The Know Daily - Tuesday 23 January 2024

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The winning images from the latest Travel Photographer of the Year competition have been announced - and they’ve sparked some serious wanderlust. Slovenian photographer AndreJa Ravnak took the top prize with her work illustrating rolling fields in Italy 👇 and the Czech Republic, but the other finalists are well worth checking out, too. 

👏 Eliminating cervical cancer 

No cervical cancer cases have been detected among young Scottish women who were fully vaccinated against HPV as part of the nationwide immunisation programme in schools.

Wait - no cases at all?
Yep! The research by Public Health Scotland found that “not a single young woman” who had received the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine at the age of 12 or 13 had gone on to have cervical cancer diagnosed, said The Times.

This sounds like pretty fantastic news?
You bet. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer in women worldwide - and nearly all cervical cancers (99.7%) are caused by an infection from a high-risk strain of HPV. 

While many women will be infected with HPV over the course of their lifetime “without any ill-effect”, some strains are linked to the development of certain cancers, explained the BBC. 

In 2008, the HPV immunisation programme was introduced for girls in secondary schools. Boys are now also offered the vaccine, the BBC pointed out, as it helps protect them from “other HPV-related cancers” later in life.

What else should we take away from this?
While this latest research shows just how effective the HPV vaccine is, experts have stressed the importance of continuing to attend cervical screenings - especially as the HPV jabs cannot protect against all strains of the virus.

About 5,000 lives are saved each year thanks to screenings, said Sky News, but nearly one in three people with a cervix don’t take up the offer.

In November last year, the head of NHS England said that cervical cancer can be eliminated in England by 2040 through a combination of HPV vaccination and screenings.

✈️ Up in the air

Could reclining plane seats soon be a thing of the past?

Go on…
According to Time Out, 2024 could be the year that we say goodbye to that “famous sky-high niggle”, as more and more airlines are reducing or totally scrapping their reclining seats.

While Ryanair ditched reclining seats back in 2004 in a cost-cutting bid, the trend is now beginning to catch on more widely. The US airline Delta halved seat reclines to two inches in 2019, while Finnair introduced non-reclining business class seats in 2022 to positive reviews.

That sounds… uncomfortable?
Not necessarily. Reclining seats are unlikely to disappear altogether from long-haul flights, but even where they do, passengers won’t be required to sleep “bolt upright”, stressed Time Out. Instead, seats will likely be “pre-reclined” to a fixed angle. 

Got it. So what’s the reason?
Airlines are keen to ditch the “complication mechanism” used in reclining chairs as it’s “expensive, heavy and prone to breaking”, said Wales Online. According to The Mirror, cabin crews would likely embrace the change, with airlines reportedly keen to “steer stewards away from appeasing angry passengers or mediating disagreements”.

To recline or not to recline remains one of air travel’s “great debates”, said The Telegraph, and rows between passengers have gone viral in recent years. A recent survey revealed that Brits are somewhat divided on the issue, with nine in 10 saying that it’s okay to recline - but 47% believe you should ask for permission from the person behind you first.

📽️ Oscars announcement: Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards are being unveiled from 1.30pm, with Barbie, Oppenheimer and Poor Things expected to feature heavily. Here’s how you can watch the announcement live. 

📝 New abortion guidance: Healthcare workers should not report suspected illegal abortions to the police as it is not in the public interest, the president of a royal college has said.

🩸 Hopeful health news: A blood test for Alzheimer’s which measures levels of a specific protein could be as good at detecting the signs of the disease as painful lumbar punctures, a new study has found.

☔ Storm Jocelyn approaches: Hot on the heels of Storm Isha, a new named storm is set to bring wet and windy weather to much of the northern half of the UK this evening and tomorrow.

🍧 A frosty reception: Can you eat snow? Legally Blonde star Reese Witherspoon has sparked a viral debate after she shared a TikTok showing herself doing just that. 

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Trivia answer: A) Uniqlo is suing Shein over the alleged imitation of its bestselling bag of all time.

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