CAN someone's sanity be judged their Twitter feed?
The Twitter feed of the US President, Donald Trump, will be analysed in a festival discussion over whether social media can be used to judge a person's sanity.
This subject, and others, will be discussed at Scotland's biggest science festival, the Edinburgh Science Festival, which has now launched its 2019 programme.
In the session at the festival, which runs from 6 to 21 April, called 'On the Frontiers of Sanity', Rebecca McGuire-Snieckus, a psychologist, and Dr Raj Persaud, a psychiatrist, will "test how the public make decisions about a politician's mental health by using Donald Trump's notorious Twitter feed."
President Trump's Twitter feed is notable for its high volume of tweets, its instant commentary on US television news or newspaper written stories about him, insults of perceived political rivals, spelling and factual mistakes and frequent use of words written in capital letters.
He is the first US president to use his Twitter feed - which has more than 58m followers - in such a voluble manner, and his use of the social medium often itself leads to news stories, as well as commentary on the President's state of mind.
Other sessions at the festival include analysis of conspiracy theories, in a session called Fake Moon Landings and Other Persistent Conspiracies, with Professor Peter Knight and Professor Robbie Sutton.
The 50th anniversary of the the Apollo 11 Moon landing will also be marked in a series of events.
Overall there are 270 events in the festival, which has launched its 31st programme, the theme of which is Frontiers.
Part of the festival is the awarding of the Edinburgh Medal - this year it will go to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC), who was instrumental in Paris climate talks.
The Edinburgh Medal was instituted by the City of Edinburgh Council in 1988.
The annual award is given to "men and women of science and technology whose professional achievements are judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding and well-being of humanity."
Previous recipients include Professor Jane Goodall, Professor Peter Higgs and Sir David Attenborough.
The Scottish Parliament will show A Human Touch, a free open-air exhibition which explores the human influence on Earth.
In the popular annual children’s programme, there will be five floors of activities at the City Art Centre.
Amanda Tyndall, the Edinburgh Science Festival’s creative director said: "With new venues and partners and a programme packed full of events and ideas our Frontiers theme sees us explore the research horizons of everything from the depths of the oceans to the furthest reaches of space and the intricate pathways of the human brain.
"We celebrate the spirit of adventure and enquiry that drives science and the ideas and individuals that are expanding the Frontiers of our collective knowledge and have aplenty of fun on our journey.
“At the heart of all science lies an unquenchable curiosity; a deep urge to explore and explain the unknown and to push the Frontiers of our knowledge about ourselves, the world around us and our place in the wider Universe."
Donald Wilson, the city's culture convener, said: "Among the many unique qualities of the Science Festival is its ability to engage children and young people in a way which is fun but can inspire the next generation in science and technology."
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