Scientists discover evidence of a highly technologically advanced alien civilisation that has spread across all the habitable planets in its nearby solar system. So far, they do not appear to know of humanity's existence as a complex intelligent species on Earth and have not contacted us.

In states with the death penalty, medical professionals almost always avoid involvement in executions, adhering to their professional ethical guidelines to "do no harm". Many pharmaceutical companies also restrict the sale and importation of drugs used in lethal injections, one of the most common forms of execution, leading to a scarcity of suitable drugs and the reliance on drugs that can cause more suffering to the prisoner (e.g. using sedatives that don't render the prisoner fully unconscious during execution).

A reminder that this round is a "prefer a world" debate. A "prefer a world" debate is where teams discuss the desirability of a fundamentally different world than our current one, which has always been fundamentally different for all its existence. The affirmative team argues why this alternative world is better, while the negative team argues for the advantages of the current world or the potential downsides of the alternative world.

The "utilisation rate" of a degree refers to the percentage of graduates of that degree who end up using their degree directly in their work, irrespective of their field. For example, someone who obtains an economics degree, but ends up working as an art teacher would not be counted in the utilisation rate of that degree, but someone who becomes an economics teacher would be counted.

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) is the governing body of much of the world’s motorsports including Formula 1. On the 2nd of October, it approved the addition of an 11th team to the F1 competition, Andretti Cadillac Racing. The team would be a partnership between established American racers Andretti Racing and Cadillac, a General Motors brand. The final step before Andretti Cadillac Racing is approved to race is forming a commercial agreement with Formula One Management (FOM). As it currently stands most of the existing ten Formula 1 teams do not want to expand the number of teams, citing threats to their own profitability.