This week's UK news: 16 February 2016
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16 February 2016


How learning a language protects your brain, Google's boss can't say how much he's paid, Liverpool fans stop ticket price rise and British scientists designing new storage for radioactive materials.

Every week, we summarise the UK news to give you some insight into what is happening in Britain, and what people are talking about.

 

Why working hard and learning a language are good for you

Two interesting bits of research this week are about the effects of learning. The first found that the better your degree, the more you earn. Graduates who got a First or a 2.1 earn 7-9 per cent more per hour than those with a lower class of degree. 

And another piece of research has showed that people who learn a second language can protect the brain in later life. Dementia is a mental problem affecting some older people, who forget more and more and eventually cannot care for themselves. The research found that people who speak a second language got some types of dementia up to five years later than people who only have one language. The research was carried out at Edinburgh University.

 

Google boss doesn't know how much he is paid

The European boss of Google had to give evidence about his company's tax affairs to Members of Parliament in London last week. One MP asked how much he earned. "I don't have that figure," said Matt Brittin. The MP asked him again. "It's a salary," he said. "You don't know what you get paid?" she said.

 

Football fans stop ticket price rise

Liverpool football fans were horrified when the club's owners said tickets would rise from GBP 59 to GBP 77 and season tickets would rise by GBP 500. They protested, saying that they were "fans, not customers" and 10,000 walked out in the 77th minute of a match against Sunderland. 

The club's owners wrote to the fans to apologise and kept ticket prices the same for the next season.

 

British scientists tame radiation

A problem with nuclear power is keeping the fuel safe for thousands of years while it is still very radioactive. Now British scientists are designing a special cement which would not be damaged by radiation over thousands of years in storage. They are using a special machine near Oxford which gives off a light much brighter than the sun to test the cement.

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