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Hank CampbellRSS Feed of this column.

I founded Science 2.0® in 2006 and since then it has become the world's largest independent science communications site, with over 300,000,000 direct readers and reach approaching one billion. Read More »

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Today is, in Christian observance, Twelfth Night, the end of The 12 Days of Christmas in that song.(1) The Twelfth Night celebration ends Christmastide then tomorrow is Epiphany - the day when the Three Wise Men who saw the Star of Bethlehem during the birth of Jesus arrived after their journey.(2)

In modern times, today is also Divorce Day. Couples who vowed to just 'get through the holidays' split up the Monday after the weekend after New Year's Day. For Divorce Lawyers, Revenue Christmas commences when they return to the office on this day in 2026.
High blood pressure is an important risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease and premature death. Medication can reduce those risks so it makes sense that if someone is prescribed an angiotensin receptor blocker like Losartan continue to take it.

Yet people don't. A new cohort from Sweden using over 341,000 participants found that fewer than half were on their medication up to three years later. It can't be cost, their health care is overwhelmingly subsidized. It may be side effects.
The Monday after New Year's is colloquially called Divorce Day, but it's more than marriages ending. Lots of people in longer relationships, and certainly seasonal holidates, just want to get through the holidays before pulling the plug. That Monday this year is January 5th.

Alone may be better, something better may be out there as well, but it may also be the case that one or both people simply have unrealistic expectations that their TV movie fantasy should be reality.
Desire to have a short-term companion for the holidays - a "holidate" - is common enough that it gets its own portmanteau but the reasons may not always be positive. A survey commissioned by the American Psychological Association found that 43 percent of U.S. adults report stress levels during this time of year high enough it makes the season difficult to enjoy.

The pressure is all the usual stuff some people struggle more than others over, like money and difficult families, but they are magnified in this narrow window of time. It may be why Thanksgiving is the source of so many angry, depressing movies. 
A recent survey by found that over 28 percent of adults claim they have an intimate, even romantic relationship, with an LLM (Large Language Model), colloquially deemed Artificial Intelligence - "AI".(1)

It seems plausible because 41 percent of people believe in psychics and ghosts.

What may be surprising is the demographics of the people embracing this new technology. It isn't young people, they know it's not real, it is Baby Boomers. Not only are they fine with AI relationships, over 50 percent say they can engage in a romantic relationship with an AI guilt-free.
Ford is the latest company to take a massive write-off on current electric car production- nearly $20 billion. Because making them would be even more costly.