Doctors found some patients could rely on chemotherapy and surgery alone to treat the diseaseThousands of bowel cancer patients could be spared radiotherapy, a study suggests, after doctors discovered they could rely on chemotherapy and surgery alone to treat their disease.Radiotherapy has been used to treat bowel cancer patients for decades, but the side-effects can be brutal. It can cause problems that negatively affect quality of life, including infertility, the need for a temporary colostomy, diarrhoea, cramping and bladder problems. Continue reading...

Irish author Naoise Dolan on taking refuge in the German capitalI’ve lived in Berlin for nine months now and I have stopped thinking of myself as “learning German”. Instead I hunt daily for German I still don’t know. I enter new words into a flashcard app on my phone and slowly the proportion of German-yet-unknown-to-me diminishes. If I happen to emerge from this process a Germanophone, well and good. But I have never achieved anything by obsessing over a long-term goal; I need to be having fun in the here-and-now to see any sustained project to completion. All the same, I’m easily amused. My flashcard app delights me.I moved here last summer from London, where I had essentially lost my mind. (This rationale doesn’t go well in small talk, so I tend to claim instead that I wanted a change of scene.) Continue reading...

Taking the drug osimertinib once a day after surgery reduces chance of patients dying by 51%, trials showA pill taken once a day cuts the risk of dying from lung cancer by half, according to “thrilling” and “unprecedented” results from a decade-long global study.Taking the drug osimertinib after surgery dramatically reduced the risk of patients dying by 51%, results presented at the world’s largest cancer conference showed. Continue reading...

Quick and simple tests in GP surgeries could detect cancer of the oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, colon or liverSimply blowing into a bag at a GP’s surgery could show that a patient has cancer. That is the aim of an ambitious new project that is going through its final clinical trials in the UK. If successful, cancer breath tests could be used in a few years in order to pinpoint a range of tumours in the early stages of their development.The technique is primarily aimed at detecting cancers of the gut, including those of the oesophagus, stomach, pancreas and colon, but could also be used to pinpoint cases of liver cancer. In total, these tumours formed more than 20% of all cancer cases in the world, said the project’s leader, Prof George Hanna of Imperial College London. “We have been working on this technique for more than 15 years and have now reached the stage where we are going through final clinical trials,” he told the Observer. Continue reading...

The recent arrest of a number of high-profile scientists has led the scientific community to fear they are being targeted by the KremlinAs Russia’s war in Ukraine has grown into an existential conflict for the Kremlin over the past 15 months, its search for internal enemies has intensified, with a sharp rise in treason cases that experts have equated to a “spymania”.While many of the treason cases focus on those allegedly fighting for or aiding Ukraine, others have burrowed into seemingly loyal state institutions, such as the scientific research centres that helped research the very weaponry that Russia is using to strike Ukraine. Continue reading...

Since the pandemic there has been a steep rise in cases of ADHD among children. Here, experts discuss why, parents describe their struggles and campaigners say what needs to changeAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that is shrouded in misunderstanding, uncertainty and controversy. There is, for example, no definitive agreement on how many people have the condition. In the UK, one survey has put the incident rate in childhood (five to 15 years old) at just over 2% (3.62% of boys and 0.85% of girls). ADHD support groups cite figures of 5%. One UK study found 11% with symptoms but 6.7% with disorder and impairment.Even the name can be misleading. “We don’t have a deficit of attention,” says Henry Shelford, co-founder of ADHD UK, a charity aimed at raising awareness of the disorder. “It’s a lack of control of attention. And people with predominant hyperactivity make up our smallest cohort.” Continue reading...

Role of eat out to help out scheme in increased cases and Treasury hostility to scientific advice may come under spotlightAt the start of a Tory leadership debate hosted by the Sun last July, Rishi Sunak made a series of statements which, 10 months on, all ring equally hollow.Facing Liz Truss – the contest’s eventual winner – Sunak was at pains to acknowledge that Sun readers were struggling with the cost of living. But he also wanted to temper his concern for them with optimism about Britain’s prospects. Continue reading...

Leading scientist attacks prime minister as criticism mounts of government approach to science during the crisisRishi Sunak is facing a barrage of criticism in the run-up to the official Covid-19 inquiry as a leading scientist attacks his “spectacularly stupid” Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which is believed to have caused a sudden rise in cases of the virus.The prime minister’s role as chancellor during the pandemic is under increasing scrutiny – as is that of his predecessor at No 10, Boris Johnson – in an escalating Covid blame game at Westminster as Lady Hallett prepares to open her investigation into the government’s pandemic response later this month. Continue reading...

The lessons to be learned from the government’s mistakes in handling of the coronavirus are crucial. We need all the factsIf one clear lesson is to be taken from our response to the arrival of Covid-19 three years ago, it is an appreciation of the highly effective role played by scientists in fighting the pandemic. Within weeks of the Sars-CoV-2 virus emerging, researchers had sequenced every one of its genes and had pinpointed the cells through which Covid-19 enters the body. By the end of the year, they had used that knowledge to create a safe, tested vaccine that played a crucial role in ending the pandemic. More than 7 million people across the planet have died of Covid-19 but the death toll would have been far higher had researchers not acted with such speed and potency.Yet it is also becoming clear that on many occasions scientists were not listened to by national leaders. Economics and short-term political considerations were often given greater priority than scientific concerns. These resulted in failures to limit the spread of Covid-19. It is for this reason that the UK inquiry into the nation’s pandemic response, chaired by Heather Hallett, should be followed with rigorous attention. Continue reading...

The revolutionary treatment has been shown to significantly shrink tumours in almost half of patients with the diseaseThousands of women with ovarian cancer could benefit from a revolutionary drug combination after it was shown to significantly shrink tumours in almost half of patients with the disease.The new treatment blocks tumour growth, helping keep the disease at bay for years. Experts said the “fantastic” and “very exciting” results from clinical trials of the drug combination, presented at the world’s largest cancer conference this weekend, showed it was “far more effective” than any available option for patients. Continue reading...

The Human Cell Atlas is already helping to ensure safer pregnancies, and scientists believe it will help them understand many other conditionsIt provides oxygen and nutrients for a growing baby, removes waste products as they build up in its blood, and protects the life of the foetus. Yet the placenta, the temporary organ that cherishes the unborn, is a puzzle. It carries the DNA of the newly formed child but manages to elude immune responses from its genetically distinct mother.Understanding how the placenta survives and functions is of critical importance in ensuring pregnancies are healthy and viable – and thanks to a remarkable global project, the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), researchers are now uncovering the secrets of its behaviour. Continue reading...

The emerging technology is causing pratfalls all over – not least tech bosses begging for someone to regulate themThis story begins on 27 August 2019, when Roberto Mata was a passenger on an Avianca flight 670 from El Salvador to New York and a metal food and drink trolley allegedly injured his knee. As is the American way, Mata duly sued Avianca and the airline responded by asking that the case be dismissed because “the statute of limitations had expired”. Mata’s lawyers argued on 25 April that the lawsuit should be continued and appending a list of over half a dozen previous court cases that apparently set precedents supporting their argument.Avianca’s lawyers and Judge P Kevin Castel then dutifully embarked on an examination of these “precedents”, only to find that none of the decisions or the legal quotations cited and summarised in the brief existed. Continue reading...

Nice approves mavacamten, used to treat obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, in draft guidance to NHSA first-of-its-kind treatment targeting a chronic heart disease could offer a “greater hope” to thousands of people living with the condition.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has approved the use of mavacamten in draft guidance to the NHS. It would be used to treat those with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), with about 7,000 people expected to benefit. Continue reading...

Horizontal structures, up to 10 light years in length, appear to point in direction of galaxy’s black holeAstronomers have discovered hundreds of mysterious cosmic threads that point towards the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, after a survey of the galaxy.The strange filaments, each of which stretches five to 10 light years through space, resemble the dots and dashes of morse code on a vast scale. They spread out from the galactic centre 25,000 light years from Earth like fragmented spokes on an enormous wheel. Continue reading...

Trial results presented at US oncology conference suggest ribociclib could be gamechanging and boost survival rate significantlyThousands of women with the world’s most common form of breast cancer could benefit from a blockbuster drug that helps them live longer and cuts the risk of the disease returning by a quarter.More than 2 million people globally are diagnosed each year with the disease, which is the world’s most prevalent cancer. Although treatments have improved in recent decades, many patients will later experience the cancer returning. If a recurrence does occur, it is often at a more advanced stage. Continue reading...

A scheme training visually impaired women to use their heightened tactile abilities benefits patients and examinersThe most satisfying part of Ritika Maurya’s work is reassuring the anxious. “Women fear coming for breast examinations,” says Maurya. “What if a lump is found in my breast? Will that be the end of my life? These are some of the questions that haunt them all the time.”Maurya is, she says, “still learning to be good at this”. As a blind child, she had a sheltered upbringing with protective parents who rarely let her leave the house. Continue reading...

Using chemicals in the environment can save wildlife from deadly pathogens, but process is not without risks, say expertsJoseph Hoyt and his team first showed up to the abandoned mineshaft in Wisconsin during the late summer of 2017, personal protective equipment in hand. Long before Covid-19, the supplies were to protect them from the chlorine dioxide gas they had brought along. Their aim was to use the disinfectant gas to kill the Pseudogymnoascus destructans fungus lining the walls of the mineshaft, which had already killed millions of bats across North America.“You’re talking about essentially an entire taxonomic group that has been reduced by over 90% – it’s like the equivalent of losing all birds or something like that,” says Hoyt, an assistant professor in disease ecology at Virginia Tech University. This isn’t just bad for the victims – bats play an essential role in ecosystems by consuming large numbers of insects, dispersing seeds and pollinating. Continue reading...

As tech changes the world, Ghana has the young experts to unlock the next industrial revolution, says the vice-presidentAs we see the artificial intelligence furore sweep across continents, one thing is clear: Africans have a goldmine at our fingertips. A rapidly growing population of 1.4 billion people, 70% under the age of 30, combined with huge growth in AI investments, creates a potent recipe for Africa. We will not sit back and wait for the rest of the world to reap our rewards.Africa and the Middle East are set to see the fastest growth in AI spending worldwide, reaching $3bn (£2.4bn) this year and a predicted $6.4bn by 2026. Continue reading...

Food allergies appear to be increasing globally, but as scientific understanding improves, some experts believe we may one day be able to eliminate them altogether. Ian Sample speaks to Dr Kari Nadeau, an allergy specialist at Harvard School of Public Health and author of the book The End of Food Allergy, to discuss why food allergies are on the rise and what we can do to prevent – and possibly even cure – them Continue reading...

Alloy 3D-printed from metal powder rivals the conventional ‘magic metal’ – used in aerospace and biomedical engineering – for strength and sustainability

PM wants to see UK take key part in creating international agreement on how to develop AI capabilitiesRishi Sunak will tell Joe Biden next week the UK should become a global hub for developing international regulation of artificial intelligence, as the prime minister rapidly shifts his position on the emerging technology.Sunak will travel to Washington DC on 7 and 8 June for meetings with the US president, as well as members of Congress and business leaders. Officials have told the Guardian that while there, Sunak intends to raise the issue of AI regulation, and specifically call for Britain to play a leading role in coordinating the formulation of global guidelines for its use. Continue reading...

Nice approves rimegepant for preventing migraines in cases where at least three previous treatments have failedThousands of people in England who get migraines could benefit from a drug that has been approved on the NHS.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), the drugs regulator, said it was recommending rimegepant for preventing migraines in the approximately 145,000 adults where at least three previous preventive treatments had failed. Continue reading...

This week New Yorkers celebrated the first Manhattanhenge of 2023. During the biannual celestial event the setting sun lines up between skyscrapers and bathes the city in a golden glow Continue reading...

The Heege Manuscript which ‘pokes fun at everyone, high and low’ is among the earliest evidence of the life and work of a real minstrelFrom mocking kings and priests to encouraging audiences to get drunk, newly discovered texts at the National Library of Scotland have shed light on the role played by minstrels in medieval society.Containing the earliest recorded use of the term “red herring” in English, the texts are part of a booklet known as the Heege Manuscript. Dr James Wade of the University of Cambridge, who discovered them, said echoes of minstrel humour can be found “in shows such as Mock the Week, situational comedies and slapstick”. Continue reading...

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authorsThis week, from 2020:When he was six, Paul Alexander contracted polio and was paralysed for life. Today he is 74, and one of the last people in the world still using an iron lung. But after surviving one deadly outbreak, he did not expect to find himself threatened by another Continue reading...

‘Extraordinary’ sighting may open window on possibility of life beneath Enceladus’s icy outer crustAstronomers have spotted an enormous plume of water vapour blasting out of Enceladus, a tiny moon of Saturn that is considered one of the most promising places to find life beyond Earth.The record-breaking plume reached nearly 6,000 miles into space – covering the distance between Ireland and Japan – and poured water into the void at an estimated rate of 300 litres a second. Continue reading...

Traces of Yersinia pestis bacteria were found in teeth of people buried at bronze age sites in Cumbria and SomersetThe oldest evidence for the plague in Britain has been discovered in 4,000-year-old human remains unearthed at bronze age burial sites in Cumbria and Somerset.Traces of Yersinia pestis bacteria were found in the teeth of individuals at the Levens Park ring cairn monument near Kendal, and Charterhouse Warren in the Mendips, a site where at least 40 men, women and children were buried, dismembered, in a natural shaft. Continue reading...

Virologist George Gao also states for first time that China has investigated claim virus came from a laboratoryThe former director of China’s Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) has said the lab leak theory for the origins of Covid-19 should not be discounted.George Gao, an internationally respected virologist, also said another branch of the Chinese government had investigated the lab leak theory – the first such acknowledgment that some kind of official investigation took place. “They haven’t found wrongdoing,” he said. Continue reading...

Biological facilities in the US and around the world suffer breaches, including of potentially pandemic-causing pathogens, but are shrouded in secrecyAt biological research facilities across the United States and around the world, hundreds of safety breaches happen every year at labs experimenting with dangerous pathogens. Scientists and other lab workers are bitten by infected animals, stuck by contaminated needles and splashed with infectious fluids. They are put at risk of exposures when their protective gear malfunctions or critical building biosafety systems fail.And, like all humans, the people working in laboratories make mistakes and they sometimes cut corners or ignore safety procedures – even when working with pathogens that have the potential to cause a global pandemic.Alison Young is an investigative reporter and the Curtis B Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Reporting at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Her book Pandora’s Gamble: Lab Leaks, Pandemics, and a World at Risk was released on 25 AprilDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

A flood of new research is overturning old assumptions about what animal minds are and aren’t capable of – and changing how we think about our own speciesGiraffes will eat courgettes if they have to, but they really prefer carrots. A team of researchers from Spain and Germany recently took advantage of this preference to investigate whether the animals are capable of statistical reasoning. In the experiment, a giraffe was shown two transparent containers holding a mixture of carrot and courgette slices. One container held mostly carrots, the other mostly courgettes. A researcher then took one slice from each container and offered them to the giraffe with closed hands, so it couldn’t see which vegetable had been selected.In repeated trials, the four test giraffes reliably chose the hand that had reached into the container with more carrots, showing they understood that the more carrots were in the container, the more likely it was that a carrot had been picked. Monkeys have passed similar tests, and human babies can do it at 12 months old. But giraffes’ brains are much smaller than primates’ relative to body size, so it was notable to see how well they grasped the concept. Continue reading...

Every year, the world’s leaders gather for the UN climate change conference. At Cop28, they will be faced with two stark warnings from scientists: we are likely to breach 1.5C warming above pre-industrial levels in the next five years, and we are on course to reach 2.7C of warming by the end of the century. Progress has never been more critical and this year it lies in the hands of the United Arab Emirates, a country that has plans to expand its already extensive oil and gas productions.With six months to go, Madeleine Finlay talks to environment correspondent Fiona Harvey about Cop28’s hosts and president, why this year is particularly key, and how close we are getting to irreversible climate tipping pointsRead more of Fiona Harvey’s reporting on Cop28 here Continue reading...

Research found 71-year-olds with high flavanol consumption had better memory functionPeople who have a diet rich in flavanols, which are found in tea, apples and berries, may be less likely to develop age-related memory loss, research suggests.A three-year study of 3,562 people aged about 71 found those with high regular flavanol consumption had better hippocampal memory function, which includes short-term memory-making, than those who didn’t. Continue reading...

Kate Bingham, who chaired UK’s Covid vaccine taskforce, tells Hay festival she hopes mind-altering drugs could treat mental illnessThe former chair of the UK’s Covid vaccine taskforce has described the use of psychedelics to treat depression as an “area of real excitement” in a talk at the Hay literary festival in Wales.Speaking at a panel event alongside the UK government’s former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, Kate Bingham said she was hopeful that the drugs could have a positive impact on mental ill health. Continue reading...

The answers to today’s mind-spinnersEarlier today I set you these three puzzles. Here they are again with solutions.1. Roll with it Continue reading...

Puzzles to put your head in a spinUPDATE: the answers can be read hereGather round. Today’s puzzles are all about going in circles. Onward with the revolution!1. Roll with it Continue reading...

Atmospheric methane and industrial pollutants suggested as reasons for lack of noctilucent cloud sightings before 1885Late spring, early summer marks the beginning of noctilucent cloud season in the northern hemisphere. The name derives from Latin, where noctilucent means “night shine”. These beautiful cloud formations can often be seen during the summer months shining with an electric blue colour against the darkening western sky about 30 minutes after the sun sets.The origin of the noctilucent clouds remains mysterious. They are the highest known clouds in Earth’s atmosphere, existing at an altitude of about 80km (50 miles), which is virtually the edge of space. They are regarded as being too high and too tenuous to have any effect on the weather at ground level. Continue reading...

Recently described as a public health emergency, profound loneliness can affect anyone craving deeper connectionsIn the UK 25 million people report they are occasionally, sometimes or often lonely, according to the Campaign to End Loneliness. In the US the surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, recently disclosed his own experience of “profound loneliness” as he released his national strategy highlighting just how many people experience loneliness as well as potential solutions to alleviate it. Murthy emphasised that loneliness has escalated into a public health emergency, affecting one in two Americans, with health impacts as serious as addiction and obesity, and warned it was as dangerous to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.Murthy’s candid account of his own loneliness was picked up by multiple media outlets and resonated deeply with my client Murray*. Like many people, Murray struggled to understand that loneliness doesn’t just affect people who are socially isolated or who live alone. Murray is professionally successful, earns a higher-than-average income and lives with a partner and teenage children. He plays sport, helps with his children’s sport clubs and keeps a busy round of dinners and social events for work. Murray sought help for anxiety which he found scary and surprising. He’d begun experiencing overwhelming panic attacks that took hold of him at unpredictable times and seemingly without warning. Murray felt ashamed and helpless and just wanted the attacks to stop. In telling me about himself he didn’t mention any feelings of loneliness.These terms are often used interchangeably, but they’re actually different. Social isolation is the objective state of being alone. In contrast, loneliness is the subjective experience of disconnection. This means that you could be around other people, yet still feel lonely.Why might that be? Loneliness can arise from not feeling seen, understood, or validated. It can come from spending time with people who don’t share your values or interests. It can also come from too many superficial interactions and not enough deeper connections. Continue reading...

When this newspaper’s photographer and his 25-year-old daughter attempt the rarely climbed 1,700m spire in New Zealand’s Milford Sound the obstacles appear overwhelmingFive years ago, I stood at the end of a knife-edge ridge, a tangle of blue rope at my feet, my 25-year-old daughter Lilidh by my side. I knew we were beaten – we hadn’t made it anywhere near the top. I had pulled back from the brink, no longer able to feign competence. Despite my best efforts I realised I simply did not have the technical skills needed to proceed. Lilidh felt crushed by our defeat that day.It had begun casually enough. Lilidh lived and worked near Queenstown, New Zealand, as a trekking guide on multi-day hikes. When I visited her, we would head into the surrounding valleys and mountains for adventures. Back in 2018, two months before one of these trips, Lilidh had suggested we try Mitre Peak. Continue reading...

Threat posed by ‘provocative’ Russia and China has left US no choice but to prepare for orbital skirmishesThe US is ready for conflict in outer space, according to a senior military official, after developing anti-satellite technologies to counter the threats posed by “provocative” countries such as Russia and China.Brig Gen Jesse Morehouse at US Space Command, the arm of the military responsible for space operations, said Russian aggression and China’s vision to become the dominant space power by mid-century, had left the US with “no choice” but to prepare for orbital skirmishes. Continue reading...

The remarkable journey of Ben Abeles will be celebrated next week by the opening of a new archiveBen Abeles’ impact on science was out of this world. He helped develop alloys that were key components of the radioisotope generators that powered US robot space probes on their interplanetary journeys. Nasa was then able to reveal the wonders of the solar system, from the ancient river beds of Mars to the icy moons of Jupiter.One of the devices is still in use, providing electricity for the Perseverance robot rover that currently trundles across the surface of the red planet. Continue reading...

Frederick Cook claimed to have reached the top of the world, but a new book says he was lyingWho was the first person to reach the north pole? According to American adventurer Frederick Cook, it was him. But now a new book will set out the evidence that the explorer’s 114-year-old claim was an instance of fake news on a global scale.In The Explorer and the Journalist, author Richard Evans has examined the greatest scandal in polar history, reigniting a debate that has smouldered since September 1909, when Cook, who had been missing for a year, sent out a telegram announcing he had reached the pole in 1908. Continue reading...

Despite the demise of Virgin Orbit, the UK’s first spaceports should open in 2024‘Yesterday afternoon, shattering the moorland peace of Inverard, in North Argyll, powered jets burst into action. For the second time in two months a space ship took off, its fiery trail vanishing wisp-like into the blue autumn sky.”Thus Angus MacVicar began his novel Return to the Lost Planet, with words that have stayed with me since its publication in 1954 and its later serialisation by the BBC. Scotland was here depicted as an international centre of rocketry, with its glens and hills regularly reverberating to the sound of missions blasting their way to other worlds, in this case “the lost planet” of Hesikos. Continue reading...

More and more of us suffer from allergies, and medicine is struggling to keep up. Rebecca Seal talks to medical anthropologist Theresa MacPhailWhen Theresa MacPhail was four, her brother was killed in an accident. When she was 14, her mother died in a car crash. And when she was 24, her father died from anaphylactic shock after a bee flew in through the open window of his truck and stung him in the neck. For anyone else, these devastating experiences would almost certainly have been psychologically catastrophic. “I have several friends who are psychology professors, and they’re always saying, ‘No offence but, by rights, you should be a drug addict, or have severe emotional issues,’” she says, smiling, over Zoom from her home in New York, wearing a cheerful sweatshirt covered in luminous kittens.Instead, MacPhail decided to use what she’d been through as the bedrock for her PhD at UC Berkeley, and then her career as a medical anthropologist. She laughs. “I’m like the doyenne of death. I have been thinking my whole life about the things that make people ill and pass away, because of my history. These are the waters I’ve been in since I was a kid. Rather than ignoring it, I decided to go at all my fears and insecurities about mortality. And then I basically made it my profession.” Continue reading...

The Yale professor and long Covid expert on why the virus is causing ongoing illness for so many, and the challenges she faces as a woman of colour in scienceAccording to the most recent estimates, more than 65 million people worldwide may be living with some form of long Covid, a startling number that will only continue to increase, given the lack of available treatment options.One of the scientists leading the race to try to unravel the complexities of long Covid is Akiko Iwasaki, an immunology professor at Yale School of Medicine. Iwasaki has been at the forefront of numerous research breakthroughs throughout the course of the pandemic, from understanding why men were more vulnerable to the Sars-CoV-2 virus, the autoimmunity that made some people unexpectedly susceptible, and why a small minority have experienced heart inflammation in response to the Covid-19 vaccines. Most recently, Iwasaki has been awarded the prestigious Else Kröner Fresenius Prize for Medical Research, worth €2.5m (£2.2m), in part due to her ongoing work on long Covid. Continue reading...

The increased use of light-emitting diodes is obscuring our view of the Milky Way as well as taking a toll on human and wildlife healthThe Herefordshire hills basked in brilliant sunshine last weekend. Summer had arrived and the skies were cloudless, conditions that would once have heralded succeeding nights of coal-dark heavens sprinkled with brilliant stars, meteorites and planets.It was not to be. The night sky was not so much black as dark grey with only a handful of stars glimmering against this backdrop. The Milky Way – which would once have glittered across the heavens – was absent. Summer’s advent had again revealed a curse of modern times: light pollution. Continue reading...

Smarter Food ramps up production of its GRextra plant strain that helps lower elevated blood glucose levelsImagine eating a bowl of soup once a week that could help bring down your blood sugar levels and so reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.This may sound like wishful thinking or the latest fad, but Smarter Food says this is already a reality for its customers. Continue reading...

Research provides a unique review of contact chemicals in packaging, utensils, plates, etc and how they contaminate foodRecycled and reused food contact plastics are “vectors for spreading chemicals of concern” because they accumulate and release hundreds of dangerous toxins like styrene, benzene, bisphenol, heavy metals, formaldehyde and phthalates, new research finds.The study assessed hundreds of scientific publications on plastic and recycled plastic to provide a first-of-its-kind systematic review of food contact chemicals in food packaging, utensils, plates and other items and what is known about how the substances contaminate food. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Injury research suggests training not keeping up with demands of elite women’s gameCoaching methods are failing to keep up with the rapidly increasing demands of women’s professional football, resulting in more hamstring injuries among top female players. Experts are calling for women to be trained at a higher level to prevent such injuries.The incidence of hamstring injuries in female footballers has historically been lower than in men, but these figures are changing at the elite level and the incidence is now similar. They are the most common injury subtype among elite-level female players, accounting for 12-16% of all time-loss injuries. Continue reading...

Succession creator, Jesse Armstrong, on why the show nearly didn’t happen (1m24s), Marina Hyde is amused by the idea of the home secretary being too famous to attend an online speed awareness course (15m15s), and a hostage negotiator reveals the secrets that could transform your life (23m32s). Continue reading...

It gives a whole new meaning to ‘going with the flow’ Continue reading...