by Presented by Ian Sample, produced by Madeleine Fin on (#68KKE)
As we approach the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ian Sample talks to physicist Prof John Ellis, and Arctic governance expert Svein Vigeland Rottem, about how the world of science has had to adaptClip: BBC NewsIn the Arctic, in space, and at international research centres such as CERN, scientists have collaborated with colleagues from around the world to push the boundaries of human knowledge. Since the invasion of Ukraine last February some of that work has come under threat, as Russia’s ongoing role in scientific projects and institutes has come under scrutiny. Continue reading...
The solutions to today’s puzzlesEarlier today I set you these problems from Kvanta, a Ukrainian maths and coding club founded by the brothers Arsenii and Andrii Nikolaiev. Here they are again, this time with solutions.1. Match sticks Continue reading...
A young mathematician’s brilliant brainteasersUPDATE: To read the solutions click hereTodays puzzles are mostly written by Arsenii Nikolaiev, a Ukrainian mathematics undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge. Arsenii is a former silver medallist at the International Mathematical Olympiad, who, together with his brother Andrii, founded a maths and coding outreach club for Ukrainian schoolchildren, Kvanta, from which the problems below are taken.Ukraine has a strong tradition in mathematics. In order to ensure that this will continue during and after the war, a group of Ukrainian mathematicians last month announced the creation of the International Centre for Mathematics in Ukraine, an institution that will support high level research and train young scientists. They believe that maths will have a key role to play in the reconstruction of the country once the conflict is over. Continue reading...
For 84 years, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has tracked the lives of hundreds of Americans. Now its director, Robert Waldinger, is explaining what it has taught him about health and fulfilmentIn the 1980s, when data from the world’s longest-running study on happiness started to show that good relationships kept us healthier and happier, the researchers didn’t really believe it. “We know there’s a mind-body connection and we all pay lip service to it,” says Dr Robert Waldinger, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been running for 84 years. “But how could warmer relationships make it less likely that you would develop coronary artery disease or arthritis? How could relationships get into the body and affect our physiology?” Then, other studies started to show the same. “We thought: OK, we can begin to have confidence in this finding.”It was still a surprise, says Waldinger, but so convinced is he of this fundamental truth that the new book he has co-written with Dr Marc Schulz, The Good Life, focuses mainly on relationships and how to improve them. There are other components, of course, and they tend to be similar across countries, cultures and social grades (he points to the UN’s annual World Happiness report). These include good health and a healthy life expectancy, plus the freedom and capacity to make significant life decisions. Trust is important, he says – not just in friends and neighbours, but also in governments. “One interesting thing that people mention around the world is generosity and opportunities to be generous,” says Waldinger. Continue reading...
Locate Spica as starting point to trace out constellation of the virginWe start the month with a conjunction between the moon and Spica, which will allow us to pinpoint the constellation of Virgo, the virgin, in the sky.The chart shows the view looking due south from London at 4am GMT on 11 February. The conjunction will have been visible during the previous evening as well, rising up into the night sky from the east. The moon will be in its waning gibbous phase with almost 75% of its visible surface illuminated. Continue reading...
Josh Gabbatiss began survey of all living creatures more than two decades ago with corals, worms and jellyfishJosh Gabbatiss was nine when he precociously decided he was going to write an encyclopedia of every living creature, beginning with corals, worms and jellyfish.More than two decades later, aged 30, he has finally completed the project and could not be more proud. His final entry is one of our closest relatives, the chimpanzee. Continue reading...
Growing numbers are taking to the fields in search of fresh air, a sense of community and the odd piece of treasureEyes down, headphones on, arm sweeping across the ground, Mandy Duffin slowly paces a Warwickshire field with her metal detector. Suddenly she stops, and reaches for her spade.Duffin is not alone. Up and down the country, men, women and children are listening for the tantalising sound of electronic pips, wondering if today will be the day they turn up an intriguing remnant of the past. Continue reading...
Doctors say preventing obesity by avoiding unhealthy food is better than trying to reverse its effectsThe promise of breakthrough drugs to help people lose weight must not be used as an excuse to avoid tackling the root causes of obesity, experts have warned, as concerns grow over a scramble for the slimming jabs.According to recent figures, the proportion of adults in England who are obese rose from 14.9% to 28% between 1993 and 2019, while NHS England data reveals that in 2019-20 there were 10,780 hospital admissions directly attributable to obesity. Continue reading...
As the world’s top human genome editing researchers gather in London, the ethical issues posed by pioneering scientific advances will be high on their agendaThe name He Jiankui is not listed as a registered delegate for the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, which is to be held at the Francis Crick Institute in London next month. Yet the disgraced Chinese scientist will be on the minds of most of those attending. He will be a ghost at the feast of science.Jiankui was responsible for one of the most controversial acts in modern scientific history – as was revealed at the world’s previous genome editing summit, which was held in Hong Kong in 2018. In front of stunned delegates, the researcher, then based at China’s Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, announced he had changed the genetic make-up of three young girls in a bid to make them resistant to HIV. This modification – made when they were embryos – could then be passed on to future generations. Continue reading...
Electricity is involved in every aspect of life. But could the new science of bioelectricity help cure diseases and ‘upgrade’ humans?I was back at the checkpoint. The traffic moved as normal. Bored-looking soldiers waved through civilians on foot, dusty cars and rickety trucks full of livestock and produce.Then the Humvee in front of the gate blew up. Out of the eye-searing blast, I made out the figure of a man running at me, full-speed. He was wearing an explosive vest. I shot him. Continue reading...
The new chatbot is generating a lot of hype, but we would do well to consider its human and environmental costSometimes, those who would forget history are condemned to repeat it. For those of us with long memories, the current fuss – nay hysteria – surrounding ChatGPT (and “generative AI” generally) rings a bell.We have been here before: in January 1966, to be precise. That was the moment when Joseph Weizenbaum, a computer scientist at MIT, unveiled Eliza, which would have been called the world’s first chatbot if that term had existed at the time. Weizenbaum wrote the software (in a programming language intriguingly called MAD-SLIP) to demonstrate that communications between humans and computers were inevitably superficial. It did that by providing a text box in which one could exchange typed communications with the machine. Inside the program was a script (christened DOCTOR by Weizenbaum) which parodied the exchanges a patient might have with a psychotherapist who practised the person-centred therapy pioneered by Carl Rogers. (The program’s name came from Eliza Doolittle, the cockney lass who was taught to “speak proper” in Shaw’s play Pygmalion.) Continue reading...
Oxford and Cambridge universities, once given more than £130m a year in total by European research programmes, are now getting £1m annually between themOne of the UK’s most prestigious universities has seen its funding from a large European research programme plummet from £62m a year to nothing since Brexit, new figures show.The latest statistics from the European Commission reveal that Cambridge University, which netted €483m (£433m) over the seven years of the last European research funding programme, Horizon 2020, has not received any funding in the first two years of the new Horizon Europe programme. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#68H17)
Exclusive: He Jiankui stops short of apologising for procedure that shocked the world of science in 2018The scientist at the heart of the scandal involving the world’s first gene-edited babies has said he moved “too quickly” by pressing ahead with the procedure.He Jiankui sent shock waves across the world of science when he announced in 2018 that he had edited the genes of twin girls, Lulu and Nana, before birth. He was subsequently sacked by his university in Shenzhen, received a three-year prison sentence, and was broadly condemned for having gone ahead with the risky, ethically contentious and medically unjustified procedure with inadequate consent from the families involved. Continue reading...
Researchers hail ‘world-class discovery’ that suggests cave bears may have lived farther south than thoughtResearchers exploring a cave system in south-east Spain have discovered a huge cavern, sealed off for millennia, hung with huge stalactites and gouged by the claws of long-extinct cave bears, which, they claim, “opens a new door on prehistory”.The find was made at the Cueva del Arco, a collection of caves in the Almadenes gorge near the Murcian town of Cieza. Although the site had already yielded evidence of settlements stretching back 50,000 years – making it one of the few places in the eastern Iberian peninsula where the transition from Neanderthals to modern humans can be documented – experts digging there suspected it harboured further discoveries. Continue reading...
Kisspeptin found to bolster sexual responses by increasing brain activity linked to arousal and attractionPeople with a low sex drive could benefit from injections of a hormone called kisspeptin, according to clinical trials that found the shots can boost sexual responses.The trials are the first to show the hormone can increase activity in brain regions linked to arousal and attraction in men and women who are distressed by their low libidos. Continue reading...
The speeding C/2022 E3 (ZTF) and its icy tail will not be visible from most parts of Australia until 5 February – and won’t be visible again from Earth for a long, long time
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#68G05)
Scientists suggest patient’s own cells could be grown in the lab and used to repair stroke or trauma injuriesBlobs of human brain tissue have been transplanted into the brains of rats in work that could pave the way for new treatments for devastating brain injuries.The groundbreaking study showed that the “human brain organoids” – sesame seed-sized balls of neurons – were able to integrate into the rat brain, linking up with their blood supplies and communicating with the rat neurons. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#68G0G)
Two sections of the Thornborough Henges come off Historic England’s at-risk register after donationTwo enormous and thrillingly mysterious ancient monuments, part of a complex regarded as the Stonehenge of the north, have been given to the nation and will come off England’s heritage at-risk register.The Thornborough Henges, near Ripon, in North Yorkshire, are three huge, human-made, enclosed earth circles. Each is more than 200 metres in diameter and they date from 3500BC to 2500BC, making them late neolithic/early bronze age monuments. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Radiotherapy prior to operation could be key to reducing likelihood of tumours regrowing quickly, researchers sayThe NHS has begun a world-first clinical trial of a pioneering treatment technique aimed at extending the lives of people with brain tumours.A team of radiologists, neurosurgeons, oncologists, nurses, physicists and pathologists are using detailed MRI scans and highly targeted radiotherapy before surgery with the aim of reducing the likelihood of tumours growing back quickly, thereby helping patients live longer. Continue reading...
Co-author of paper says results have implications for anyone who has to think hard in polluted areasChess experts make more mistakes when air pollution is high, a study has found.Experts used computer models to analyse the quality of games played and found that with a modest increase in fine particulate matter, the probability that chess players would make an error increased by 2.1 percentage points, and the magnitude of those errors increased by 10.8%. Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Fiona Harvey, p on (#68EM7)
This week the government published a major environmental improvement plan for England. It has pledged that every household will be within a 15-minute walk of green space or water, the restoration of 1.2m acres of wildlife habitat, and that sewage spills will be tackled with upgrades to wastewater treatment works. Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s environment editor, Fiona Harvey, about the state of nature in the UK, what this plan promises to do, and whether it’s ambitious enough to halt and reverse damage done.Clips: BBC News, Channel 4 News, ITV News Continue reading...
I am filled with grief at losing my friend at a time when we need his calm, direct voice more than everThis week science lost one of its greatest Earth system experts, Australia lost a skilled, passionate communicator of climate science and the world lost a humble soul of the highest humanity, kindness and integrity. As did scores of others, I lost a colleague and friend when Will Steffen left us on Sunday after a battle with pancreatic cancer.It is impossible to overstate Will’s impact on science. The many tributes to his work can only scratch the surface of his legacy. He led the effort to map the Great Acceleration of human impact on the physical and biological systems of our planet, culminating in consideration of the geological age of humans – the Anthropocene, first proposed by Nobel prize winner Paul Crutzen.As the climate system continues to spiral towards a potentially uncontrollable state, I am struck with an increasing sense of both anger and apprehension. I’m angry because the lack of effective action on climate change, despite the wealth not of only scientific information but also of solutions to reduce emissions, has now created a climate emergency. The students are right. Their future is now being threatened by the greed of the wealthy fossil fuel elite, the lies of the Murdoch press, and the weakness of our political leaders. These people have no right to destroy my daughter’s future and that of her generation.
125,000-year-old bones of 70 animals – each about three times the size of today’s Asian elephants – discovered near HalleNeanderthals may have lived in larger groups than previously believed, hunting massive elephants that were up to three times bigger than those of today, according to a new study.The researchers reached their conclusions, published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday, based on examinations of the 125,000-year-old skeletal remains of straight-tusked elephants found near Halle in central Germany. Continue reading...
Experts find evidence at Derbyshire cremation site of horses and dogs originating from the Baltic ShieldWhen the Vikings arrived in England they didn’t just bring their helmets, axes and beards –they also brought their horses and dogs, research suggests.Experts studying cremated remains associated with the Viking great army that invaded England in AD865, say they have found evidence of animals and humans travelling from the Baltic Shield – a geographical area that encompasses Finland and parts of Norway, Sweden and Russia. Continue reading...
A deep trawl has brought up a potentially new species of a fish whose extreme mating methods include permanent physical fusion“I sometimes describe anglerfish as looking like a satanic potato,” says James Maclaine, senior curator of fish at London’s Natural History Museum, who believes a new species of the fish may have been discovered.Many anglerfish are globular and lumpy in shape. They have a long prong sprouting from their forehead with a glowing tip that lures prey into their enormous, tooth-filled jaws. If their appearance is curious, then the method of reproduction that some species have developed – known as sexual parasitism – is even more so. Continue reading...
Phil McGraw dispensed advice to rebellious teens, disfunctional families and troubled celebrities for 25 yearsDr. Phil, the US talkshow that saw Dr Phil McGraw divvy out life advice to individuals and which became a regular on daytime television around the world, is set to end later this year after 21 seasons.Hosted by McGraw since 2002, the show saw him advise guests who were troubled by problems, often to do with their finances, weight, families, addictions and marriages. Continue reading...
A nine-year-old girl whose neighbour called police as she worked to eradicate invasive insects from her home town has earned honours from one of the US’s most prestigious universities. Bobbi Wilson, who is black, unwittingly set off a national discussion about the dangers of racial profiling when a neighbour called the police on 22 October as she used a homemade repellant spray of water, dish soap and apple cider vinegar to kill spotted lanternflies, an invasive pest native to Asia that harms trees and which scientists advise people to kill in order to protect the environment. The caller later reportedly apologised to Bobbi’s mother. The Yale school of public health earlier this month held a ceremony citing Bobbi's efforts to rid Caldwell, New Jersey, of the spotted lanternfly, university officials said.
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#68CV8)
Survey could mean there is a crucial component missing from so-called standard model of physicsOne of the most precise surveys of the structure of the universe has suggested it is “less clumpy” than expected, in findings that could indicate the existence of mysterious forces at work.The observations by the Dark Energy Survey and the South Pole Telescope chart the distribution of matter with the aim of understanding the competing forces that shaped the evolution of the universe and govern its ultimate fate. The extraordinarily detailed analysis adds to a body of evidence that suggests there may be a crucial component missing from the so-called standard model of physics. Continue reading...
Remains of 2-metre-long animal discovered in 2017 by two fossil huntersScientists have identified a new genus of a fearsome crocodile-like creature that once hunted off what is now Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.The remains of the 2-metre-long animal were discovered by fossil hunters after a series of landslips on to a beach in 2017, and the newly recognised beast has been named Turnersuchus hingleyae in honour of the finders, Paul Turner and Lizzie Hingley. Continue reading...
Researchers identify 31 genes associated with social organisation and longevityMammals that live in groups generally have longer lifespans than solitary species, new research into nearly 1,000 different animals suggests.Scientists from China and Australia compared 974 mammal species, analysing longevity and how they tended to be socially organised. Continue reading...
Company is raising further $150m to pursue research on dodo which became extinct in 17th centuryThe dodo, a Mauritian bird last seen in the 17th century, will be brought back to at least a semblance of life if attempts by a gene editing company are successful.Gene editing techniques now exist that allow scientists to mine the dodo genome for key traits that they believe they can then effectively reassemble within the body of a living relative. Continue reading...
Phenomenon believed to have origins in launch of military GPS satellite from SpaceX in FloridaA camera on top of Hawaii’s tallest mountain has captured what looks like a spiral swirling through the night sky.Researchers believe the strange phenomenon is linked to a military GPS satellite that launched from a SpaceX rocket in Florida. Continue reading...
Images captured with the Subaru-Asahi telescope at Hawaii's Mauna Kea Observatory show a mysterious 'whirlpool' move across the night sky. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan said the phenomenon was probably related to the SpaceX satellite launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida earlier in the day
by Helen Davidson in Taipei and Reuters on (#68C2Z)
Government figures, which cannot be verified, showed big rises in travel and hospitality activity during lunar new year compared to the same time last yearChina’s wave of Covid is “coming to an end”, health officials have claimed, saying there had been no sign of a new surge from the lunar new year holiday period, despite a big increase in travel compared to last year.Government figures released on Tuesday showed big rises in tourism and hospitality activity compared to the same time last year. Factory activity has also rebounded for the first time in four months, an early sign of economic return after the country reported its slowest growth in about half a century during strict Covid controls. Continue reading...
Simply taking your pooch for a walk isn’t enough, a new study says – it should be playing team sports to keep anxiety at bayName: Social exercise.Age: Far older than the name given to it. Continue reading...
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was last visible during the stone age so if you miss it this time you’re unlikely to get another chanceAn exotic comet is causing excitement this week. We take a look at what we know about the unusual celestial object, and how best to catch a glimpse. Continue reading...
Bobbi Wilson’s efforts to rid her town of the spotted lanternfly unwittingly touched off a national discussion about racial profilingA nine-year-old girl who had a neighbor call the police on her as she worked to eradicate invasive insects from her home town has earned honors from one of the US’s most prestigious universities.The Yale School of Public Health earlier this month held a ceremony citing Bobbi Wilson’s efforts to rid Caldwell, New Jersey, of the spotted lanternfly, according to university officials. Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample with Stuart Clark, produce on (#68C1V)
This week star gazers will be hoping to catch sight of an exotic green comet that last passed by Earth 50,000 years ago. But, unlike the view our Neanderthal ancestors would have had, light pollution will make witnessing this celestial event an impossibility for many. Ian Sample speaks to astronomy journalist Dr Stuart Clark about how best to see the comet, and why it’s time to rethink our relationship with the night skyOrbiting the sun every 50,000 years, Comet C/2022 E3 hasn’t passed our planet since the stone age. The comet comes from the Oort cloud at the edge of the solar system, and will be at its closest to Earth on 1 February. Over the past month astronomers have captured stunning pictures of Comet C/2022 E3, and it is now bright enough to see with the naked eye in dark, rural areas with minimal light pollution. For those in or nearby cities and towns, however, the glow from artificial lighting means it will not be possible to spot the comet as it tears by. The inability to witness this celestial event is just one of the many impacts of what is known as ‘skyglow’, the brightening of the night sky.Ian Sample speaks to astronomy journalist Stuart Clark about what astronomers can learn from the green comet, how best to view it, and why it’s important not to lose sight of the wonders of the cosmos Continue reading...
Multiple concussions in a lifetime were shown to affect the ability to plan and pay attention, though research also underlined health benefits of playing sport
Iridescent clouds formed of ice crystals are usually found in extremely cold air above polar regionsExcited weather watchers have captured stunning images of rare “mother of pearl” clouds, which have formed high up in the atmosphere over Scotland.Such clouds tend to develop in the extremely cold air above polar regions, but were spotted on Sunday evening and Monday morning by BBC weather watchers in Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Moray. Continue reading...
Constellation is often associated with Greek myth of Phaeton, who went on reckless joyride with the sunThis week, search out the northern constellation of Auriga, the charioteer. It was first listed in Ptolemy’s second-century compendium The Almagest, making it one of the oldest constellations.Although often overshadowed by its neighbours, Orion and Taurus, Auriga contains the sixth brightest star in the night sky, Capella. Locate this first, and then trace the rest of the constellation. The chart shows the view from London facing south, and looking high up in the sky, towards the zenith. Continue reading...
by Helen Davidson in Taipei, Verna Yu, and Chi Hui Li on (#68A97)
After three years of lockdowns, the country was ill prepared for its abrupt ‘freedom’. Now, with some estimating 1m deaths, public anger is growingWhen Sunny* thinks back to March last year, she laughs ruefully at the ordeal. The 19-year-old Shanghai student spent that month locked in her dormitory, unable to shop for essentials or wash clothes, even banned from showering for two weeks over Covid fears. In April, the entire city locked down.It was the beginning of the chaos of 2022, as local Chinese authorities desperately tried to follow President Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid decree while facing the most transmissible strain of the virus yet: Omicron. “Everyone was panicking, no one was ready,” she tells the Observer. Continue reading...
We know the show turns up gems from the house and garden – but don’t forget the linguistic ones tooIf there is a television equivalent of comfort food, then surely it has to be the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. Presenter Fiona Bruce is a perpetual ray of sunshine, the experts are to a man and woman warm hearted and the people clutching their possessions always radiate hope that they are offering up a potential treasure for evaluation.But last Sunday’s edition offered up a gem of an altogether different kind when a woman appeared with some porcelain that she said she had discovered when she had been having a furtle in her attic. Even though I had never heard it before, it was such an evocative word that I knew exactly what she meant – she’d been having a good old rummage in the hope of turning up an overlooked masterpiece. A quick online search for furtle’s meaning proved that my surmise was correct. Continue reading...
Scientists say albicidin has allowed them to take a giant step forward to creating a powerful new range of antibacterial drugsScientists have discovered a plant toxin whose unique method of dispatching bacteria could be used to create a powerful new range of antibiotics. The prospect of developing new antibacterial drugs this way has been hailed by doctors, who have been warning for many years that the steady rise of multidrug-resistant pathogens such as E coli now presents a dangerous threat to healthcare across the planet.The new antibiotic – albicidin – attacks bacteria in a completely different way to existing drugs, a group of British, German and Polish scientists have revealed in a paper recently published in the journal Nature Catalysis. This suggests a new route could be exploited to tackle bacterial disease, they say. Continue reading...
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