Five Great Reads: Sleep paralysis, parakeets and problematic laundry

The Guardian’s weekend wrap of essential reads from the past seven days, selected by Jacqui Housden

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If you’ve spent any time looking at the big headlines this week then you’ll know it’s high time for a good old break from the news. Take a breath, and bliss out with some long reads (mostly) a long way away from the doom cycle.

The Harvard neuroscientist Baland Jalal has spent his life studying the unfathomable depths of the human brain. His passion is sleep paralysis, “a brain glitch that can fill its host with terror so palpable that it can cause lasting trauma”. While one in five people have experienced this frightening experience, very little is known about why the brain creates such terrifying images in the subconscious. Jalal has experienced sleep paralysis himself, and he thinks it may be a pathway to a deeper understanding of our minds.

What does it feel like? Some describe it as “the moment of peak fear in a horror movie”. Others describe being frozen in their own bodies while some evil force approaches them in their bed. It’s not uncommon for people to be able to open their eyes, which can often heighten the fear.

Around the world: Stories around sleep paralysis are more common in some countries and cultures than others. “Your grandmother might say: ‘There’s this monster that comes at night. It looks like this,’” Jalal says. In countries like Italy and Egypt, there is a long history of the phenomenon, which can cause it to happen more and for longer.

Notable quote: “When you are paralysed, and you can’t speak, your thoughts will go to a potential predator, somebody trying to hurt you. You feel very vulnerable.”

How long will it take to read: About five minutes.

Further reading: Do you like sleep? Try lazymaxxing.

Their existence is loud – and myths abound as to how these Himalayan birds came to be a common feature over London’s skies. Loved for its green plumage, the ring-necked parakeet has been making itself at home in Britain for decades. But more recently the birds have been recast as an ecological threat, prompting deeper questions about the idea of invasive species.

‘Invaders’: Evidence from Belgium and Spain suggests parakeets may outcompete several species, most significantly the Eurasian nuthatch, leading to local declines in areas with large parakeet populations

Opinions are split: They might be a nuisance to fruit farmers, or to nesting nuthatches. But to many Britons the birds are a welcome addition to otherwise grey cityscapes. “Everything is about diminishment and decline, but the parakeets are thriving, and they’re doing it in style. It’s a joyous thing to witness,” says Nick Hunt, the author of the 2019 “gonzo ornithology” work The Parakeeting of London.

How long will it take to read: You’ll have your beak in this story for nine minutes.

Further reading: This volunteer army is plotting to wipe out Britain’s grey squirrels.

For the past few weeks, fridges and freezers across Europe have been encountering the same problem. Temperatures inside the ice boxes have shot up, some reaching as high as 50C. Alex Pearce, who owns a fruit and vegetable business in London, discovered the malfunction was a cyber-attack when he walked over to the cable connecting the units to the internet and pulled the plug. As the rise of AI makes it easier to hack IT systems, experts say cyber-attacks could become more common.

Notable quote: “There are so many vulnerabilities out there that … you could say are waiting to be exploited.” – Richard Horne, the head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), says we are in the “foothills” of a new hacking landscape.

Not just fridges: Blood banks in France, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, even Ukraine’s emergency alert app. And by 2028 the NCSC predicts AI-powered malicious software will “highly likely” be used to hack UK power stations, airports and hospitals.

How long will it take to read: About four minutes.

Further reading: The fridge hacks provided fairly little disruption, but what would raise the stakes?

Bluey, the Australian series about a six-year-old dog and her sister Bandit (and, of course, their ridiculously unflappable and time-rich parents), has become a worldwide hit. Now one of the founders of the studio behind it is making headlines of his own.

Packed with nostalgia: Daley Pearson, co-founder of the Brisbane production company Ludo Studio, has created a new Netflix family film called Allen, which by his own account is topped to the brim with his own childhood nostalgia, including the things that feel impossible to let go. It centres on a character called Petey who befriends, for one blissful month, a bug-eyed extraterrestrial – Allen. But decades later, Petey is trapped in a state of arrested development and obsession.

Notable quote: “I was using the stuff that I love to tell the story of not being able to let go of the stuff you love, and how it maybe holds you back,” Pearson says.

How long will it take to read: Just over two nostalgia-filled minutes.

Further reading: The Bluey composer shares the trick to music that “hits you in the feels”.

The news cycle can be depressing at times, but that doesn’t mean your wash cycle has to be. Could there be hope for your washing in an online rabbit hole? Victoria Turk tumbled down the r/laundry subreddit in search for answers to 10 stubborn laundry problems.

Sud-based science: We’ve all been there. A coffee stain on a white shirt. Pasta sauce on a new pair of pants. Try as we might, wash after wash, stain remover, baking soda – nothing works. Eric Thompson, better known by his online avatar KismaiAesthetics, preaches a science-based approach to cleaning clothes. TikTok trends and Instagram hacks are out. Green chemistry and “the magic of water and time” are in.

Take a spa day: Thompson’s answer to persistent stains and lingering odours sounds relaxing. Famous online for its efficacy, his “last-ditch effort” to save an essential wardrobe item is described as a “spa day”. The power comes from heat, time and the enzymes in bio-powered detergent (click through for detailed instructions).

How long will it take to read: Six minutes. You can read it while folding your laundry.

Further reading: Are you doing your washing all wrong?

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