Society When asked whether passports should or should not have an 'X' category for people who do not identify as fully male or female, 48% of Brits said they should not, while 24% said they should. The remaining 28% said they didn't know.
Source: YouGov.
Scotland has the highest rate of deaths due to alcohol misuse in Britain. Last year, there were 20.8 'alcohol-specific' deaths per 100,000 in Scotland, while there were 13.1 in Wales and 10.7 in England. Some 1,136 deaths were registered in Scotland last year resulting from alcohol misuse.
Source: Office for National Statistics.
Life expectancy figures for children born in 2019 have been revised downwards from 93.6 (2014 figure) to 90.4 years for girls, and from 91.1 (2014 figure) to 87.8 years for boys. The estimated number of children born in 2043 who will reach 100 years old has also been reduced from 40.2% (2017 figure) to 26.1% for girls, and from 34.1% (2017 figure) to 20.8% for boys.
Source: Office for National Statistics.
Economy Thanks to Black Friday, sales volumes in the UK from 25 November to 2 December were up by 7.1% when compared to the same period last year. Sales values also rose by 16.5%. On Black Friday itself, sales volumes were up by 7.2% on the previous year.
Source: Barclaycard.
33% of Brits have at least one credit card that they don't use, apparently making them potential targets for scammers.
Source: Credit Karma.
High street banks experienced 265 IT glitches last year – around five each week.
Source: Which?
The number of £1million-pound property sales increased to a record level last year across the UK, including a 14% rise in Scotland. Some 14,638 homes were valued and sold at £1million-plus in 2018 – with 180 of them in Scotland.
Source: Lloyds Bank.
The number of properties sold in Scotland for £1million-plus this year, between January and June, was up 21% on the previous year. Of the 94 properties sold, 61 were in Edinburgh.
Source: Bank of Scotland.
Education An online university course in the Scots language has been launched. The course is free and also touches on the role of the language in Scottish life and culture.
Source: Open University.
Science Oxygen levels in our oceans are reducing due to climate change and nutrient pollution. While 45 ocean sites suffered from low oxygen levels in the 1960s, today, some 700 are affected. Lack of oxygen could have devastating effects on species such as sharks, tuna and marlin.
Source: IUCN.
CO2 emissions have risen this year by 0.6% despite a drop in the use of coal. The reason is continuing strong growth in the use of oil and gas.
Source: BBC.
The wounds of sharks do not become infected because their skin is covered in infection-resistant bacteria.
Source: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
Health Aspirin is as effective as expensive pain relief treatments for migraine pain, and pills costs as little as 3p per 300mg.
Source: Florida Atlantic University.
Migraine headache is the third most common health condition in the world – affecting one in seven people.
Source: Metro.
A drug previously investigated as a cancer treatment – dichloroacetate – could be more effective in reducing the symptoms of endometriosis, which affects 176 million women worldwide.
Source: Edinburgh University.
A study has found that brushing your teeth more than twice a day could reduce the risk of heart failure by 10%. Extra brushing would remove bacteria in the mouth which would otherwise potentially enter the blood stream.
Source: Ewha Woman's University, South Korea.
Recreation We spend an average of £727 on Christmas – including presents, nights out and preparations. Around £363 of that is spent on gifts for relatives.
Source: Nationwide Building Society.
Some festive drinks sold in high street coffee shops allegedly contain up to 23 teaspoons of sugar.
Source: Action on Sugar.
Oddities More than 150 sets of ashes have been left in parlours of Fosters Family Funeral Directors across Scotland. Some date back to 2005 – when the company first started business.
Source: BBC.
