As a person born in the 1980s, one of my concerns in recent years has been the stiff requirements for getting a home loan. Although in Spain many monthly mortgage payments are below current rental prices, securing a down payment and meeting the bank’s conditions are anything but easy. These struggles weigh on the shoulders of a generation already hit by precariousness, instability and unemployment.

I had wrongly assumed that the generation after mine would have even more housing trouble, and while it is true that Gen Z is not going to have it easy, data suggests that finding a home is not going to be one of their main concerns. The reasons? Lots of houses owned by baby boomers coupled with the low birth rate mean that there will be more and more available property in the future.

Since the times of ancient Greece, we have been able to detect illness from the smell of one’s breath. What sends out the alarm signals are chemicals called volatile organic compounds. Investigating their diagnostic potential could help detect, and treat, more diseases in the future.

As I read this article on our penchant for new translations, I thought of Stefan Zweig. His works recently entered the public domain in Spain, and it has led to a proliferation of new translations. Do we really need different versions of the same book? Why do so many countries, over time, retranslate the same classics over and over again?

Claudia Lorenzo Rubiera

Culture editor The Conversation Spain / Editor The Conversation Europe

Generation Z may not need mortgages, here’s why

Geoffrey Ditta, Universidad Nebrija

Europe’s ageing population means that Generation Z stands to inherit huge amounts of property in the coming years, resulting in reduced demand for mortgages.

Your unique smell can provide clues about how healthy you are

Aoife Morrin, Dublin City University

The science of smell is an exciting area of research.

Why retranslate the literary classics?

Enrico Monti, Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA)

Which version of “The Metamorphosis” or “Crime and Punishment” should you choose? In a particularly well-stocked library or bookshop, you could find many different English translations.

European farmers are angry: addressing root causes would overcome polarisation

Tomaso Ferrando, University of Antwerp

At the farmers’ protests in Brussels in February, there were some who demanded for authorities to cut back red tape, while others rallied against market concentration. But such a polarisation isn’t insurmountable.

Written accounts reveal how sexual assault claims were dealt with in the middle ages

Abel Lorenzo-Rodríguez, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

Written medieval records clearly show that women publicly and successfully reported men to the local authorities for sexual assault.

This is how tobacco damages our cells

Guillermo López Lluch, Universidad Pablo de Olavide

Tobacco harms the very structure of our cells, and affects almost every part of our bodies and nervous systems.

Gut microbiome: meet Asaccharobacter celatus – the brain health bug

Nathan Nuzum, University College Cork

Research suggests certain gut bacteria may have a role in helping us maintain cognitive function as we age. A celatus is one of these.