‘Elite sleepers’ at less risk of Alzheimer’s

People with “elite sleeper” genes could be at lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s, reported The Times. Around 3% of people are classed as “familial natural short sleepers”, meaning that they are “genetically wired” to need less sleep than the rest of us, researchers at the University of California San Francisco found. Famous “elite sleepers” include Donald Trump, who claims to only need four hours of sleep a night, and the designer and director Tom Ford, who says he only needs three hours.

Sex traps to capture ‘murder hornets’

Sex traps are being used to lure giant male hornets to their death, reported CNN. Scientists have created traps using sex pheromones to attract male “murder hornets”, which have been wreaking havoc on the bee population in the US and damaging more than $100 million of bee-pollinated crops each year. One scientist has warned against describing the insects as “murder hornets”, arguing that although they are predators, “so are lions… and we don't call them ‘murder lions’”.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Third of Brits more likely to celebrate St Patrick

Researchers have discovered that one in three British people are more likely to celebrate St Patrick’s Day than St George’s Day. The study of 2,000 adults found that 5% of respondents thought St Patrick was a leprechaun, while others believed he discovered Guinness. One in 16 assumed he was a fictional character. St Patrick’s Day is celebrated tomorrow and 18% of respondents said they were thinking of dressing up in green to celebrate, said the Daily Star.