Amanda Lee

Nature vs nurture: How much of our personalities are determined at birth?

Laurie Clarke delves into the devilishly complex forces that shape our personalities – and the new research revealing ever more about how our genes do, and don't, make us who we are.

In 2009, Abdelmalek Bayout faced a nine-year prison sentence in Trieste, Italy, for stabbing and killing a man who had mocked him in the street. Aiming to reduce the sentence, his lawyer made an unusual legal argument.

His client's DNA, he said, indicated the presence of the "warrior gene", a mutation that decades of scientific research had tied to aggressive behaviour. Because of this, the argument went, he couldn't be held fully accountable for his actions. The appeal was successful: a year was sheared off Bayout's sentence.

From the 1990s, evidence had accumulated of some kind of link between violent behaviour and a variant of a gene called monoamine oxidase A, or MAOA. By 2004, it had earned the media-friendly moniker of the "warrior" gene.

Since then, however, our understanding of how genes influence traits and behaviours has deepened significantly. "Initially, people thought that behaviours were influenced by a few genes with very large effects," says Aysu Okbay, assistant professor of psychiatry and complex trait genetics at Amsterdam UMC in the Netherlands. "That has been completely debunked."

Meta to track workers' clicks and keystrokes to train AI

Meta will start tracking the way employees work, including their keystrokes and mouse clicks, to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models.

The company, which owns Instagram and Facebook, told workers on Tuesday that a new tool will run on Meta's computers and internal apps, logging their activity to be used as training data for AI technology.

A Meta spokesman told the BBC: "If we're building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them."

"The data is not used for any other purpose," he said, adding that the tool has "safeguards in place to protect sensitive content".

But one Meta employee, who asked not to be identified, said having their smallest actions on a computer being used to train AI model as workers expect a slew of additional job cuts feels "very dystopian".

"This company has become obsessed with AI," they told the BBC.

Another person who recently left the company said the tracking tool is "just the latest way they're shoving AI down everyone's throat".

Meta has already laid off around 2,000 employees this year in smaller rounds of cuts, but employees have been expecting deeper job losses in the coming months, as the BBC previously reported.

How AI can read our scrambled inner thoughts

The crackle of electricity inside your brain has long been too complex to decode. Artificial intelligence is changing that.

The woman didn't move, apart from the rise and fall of her breathing – eyes fixed in concentration, hand clenched in a fist. Words were forming on a screen in front of her, slowly piecing together into whole sentences. Sentences she couldn't say out loud.

The 52-year-old woman had been paralysed by a stroke 19 years earlier, leaving her unable to speak clearly. Here, however, her internal monologue was appearing before her eyes.

The women, identified only as participant T16, had been fitted with a tiny array of electrodes that was surgically inserted into a lobe at the front of her brain. Now a computer, powered by a form of artificial intelligence, was decoding the signals produced by her neurons as she imagined saying words, with the system translating them into text on a screen. She was taking part in a study at Stanford University in California, US, alongside three patients with the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), to test a technique capable of translating thoughts into real time text.

It was the closest scientists had come yet to a form of "mind reading".

The ancient US discovery predating the pyramids

A series of millennia-old canoes are being unearthed from the bottom of a lake in Wisconsin, spurring a renewed interest in Indigenous culture.

Dr Amy L Rosebrough will never forget where she was when she got the phone call. It was a sunny Saturday in June 2021, and the archaeologist was at her home in Madison, Wisconsin, when diver Tamara Thomsen, her colleague at the Wisconsin Historical Society, rang and said, "Hey, Amy, come out on the boat with me… I found something."

Thomsen and a fellow diver had been exploring Wisconsin's Lake Mendota. Just as her partner signalled that her air tank levels were low and that she needed to return, Thomsen "looked down and discovered she was directly over a sunken dugout canoe", Rosebrough recalled.

"We thought it might be – if we're extraordinarily lucky – 300 years old," said Rosebrough, referring to the vessel. It turned out to be 1,200 years old. "Everyone lost their minds."

Indian university faces backlash for claiming Chinese robodog as own at AI summit

An Indian university has courted controversy at the AI summit in Delhi after an official claimed that a Chinese-made robotic dog was its own invention.

The incident came to light after a professor from Galgotias University told state-run broadcaster DD News that the robot named "Orion" was "developed" at their Centre of Excellence. A video of her remarks went viral.

Online users later identified the machine as the Go2 model made by Chinese firm Unitree Robotics, which is commercially available starting at about 200,000 rupees ($2,200; £1,600).

In a statement on Wednesday, the university denied claiming it had built the robot and described the backlash as a "propaganda campaign".

"We would like to clearly state that the robotic programming is part of our endeavour to make students learn AI programming and develop and deploy real world skills using globally available tools and resources, given developing AI talent is need of the hour," the university said.

Neha Singh, the professor seen in the video, later told reporters her remarks had been misunderstood. "It might be that I could not convey well what I wanted to say, or you could not understand well what I wanted to say," she said.

Social media users, however, accused the university of dishonesty.

Reports said that following the backlash, the university was asked to vacate its stall at the summit. Faculty members said they had received no official communication to do so.

But hours later, news agency Press Trust of India reported that electricity supply to the stall was cut off following the controversy.

A BBC reporter at the summit said the lights were turned off at the booth and no staff from the university were around.

The incident is being seen as an embarrassment for the organisers of the summit as the video had also been shared on IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's official X account. The post has since been deleted.

India's IT Secretary S Krishnan said the controversy should not "overshadow" the work put in by other participants at the summit.

"What happened should not affect the way people present or exhibit their work at such events. The idea is not to use an opportunity like this to become something else or create unnecessary noise.

"It is essential that a proper code of conduct is followed. There are other countries and other participants involved as well," he told reporters.

The India AI Impact Summit, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Bharat Mandapam on Monday, is being pitched by the government as a flagship gathering to position India as a global AI hub.

Delegates from more than 100 countries, including several heads of governments, are attending, alongside industry leaders such as Sundar Pichai of Google.

The five-day summit features policy discussions, startup showcases and closed-door meetings on AI governance, infrastructure and innovation.

However, its opening day was overshadowed by complaints of overcrowding, long queues and confusion at the venue, prompting organisers to extend exhibition hours and tighten entry management. They say arrangements have since improved.

BBC correspondent Vikas Pandey, who is at the summit, said the venue was "absolutely buzzing" on the third day, with thousands of people from different parts of India visiting stalls and soaking up the excitement. Officials say they hope the event and the conversations around it will help adoption of AI across the country.

Tourism is booming in 2026 - just not where you think

As global travel rebounds, the fastest growth is happening beyond the usual tourism heavyweights – from Ethiopia to Bhutan.

More than 1.5 billion international tourists travelled abroad in 2025, setting the stage for a record-breaking 2026. According to the latest World Tourism Barometer published by UN Tourism, international arrivals grew 4% globally, beginning to match the pre-pandemic growth average of around 5% per year between 2009 and 2019.

While Europe remained the world's most visited region, welcoming nearly 800 million arrivals and posting a solid 6% growth over 2024, the destinations recording the fastest growth were not the usual headliners. Brazil saw arrivals surge by 37%, Egypt by 20%, Ethiopia by 15% and Bhutan by 30%. Even the Seychelles, a tiny archipelago off East Africa, recorded a 13% increase.

"These countries fall into a growing category of high-identity, emerging destinations that are no longer niche but not yet saturated," said Steven Vigor, CEO of travel advisory firm Revigorate. "More travellers are now drawn to distinctive culture, landscapes and the possibilities of discovery, so countries with a strong identity and decent access are clear winners."

To understand what's driving this shift – and how destinations are managing the influx while staying mindful of overtourism – we spoke with tourism authorities and industry operators across several of the fastest-growing countries.

Inside Switzerland's extraordinary medieval library

The Abbey Library of St Gallen is a Baroque hall of globes, manuscripts and curiosities that has survived, improbably, for 1,300 years.

The church bells were silent and much of the city was still asleep when I arrived at the doors of the abbey in St Gallen. The setting was as expected: a grand sermon in stone, with stark spires and arched windows, marbled cloisters, courtyards and broad steps beckoning visitors inside. Architecture has long been used to inspire faith – but this felt less like discovery than revelation.

Waiting inside was Albert Holenstein, a bespectacled historian in his 40s. He ushered me along an echoing corridor to an ornate Baroque doorway, beyond which lay a dimly lit room, its curtains pulled tight across rows of windows. Above the entrance, carved into a large Rococo pediment, was a Greek inscription in bold lettering. "Psyches Iatreion," it read. "Healing place of the soul," he whispered.

It was a phrase, I later learnt, associated with the ancient library and scriptorium of King Ramses II in Thebes, Egypt. It sounded like the beginning of a tantalising mystery.

Imagine the world's most fantastical library. What would it look like? You might envisage a grand hall lined with antique reading desks and floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Or maybe an elaborate collection that carries the dream-like atmosphere of a fantasy novel. Perhaps, one like Bodley's Library in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, itself inspired by the great Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford. Or one more like the transcendent, wizardly library of Hogwarts from J K Rowling's Harry Potter saga (indeed, Duke Humfrey's Library, the oldest reading room at the Bodleian Library, served as the production location for the library in the Potter films).

'She was a beacon of light in a dark chapter in history': Ann Lee, the 1700s Christian leader who shocked America

How did a charismatic but impoverished British woman become the leader of the progressive religious sect known as "the Shakers" – taking it to America and inspiring thousands to follow her?

The 18th-Century Christian sect known as the Shakers is best known today for its influential contributions to furniture, design, and architecture. What is less well known is how incredibly radical the Shakers were. Way ahead of their time, they espoused gender parity, communalism, pacifism and sustainability. They also pioneered social services in America, provided shelter to abused women, and freed enslaved African Americans. And then there was their insistence on celibacy and the abolition of marriage.

Even today, the Shakers' ideals seem daring – and many of them can be traced back to the religious movement's unlikely leader, British-born Ann Lee. She was an illiterate woman who grew up in poverty, and yet she convinced thousands to follow her teachings. How did she do it?

While she left behind no writings, testimonies from her followers describe her as an enormously charismatic and persuasive figure. "All the accounts of [Lee] speak about this fierce dedication to [her cause]," says film-maker Mona Fastvold.

Now Fastvold has co-written and directed a historical musical, The Testament of Ann Lee, which stars Amanda Seyfried as Lee. Described by Fastvold as a "speculative retelling" of Lee's story, the film charts the life of the charismatic figure, from her impoverished childhood in Manchester, England, to becoming leader of the Shakers and taking the movement to America, to her death at the age of 48.

Why Hollywood fell out of love with Wicked

In today's Oscar nominations, the biggest shock was that massive musical sequel Wicked: For Good, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, earned zero nods – despite its predecessor earning 10. It proved the perils of overstretching your material.

The Oscar nominations had their usual share of snubs and surprises, with no best supporting actor nod for Paul Mescal, the co-star of Hamnet, and two different nods for Norway's Sentimental Value in the best supporting actress category. The biggest surprise of all, though, is what might be called a multi-snub, or even an omni-snub: there were no nominations at all for Wicked: For Good.

This was a shock for two reasons. The first is that Wicked: For Good is part two of an adaptation of a Broadway show, and part one, which was released a year earlier, racked up a whopping 10 Oscar nominations. The Academy was spellbound, it seemed, by this colourful prequel to The Wizard of Oz. It adored Oz's two iconic witches, Elphaba and Glinda, and especially the two actresses who played them, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. How could things go so disastrously wrong that the franchise's Oscar-nomination total should plummet from 10 to zero?

The other reason why the omni-snub was unexpected was that, at the start of awards season, Wicked: For Good appeared to be a major contender. At the Golden Globes in January, Erivo was nominated for best actress in a comedy or musical; Grande was nominated for best supporting actress; the film as a whole was on the shortlist for cinematic and box office achievement; and it had not one but two nominations for best original song.

'They saw them on their dishes when eating': The mushroom making people hallucinate dozens of tiny humans

Only recently described by science, the mysterious mushrooms are found in different parts of the world, but they give people the same exact visions.

Every year, doctors at a hospital in the Yunnan Province of China brace themselves for an influx of people with an unusual complaint. The patients come with a strikingly odd symptom: visions of pint-sized, elf-like figures – marching under doors, crawling up walls and clinging to furniture.

The hospital treats hundreds of these cases every year. All share a common culprit: Lanmaoa asiatica, a type of mushroom that forms symbiotic relationships with pine trees in nearby forests and is a locally popular food, known for its savory, umami-packed flavor. In Yunnan, L. asiatica is sold in markets, it appears on restaurant menus and is served at home during peak mushroom season between June and August.

One must be careful to cook it thoroughly, though, otherwise the hallucinations will set in.

"At a mushroom hot pot restaurant there, the server set a timer for 15 minutes and warned us, 'Don't eat it until the timer goes off or you might see little people,'" says Colin Domnauer, a doctoral candidate in biology at the University of Utah and the Natural History Museum of Utah, who is studying L. asiatica. "It seems like very common knowledge in the culture there."

But outside of Yunnan and a couple of other places, the strange mushroom is largely an enigma.

"There were many accounts about the existence of this psychedelic [mushroom], and many people who looked for it, but they never found the species," says Giuliana Furci, a mycologist and the founder and executive director of the Fungi Foundation, a non-profit group dedicated to discovering, documenting and conserving fungi.

Domnauer is on a quest to solve the decades-old mysteries about this fungi species and identify the unknown compound responsible for its unusually similar hallucinations – as well as what it can potentially teach us about the human brain.

Domnauer first heard of L. asiatica as an undergraduate from his mycology professor.

"It sounded so bizarre that there could be a mushroom out there causing fairytale-like visions reported across cultures and time," Domnauer says. "I was perplexed and driven by curiosity to find out more."