Microplastics are defined by the NOAA as fragments of any type of plastic less than 5mm in length. While the size of microplastics may make them seem insignificant, they can have a huge impact on human health and the environment.
Have a flick through this week’s top stories, curated by Alexandra Defterios
Albert Einstein’s Nobel Prize description provides the reasoning behind the committee’s decision as being “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the photoelectric effect” (Nobel Media, 2021). Previously Einstein’s work had gone unrecognised by the Nobel Committee, which he was personally unbothered by, however his discoveries and theories that still continue to serve physics today, deserve more than one single award. The real questions are, was his thinking too ahead of its time to be comprehended by those on the committee? Did mounting political pressure play a role in the decision? Or was the single Nobel prize intended to be representative of all of Einstein’s work?
Lady Bird was lauded as being a revolutionary ode to women upon its 2017 release. Deemed to be ‘universally relatable’, many audiences praised Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut to be a raw, authentic approach to the often romanticised coming-of-age genre. However, one mistake Gerwig has made in this truly ‘feminist’ and otherwise well-made film is the fact that she neglects to feature characters of colour.
In 1922, Ireland, which was once part of the UK, became Ireland Free State under the Anglo-Irish treaty signed in December 1921. This treaty gave a dominion status to 26 out of 32 counties in Ireland, the remaining 6 counties being named Northern Ireland and remaining in the UK. This treaty brought an end to the War of Independence, which began in 1919 and consisted of guerrilla war fighting against the British army. After the treaty was signed, there was a civil war between the loyalists and the radicals (those who wanted to remain in UK and those who didn’t) which lasted until May 1923, and caused a huge divide within the country. This also led to socio-economic problems and had political impacts. There was another group formed called the anti-treaty faction, who opposed the treaty as it did not grant full Irish independence. Therefore, they felt that it was not good enough and the treaty should be renegotiated. However, this was not a popular opinion and the biggest divide lay between the loyalists and radicals.
