by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Nicola Davis, p on (#6M93V)
Labradors are known for being greedy dogs, and now scientists have come up with a theory about the genetic factors that might be behind their behaviour. Science correspondent and flat-coated retriever owner Nicola Davis visits Cambridge University to meet Dr Eleanor Raffan and Prof Giles Yeo to find out how understanding this pathway could help us treat the obesity crisis in humans Continue reading...
With Bennell-Pegg unlikely to go to space anytime soon, there are questions about the value of the spending by the cash-strapped Australian space program
Researchers find memorable images make time feel slower because we are trying to gather more information about themIf every day appears to go in a blur, try seeking out new and interesting experiences, researchers have suggested, after finding memorable images appear to dilate time.Researchers have previously found louder experiences seem to last longer, while focusing on the clock also makes time dilate, or drag. Continue reading...
As people get older, they revise the age they consider to be old upwardsNone of us are getting any younger, but it appears the age at which we are considered old has moved upwards over the generations.What's more, as adults get older, they shift the goalposts further still, a study has shown. Continue reading...
Brightest star in constellation Virgo is due to appear very close again to almost fully illuminated moonIf you missed the conjunction between the almost full moon and the star Spica last month, here's another chance to see it.The chart shows the view looking south-west from London at 04.00 BST on the morning of 23 April. The moon will be full with 99.3% of its visible surface illuminated, and it will be passing very close to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo. Continue reading...
Scottish NHS boards have spent more than 125m since 2019 to provide temporary cover amid drop in consultant numbersMental health campaigners have protested about the significant use of temporary locum psychiatrists in Scotland, alleging that it leads to substandard and harmful medical care.Peter Todd, a campaigner based in Caithness in the north of Scotland, said the heavy reliance on locum psychiatrists by the NHS was a sign of a growing crisis in mental health services across the country. Continue reading...
by Jon Ungoed-Thomas, Shanti Das and Aneesa Ahmed on (#6M7S3)
Pharmaceutical equipment firms are funding NHS staff and training while promoting salesMedical device companies are paying millions of pounds to hospitals in the UK to fund staff places, as well as training and awareness campaigns, while pushing sales of their products, including implants, heart valves and diagnostic equipment, a new report reveals.An analysis of disclosures by medical device companies found that between 2017 and 2019 they reported 425m (367m at today's rates) in payments to healthcare organisations in Europe, according to the study in the journal Health Policy and Technology. Continue reading...
The scientist on training as a diver, pilot and astronaut in order to understand the true nature of gravity, and what happens at the centre of a black holeProf Claudia de Rham is a theoretical physicist at Imperial College London, developing and testing new models and paradigms" at the intersection of gravity, cosmology and particle physics. She has just published her first book, The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity, charting her lifelong attempt to understand the true nature" of the force around her, which has seen her train as an astronaut, diver and pilot.In your book, you say you have been chasing gravity my entire life". What does that mean?
BBC nature presenter delivers eulogy at protest aimed at scaring people a bit' about the loss of biodiversity in the UKThe BBC nature presenter Chris Packham has joined hundreds of environmental activists in a mock funeral procession for nature to spotlight biodiversity loss in the UK.The procession aimed to sound code red for nature" and highlight the UK's position as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world", organisers said. It was planned to coincide closely with Earth Day on 22 April. Continue reading...
The paediatrician, who has been advised to stop using public transport, describes straight disinformation' about reportThe doctor behind a landmark review of the NHS's gender identity services for children and young people has said fears had been raised about her personal safety amid online abuse after the report's release.Dr Hilary Cass told the Times she wished to address the disinformation" circulating about the findings and recommendations handed down by the Cass review when it was published on 10 April. Continue reading...
Research that aims to explain why some people experience intense visual imagery could lead to a better understanding of creativity and some mental disordersWilliam Blake's imagination is thought to have burned with such intensity that, when creating his great artworks, he needed little reference to the physical world. While drawing historical or mythical figures, for instance, he would wait until the spirit" appeared in his mind's eye. The visions were apparently so detailed that Blake could sketch as if a real person were sitting before him.Like human models, these imaginary figures could sometimes act temperamentally. According to Blake biographer John Higgs, the artist could become frustrated when the object of his inner gaze casually changed posture or left the scene entirely. I can't go on, it is gone! I must wait till it returns," Blake would declaim. Continue reading...
Influenza is still the biggest threat to global health as WHO raises fears about the spread of avian strainInfluenza is the pathogen most likely to trigger a new pandemic in the near future, according to leading scientists.An international survey, to be published next weekend, will reveal that 57% of senior disease experts now think that a strain of flu virus will be the cause of the next global outbreak of deadly infectious illness. Continue reading...
Getting rid of rage | Secular song? | Rockumentaries | Piratical crossword clue | Political illsRe Emma Beddington's article (15 April), at 78, at last I found a way to vanquish my rage at a recent Feldenkrais class on Zoom. We were doing breathing exercises and our teacher suggested we go he-he-he on the outbreath. Then she asked us to use our voice and I began. After a few medium sounds I found myself getting louder and louder, sounding like a really wicked witch. my lungs and body emptying my nastiness. Go for it, Emma!
Scientists estimate Vasuki indicus was up to 15m long, weighed a tonne and would have constricted its preyFossil vertebrae unearthed in a mine in western India are the remains of one of the largest snakes that ever lived, a monster estimated at up to 15 metres in length - longer than a T rex.Scientists have recovered 27 vertebrae from the snake, including a few still in the same position as they would have been when the reptile was alive. They said the snake, which they named Vasuki indicus, would have looked like a large python and would not have been venomous. Continue reading...
Therapist Lindsay Gibson's 2015 book has sold over a million copies and its message has soared on social media. What does it mean?In an ideal world, adults would be more mature than their kids. They would be better at handling stress, resolving conflicts with others, or talking about their feelings. In the opening chapter of the book Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, therapist Lindsay Gibson presents an unsettling alternative.What if," she wrote, some sensitive children come into the world and within a few years are more emotionally mature than their parents, who have been around for decades?" Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample with Barney Ronay; produce on (#6M5J9)
Billed as a rival to the Olympic Games, the Enhanced Games, set to take place in 2025, is a sporting event with a difference; athletes will be allowed to dope. Ian Sample talks to chief sports writer Barney Ronay about where the idea came from and how it's being sold as an anti-establishment underdog, and to Dr Peter Angell about what these usually banned substances are, and what they could do to athletes' bodiesClips: Talk TV, News Nation, Inside with Brett Hawke, ESPNRead Barney Ronay's opinion piece on the Enhanced Games Continue reading...
Bill Nelson told Capitol Hill lawmakers that China has been very, very secretive' about its space progress, warning we are in a race'The head of Nasa has warned of China bolstering its space capabilities by using civilian programs to mask military objectives, cautioning that Washington must remain vigilant.China has made extraordinary strides especially in the last 10 years, but they are very, very secretive," Nasa administrator Bill Nelson told lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6M5DX)
Some shortages are so serious they are imperilling the health and even lives of patients with serious illnesses, pharmacy bosses sayDrug shortages are a new normal" in the UK and are being exacerbated by Brexit, a report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank has warned. A dramatic recent spike in the number of drugs that are unavailable has created serious problems for doctors, pharmacists, the NHS and patients, it found.The number of warnings drug companies have issued about impending supply problems for certain products has more than doubled from 648 in 2020 to 1,634 last year. Continue reading...
Use of powerful medications linked to elevated risk of serious adverse outcomes including heart failureDoctors are being urged to reduce prescribing of antipsychotic drugs to dementia patients after the largest study of its kind found they were linked to more harmful side-effects than previously thought.The powerful medications are widely prescribed for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia such as apathy, depression, aggression, anxiety, irritability, delirium and psychosis. Tens of thousands of dementia patients in England are prescribed them every year. Continue reading...
People in routine and repetitive jobs found to have 31% greater risk of disease in later life, and 66% higher risk of mild cognitive problemsIf work is a constant flurry of mind-straining challenges, bursts of creativity and delicate negotiations to keep the troops happy, consider yourself lucky.Researchers have found that the more people use their brains at work, the better they seem to be protected against thinking and memory problems that come with older age. Continue reading...
Experts believe remains belong to a type of ichthyosaur that roamed the seas about 202m years agoFossils discovered by an 11-year-old girl on a beach in Somerset may have come from the largest marine reptile ever to have lived, according to experts.The fossils are thought to be from a type of ichthyosaur, a prehistoric marine reptile that lived in the time of dinosaurs. The newly discovered species is believed to have roamed the seas towards the end of the Triassic, about 202m years ago. Continue reading...
Creating visually distinctive plants likely to become important as more weed-like crops are grown for foodGenetically engineering crops to be colourful could help farmers produce food without pesticides, as it would make it easier to spot weeds, scientists have said.This will be increasingly important as hardy, climate-resistant weeds" are grown for food in the future, the authors have written in their report published in the journal Trends in Plant Science. Continue reading...
Cylinder slab that tore through Naples home last month was debris released from International Space Station in 2021A heavy chunk of metal that crashed through the roof of a Florida home is, in fact, space junk, Nasa has confirmed.The federal space agency said that a cylinder slab that tore through a house in Naples, Florida, last month was debris from a cargo pallet released from the international space station in 2021, according to a Nasa blogpost. Continue reading...
According to an automated missive, I have the perfect set of skills to help write the first draft of AI history. It's not a job for life, thoughSay what you like about the Germans, you can always count on them to find just the right word for anything. Take weltschmerz", for example, which roughly translates to world pain". It signifies despair at the suffering in the world - and a deep anguish that stems from knowing that a better world is possible. Is there a more apt encapsulation of the current moment?For the past six months I, like many others, have been suffering from an acute case of weltschmerz. As someone of Palestinian heritage I have been weighed down by survivor's guilt as I've watched the unfolding genocide in Gaza. For a while, I didn't have the emotional energy to write. The only way I could get out of bed and make it through the day was by avoiding the news completely. Which ... isn't an ideal scenario when you largely write about the news for a living. So, at one point, I decided on a career pivot and applied for various non-writing jobs, including one at a dog food manufacturer. Reader, I was rejected. In fact, I didn't even make it to the first round of interviews; I was humbled by a dog's dinner. Continue reading...
Scientists have finally discovered why this remarkable plant becomes hungry for bugsIt sounds like a science fiction horror movie - a carnivorous plant that grows up to 60 metres high reaching up through the canopies of tropical trees, feasting on bugs using sticky leaf glands that ooze digestive enzymes to absorb its catch of prey.Triphyophyllum peltatum is a woody vine that grows in the rainforests of west Africa, although strangely it is a part-time carnivore that develops into a killer only at certain times. What turns this seemingly ordinary plant into a carnivore has been a mystery, largely because the plant is rare and difficult to cultivate. Continue reading...
Common eastern bumblebee queens' ability while hibernating could help it endure flooding, scientists sayBumblebees might be at home in town and country but now researchers have found at least one species that is even more adaptable: it can survive underwater.Scientists have revealed queens of the common eastern bumblebee, a species widespread in eastern North America, can withstand submersion for up to a week when hibernating. Continue reading...
But truancy and illness-related absences can be reversed with good sleeping habits and strong family ties, study suggestsYoung people who spend too much time online are more likely to miss school through illness or truancy, a study has suggested.Teenage girls appear to be more likely than teenage boys to score highly on excessive internet use, the findings indicate. But a good amount of sleep and exercise and a trusting relationship with their parents appear to go some way to reducing the effects of extreme web use on classroom absences. Continue reading...
Our ozone is pennies thick - and soon we'll put at least an Eiffel Tower's worth of metallic ash into the ionosphere every yearA dead spacecraft the size of a truck ignites with plasma and pulverizes into dust and litter as it rips through the ionosphere and atmosphere. This is what happens to internet service satellites during re-entry. When the full mega-constellation of satellites is deployed in the 2030s, companies will do this every hour because satellite internet requires thousands of satellites to constantly be replaced. And it could compromise our atmosphere or even our magnetosphere.Space entrepreneurs are betting on disposable satellites as key to a new means of wealth. There are currently nearly 10,000 active satellites and companies are working as fast as possible to get tens of thousands more into orbit - for a projected 1m in the next three to four decades.Sierra Solter is a plasma physicist, engineer, and inventor who studies the intersection of heliophysics and aerospace Continue reading...
BH3 spotted when scientists chanced upon star in Aquila constellation wobbling' under its gravitational forceAstronomers have discovered an enormous black hole which formed in the aftermath of an exploding star a mere 2,000 light years from Earth.BH3 is the most massive stellar black hole yet found in the Milky Way and revealed itself to researchers through the powerful tug it exerts on a companion star that orbits the object in the constellation of Aquila, the Eagle. Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Phoebe Weston, on (#6M3P9)
What can sound tell us about nature loss? Guardian biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston tells Madeleine Finlay about her visit to Monks Wood in Cambridgeshire, where ecologist Richard Broughton has witnessed the decline of the marsh tit population over 22 years, and has heard the impact on the wood's soundscape. As species lose their habitats across the world, pioneering soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause has argued that if we listen closely, nature can tell us everything we need to know about our impact on the planetFind more reporting from the Soundscapes project hereBernie Krause audio by Bernie Krause, courtesy of Wild Sanctuary. (C) 2024 Wild Sanctuary. All rights reserved Continue reading...
One former nurse describes the poor pay and working conditions she experienced at a vet practiceDebates surrounding the veterinary industry rage on while vet support staff and nurses, forever caught in the crossfire of abuse and accusations of heartlessness or money-grubbing, go unrecognised yet again (The vet presented it as: if you care, you pay': who really profits from poorly pets?, 6 April).I believed I'd found my calling when I qualified as a registered veterinary nurse (RVN), but the job's stresses and thanklessness eventually overwhelmed me and I quit before the resultant depression, anxiety and accompanying eating disorder finished me off. My hourly pay was significantly less as an experienced RVN than I earned as a refuse collector just months later, and most vet support staff receive only minimum wage. Continue reading...
The answers to today's problemsEarlier today I set you these puzzles, set by the author of Much Ado About Numbers, a new book about mathematics in Shakespeare's day. Continue reading...
The wealth of emerging evidence suggest that physics may be on the brink of something bigModern physics deals with some truly mind-boggling extremes of scale. Cosmology reveals the Earth as a tiny dot amid an observable universe that is a staggering 93bn light years across. Meanwhile, today's particle colliders are exploring a microcosmic world billions of times smaller than the smallest atom.These two extremes, the biggest and smallest distances probed by science, are separated by 47 orders of magnitude. That's one with 47 zeros after it, a number so ludicrously huge that it isn't worth trying to get your head around. And yet, despite exploring such radically different distances and phenomena, cosmology and particle physics are deeply connected. Observing the motions of stars and galaxies can reveal the influence of as-yet-undiscovered particles, while studying fundamental particles in the lab can tell us about the birth and evolution of the cosmos. Continue reading...
New research reveals that listing your grievances on a piece of paper, then throwing them away may make you less angry. So I gave it a try ...A lifetime enveloped in a benign, insulating cloud of oestrogen left me ill-prepared to be this nakedly, shockingly angry as it ebbs away in perimenopause. It is occasionally exhilarating, but mainly awful, being furious about so many things: the government, contradictory dental advice, inaction on climate breakdown, whatever cat keeps defecating at my back door. I exist at an exhausting, irrational rolling simmer that periodically comes to a head with me inappropriately venting, realising I'm being unreasonable, shamefacedly having a word with myself, then getting cross again.Help may be at hand, however, according to research from Japan, which suggests that writing your grievances on paper then throwing it away may make you less angry. Study participants were deliberately angered by researchers criticising their work and adding gratuitous insulting comments. Participants then wrote down how they felt and either threw the paper away, shredded it or kept it. The ones who disposed of the paper completely eliminated their anger". Continue reading...
Documentary reveals the cost to Nepalese villagers of harvesting a supposed aphrodisiac that sells for more than gold in ChinaEvery year, thousands of Nepalese villagers make their way to the Himalayan foothills in search of a fungus called yarsagumba. Known for its aphrodisiac properties, the elusive substance sells in China for a price higher than gold. Following Lalita, a young mother among the countless trekkers, this intimate documentary from Maude Plante-Husaruk and Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis paints a stirring portrait of a community exploited by modern commerce.Living in the largely agrarian village of Maikot, a wistful Lalita thinks back on her adolescent dreams of going to university, but an early marriage and now motherhood put a stop to her education. Through observational camerawork, the film subtly highlights the gender gap in this part of Nepal, as the bulk of farming and domestic work is undertaken by women. In braving the tough journey towards the Himalayas, Lalita is also walking towards a brighter future for her young daughter. Continue reading...
Archaeologists and astronomers to study Wiltshire site's lesser understood connection to the moonThe rising and setting of the sun at Stonehenge, especially during the summer and winter solstices, continues to evoke joy, fascination and religious devotion.Now a project has been launched to delve into the lesser understood links that may exist between the monument and the moon during a rare lunar event. Continue reading...
Don't make this a comedy of errorsUPDATE: Read the answers hereToday's puzzles come from the quill of Rob Eastaway, the bard of brainteasers, whose latest book Much Ado About Numbers is a journey into Shakespeare's mathematical life and times. Continue reading...
Annual event promises between five and 20 meteors an hour with a few rare cases becoming much brighter fireballs'The Lyrids are a meteor shower that derive from the tail of the comet Thatcher.Discovered by AE Thatcher in 1861, the comet is on a 422-year orbit of the sun and will not be returning to the inner solar system until 2283. Every year between 15 and 29 April, the Earth encounters the dust particles that it has left behind, with the peak of activity usually occurring on the night of 22 April, leading into the 23rd. The chart shows the view looking north-east from London at 22.00 BST on 22 April. The meteors radiate from the area labelled Lyrids and can shoot in any direction away from this point. Continue reading...
NHS waiting list | Spineless politicians | Anger managementAt first I was pleasantly surprised when asked, in my NHS app, whether I still wanted to remain ona waiting list for a minor operation (Almost 10 million people in England could be on NHS waiting list, 3 April). I now wonder whether this was more about thegovernment's method of reducing waiting lists rather thanmy medical need.
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6M2EP)
Meeting at London's Royal Society will scrutinise basic model first formulated in 1922 that universe is a vast, even expanse with no notable featuresIf you zoomed out on the universe, well beyond the level of planets, stars or galaxies, you would eventually see a vast, evenly speckled expanse with no notable features. At least, that has been the conventional view.The principle that everything looks the same everywhere is a fundamental pillar of the standard model of cosmology, which aims to explain the big bang and how the universe has evolved in the 13.7bn years since. Continue reading...
The tree all but vanished in the 1970s. Now, thanks to two amateur nature lovers, it may soon grace our landscapes againConstable painted them. Shakespeare wrote of them. And Francis Drake sailed the world in a ship made from them. English elms were a mainstay of England's landscape and culture - until they all but disappeared to Dutch elm disease in the 1970s.Since that devastation, when 25m elms were felled, enthusiasts and academics have searched for varieties resistant to the fungus spread by Scolytus beetles that kills the trees. Continue reading...
Manage your mum's care from a distance. Don't get sucked into her orbitThe question My father was violent and my mother emotionally fragile. I took on a parental role from the age of around 11, trying to manage my dad's moods, keep my mum's spirits up and take care of my younger brother. Mum often leaned on me and I felt responsible for her stability. We were often punished in cruel ways. I was also abused sexually by a family friend". When we finally escaped our father, Mum moved this friend into our first safe" home as her partner, where he continued to abuse me. As adults, my brother and I maintain strict boundaries and there is judgment from the wider family for this.With a lot of therapy I have managed to forge a life for myself, which can still feel as though it shouldn't belong to me, with a loving partner and warm friends. I have worked in a professional role for 15 years. Yet I struggle to feel confident and competent. I often fear losing the life I've built. I maintain contact with Mum, because I don't want to hurt her and I know she doesn't recognise how things were, but I don't feel the normal" feelings people feel towards their parents. Continue reading...
by Hosted by Savannah Ayoade-Greaves; written by Mari on (#6M1VE)
Marina Hyde with her take on Dwayne The Rock' Johnson's surreal US presidential bid (1m23s); Emine Saner meets the sociopath who learned to behave - and found happiness (8m05s); why Gen Z has fallen in love with Sex and the City (24m45s); and do our political opponents really hate us? (29m54s). Continue reading...
Male-on-male aggression more frequent among bonobos than chimps, but aggression between males and females less commonBonobos are not quite the peace-loving primates they have long been considered, researchers say, after finding that males show more aggression towards each other than chimpanzees.Bonobos and chimpanzees are humans' closing living relatives. While chimpanzees are known to show aggression against each other - sometimes to the point of death - bonobos have long been thought to live more harmoniously, with no known killings. The difference has led to the theory that natural selection works against aggression in male bonobos. Continue reading...
Cass review found professionals in the field are scared to discuss views amid risk of reputational damage and online abuseCritical thinking and open debate are pillars of scientific and medical research. Yet experienced professionals are increasingly scared to openly discuss their views on the treatment of children questioning their gender identity.This was the conclusion drawn by Hilary Cass in her review of gender identity services for children this week, which warned that a toxic debate had resulted in a culture of fear. Continue reading...
Science | The Guardian