Should you believe in ghosts?

Aashna Khilosia on 26 October 2023

Indulging in costume shopping and carving pumpkins, laughing at paranormal investigators on our TV screen jumping at a breeze or ridiculous ghost stories told over sleepovers is all in the spirit of Halloween.  However, while some like to scare themselves silly for a laugh over the festive period, nearly half (43%) of UK adults believe in, and are fearful of, the paranormal. The top reasons the British believe there may be an uninvited guest at in their home include mysterious unexplainable sounds, cold spots, and even shadowy figures.

Many scientists have dipped their feet into the murky waters of the paranormal – so can science provide the evidence for the existence of ghosts?

While nobody has managed to capture a ghost in a controlled environment as evidence of its existence, in 1901 Dr McDougal tried instead to prove the existence of the soul. He investigated the idea that the ‘soul’ was physical enough to cause a drop in mass in humans at the moment of death – he pinpointed a 21 -gram loss which he concluded, influenced by his pre-existing beliefs, to be the mass of a soul .

43% of UK adults believe in, and are fearful of, the paranormal.

However, his findings were not welcomed with open arms by the science community, with many theories soon later proposed that diminished the credibility of his study. One key objector was Psychologist Richard Wiseman who pointed out that the human body at the point of death heats rapidly and so the loss in mass could be due to the loss of fluid via sweating. So, with a lack of credible evidence in the science field, the soul of a former 19th century resident most probably isn’t the source of the flickering lights and sudden gusts of wind!

But how do you explain the vivid ghost sightings people have experienced?

The most common explanation is sleep paralysis. Cambridge neuroscientist Baland Jalal explains sleep paralysis as being “like dreaming with your eyes open”. The phenomenon occurs when a person regains consciousness whilst in the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep. Outside of the REM phase, there is an increase in parasympathetic tone – inducing the body to relax. However, during phasic REM sleep, there is an upsurge of sympathetic tone, preventing muscles from contracting in response to dreams. If you wake up during this phase, the muscles might still be unable to move, leaving you effectively paralysed.

Waking whilst still in the REM phase creates a dissociation between perception and motor function, which can result in and have often been accompanied by hallucinations.  So, when someone reports of a paranormal “haunting” that left them so terrified they were unable to move, a scientist’s diagnosis would most likely circle back to sleep paralysis.

Currently, no conclusive evidence has been brought forward to support the existence of supernatural creatures. However, discoveries are made every day and some scientists have dedicated whole careers to finding the evidence. In science, non-existence is rarely provable, so maybe that occurrence you can’t explain might just have been caused by the supernatural…

Beaver-Works

Rosie Bibby on 26 October 2023

Beavers have been extinct in the UK since the 1500s due to human exploitation for their meat and fur, as well as a substance called castoreum. The castoreum, secreted by glands near the anus, can be used in food, perfumes, and medicine, and is in high demand, especially in Sweden where it is used to flavour schnapps, a traditional distilled liquor.

The eradication of beavers has negatively impacted the British ecosystem due to their position as a keystone species – one of particular importance to maintaining a balanced ecosystem. As ecosystem engineers, beavers create wetland habitats for animals such as water voles, frogs and insects by using branches of trees they’ve felled to build a dam. Encouraging a home for small animals thus attracts larger predators, enhancing broader diversity in the area. Therefore, recent efforts have been made to reintroduce them throughout the UK supported by the RSPB, Forestry England and Scottish National Heritage.

The first European beavers were reintroduced in Scotland’s Knapdale forest in 2008. The benefits to biodiversity were clear, with an increase in dragonfly, minnow, and beetle species recorded in the 2015 ‘Beavers in Scotland’ report. This encouraged further reintroductions in Devon later in the same year, controlled by the River Otter Beaver Trial. Again, positive responses were recorded and in 2020, the government agreed that the beavers should stay.

Since then, there has been work on reintroducing beavers in Cropton Forest within the North York Moors. The main reason for beaver presence this time, however, was for flood prevention. The beaver’s dam building can alter the flow of rivers by creating pools and wetlands, significantly slowing the river’s flow and protecting humans living downstream from flooding.

Since 2019, the two beavers introduced in Yorkshire have had six kits and are now a family of eight, they certainly have been beavering away! After a trial of five years, the flood alleviating powers of the beavers will be studied and, if deemed successful, steps will be taken to reintroduce beavers in other high flood risk areas.

LIVE REVIEW: JAWS are Biting Back into Business at Brudenell

Millie Cain on 26 October 2023 

Written by Millie Cain
Edited by Eve Moat

As we arrived at the crown jewel of Hyde Park’s independent music scene, Brudenell Social Club already had a swarming crowd of individuals in dark wash jackets with cans of £2 beer in hand awaiting JAWS’ arrival. The social club on Monday night was a warm haven against the treacherous October downpour, yet people still crowded outside clutching half-damp cigarettes with the distinctive smell of blue razz lemonade floating in the air. As soon as my flat mate (and occasional musical prodigy) Jack and I ran into the building, there was an immediate homely feel, calls across the room, and familiar nods of heads, made even more lovely by the eclectic soundtrack and cheap bar.  

There was a real fizz of excitement in the air, it didn’t feel like a Monday – the bar spun with the ambiance of a well-awaited Friday night, as students and locals alike bopped their heads along to Leeds’ own post-modern grunge band “Slow Team” who had the mighty job of supporting, and packed a punch as the alternative three piece burned out their souls to their home crowd and JAWS fans who were lapping up their seemingly endless energy.  

It was not long before arms were raised and clapping along to their new single “Match Point” which eclipsed the whole room, a bit more post-punk sound than the rest of their setlist- they’ve recently been leaning more into the sleek ethereal shoegaze indie that has weaved its way in over the last few years and has been done so fluidly by this band. Lead vocalist, Lucy, had ensnaring charisma, and her fellow bandmates Morgan and Max bounced off each other as their looping sounds pressed up against each other and filled the venue, cracking jokes throughout. There’s exciting potential with their recent change of tempo for huge growth, and they’re in the right place for people who will undoubtedly eat it up. 

JAWS’ arrival onto stage was met with louder cheers than could’ve been expected from the venue: a familiar hum of excitement, a sparking buzz filled the air as they launched straight into their arguably most popular single, “Stay In”, with a well-oiled groove, and especially cool elegance from bassist Leon Smith catching the whole room. The popularity of the song had a huge immediate impact on the crowd, with heads bobbing, and arms high, as the band slowed down for the instrumental builder of the song that gives it a real textured, layered quality from the Birmingham 4 piece.  

Image Credit: @musicthroughemiescamera on Instagram

The second song of their set, “Top of My Skull” from their new EP If It Wasn’t For My Friends, Things Could Be Different, released in September, had a huge increase in tempo and the disjointed bridges injected a new lease of energy into the space. This new single is really taking a step away from the synth-heavy shoegaze indie that initially shot them to fame in 2012. Drummer Eddy Geach appeared almost as a sci-fi hero, nearly drowning under the crazy amount of cymbals, but which he appeared to navigate with incomprehensible ease.  

Noticably, the green lights flooding Brude added to the almost nonchalant, casual air of the band, while sounding so technically tight, as if it was a live recording. It was evident how polished and practiced every member was before embarking on this tour- especially it being their first one since 2021.

Image Credit: @musicthroughemiescamera on Instagram

New song “Are My Friends Alright?” brought back the synth, pop sound, and was well received by their cult-like crowd. JAWS’ fanbase has certainly been strong for the last few years, following them up and down the country on each and every new tour. In the recorded version, it has a faint autotune (almost Casablancas-esque) mumbling sound to it, that was mastered live by lead singer Connor Schofield.  

Their stage chatter however, was few and far between, with brief thank yous, an introduction and an actually quite funny anecdote about their previous Brudenell show, in which someone had crashed the stage to brush their teeth, was the extent of the conversation between the band and their audience. While they held a very well-respected and professional presence in the room, I couldn’t help but wish to hear a bit more from the band themselves.  

Before I knew it, they were closing with fan favourites “Be Slowly” and “Gold”, and the audience were electric from the first light riff of their final song, chanting along and polishing off an exciting show that was wrapped up in talent and drowning in potential.

JAWS have toured new EP If It Wasn’t For My Friends, Things Could Be Different, which was released on 15th September, whipping around Northern-heavy venues in Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester, with a home show in Birmingham, and a couple of Southern trips to Bristol and London. With how clean and polished they’re sounding, and the punchy new EP, there’s no doubt we’ll be hearing more from them soon, hopefully with some festival shows in the coming year.

Their new EP is available on all streaming platforms, and the band can be found @jawsjawsjaws on their respective social media platforms.

Setlist: 

Stay In  

Top of my Skull  

Driving at Night   

Are My Friends Alright?  

What We Haven't Got Yet  

Right Infront Of Me  

17  

Just A Boy 

Sweat 

Donut 

Be Slowly 

Gold

Should we be adding more than just fluoride to our water?

Finn Laslett on 25 October 2023

Fluoride has been routinely added to the public drinking water of the UK, US and much of the rest of the world since 1945, when the first pilot study began in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The practice originated in the early 1900s, when it was discovered that tooth decay, and varying unaccountably between different geographic regions, was correlated with the concentration of the element fluorine found in the local drinking water. After the successful experiment in Grand Rapids, in which children’s tooth decay halved, fluoridation became common policy in the US, and remains a routine public health intervention globally to this day.

Now, more than a century later, evidence is emerging of another, more profound relationship. In 2009, researchers in Japan measured the levels of lithium in the drinking water of Oita prefecture and found that where more lithium was present, local people were less likely to die by suicide.  Since then, dozens more studies have been published in concurrence, and scientists have been aware of lithium’s influence in other domains for even longer. In 1990, it was observed that high-lithium counties in Texas saw fewer arrests for robbery, violent behaviour and drug possession than low-lithium ones. In the areas with the highest levels, the effects are striking. The ‘lithium triangle’ between Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, which together account for 58% of global lithium deposits, accordingly has the highest concentration of lithium in drinking water. In the Chilean portion of the triangle, there are 10 suicides for every 100,000 people, compared with a national of average of 12.5.

To some, this may come as no surprise. The effects of lithium on behaviour have been known for many years, with psychiatrists prescribing lithium salts as far back as the 19th century. Until 1948, the soft drink 7up contained lithium for its mood-stabilising properties, and the metal remains synonymous with the treatment of bipolar disorder to this day. Despite this, the mechanism of action still eludes understanding. Once lithium ions enter the brain, their simple structure and small size allow them to be dispersed widely and affect the activity of nerves on every level. Where researchers identify an effect in one brain area, the opposite may be observed in another, and often results appear in the brains of bipolar or depression sufferers, but not in other individuals. The task is made even more impossible by the fact that the causes of bipolar, depression, and psychiatric illnesses on the whole are poorly understood. What is certain, however, is that lithium works, remaining the first-line treatment for bipolar disorder and the gold standard for those whose depression won’t respond to traditional antidepressants.

Why, then, is it not added in with the fluoride to our water? There are several arguments, both scientific and ethical. For one, unlike fluoride, which has few side-effects at low doses, lithium may not be safe for everyone to consume. Children and pregnant women pose a barrier to any mass treatment, and this year it was observed that infants born in areas of Denmark with more lithium in the water are more likely to have autism. Lithium is also often contraindicated for people with kidney and thyroid problems. Ethically, there is a significant difference between lithium and fluoride in that only one is psychoactive. In a world where conspiracy theories already abound, it would be bold to openly administer a genuinely mind-altering agent to the population. Furthermore, the notion of suicide is ethically complex, and some may question if its prevention in this way is the proper role of the state.

Regardless, mental illness and suicide are hugely important issues, and increasingly so. It may be that a safe dose exists, and it really would make us all happier. If governments are serious in their commitments to tackle mental illness, then perhaps large-scale interventions of this kind may warrant further investigation. 

The Troubles Legacy Act Must Be Repealed

Kaynan Hudson on 25 October 2023

It is difficult to keep track of the numerous political controversies currently occurring in British politics. Recent controversies include the scrapping of the Northern leg of HS2, the Prime Minister’s watering down of net-zero commitments, and the Rwanda plan, amongst others.

These issues have dominated media headlines in recent weeks and months. However, the passing of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Conciliation) Act in September received minimal attention from the British media. Yet, this new law is perhaps one of the most contentious pieces of legislation to be passed in recent years.

The Act’s stated purpose is “to address the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles”. During the period, Northern Ireland experienced a violent sectarian conflict. This involved conflict between republicans who aimed to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, and unionists who preferred Northern Ireland to remain part of the U.K. The British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary were also involved in the conflict against the republicans. The conflict ended in 1998 with the passing of the Good Friday Agreement.

The conflict took the lives of over 3,000 people, with over 1,000 of these deaths remaining unsolved today. Consequently, many people have never faced justice for crimes they committed, and families and friends of victims continue to suffer.

The key part of the new law states that no new criminal investigations into crimes committed as part of the conflict can occur, and all current investigations must end. A new commission will be created to make future judgments. 

Cases can be opened by the new commission to investigate some crimes. However, the new commission will not conduct criminal investigations, rather it will seek information about particular cases. Moreover, the commission can grant immunity from prosecution to individuals who come forward and admit to their actions. This means that if an individual admits to killing somebody during this period, and if they fully cooperate with the commission’s investigation, they will never be prosecuted for their crimes in a criminal court.

This law applies to all those involved in the conflict, including IRA members and British Army soldiers. The British government claims this legislation is necessary to “close the book” on the conflict and consolidate peace. However, a more adequate explanation is likely that many Conservative MPs are uncomfortable with British soldiers potentially being prosecuted, such as those who participated in the Bloody Sunday killings of unarmed Catholic civilians.

The Act has faced widespread opposition. It is quite challenging to unite all the Northern Irish communities. However, opposition has occurred from across the political spectrum, including from the nationalist Sinn Fein and the unionist DUP, alongside all other Stormont parties. Moreover, most Westminster parties oppose the law. Victims groups and human rights charities (such as Amnesty International) have also criticised the Act.

It is right for these groups to oppose the new legislation since the law has several fundamental problems.

As many charities and Troubles victims groups have noted, many people will never receive justice for the murder of people they knew. Of course, most victims’ families and friends will want unsolved cases to be solved so that they can have some closure. However, by awarding murderers immunity from prosecution, rather than administering punishment, their suffering will not be alleviated. Rather, many are likely to suffer more by knowing that those who took the lives of their loved ones can live their lives without punishment.

On a different point, the Act also creates a two-tier justice system in which crimes during the Troubles are not treated to similar crimes outside of this period. This makes the law incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on several different accounts, including a violation of Article 6 which states that citizens have a right to a fair trial. This will lead to future legal challenges in the courts. This may also explain why the Conservative government is seeking to withdraw from the ECHR.

On a final point, the Act could set a dangerous global precedent. If the British government can pass a law that makes British soldiers immune from future prosecutions, other states may choose to pass similar laws to protect their soldiers. This could encourage state-sanctioned war crimes and provide sanctuary from prosecution to criminals who committed the most serious crimes.

The Troubles Legacy Act is one of the most controversial laws the British government has passed in recent years. Media coverage of the law remains sparse, but it is essential that the British public are made aware of it and its consequences. The Act must be repealed, and new alternative ways to achieve justice for the victims of the Troubles must be sought.

Leeds United push for promotion under Daniel Farke

William Cooper on 24 October 2023

It’s fair to say that Leeds United’s 2022/23 Premier League campaign was one to forget. The combined efforts of Jesse Marsch and Javi Garcia, alongside survival specialist Sam Allardyce’s last-ditch rescue attempt, were not enough to save the club from the embarrassment of relegation.Supporters were left to rue underwhelming transfer windows after they were sent down by Spurs on the final day of the season.


There was a distinct lack of optimism around the city ahead of the summer window, despite
the appointment of new manager Daniel Farke in July. As expected, the playing squad saw an
extensive overhaul, with key players Rodrigo and Tyler Adams leaving permanently, paired with a deluge of loan departures. Regular first-team starters including Brendan Aaronsen, Rasmus
Kristensen, and Robin Koch all exited the club for the season, leaving Farke with a massive rebuild on his hands.


Going into the season opener against Cardiff in August, little had been done to change fans’
opinions. New midfielder Ethan Ampadu came into the team, but could only help his new club to a 2-2 draw. This was just the start of a rough month, as defeat away to Birmingham and a draw to West Brom left Leeds languishing 19 th in the table. Just to add to the team’s teething issues, exciting young winger Wilfried Gnonto was angling for a move away and was subsequently left out of the squad for the start of the campaign.


If things couldn’t get any worse, Leeds were travelling down to face in-form Ipswich for their
next game. In contrast to their Yorkshire opponents, Ipswich had made a perfect start to the season, having won all three of their games to begin their promotion push. This trend looked set to continue, when new-signing Spurs loanee Joe Rodon turned the ball into his own net, giving Ipswich the lead after only 7th minutes. However, Leeds responded instantly with three goals in under ten minutes, including a strike from the new £10 million striker Joel Piroe, the prolific Swedish goalscorer signed from Swansea. Leeds eventually came away with a 4-3 win; Farke’s men left Portman Road with a huge statement victory, that they hoped would kickstart their season.

Things were not smooth sailing from here, however. Just three days later, Leeds were unceremoniously dumped out of the League Cup by League Two side Salford City. A chaotic transfer deadline day followed, where the loss of Luis Sinisterra was softened by the arrivals of dynamic midfielder Glen Kamara and tricky winger Jaidon Antony. Slowly but surely, the players started to gel as the squad began to adapt to Farke’s tactical demands. Since the last international break in September, Leeds have picked up 13 points from a possible 18, only dropping points away at Hull and fellow relegated side Southampton. In a world of inverted full-backs and false nines, Farke’s tactical setup is a wonderful throwback. Leeds effectively play a 4-4-2, with Piroe playing in a deeper role alongside the pacy Rutter, who looks to stretch the opposition defense with his pace. When paired with two direct wingers, Leeds are a force to be reckoned with in attack. A 3-0 win away at Millwall confirmed the devastating goalscoring ability of their attacking quartet, as goals from Piroe and Rutter capped off sweeping counter-attacking moves.

Going the other way, the four-man defense is protected by a couple of all-action midfielders,
usually two of Kamara, Ampadu, or 17-year-old Archie Gray. Four clean sheets in their last six games, including shutouts at home against QPR and Watford, have demonstrated their defensive resilience in the last few weeks. The international break has perhaps come at a bad time for Leeds, with them sitting 5th in the table as they hit some good form. Leicester and Ipswich may already be pulling away in the automatic promotion spots, but there’s no need for fans to panic. If they can continue scoring goals and maintain some defensive rigidity, there’s no reason why Farke’s Leeds side can’t finish in the top six, giving themselves a chance to immediately bounce back to the top flight through the playoffs.