The Know Daily - Tuesday 29 August 2023

_{Tuesday 29 August ∙ Read in 5m 50s ∙ Listening to TLC}

Cleveland Pools in Bath, said to be the UK’s oldest public lido, is set to reopen to the public next month after a decades-long campaign by volunteers and a £6.5m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The lido - built in 1815 - will welcome swimmers from 10 September and, perhaps unsurprisingly, demand for a dip is expected to be fierce.

✈️ Bank Holiday flight chaos

The UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has said that it is urgently investigating the technical fault which caused widespread disruption to flights in and out of UK airspace on Monday.

Tell me more about this technical problem.
The air traffic control agency’s automatic processing of flight plans malfunctioned, “requiring them to be handled manually and causing flight delays and cancellations”, said Reuters. NATS said it had identified and remedied the issue by Monday afternoon, however around 500 flights are thought to have been cancelled.

The exact cause of the technical issue is still unclear but the i newspaper reported last night that government officials believed there was no obvious sign of “untoward” activity (in other words, a cyber attack).

How long until things get back to normal?
Despite the problem being fixed within hours, disruption is expected to last into the week. At one of the busiest times of the year for air travel, planes and crew are not in the locations they should be - and thousands of passengers remain stranded.

How have the airlines responded?
While some have offered passengers refunds or the opportunity to move their flights to a later date, travel experts have said that airlines are unlikely to offer compensation as the fault is out of their control.

However, airlines do have a duty of care to provide food, drink and accommodation. Transport Secretary Mark Harper has urged passengers to read the UK Civil Aviation Authority guidance to be aware of their rights when flights are delayed or cancelled.

🩸 A “transformative” blood test

A new blood test that could identify the cause of a child’s fever in less than an hour has been hailed by doctors as potentially “transformative” for medical care.

Why is this such a big deal?
“Working out what is causing a fever - a virus, bacterial infection or something else - is often difficult and tests can take days or weeks to come back,” explained the BBC. “That means there can be delays diagnosing potentially life-threatening infections and diseases.”

Now, according to findings published in the Med journal, a new diagnostic test can distinguish between 18 infectious or inflammatory diseases - including flu, tuberculosis, RSV and malaria - and in a much quicker timeframe. This could dramatically speed up treatment times for a range of common childhood illnesses, as well as help cut down on the overuse of antibiotics.

How does it work?
“[The] blood test can determine whether a fever is caused by bacteria, viruses or an inflammatory disease using changes in gene activity,” said the New Scientist.

Using data from over 1,000 children who had an illness causing a fever, researchers identified which key genes were turned “on” or “off” in their response. They then used machine learning to identify the patterns of gene expression which corresponded to the diseases and pathogens, focusing on 161 genes for 18 illnesses.

What next?
Researchers have acknowledged that there is still a long way to go before the test could be used in a clinical setting.

“We are working towards it,” said Dr Myrsini Kaforou from Imperial College London, a senior co-author of the paper. “A future diagnostic test based on this approach could help provide the right treatment, to the right patient, at the right time.”

⚽ Luis Rubiales latest: Regional leaders of the Spanish Football Federation are calling on their president to resign immediately after kissing World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso without her consent. Over the weekend, Rubiales was suspended by Fifa for 90 days.

🚘 ULEZ expansion: An expansion of the air pollution-reducing Ultra Low Emissions Zone to cover every London borough - up to the capital’s borders with Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey - has come into force today.

🩸 Blood tests in barber shops: New funding means that blood pressure checks will soon be available in more community spots such as barber shops, supermarkets and mosques, as part of a major drive to prevent strokes and heart attacks.

🤨 Stop singing: Eminem’s record company has sent a letter to Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, asking that he stops rapping to his songs. Ramaswamy had delivered an impromptu performance of Lose Yourself at the Iowa State Fair.

📸 Notting Hill Carnival 2023: Thousands of people headed to the streets of west London over the weekend to celebrate carnival and the legacy of the Windrush generation on the 75th anniversary of the first arrivals. Photographer Nico Froehlich took some incredible snaps.

Trivia answer: A) The tourist was filmed climbing into the Trevi Fountain and filling up her water bottle from a spout at its centre. She was then escorted away by a guard.

Get your friends, family and colleagues to sign up for The Know using your personalised code - https://theknowmedia.beehiiv.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER - and we’ll reward you with goodies from HURR, Grubby and CRU Kafe! Just copy and paste your code into an email, chat or even an Instagram story.

You’ve signed up 0 friends so far.

The Know is an independent media company on a mission to help everyone start their day feeling informed and hopeful. Our daily newsletter always features the day’s top stories broken down without jargon, uplifting news and hand-picked recs we think you’ll love. 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.

How did you find today’s email?
😍 Loved it 😕 Could be better

Daily emails too much for you? Switch to our weekly Friday edition. Support The Know here.