Sunrise is a majestic spectacle - but we should be grateful for the miles of vacuum between us and the starDawn on a still morning is a majestic spectacle, as sunlight spills silently across the landscape and the Earth gradually emerges from darkness. Sunrise has inspired countless pieces of music striving to express this soundless experience in audible form. But if we could actually hear the sun, it would be deafening.The sun is a giant nuclear fusion reactor, converting hydrogen into helium and releasing massive amounts of energy in the form of heat - and sound. Sound is essentially vibration and needs a medium to travel through. Continue reading...
Gene-altering chemicals found in humpback dolphins and finless porpoises, raising alarm they may end up in human food chainToxic e-waste chemicals from television, computer and smartphone screens have been found in the brains and bodies of endangered dolphins and porpoises in the South China Sea.Research published in Environmental Science & Technology detected significant levels of gene-altering liquid crystal monomers (LCMs) in Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and finless porpoises. Continue reading...
Study finds participants saw reduction in depressive symptoms as researchers welcome promising' resultsA phase II clinical trial has found dimethyltryptamine (DMT), one of the psychoactive components traditionally used in the Amazonian psychedelic ritual ayahuasca, might be a promising therapy for depression.The psychedelic pharmaceutical company Small Pharma (now Cybin UK) sponsored and designed the trial, which was led by Dr David Erritzoe, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Imperial College London. The results were published in Nature this month. Continue reading...
It makes rejection, teasing or criticism feel unbearable, often prompting a strong physical reaction. Sufferers describe life with a condition that is only just starting to be understoodJenna Turnbull's chest is tightening. The 36-year-old civil servant, who lives in Cardiff, can picture herself as she speaks: an 11-year-old in her PE kit waiting with the other kids for her lesson to start. We were outside by the courts waiting to play netball," she says. Somebody commented that I had hairy arms, one of the boys." Her voice wobbles. The incident was clearly juvenile; rationally, she knows that. Yet 25 years on, her embarrassment is still visceral, with the power to cause instant physical discomfort.She searches for another example of her acute reaction to teasing and recalls a trip to the pub with her friends six years ago. Amid the loud conversation and laughter, a quip was made in the group about her being untidy at home. Or that's how she perceived it. About me not keeping on top of the house," she recalls. The person was having a laugh. It was just something that was said off the cuff." Yet while the memory and detail is hazy, the shame she feels about it is not. That comment still haunts me," she says. After that pub outing, she started cleaning her house obsessively - to such an extreme that it became one of the symptoms leading to her diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). I've been known to spend four or five hours cleaning my bathroom," she says. Continue reading...
Researchers discover rare periods of a few thousands years when climate unexpectedly awoke from slumberDuring the "snowball Earth" period about 700m years ago, Earth's climate shut down. The planet was encased in ice and insulated from seasonal variations: spring, summer, autumn and winter all stopped. Or at least that was the theory.Recent examination of some ancient rocks from the west coast of Scotland has now overturned that thinking, suggesting there were periods during snowball Earth when the climate woke up. Continue reading...
Those with the condition share varying views of John Davidson's tic during Sunday's awards ceremonyIt was an incident that sparked a furore: during Sunday's Bafta ceremony Tourette syndrome (TS) activist John Davidson made several outbursts, including shouting the N-word as actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting a prize on stage.Among others to comment on the incident were actors including Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Wendell Pierce, who starred alongside Jordan in The Wire. Continue reading...
Grace Bell says she is the happiest I've ever been in my life' after giving birth to baby Hugo in UK firstA baby boy named Hugo is the first child to be born in the UK to a mother with a womb transplant from a dead donor.Hugo Powell was delivered at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea hospital in London weighing 3.09kg (6lb 13oz), after his mother, Grace Bell, received a transplanted womb from someone who had died. Continue reading...
Wold Newton, East Yorkshire: On a dreary day in a nondescript field, I visit the site where a 4.56 billion-year-old bit of space rock came to EarthOn a low rise, beyond a screen of trees, behind a small holiday park in the Yorkshire Wolds, a brick obelisk stands incongruously at the edge of an otherwise nondescript field. It bears a plaque inscribed as follows: Here, on this spot, Decr. 13th, 1795 / fell from the Atmosphere AN EXTRAORDINARY STONE / In breadth 28 inches / Inlength 36 inches..."The words are carved in a variety of enthusiastic fonts, with the opening Here" given particularly earnest flourish. The extraordinary,extraterrestrial stone in question is the Wold Cottage meteorite, the first from anywhere to be widely recognised as a rock from outer space. After a 4.56bn-year journey, it now rests in the Treasures Gallery of the NaturalHistory Museum. Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample, with Madeleine Finlay, pr on (#73SFX)
For a long time fat was seen simply as an inert yellow substance wrapping around our bodies, but now that's changing. Scientists are beginning to understand that our fat is actually intricate and dynamic, constantly in conversation with the rest of the body. It's now even considered by some to be an organ in its own right. To find out more about the complex role fat plays in our health, Ian Sample hears from co-host Madeleine Finlay and from Declan O'Regan, professor of cardiovascular AI at Imperial College LondonSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
Vulnerable young people, partners of drug users and victims of sexual violence also among those afflicted in world's fastest growing HIV epidemicThe night her baby's heart stopped, Clare* blamed herself. Had she taken her out in the cold too much? Had she damaged her lungs by drinking iced water when she was pregnant? She fixated on Andi's tiny chest, willing it to suck in air, rushing her to hospital in Fiji for the second time in as many days.All through the early hours Andi* clung to life. Doctors performed CPR several times, puncturing the month-old baby's chest to insert a drain, removing fluid from around her lungs. She was really, really sick and they didn't know what was going on ... she was getting weaker and weaker," Clare says. She sat by her daughter's bedside. She prayed. Continue reading...
Scientists have discovered source of neigh's unique combination of high- and low-pitched soundsHorses whinny to find new friends, greet old ones and celebrate happy moments like feeding time.How exactly horses produce that distinctive sound - also called a neigh - has long eluded scientists. Continue reading...
Solar system's largest planet remains a brilliant, unwavering beacon, forming a striking trio with Castor and PolluxThroughout this month, Jupiter has remained in the constellation Gemini, providing a reliable reference point in the evening sky - and it will continue to do so into March. As the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter shines brightly enough to cut through urban light pollution, making it easy to spot.Gemini is identified by its two principal stars, Castor and Pollux, which mark the twins' heads. During February, Jupiter sits between and slightly south of these stars, outshining both. Continue reading...
Hundreds of thousands of visitors expected for month-long display of 13th-century saint's remainsSaint Francis of Assisi's skeleton is going on full public display from Sunday for the first time, in a move that is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors.Inside a nitrogen-filled case with the Latin inscription Corpus Sancti Francisci" (the body of Saint Francis), the remains are being shown in the Italian hillside town's Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. Continue reading...
by Natricia Duncan Caribbean correspondent on (#73QS3)
Omar Yaghi's invention uses ambient thermal energy and can generate up to 1,000 litres of clean water every dayA Nobel laureate's environmentally friendly invention that provides clean water if central supplies are knocked out by a hurricane or drought could be a life saver for vulnerable islands, its founder says.The invention, by the chemist Prof Omar Yaghi, uses a type of science called reticular chemistry to create molecularly engineered materials, which can extract moisture from the air and harvest water even in arid and desert conditions. Continue reading...
Authorities suspect Carl Grillmair was shot by man arrested for carjacking, as friends mourn him as irreplaceable'A renowned California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientist who studied distant planets and other areas of astronomy for decades was recently shot to death at his home in a rural community outside Los Angeles, authorities said.Carl Grillmair, 67, died from a bullet wound to the torso on Monday in Llano, an unincorporated community in the Antelope Valley, according to information from the LA county medical examiner's office. The county sheriff's department said it had arrested a suspect in Grillmair's slaying, identifying him as 29-year-old Freddy Snyder. Continue reading...
Recruitment of children for study delayed after MHRA warns that participants should be no younger than 14A clinical trial into puberty blockers for children has been paused after the medicines regulator warned it should have a minimum age limit of 14 because of the unquantified risk" of long-term biological harms".Discussions between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the trial sponsor, King's College London, will begin next week to discuss the wellbeing concerns, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said on Friday evening. Continue reading...
Administrator Jared Isaacman cites major progress' since earlier discovery of liquid hydrogen leaking from rocketNasa said on Friday it was planning to launch its delayed Artemis II moon mission on 6 March after successfully completing a fueling test that had caused it to stand down earlier this month.Jared Isaacman, the space agency's newly confirmed administrator, cited major progress" since the original so-called wet dress rehearsal in which engineers discovered liquid hydrogen leaking from the space launch system (SLS) rocket on its Florida launchpad at Cape Canaveral. Continue reading...
Research adds weight to theory Arrokoth's two lobes produced by gravitational collapse - and reveals processIt is the most distant and primitive object ever visited by a spacecraft from Earth: now researchers say they have fresh insights into how the ultra-red, 4bn-year-old body known as Arrokoth came to have its distinctive snowman-like shape.Arrokoth sits in the Kuiper belt, a vast, thick ring of icy objects that lies beyond the orbit of Neptune. This region of space is home to most of the known dwarf planets as well as comets and small, solid rubble heaps called planetesimals - the building blocks of planets. Continue reading...
As Trump slashes science funding, young researchers flee abroad. Without solid innovation, the US could cease to have the largest biomedical ecosystem in the worldIn April 2025, less than three months after Donald Trump returned to the White House, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put out its latest public health alert on so-called superbugs", strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.These drug-resistant germs, the CDC warned, are responsible for more than 3m infections in the US each year, claiming the lives of up to 48,000 Americans. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay, with I on (#73P0P)
Madeleine Finlay sits down with science editor Ian Sample and science correspondent Nicola Davis to discuss three eye-catching stories, including the impact of a powerful psychedelic on depression, answers on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and an explanation to the mystery of why humans have chinsSingle dose of potent psychedelic drug could help treat depression, trial showsWas Navalny poisoning by frog toxin meant to send a message? Continue reading...
Scientists and philosophers studying the mind have discovered how little we know about our inner experiencesWhat was I thinking? This is not as easy or straightforward a question as I would have thought. As soon as you try to record and categorise the contents of your consciousness - the sense impressions, feelings, words, images, daydreams, mind-wanderings, ruminations, deliberations, observations, opinions, intuitions and occasional insights - you encounter far more questions than answers, and more than a few surprises. I'd always assumed that my stream of consciousness consisted mainly of an interior monologue, maybe sometimes a dialogue, but was surely composed of words; I'm a writer, after all. But it turns out that a lot of my so-called thoughts - a flattering term for these gossamer traces of mental activity - are preverbal, often showing up as images, sensations, or concepts, with words trailing behind as a kind of afterthought, belated attempts to translate these elusive wisps of meaning into something more substantial and shareable.I discovered this because I've been going around with a beeper wired to an earpiece that sends a sudden sharp note into my left ear at random times of the day. This is my cue to recall and jot down whatever was going on in my head immediately before I registered the beep. The idea is to capture a snapshot of the contents of consciousness at a specific moment in time by dipping a ladle into the onrushing stream. Continue reading...
by Presented by Annie Kelly with Fay Bound Alberti; p on (#73P3N)
Face transplant patient Robert Chelsea and writer Fay Bound Alberti talk through the promise - and darker side - of this pioneering surgeryIn 2019, Robert Chelsea made medical history, becoming the first black patient to ever have a full face transplant.He had previously suffered from a devastating car crash, leaving his face severely burnt. Once, he recalls to Annie Kelly, a little boy on the street shouted that he looked like a zombie'. Continue reading...
Hard disks and magnetic tape have a limited lifespan, but glass storage developed by Microsoft could last millenniaSome cultures used stone, others used parchment. Some even, for a time, used floppy disks. Now scientists have come up with a new way to keep archived data safe that, they say, could endure for millennia: laser-writing in glass.From personal photos that are kept for a lifetime to business documents, medical information, data for scientific research, national records and heritage data, there is no shortage of information that needs to be preserved for very long periods of time. Continue reading...
Prof Michael Wooldridge says scenario such as deadly self-driving car update or AI hack could destroy global interestThe race to get artificial intelligence to market has raised the risk of a Hindenburg-style disaster that shatters global confidence in the technology, a leading researcher has warned.Michael Wooldridge, a professor of AI at Oxford University, said the danger arose from the immense commercial pressures that technology firms were under to release new AI tools, with companies desperate to win customers before the products' capabilities and potential flaws are fully understood. Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample with Madeleine Finlay, pro on (#73M94)
Testimonials about the beneficial health effects of magnesium supplements abound online, with influencers claiming that a daily pill can help with everything from anxiety to sleep and brain fog. But do any of these claims stack up?Ian Sample is joined by co-host Madeleine Finlay to find out where the science stands. They also hear from Katherine Tucker, the founder of the Center for Population Health at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She explains what magnesium is doing in our bodies and the best approach we can take to ensure we are getting enoughSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
by Lucy Hough, Madeleine Finlay, Bryony Moore, Ryan R on (#73KXC)
Barack Obama has caused a frenzy after saying he thinks aliens are real during a podcast interview. The former US president was forced to release a statement clarifying he had not seen any evidence of extraterrestrials. There is a long-running conspiracy theory claiming the US government is hiding extraterrestrials at Area 51, a highly classified air force site in Nevada.
The answer to today's peaky poserEarlier today I set you this logic puzzle. Here is is again with the solution.(If you found it too simple. Here's a harder version.) Continue reading...
Researchers find DMT - used in shamanic rituals - in tandem with psychotherapy has significant effectPeople with major depressive disorder can see a rapid and lasting improvement after a single dose of the psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT) when it is combined with psychotherapy, doctors have said.A small clinical trial involving 34 people found that psychedelic-assisted therapy prompted a swift reduction in depressive symptoms that endured long after the drug had worn off, with some still feeling the benefits six months later. Continue reading...
A measles outbreak among unvaccinated children in London comes amid a global increase in infectionsA measles outbreak in London is affecting unvaccinated children under the age of 10, and comes amid an increase in infections globally.The UK was among six countries to lose the measles-free status granted by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month. Experts are calling on governments to urgently boost vaccination rates to stop measles infecting more children. Continue reading...
Moon was a distraction and Mars the goal for billionaire SpaceX chief - could Trump have influenced his U-turn?Barely a year ago, the moon was a distraction" to Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX then fixated on his ludicrously ambitious project to build a self-sustaining city on Mars within 20 years.Why bother returning to the orbiting chunk of rock humanity conquered half a century ago, he reasoned, when the greater prize of the red planet lay tantalizingly in reach for his company's mighty Starship rockets? Continue reading...
If plans by the UK's science funding body go ahead, we won't be able to benefit from Britain's membership of Cern and other large international projectsAlarm bells are ringing in the UK research community. Physics departments may close and researchers leave the UK. What is happening and why?The alarm comes from changes in the way taxpayers' money is invested by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which recently published its plan on how to disburse 38.6bn of public research and development funding over the next four years. Change is always unsettling, and as the UKRI's chief executive, Ian Chapman, says, there will always be those who lose out when change happens. Difficult choices must be made.Jon Butterworth is professor of physics at University College London, and a member of the ATLAS Collaboration at Cern Continue reading...
Logicians and their bonnetsUPDATE: Read the solution hereToday's puzzle is a new twist on a classic genre: the common knowledge" hat riddle in which logicians deduce facts about their hats based on what they know, and what they know others know.Head sums Continue reading...
Researchers say limited eating approaches such as 5:2 diet not a miracle solution' amid surge in their popularityIntermittent fasting is no better for shedding the pounds than conventional diets and is barely more effective than doing nothing, according to a major review of the scientific evidence.Researchers analysed data from 22 global studies and found people who are overweight or living with obesity lost as much weight by following traditional dietary advice as when they tried fasting regimes such as the 5:2 diet popularised by the late Michael Mosley. Continue reading...
Monogamy may be held up as an ideal, but evolution has other ideasMost of us know people in committed relationships, even lifelong marriages. And we also know stories about relationship transgressions, of partnerships tested or broken by infidelity.As an evolutionary biologist who studies sex and relationships, I'm fascinated by these two truths. We humans make romantic commitments to each other - and some also break those commitments by cheating. Continue reading...
Tablets could make treatment more mainstream, with sector predicted to be worth $200bn by end of the decadeI just felt slow: I want to be able to do anything my kids want to do and not have weight be a factor. Even a ride or a water park - things have weight limits," says Melody Ewert, 44, from Minnesota.Ewert has just switched from Eli Lilly's Zepbound weekly injection to Novo Nordisk's new daily Wegovy pill. Analysts believe the arrival of easy-to-take tablets could push weight-loss treatments further into the mainstream in a year that has been described as pivotal" for the booming anti-obesity market. The new pills, like the jabs, mimic the gut hormone GLP-1 that regulates appetite. Continue reading...
ISS now fully crewed after a medical issue forced the evacuation of four astronauts in JanuaryThe International Space Station (ISS) returned to full strength with Saturday's arrival of four new astronauts to replace colleagues who bailed early because of health concerns.SpaceX delivered the US, French and Russian astronauts a day after launching them from Cape Canaveral. Continue reading...
Pressure, frictional heating and a disordered layer of molecules on top of the ice make skating possibleIce skating is counterintuitive: why should a narrow blade make it easier to slide over the ice? The science is surprisingly complex, but unscientific people worked out the practical application a long time ago.William FitzStephen described how Londoners entertained themselves in freezing conditions in 1173: Crowds of young men go out to play on the ice. Some of them fit shinbones of cattle on their feet, tying them round their ankles ... and are carried along as fast as a flying bird." Continue reading...
Doubling of fish biomass and rebounding of endangered species shows government measures starting to work, biologists sayThe Yangtze River in China, which has been in ecological decline for 70 years, is showing signs of recovery thanks to a sweeping fishing ban.The ban was made more effective by the implementation of evolutionary game theory", which included finding alternative employment for fishers. Continue reading...
Physics research drives technological innovation, from medical imaging to data processing, write Dr Phil Bull and Prof Chris Clarkson; plus letters from Tim Gershon and Vincenzo Vagnoni, and Prof Paul HowarthYour article (UK could lose generation of scientists' with cuts to projects and research facilities, 6 February) is right to highlight the serious consequences of proposed 30% funding cuts on the next generation of physics and astronomy researchers. The proposals also risk a generational destruction of the country's ability to produce skilled graduates, retain specialist knowledge, and support physical science in industrial and educational settings.This comes against a backdrop of wider threats to university finances, from rising costs to declining international student numbers. An estimated one in four UK physics departments are already at risk of closure, and recent cuts and delays to Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) grants have further depletedfinances and will result in the loss of some highly skilled technical staff. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#73GXA)
Doyne Farmer says a super-simulator of the global economy would accelerate the transition to a green, clean worldIt's a mind-blowing idea: an economic model of the world in which every company is individually represented, making realistic decisions that change as the economy changes. From this astonishing complexity would emerge forecasts of unprecedented clarity. These would be transformative: no more flying blind into global financial crashes, no more climate policies that fail to shift the dial.This super simulator could be built for what Prof Doyne Farmer calls the bargain price of $100m, thanks to advances in complexity science and computing power. Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay, with Aisha Down, pr on (#73GTC)
In late January a new social media site took a certain corner of the internet by storm. Moltbook was conceived as a space where AI assistants could let off steam, chat and compare notes on their bosses, but it quickly became the focus of breathless claims that the singularity had arrived as the bots started badmouthing their humans and plotting an uprising. So what's the truth about Moltbook? Madeleine Finlay hears from Aisha Down about what it tells us about AI, and about us.What is Moltbook? The strange new social media site for AI botsSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
Cognitive health in later life is strongly influenced' by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments, say researchersReading, writing and learning a language or two can lower your risk of dementia by almost 40%, according to a study that suggests millions of people could prevent or delay the condition.Dementia is one of the world's biggest health threats. The number of people living with the condition is forecast to triple to more than 150 million globally by 2050, and experts say it presents a big and rapidly growing threat to future health and social care systems in every community, country and continent. Continue reading...
AMA to review safety of respiratory vaccines as health agencies end recommendations based on no new dataThe largest medical organization in the US will help conduct a review on the safety and effectiveness of respiratory vaccines as federal health agencies and advisers end vaccine recommendations based on no new information.They are filling a void that the government created," Ezekiel Emanuel, vice-provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, told journalists on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Orbex's collapse would put 150 jobs at risk and dash hopes of it launching first homegrown rocket from ScotlandA British space company hoping to launch the first homegrown rocket from Scotland is on the brink of collapse, threatening 150 jobs and throwing doubt over the UK's extraterrestrial ambitions.Orbex, which is based in the Scottish Highlands, is lining up administrators as hopes fade that it will strike a rescue deal or raise funds, despite having been handed 26m in government loans last year. Continue reading...
by Written by Stephen Buranyi and read by Andrew McGr on (#73FWT)
We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.This week, from 2022: A new wave of scientists argues that mainstream evolutionary theory needs an urgent overhaul. Their opponents have dismissed them as misguided careerists - and the conflict may determine the future of biologyBy Stephen Buranyi. Read by Andrew McGregor Continue reading...
Moderna requests meeting to discuss refusal as decision could have implications for all new and updated vaccinesUS regulators will not review Moderna's request to license a new, potentially more effective flu shot - even though the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously gave the green light to the project - in a decision that could have implications for all new and updated vaccines in the US.It's the latest move by the Trump administration against vaccines. Officials in January decided to stop fully recommending one-third of routine childhood vaccines, including flu vaccines. Continue reading...
Biggest improvements seen in young adults and new mothers, with group activities of most benefitAerobic exercise such as running, swimming or dancing can be considered a frontline treatment for mild depression and anxiety, according to research that suggests working out with others brings the most benefits.Scientists analysed published reviews on exercise and mental health and found that some of the greatest improvements were observed in young adults and new mothers - groups that are considered particularly vulnerable to mental health problems. Continue reading...
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