the same, it’s not certain that the “night mode” on our devices is any better for our eyes.In recent decades, the general public’s exposure to blue light has massively increased. This is due to LED screens being much more present in society, in artificial lights, as well as smartphone, tablet and computer screens.According to scientists, blue light can be dangerous. It can lead to impaired version, and is allegedly a risk factor for cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Furthermore, being exposed to blue light in the evening or at night can disturb our circadian rhythm. Past studies have suggested that it suppresses melatonin, a hormone which affects sleep. To sum up, the more we are exposed to blue light, the more our sleep quality is affected. Since the risks associated with blue light were discovered, smartphone and PC manufacturers have developed “night modes” for their devices. When activated, displays automatically shift to an orange-yellow tint from a certain time in the evening through to sunrise.But a study published in December 2019 showed that night mode may not actually be better than blue light, and could even be worse. Researchers at the University of Manchester carried out experiments on mice. They found that blue light was less disruptive to their sleep, compared to yellow light of the same brightness.This may be because “cold” colours, such as blue, are closer to the colour of natural nighttime light. Whereas on the other hand, it’s more natural to look at warmer colours during the day. Our body clocks rely on shades of light to determine whether it’s time to sleep or be awake. Blue light may therefore disturb sleep less than night mode, which uses daytime colours. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the Green New Deal?The Green New Deal is a proposed package of legislation in the United States, designed to tackle climate change. It was introduced by Democrats and could revolutionise the American economy, if it is ever put into practice.If the name “Green New Deal” sounds familiar, it’s likely because it refers to President Roosevelt’s New Deal of the 1930s. That consisted of a series of public works programs and financial reforms, aiming to revive the economy in response to the Great Depression of 1929.This important moment in American history is indeed inspiring the left wing, who wish to implement a Green New Deal. They believe that global economic and environmental crises are both caused by a system which is at breaking point. And that if governments do nothing to combat this, we could be on our way to disaster.The proposals call for a 10-year mobilisation to drastically reduce carbon emissions in the USA. Firstly, fossil fuels (gas, carbon and petrol) would be abandoned and workers would be trained to perform new jobs in a post-ecological transition society.Massive investments in transport, agriculture and energy would be required to make them cleaner. Meanwhile, polluting energies would no longer be subsidized under the Green New Deal. By 2030, 100% of the USA’s electricity would be sourced from renewable and zero-emissions power. To address social justice, the government would have a duty to provide job training to those who previously worked in fossil fuel industries. One of the leading figures behind the Green New Deal is Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She first made history by being the youngest ever woman to be elected to Congress in 2018, and has made a name as a real media phenomenon.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is Stendhal syndrome?Stendhal’s syndrome is a rare and unusual psychological disorder. It’s a psychosomatic condition whereby certain people suffer from a rapid heartbeat, fainting or even hallucinations, when exposed to objects or works of art of great beauty. The condition takes its name from a famous French writer who experienced a similar state of intense emotion upon visiting Rome, Naples and Florence. Stendhal wrote about his visit to Florence’s Santa Croce Basilica in a book entitled Naples and Florence: A journey from Milan to Reggio. Here’s how he described the phenomenon: “I was in a sort of ecstasy, from the idea of being in Florence, close to the great men whose tombs I had seen. Absorbed in the contemplation of sublime beauty...I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations ... Everything spoke so vividly to my soul...I had palpitations of the heart...Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling”.Although there are historical records of others fainting in the presence of Florentine art, the syndrome was only actually named in 1979 by Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini. While Stendhal Syndrome is not recognised as a psychiatric disorder, it’s now commonly used to describe a physical reaction to the beauty of the natural world or art masterpieces.Working at the Santa Maria Nuova hospital in Florence, Magherini observed more than 100 cases where patients had severe emotional responses to art. These were mainly tourists, including many Americans. In 1989, she released a book named “The Stendhal Syndrome”, in which she told her story. The cases were divided into three types, based on the symptoms of their anxiety or psychotic episodes. The most common profile was a single woman, under the age of 40, travelling alone. Symptoms described in the book included dizzy spells, a loss of sense of identity, rapid heartbeat and hallucinations. Generally speaking, patients recovered after leaving the city of Florence.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is solastalgia?Solastalgia is the distress we feel when our local environment is transformed, mainly due to climate change. These transformations can have an effect on people’s mental health. So are we all doomed to suffer from solastalgia as the earth’s temperature rises?Climate change is so omnipresent in our daily lives, that it can create a certain anxiety. For some people, this gets so intense that they become depressed, like Greta Thunberg after watching a documentary on polar bears. All over the world, climate-related anxiety is increasing.There are several terms to describe this. We talk about eco-anxiety with regards to the feeling we have that everything makes us think about climate change problems. And eco-paralysis when we feel helpless to do anything to prevent environmental issues. Meanwhile, the term solastalgia is a portmanteau of the words “solace” and “nostalgia”. It was created in 2003 by philosopher Glenn Albrecht, while he was working at the University of Newcastle in Australia. Albrecht himself describes solastalgia as “a type of homesickness or melancholia that you feel when you’re at home and your home environment is changing around you in ways that you feel are profoundly negative.Unlike eco-anxiety or eco-paralysis, which are more general and look to the future, solastalgia is about the here and now. It is linked to the hardship of losing one’s environment or habitat. The most obvious victims are those whose landscape has been hit by some kind of natural disaster. One example would be refugees returning to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. A report from the American psychology Association found that up to 40% of natural disaster victims suffer PTSD, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Of course, solastalgia doesn’t affect everybody equally. Wealthier individuals and families are more easily able to relocate or rebuild their homes, compared to poorer households.Other examples include Canadian Inuit communities coping with rising temperatures and Ghanaian subsistence farmers having to deal with changes in rainfall patterns.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is computer vision syndrome?From our smartphone screens first thing in the morning to an evening spent in front of the TV, electronic visual displays are an inescapable part of our daily routines. In the middle, many have a 9 to 5 job sat in front of a desktop, not to mention checking social media or playing games to speed up the daily commute. Computer vision syndrome refers to eye strain caused by overuse of electronic screens. The whole eye is affected by this strain, leading to symptoms like headaches, back and neck pains, blurred vision and the inability to focus. Those who spend their whole working day in front of a computer screen are most likely to suffer from computer vision syndrome. Looking into a screen all day long requires a great deal of concentration, which means we blink a lot less than we need to. The eye therefore becomes dry, affecting the conjunctiva and cornea. Our eyes move constantly, which explains how they become tired and vision can be blurred. However, there’s not enough scientific perspective and detailed research to really understand the impact of this screen consumption on our overall health and eyes in particular.Visual system development in children is long and sensitive. The quality of a child’s visual experience is critical in this process. Neuroplasticity is most active in children under the age of 6. It then gradually decreases until 10 - 12 years old. So parents should limit children’s exposure to electronic screen between those ages, while vision is developing. One golden rule is the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break to look at something 20 feet away. This gives our eyes a well-deserved break to remoisten and helps reduce symptoms. Another tip is to remember to blink, which we are supposed to do 12 times per minute on average. In front of a computer screen, however, we only blink 5 times a minute, which brings on the eye drying effect. You can treat the discomfort with eye drops or simply by forcing yourself to blink.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is berberine?Berberine is a natural alkaloid, which means it’s an active compound of plant origin. It’s found in a lot of dietary supplements due to its supposed benefits against certain diseases. Basically, berberine is often seen as medicinal, without really having the status. Like any medicine, it can have harmful side effects.Berberine can be found in the roots and bark of berberis plants, like barberry, Chinese coptis or goldenseals. It’s used in Chinese medicine to treat stomach infections like bacterial diarrhea.Berberine is getting more attention in the USA, partly due to its neuroprotective qualities and even more so its effect on blood sugar levels. It could reduce blood sugar and cholesterol, making it of interest to those suffering from diabetes. Dpctors aren't yet prescribing berberine, as there’s not enough research out there to justify it being a treatment on its own. But it’s pretty easy to find berberine in dietary supplements. It has a real pharmacological effect on our cardiovascular, nervous and immune systems, not to mention metabolism. The standard dose for an adult is 1500mg per day, broken down into three equal doses. Research suggests this amount can be equally as effective as other pharmaceutical drugs in treating type 2 diabetes.Like any medicine, berberine can have side effects like low blood sugar or fat levels. It can also cause uterine contractions and interfere with other medicines. Taking berberine when undergoing cancer treatment could make the treatment itself less effective. That’s exactly what certain European countries have done. Slovenia, Sweden, Greece have all banned the sale of dietary supplements containing berberine. Meanwhile, Belgium and Poland recommend a maximum dose of 10mg per day. It’s not recommended for women to consume berberine during pregnancy or lactation. The same goes for children and teenagers, while people with diabetes or heart problems should always get medical advice before taking berberine.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is conversion therapy?Conversion therapy, also known as homotherapy, is a pseudoscientific practice that seeks to convert homosexuals to heterosexuality, or at least encourage them to be abstinent. Largely pushed by religious groups, this kind of therapy is still growing in Europe and America. The practices are not only ineffective, but can also be dangerous.Conversion therapy first appeared in 1950s North America. Sexologists would treat homosexuality like a neurological disorder. So gay people underwent treatments like lobotomies or electric shocks with the aim of changing their sexual orientation. In the 1970s, it was finally recognised that homosexuality was not a psychiatric problem. And only in 1992 did the World Health Organization take it off its list of mental illnesses!That said, conversion therapy has continued to exist, and is commonplace in countries like the USA or Poland. Sessions are often run by religious movements, and especially Catholic ones, who consider that being gay is a sexual deviance or the work of the devil.These groups offer courses with varying degrees of forcefulness. There could be talking groups, some kind of bootcamp filled with rituals, so-called healing prayers, or exorcisms.All this pseudotherapy does is make gay people feel guilty, causing self-hatred and pushing them towards alcoholism, depression or even suicide.That’s why some countries are trying to put an end to these practices. It’s already the case in Brazil, China and Malta, where measures have been taken against conversion therapy.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices