Weekly Roundup: The Best of Pop Culture X Science

Scientists can read emotions on our breath, bio-tech startup Theranos suffers a near-fatal nosedive, and we may have to endure an endless torrent of Power Rangers movies from now until forever. Your dose of the week’s news from the worlds of science and pop-culture.

London’s Love Affair With Cocaine 

A study of the city’s waste-water has revealed this week that Londoners are getting through a hell of a lot of cocaine. Samples taken from sewage concluded that the average daily concentration of cocaine was 909mg per 1,000 people in 2015, narrowly beating Amsterdam to the title of the biggest user of the drug in Europe.

Uber Takes Giant Investment From Saudi Arabia

Uber has just received its biggest investment from a single source. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has provided a mammoth $3.5 billion to the Californian start-up. It seems there’s no stopping Uber’s spectacular rise.

Streetlights Stop Moths From Pollinating

Evidence has emerged this week that moths’ unfortunate attraction to artificial light messes with their natural pollination instincts. A study published in the scientific journal Global Change Biology has indicated that street lights draw moths upwards and away from the vegetation they would otherwise be vitally helping to pollinate.

Zoo Keepers Put A GoPro On A Cheetah

Cincinnati Zoo has released this video taken with a GoPro camera, giving us a close up view from the fastest land animal on earth.

The Zoo could do with some good press this week after the torrent of criticism it received when officials were forced to shoot dead a gorilla after a toddler fell into its enclosure.

 

Lionsgate want to make 7 more Power Rangers Films

That’s right, the studio have announced that next year’s Power Rangers re-make could be the first in a very, very long series, threatening it seems to compete with Marvel in the game of tedious sequels.

Alice In Wonderland’s History Of Madness

A fascinating look into the real-life insanity that inspired Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece.

2015’s ‘Richest Self-made Woman’ Loses It All

Last year, Forbes valued Elizabeth Holmes’ wealth at a tidy $4.5 Billion. Since then the American entrepreneur’s health tech start-up Theranos has suffered a colossal upset by coming under official investigations for their highly unreliable blood-testing devices.

Our Emotions Can Be Detected On Our Breath 

Researchers have found that chemicals found in exhaled breath can be linked to specific emotions. The results were discovered through experiments with participants watching different genres of films.