The Know Daily - Tuesday 20 February

_{Read in 5m 45s ∙ Listening to IDLES ∙ Share us to your socials ☝️}

Seven California condor birds were recently released into the wild in the US state following a successful breeding programme at Oregon Zoo. The birds - the largest in North America - are classified as critically endangered, but it’s hoped that recovery programmes such as these will help their numbers soar.

🎾 New evidence on exercise

Women benefit more than men from the same amount of regular exercise, a new study has found. 

Go on…
The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that women gain greater benefits from exercise compared with men, even when putting in less time and effort. Researchers followed more than 400,000 adults aged 27 to 61 over two decades, finding that women needed only half the amount of exercise as men to experience similar health benefits, said CNN.

Do you have an example?
Sure. Women who exercised for 140 minutes per week saw a 24% reduction in their risk of premature death, while men needed to commit 300 minutes per week to achieve a similar level of benefit.

What’s behind this difference? 
According to researchers, it’s partly to do with the differences between men’s and women’s bodies. Men typically have larger hearts, lungs and more muscle mass than women, who typically need to adapt their respiratory and cardiovascular systems more in order to perform similar types of exercise, said MedicalNewsToday. And this greater need to adapt means that women are poised to gain “tremendous benefits” from exercise, and to a greater degree than men, explained Dr Susan Cheng, a cardiologist involved in the study . 

Why does this matter?
The findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that exercise regimes should be tailored according to sex, due to differences in “hormones, physiology and biomechanics”, explained The Times. 

Researchers also hope that the findings could help address the exercise gender gap, reported Euronews. Co-author Dr. Martha Gulati said that while women have “historically and statistically lagged behind men in engaging in meaningful exercise”, the study showed that women “can get more out of each minute of moderate to vigorous activity than men do”. “It’s an incentivising notion,” Gulati added.

🤳 The rise of the AI influencer

The influencer landscape is being shaken up by a wave of virtual personalities…

What is an AI influencer, exactly?!
An AI influencer is like a regular social media influencer - someone who is paid to advertise certain products or brands to their online following - except in this scenario, the influencer is not a real person. Rather, they’ve been generated by artificial intelligence. Still confused? Take a look at @fit_aitiana 👇

Meanwhile, Miquela Sousa’s (@lilmiquela) computer-generated persona has attracted millions of followers on Instagram - as well as partnerships with Calvin Klein and Prada. 

Why are brands going for them?
Unsurprisingly, it’s all about money. These AI-generated influencers allow companies to advertise their products and services “at a fraction of the cost”, said New York Magazine. 

They’re also grabbing the public’s attention. An ad campaign by H&M featuring virtual influencer Kuki saw an “11x increase in ad recall” (people who remembered seeing the ad) compared with regular video ads. 

How have human influencers reacted?
According to the Financial Times, they’re concerned that their income is “under threat” from “digital rivals”. But those behind the AI creations argue that they are disrupting what is already an overinflated market, given the “skyrocketing rates” that influencers now charge.

What’s next for AI influencers?
Despite the buzz surrounding influencers like Aitana - who reportedly earns thousands of pounds through partnerships and subscriptions - AI creators told Business Insider that for the most part, AI content is “hardly a money-making machine”. 

Even so, the amount of AI-generated content online is set to increase, with European law enforcement group Europol forecasting that 90% of online content could be artificially generated by 2026. 

🧑‍⚖️ Julian Assange: Lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder will today begin a “last-ditch attempt” to fight his extradition to the US, where he faces charges of espionage.

🗞️ Navalny latest: Alexei Navalny’s widow has vowed to continue his work to fight for a “free Russia”. Yulia Navalnaya also met with EU ministers in Brussels on Monday.

📝 “Outdated law”: An “unprecedented” number of women in the UK are being investigated by police on suspicion of illegally procuring a termination, a leading abortion provider has told the BBC.

📺 All the drama: A Netflix docudrama depicting a romantic relationship between Alexander the Great and his male friend has provoked a “furore” - and Greece’s minister for culture has now weighed in.

🌳 A tree-mendous selection: Voting is now open for European Tree of the Year, a competition which brings together “the most unique and beautiful trees from across the continent”. Check them out.

Help your friends feel better about the news - and support The Know at the same time. Get them to sign up using your personalised code 👉 https://theknowmedia.beehiiv.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER 👈 and we’ll reward you with goodies from HURR, Grubby and CRU Kafe!

The Know is an independent media company on a mission to help everyone start their day feeling informed and hopeful. We only recommend things we genuinely love but sometimes we make money out of the links we share. This directly supports keeping our journalism free for all.

Here are four ways you can support our work:

⭐ Get clicking - this tells our partners that readers are interested in our content. Let’s get started with this one (or maybe this one!).

⭐ Become a friend of The Know - back independent, female-founded journalism for just £1.25 a week. You’ll also get exclusive editions, supporter-only giveaways and more.

⭐ Add us to your contacts or safe sender list - this makes sure we reach your inbox (and everyone else’s) each morning.

⭐ Shop our merch - support The Know and look great while doing it!

Trivia answer: B) The incomplete and unbound script, written by George Lucas, fetched £10,795 at auction. It’s the fourth draft of the first Star Wars film, originally titled "The Adventures Of Luke Starkiller."

Need fewer emails? Click here to hear from us once a week. Support The Know here.