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Antarctica might be the only continent on Earth with no natural human habitation, but it’s emerged that an “Antarctica accent” is very much a thing. Despite having no locals, thousands of scientists have made up an ever-changing population in research stations over the years. The continent is so isolated and the level of interaction between researchers is so intense, that a common accent is beginning to emerge there despite people coming from different parts of the world. At its busiest points in the year during the summer, Antarctica is home to around 5,000 people. Only around 1,000 people live there during the winter months. The idea of accents changing due to human interaction on Antarctica is no different to the phenomenon seen throughout history at a glacial pace. However, given the very specific sample size, it’s an opportunity for scientists to study it at a much quicker rate and on a much smaller scale. Experts at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich published a study in 2019 which focused on the change in accents observed in 11 people who took part in the British Antarctic Survey. @human.1011 There’s an Antarctic Accent! #language #linguistics #english #antarctica Of the 11 who were studied, eight came from England, one from the US, one from Germany and one from Iceland. Their voices were recorded every six weeks, and the team found that over time they developed longer vowel sounds. There was a physical change too, with participants pronouncing the “ou” sound in the front of their mouths rather than the back of their throats. Speaking to IFL Science, Jonathan Harrington, study author and Professor of Phonetics and Speech Processing at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich said: "The Antarctic accent is not really perceptible as such – it would take much longer for it to become so – but it is acoustically measurable. "It's mostly an amalgamation of some aspects of the spoken accents of the winterers before they went to Antarctica, together with an innovation. It's far more embryonic [than conventional English accents] given that it had only a short time to develop and also, of course, because it's only distributed across a small group of speakers.” Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A dance teacher diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome – meaning she has unpredictable tics where she whistles, blinks and sometimes swears – has said watching Lewis Capaldi’s “beautiful” Glastonbury performance left her “speechless” and she wants to raise awareness of the incurable condition so others do not feel “lost or alone”. Bryony Munro, 24, a dance teacher who lives in Scotland, started experiencing symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome – a condition which causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics – when she was 12 as she started to spontaneously hiccup. However, it was not until her early 20s, in summer 2021 – when her limbs started “jerking all the time” and she developed other tics, such as whistling, clearing her throat and blinking – that she received an official diagnosis, which she described as “bittersweet”. “I was very happy to have that definition, but then knowing what comes with that was very daunting and scary; I was terrified,” Bryony told PA Real Life. In the years leading up to her diagnosis, Bryony said people would stare at her in public, whisper, and talk behind her back, saying “She’s making it up” or “She’s faking it” – and this made her realise that “people are very misinformed of what Tourette’s is”. “People treated me differently because they didn’t believe I was telling the truth and they tried to tear me down,” she said. “I wish they would have just asked me questions rather than making up rumours behind my back that aren’t true.” Bryony has since set up her own Instagram and TikTok accounts to address the most common misconceptions about Tourette’s, as she wants to raise awareness of the condition, but the “outlets” that have helped her through her darkest times are music, singing and dancing. She said performing in front of an audience can be “terrifying” when you have Tourette’s, but she believes Capaldi’s moving performance at Glastonbury, where he appeared to struggle with an increasing number of tics while singing his hit song Someone You Loved, will help to change the way the condition is perceived. “It was almost like an out-of-body experience because I just put myself in his shoes,” she said. “My heart broke – not in a bad way – but seeing the amount of love he received from his fans left me speechless, it was just beautiful, and having so many people watch that live or online just brings so much awareness and takes the pressure off the Tourette’s community because they are beginning to see what it’s really like for people with the condition.” Tourette’s syndrome is a condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics, and there is no cure, the NHS says. Tics are not usually harmful to overall health, but physical manifestations, such as jerking of the head, can be painful, and may be worse during periods of stress or anxiety. Bryony’s first tic came in the form of a hiccup or “inhale of breath”, which did not affect her daily life at the time, but her symptoms progressively worsened. Her tics became debilitating during the Covid pandemic, which led to her diagnosis in 2021, but her lack of knowledge about the condition initially left her feeling “terrified”. Her other diagnoses of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, depression and functional neurological disorder (FND) – which affects how the brain receives and sends information to the rest of the body and can cause Bryony to have absence seizures – added to her concerns as she feared she would have a “constant battle with her mind and body”. “I think seeing how it was presented on TV and in the media, and initially having my own misconceptions about Tourette’s, made me feel terrified to have to live with it,” she said. “Tics can be very damaging as there are very aggressive tics that can make you kick, punch, jump and literally jump out into oncoming traffic, which is terrifying. “When my tics first started getting worse, I had this punching tick where I punched a wall, but some of my other tics, like my toes wrinkling, are not visible to others. “I was very much in the dark to begin with, but doing research and reaching out to people was probably the best thing I could have done.” While Bryony’s tics have not put her in any life-threatening situations, she said daily tasks, such as brushing her teeth or doing her make-up, can be challenging and time-consuming. She cannot drive and, on days when her tics are particularly bad, she cannot cook, style her hair with straighteners or curlers, or use the kettle, as she could hurt herself. “It’s so unpredictable and, right now, I’m not able to go anywhere on my own just in case I do have an episode where I might hurt myself,” she explained. Bryony has “tools” to manage her Tourette’s, such as using stress toys to “keep (her) hands busy”, but she said she does not know where she would be without music, singing and dancing. She teaches dance to pupils ranging from two-and-a-half years old to 30, and said focusing on something else “helps (her) tics melt away for a little while”. She is training her golden retriever puppy Nala, whose name was inspired by Disney’s The Lion King, to become an assistance dog so she can “live a more normal life” in the future. “Having that independence back again from taking Nala into work, to do shopping, maybe to go to the gym, it will be so relieving; the pressure will be enormously decreased,” she said. “Even the social anxiety of being out of the house, having her with me will just be so good for me.” Bryony, who lives with her “incredibly supportive” fiance Matthew, 31, a chef, wants to continue raising awareness of Tourette’s, and is even more inspired to educate others after Capaldi’s performance at Glastonbury in June, as she has seen the “love” he has received and does not want anyone to feel “lost or alone”. “Knowing he had the support of every single person there; I couldn’t imagine the amount of love that he must have felt,” she said. “I felt it through watching it through my phone, I fully felt all of that.” She added: “You never know anyone’s full story or full life story, so accepting people for who they are, and accepting yourself for who you are, is probably the best advice I can give. “Also, just be kind because you have no idea what anyone is going through.” You can follow Bryony on Instagram or TikTok @brydoeslife Read More ‘Long Covid has taken away my ability to eat food or urinate in three years’ Grimes says her and Elon Musk’s three-year-old child X ‘knows a lot about rockets’ How many steps a day can cut risk of early death (and it’s not 10,000) ‘Long Covid has taken away my ability to eat food or urinate in three years’ Grimes says her and Elon Musk’s three-year-old child X ‘knows a lot about rockets’ How many steps a day can cut risk of early death (and it’s not 10,000)

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SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 31, 2023--

Kate Winslet has called on the “people in power” to “criminalise harmful content” as she picked up the leading actress gong at the Bafta TV awards. The Oscar-winning actress, 47, starred alongside her daughter Mia Threapleton in I Am Ruth which chronicles the relationship between a mother and child who is dealing with mental health pressures coming from the online world. On Sunday, Winslet told the ceremony: “I Am Ruth was made for parents and their children, for families who feel that they are held hostage by the perils of the online world, for parents who wish they could still communicate with their teenagers, but who no longer can. “And for young people who have become addicted to social media and its darker sides, this does not need to be your life to people in power, and to people who can make change, please, criminalise harmful content. “Please eradicate harmful content, we don’t want it. “We want our children back. “We don’t want to lie awake, terrified, by our children’s mental health and to any young person who might be listening, who feels that they are trapped in an unhealthy world. “Please ask for help. “There is no shame in admitting that you need support. “It will be there just ask for it.” Her comments came as the House of Lords continued its scrutiny of the Online Safety Bill, which aims to tackle illegal and harmful content online. Winslet stars as Ruth, a concerned mother who witnesses her teenage daughter Freya, played by 22-year-old Threapleton, retreating into herself as she becomes more consumed by the pressures of social media in the two-hour programme. It is an instalment of the female-led drama anthology series I Am, created by filmmaker Dominic Savage, which also picked up a Bafta on the night for the programme with Winslet. Each of the films followed the experience of women in particularly raw, thought-provoking and personal moments. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Humans could be controlled by robots, AI firm’s founder warns AI pioneer warns UK is failing to protect against ‘existential threat’ of machines Most deprived areas being left in broadband slow lane, says LGA