Editor's note

Amid resignations and calls for a no-confidence vote, Theresa May appears determined to keep her show on the road. The UK prime minister has a draft agreement with the EU that still needs to clear parliament, if it – and she – survives the turmoil before then. It’s been a phenomenal week in Westminster and our experts have been covering events as they happen, so do keep reading. And look out for our special newsletter tomorrow.

Meanwhile Iceland’s emotive Christmas advert stirred up a flurry of well-meaning sympathy for the plight of orangutans harmed by deforestation of palm oil plantations – but boycotting palm oil products could actually increase deforestation, since other vegetable oil crops such as soy are a more damaging crop. Some argue the best way for you to make a difference for orangutans is to only buy products that contain palm oil that is certified as sustainable. And for supermarkets and retailers to be able to openly promote them. It may also contribute more to people in Borneo and Sumatra who depend on palm oil sales for their livelihoods.

Two decades after their heyday, the Spice Girls will be back for a UK tour (without Posh). But what will make this tour a success where previous incarnations failed? The answer may lie in their renewed appeal to the “tweenagers”, whose purchasing power exploded in the 1990s and who they hope will be queuing up for the chance to relive their childhood dreams of girl power.

A sense of humour may be one of the biggest reasons we’re attracted to a partner. But humour can be valued differently in and by both men and women. Research throws up some interesting findings. For men, humour might serve as a way to distract from dealing with relationship issues, while for women it might be used to help with reconciliation. And when it comes to sex, research suggests women who have humorous partners, enjoy more and stronger orgasms. Read on.

Black ‘47, a revenge film epic set during the 1840s Irish famine, depicts the devastating catastrophe which left more than a million dead in 19th-century Ireland. At the time, Victorian art was more geared towards images of noble peasants at the mercy of external forces, or caricatures of the Irish, if it considered the famine at all, and illustrated journalism was in its infancy. Yet these works and others have kept the memory of the Great Famine alive.

Also on the site this week, a physicist explained how the kilogram is being redefined using a new measure, we discovered why some people overeat when they’re upset, and why human evolution is happening, perhaps even faster in some places than before. And from our sister sites across the globe, a curious kid asked what is dew? We found out why 38,000 academics are on strike in Nigeria, and don’t miss this excellent long read on the People’s Temple before the tragedy of the Jonestown massacre 40 years ago, by an author very close to events at the time.

Jo Adetunji

Deputy Editor

Shutterstock.

Palm oil boycott could actually increase deforestation – sustainable products are the solution

Jake Bicknell, University of Kent; Eleanor Slade, University of Oxford; Matthew Struebig, University of Kent

Boycotting palm oil would increase production of other crops, such as soy, which actually require more land.

Iceland / youtube

Iceland advert: conservation is intensely political, let’s not pretend otherwise

Liana Chua, Brunel University London

Calls to ban palm oil could get a very different response among people who live in the same forests as orangutans.

Five become four: the Spice Girls announce their 2019 tour. Matt Crossick/PA Wire/PA Images

The Spice Girls are back (without Posh) – and they are selling you your childhood

Filipa Antunes, University of East Anglia

The girl group is hoping that hordes of 1990s 'tweens' will buy into their reunion.

Funny haha. Olena Yakobchuk/Shutterstock

How humour can change your relationship

Gil Greengross, Aberystwyth University

The way you and your partner use humour can shape your relationship, and even break it up.

The Famine Memorial in Dublin, by sculptor Rowan Gillespie. Ron Cogswell

Artistic works inspired by the Great Famine struggle to do it justice, but they keep the memory alive

Emily Mark-FitzGerald, University College Dublin

The famine caused a million deaths and scarred the national psyche for generations. How do you even start to try and represent that in film literature, or art?

 

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