Amazon Go is a pioneering new shop with – it claims-  no queues either. The experience is novel, with customers reporting that they felt as if they were shoplifting. A few journalists even tried to sneak things out to see if it was possible to outwit the myriad of cameras and sensors. Is this how we will all shop in the future? Or a stunt that is unlikely to ever be replicated in a supermarket near you?

Downing Street has announced the creation of a new national security unit tasked with combating disinformation by state actors and others. Can this new unit restore our faith in what we view online? Or is the power of clickbait too potent to be tackled by one country alone?

Restaurants, coffee shops and supermarkets have all pledged to reduce plastic packaging. Can this movement bring about a real change? Is it possible to undo the damage caused by our previously cavalier attitude to plastics?

Facebook has invented a new unit of time the ‘flick’. Just slightly longer than a nanosecond, the ‘flick’ is designed to help measure individual frame duration for video frame rates. Will flicks make VR so real we won’t be able to tell it’s a simulation?

Cadbury is giving away 10,000 bars of Dairy Milk. The stunt ties in with its latest advert, which featured a little girl exchanging the contents of her pocket to buy her mum a chocolate bar, and is melting viewer’s hearts. Is this offer too good to be true? What old tat would you exchange for a free chocolate?

The first Super Blood Blue Moon for 150 years will appear in our skies on January 31st. A supermoon appears 14 per cent larger and about 30 per cent brighter than usual, as the moon is in the point of its orbit when it’s at its closest to Earth. Will you be dusting off your telescope? Or dropping to all fours and howling uncontrollably?  

Facebook has announced changes to its news feed: users will now see more posts from friends and family and less content from businesses. Mark Zuckerberg has said he is trying to make sure its services are not only fun to use, but also good for people’s wellbeing. Will these changes help put the ‘social’ back in social media? How will they affect the brands and publishers that rely on Facebook to reach their audiences?

Virgin Trains has backtracked on its plans to stop selling the Daily Mail on its West Coast services. The rail operator had previously said the views of the paper were not compatible with its brand and beliefs, therefore it would no longer stock it. But it was quickly compelled to reverse the decision after it was met with widespread criticism and accusations of censorship. Was the attempted ban a bid to influence passengers’ freedom of choice? Was the resulting negative coverage a PR disaster for both Virgin Trains, and Richard Branson?

Construction giant, Carillion has collapsed. Ministers faced tough questions after it was revealed that the company was granted more than £1billion in contracts even after issuing profit warnings last year. Who knew what when, and why were those contracts awarded to a business that was known to be struggling? Who will pick up the tab now that Carillion has entered compulsory liquidation?

Airbnb has a new feature called Pay Less Up Front, which will let users stagger payments. No longer will guests be required to settle the whole bill upfront when making a booking. Airbnb hopes that the change will appeal to both guests and hosts. Will this new feature encourage more people to find accommodation through Airbnb, or is the idea of splitting big-ticket purchases hardly novel?

Blue Monday is supposedly the most depressing day of the year. Because the weather is awful, its ages until your next holiday and after all the festive indulgence you are in debt and overweight. The idea was first conceived by a PR company and it is now an annual event. But is the third Monday in January really the most depressing day, or is it just a clever ploy to get us thinking about booking a holiday?

Black has overtaken white as the most popular car colour choice in the UK for the first time in five years. Is it because most of us want to be safe and secure and black is a colour people feel they can hide behind? Or is it simply that no one has time to wash their car and black is best for hiding the grime?

The 75th Golden Globe ceremony was one of the most political of all time, with many actresses dressed in black in support of the Time's Up movement. Oprah Winfrey’s powerful and moving acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Award had many speculating she could be the next US president. Would she win by a landslide? Or is the suggestion that Oprah throws her hat in the ring a distraction that the Democratic party don’t need? 

The children’s commissioner for England has said that children are 'ill-equipped to cope' with the stress of social media and that many eleven-year-olds are feeling under pressure to be constantly connected online. Are we failing to prepare pupils for the emotional challenges of social media, or are kids who have grown up in an online age more social media savvy than those of us born in an analog world? 

Carrie Gracie, the former BBC China editor made the news this week when she resigned over pay equality. She refused a £45,000 rise as it still left a “big gap between her and male counterparts”. The BBC’s reporting was complicated by the fact that Ms Gracie was co-presenting Radio 4’s Today programme when the story broke. Was the result, as the Mail Online claimed, a “soggy morass of self-righteousness over impartiality rules”? Or were the presenters simply doing their best to navigate the challenges of the BBC impartiality rules?

Toby Young has resigned from the new board of a university regulator, just eight days after his appointment. Mr Young’s selection had been met with a fierce backlash over a number of highly controversial comments he had made as a journalist. Was his decision to quit an embarrassment to Theresa May who had recently backed his appointment? Will this cautionary tale make us all more mindful of the views we post on social media? 

Veganuary is hugely popular: it is estimated that more than 50,000 people will be attempting to give up all animal products for the first month of the year. Restaurants, coffee shops and supermarkets have responded enthusiastically with new vegan offerings. Is this food trend here to stay? Or are the limitations of this diet just too stringent for all but the most dedicated of followers?

Pinterest has shared its round-up of 2018 top travel trends, predicting we will be saddling up our camels for desert escapes, compiling travel journals and getting on board with river cruises. Has the social media site tapped into our actual travel plans? Or just caught glimpsed our collective travel dreams?

Michael Wolff’s new book, ‘Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House’ has put the cat amongst the pigeons. Trump is insistent that the book, which makes a series of damaging allegations about his administration, is "full of lies". Was the Trump team shocked and horrified by his election win? Did Melania cry tears of sadness on election night? One thing is for sure, this book is going to cause a furore.

Winter is always the busiest time for the NHS, but this January the situation has been exceptionally testing. Hospitals in England have been told to cancel all non-urgent operations and in-patient treatments until at least the end of January. How will our septuagenarian health service continue to cope with modern day demands?

YouTube star Logan Paul found himself in hot water this week after uploading a controversial video that showed him laughing next to the corpse of a man who died by suicide. Was Logan’s subsequent apology sincere or as some have claimed self-praising? Will the sizeable online backlash effect the fortunes of the influential vlogger?

There have been several stories about banned adverts lately: Iceland for claims about its crumpets; eHarmony for saying its dating service was scientifically proven; Transform cosmetic surgery for exploiting new mums' body insecurities and finally Captain Morgan’s snapchat advert over fears it would appeal to children. Is this flurry of bans just a coincidence, or a calculated show of strength by the ASA?

2017 saw the biggest rise in UK music sales for two decades. UK consumers streamed 1,036 songs each and bought the equivalent of more than 135m albums across all formats. Is this the dawn of a new golden age for UK music? Or did we all simply have Ed Sheeran on repeat for the past 12 months?

According to a YouGov poll, 3.1 million Brits will be attempting dry January this year. Naturally many will fail. But is getting on the bandwagon for a month a brilliant idea that will save you money, help you lose weight and improve your state of mind? Or, as the Sun argues, is it a dubious move that could lead to an almighty booze binge in February?