Questões de Concursos Inglês

Fake news can distort people’s beliefs even after being debunked. A study recently published in the journal Intelligence suggests that some people may have an especially difficult time rejecting misinformation. Asked to rate a fictitious person on a range of character traits, people who scored low on a test of cognitive ability continued to be influenced by damaging information about the person even after they were explicitly told the information was false. The study is significant because it identifies what may be a major risk factor for vulnerability to fake news.

One possible explanation for this finding is based on the theory that a person’s cognitive ability reflects how well they can regulate the contents of working memory – their “mental workspace” for processing information. First proposed by the cognitive psychologists Lynn Hasher and Rose Zacks, this theory holds that some people are more prone to “mental clutter” than other people. In other words, some people are less able to discard (or “inhibit”) information from their working memory that is no longer relevant to the task at hand, or information that has been discredited. Research on cognitive aging indicates that, in adulthood, this ability declines considerably with advancing age, suggesting that older adults may also be especially vulnerable to fake news. Another reason why cognitive ability may predict vulnerability to fake news is that it correlates highly with education. Through education, people may develop meta-cognitive skills – strategies for monitoring and regulating one’s own thinking – that can be used to combat the effects of misinformation.

(www.scientificamerican.com, 06.02.2018. Adaptado.)

Scientists have long touted DNA’s potential as an ideal storage medium; it’s dense, easy to replicate, and stable over millennia. But in order to replace existing silicon‐chip or magnetic‐tape storage technologies, DNA will have to get a lot cheaper to predictably read, write, and package.

That’s where scientists like Hyunjun Park come in. He and the other cofounders of Catalog, an MIT DNA‐storage spinoff emerging out of stealth on Tuesday, are building a machine that will write a terabyte of data a day, using 500 trillion molecules of DNA.

If successful, DNA storage could be the answer to a uniquely 21st‐century problem: information overload. Five years ago humans had produced 4.4 zettabytes of data; that's set to explode to 160 zettabytes (each year!) by 2025. Current infrastructure can handle only a fraction of the coming data deluge, which is expected to consume all the world's microchip‐grade silicon by 2040.

“Today’s technology is already close to the physical limits of scaling,” says Victor Zhirnov, chief scientist of the Semiconductor Research Corporation. “DNA has an information‐storage density several orders of magnitude higher than any other known storage technology.”

How dense exactly? Imagine formatting every movie ever made into DNA; it would be smaller than the size of a sugar cube. And it would last for 10,000 years.

Wired, June, 2018. Disponível em https://www.wired.com/. Adaptado.

The condition, where ovaries don't regularly release eggs, produce high levels of 'male' hormones and cause polycystic ovaries, is said to affect one in 10 UK women.

And seven in 10 were not aware that excessive hair growth, infertility (53 per cent) and irregular periods (46 per cent) were symptoms of the condition.

And 72 per cent of women experience at least one of the signs without necessarily knowing it could be linked to the disorder, with weight gain (24 per cent), acne or oily skin (17 per cent) and excess hair growth (10 per cent) most common.

As a result, 57 per cent wish there was more awareness of polycystic ovary syndrome, to stop it being such a taboo subject.

Chloé Fallon, beauty expert for Philips Lumea IPL hair removal devices, which commissioned the research to support PCOS Awareness Month this September, said: "This is a remarkably common condition that there's not enough awareness of.

"Instead, lots of women are left struggling to deal with a wide range of symptoms that can really impact their health and their confidence on a daily basis."

The study also found 76 per cent of all adults believe men should be more informed about women's health issues such as PCOS.

And 14 per cent of the women polled have experienced excessive hair growth on the face, chest or abdomen.

Of these, 25 per cent claim this affected their day-to-day life 'very significantly', while only 17 per cent weren't affected at all.

Women who were affected felt constantly worried about their appearance (58 per cent), afraid of judgement from colleagues (32 per cent) or unable to wear certain clothes (21 per cent).

While 29 per cent avoided social situations where possible, and 16 per cent stopped dating, according to the OnePoll.com figures.

A huge 95 per cent of women attempted hair removal themselves, whether by shaving, plucking or using a hair removal cream.

And 47 per cent felt very self-conscious about the issue while they were affected.

Philips Lumea IPL hair removal devices, which claims its intense pulsed light technology products can reduce hair regrowth for up to 12 months, has teamed with social media content creator, Zoe Antonia to share her storythe condition.

She said: "My PCOS journey started at 17, with a few rogue chin hairs, raging cystic acne and irregular periods which got diagnosed as PCOS.

"My body and facial hair growth made me feel so self-conscious as a teen and I often questioned whether there was something wrong with me.

"However, along the way I learnt to accept this part of me and sharing this journey online I found out that many other women struggle with similar symptoms to me, and sharing such raw unfiltered images online became a source of strength and helped me to build confidence outside of my looks.

"Alongside various nutrition and lifestyle changes I've made to reduce hair growth, using my IPL hair removal device has helped me to significantly reduce my hair re-growth, especially on areas like my lower belly, upper lip and chin area.

Chloé Fallon added: "Topics around women's health like PCOS, including the symptoms and misconceptions are important discussions to have, and ones we hope in the near future people will feel more confident openly talking about without judgement, like Zoe is able to with her followers."

Taking the article above as a reference, judge the following item.

Four in ten Brits have never heard of a condition that plagues millions and can leave sufferers infertile | The Sun.