May.17: AROUND THE WORLD
FRANCE
Women cheat on men who don’t help with housework
Women are more likely to cheat on men who don’t help with household chores, according to a major French study. A report in www.telegraph.co.uk quotes a poll of 10,000 female subscribers to Gleedon– a top site for married and unfaithful people.
Around 73% of female members of the site said they were driven to infidelity because their partner was found wanting in the housework department, from cleaning the toilet to emptying the washing machine. According to a survey last year by French statistics agency INSEE, women in France still do two-thirds of domestic chores.
SINGAPORE
 Water dispensers reduce sale of plastic bottles
Sales of bottled drinks have dropped since 13 new water dispensers were introduced at the Singapore Zoo and River Safari, according to www.straitstimes.com. The campaign aims to convey the message of environmental sustainability to the public. Single-use plastic bottles are a major challenge in solid waste management initiatives.
The machines automatically dispense potable water when an infrared sensor detects a bottle. A screen displays the daily count of disposable bottles saved. A 2014 United Nations Environment Programme report said plastic waste caused financial damage of US$13 billion to marine ecosystems every year.
USA
Teens who sleep late face problems controlling emotions Â
Teens who are night owls and feel drowsy during the day may have a hard time with behaviour and reasoning, a study suggests. ‘Self-regulation’, or the ability to manage memory, behaviour, emotions and impulses, is affected by ‘circadian misalignment’ according to the study published in the journal Pediatrics.
This poor self-regulation leads to risk taking behaviours, poor control of emotions and impaired thinking skills. Interestingly, it’s not how long you sleep that has the biggest impact on self-regulation, but when you sleep in relation to the body’s natural circadian rhythms and how impaired you are by sleepiness.
Â
