In 2014, biologist Robert Dudley proposed the drunken monkey hypothesis, which posits that humans like alcohol because ancient ancestors sought out ripe fermented nutritious fruit. Although monkeys (our closest relatives) eat fermented fruit, it’s only been recently observed that they seek it out without human intervention. The study followed spider monkeys on Barro Colorado island in Panama who routinely sniffed out and ate fruit from the jobo tree with 1-2% alcohol content; the same fruit is used by indigenous people to make the alcoholic drink chicha. Read full article here
Research
Improving media literacy could boost trust towards the news, IMPRESS report suggests
The UK media is regulated by the likes of IPSO and Ofcom. The report by press regulator IMPRESS highlights the link between low levels of media literacy and trust in the news. The study found that three quarters of those who did not know if journalists were regulated did not trust the news. It suggests that improving media literacy is one way to stem the erosion of trust, and shows that audiences have an appetite for information on news processes. Stakeholders need to collaborate in order to rebuild trust in the news, and independent media is well placed to do this. Read full article here
Merv
February 1, 2023
