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Updated 2025-09-11 17:01
Italian researchers find new recipe to extend life of fresh pasta by a month
Altering packaging process could allow pasta to be kept for 120 days, tackling food wasteA new twist on packaging combined with a special ingredient could extend the shelf life of fresh pasta by a month, researchers have revealed.Heat-treated, industrial fresh pasta has a shelf life of approximately 30-90 days, if stored appropriately. However, by taking a triple-pronged approach, involving new forms of packaging, a different packaging atmosphere, and the addition of “good” bacteria, researchers have been able to extend this to 120 days. Continue reading...
Huge ‘planet killer’ asteroid discovered – and it’s heading our way
With a diameter of 1 to 2km, space rock named 2022 AP7 crosses our orbit but has ‘no chance’ of hitting EarthAstronomers say they have discovered the largest planet killer-sized asteroid in eight years, and that the huge space rock will cross Earth’s orbit.The asteroid, named 2022 AP7, was reported by researchers looking for space rocks within the orbits of Earth and Venus. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover: the unfulfilled promises pile up | Editorial
The world’s richest man promises more than he has delivered. His social network purchase is likely to go the same wayElon Musk is a fan of the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. When his spacecraft company SpaceX successfully sent its Falcon Heavy rocket payload into orbit around the sun in 2018, the cargo included a digital copy of the author’s classic work: the Foundation trilogy. One of the main protagonists in that series is the Mule, a mutant, megalomaniacal telepath who uses his powers to inspire fanatical loyalty, upend history and conquer the galaxy. No one could miss that Mr Musk has a Mule-sized desire to own the future.His plan to make humanity a multiplanetary species includes nuking Martian polar ice caps to release carbon dioxide, warm the red planet and make it more hospitable for human life. Yet Mr Musk has a history of making promises he has never delivered on. His disease-curing “brain-machine interface” is way behind rivals. In his defence, the billionaire inventor has disrupted the car industry with his Tesla electric vehicles to save the planet. He has become an iconoclast in the public imagination. Continue reading...
Baleen whales ingest an estimated 10m pieces of microplastics each day, study says
California scientists surprised at amount of human-made pollutant whales consume in addition to usual diet of fish and krillMicroplastics have infiltrated nearly all our environments – from human lungs to the Antarctic. Now, scientists have estimated that whales are consuming millions of microplastics per day, in a study that deepens our understanding of plastic pollution in oceans and animal bodies.Scientists from a group of institutions around California used 191 suction-cup tags to follow whales – blue, fin and humpback – along the California coastline to quantify how much plastic they were swallowing, and where it was coming from. They determined the vast majority of plastics are consumed through whales eating krill and other food, instead of coming from water filtered into their mouths. A krill-eating blue whale may ingest 10m pieces of microplastics each day, they estimated, while fish-eating whales probably eat 200,000 pieces of plastic each day. Continue reading...
It’s ****ing big and it’s ****ing clever: why swearing makes you fitter, happier and more persuasive
A new scientific paper has confirmed the power of curse words – and not only to shockName: SwearingAge: It varies: some ancient words became profane over time, other swearwords are more recent coinages. Continue reading...
China iPhone factory quadruples bonuses to workers amid anger over Covid curbs
Apple supplier Foxconn raises daily bonuses to $55 to ease discontent after strict Covid measures prompted some workers to flee the siteApple supplier Foxconn said it has quadrupled bonuses on offer for workers at its Zhengzhou plant in central China as it seeks to quell discontent over Covid curbs and retain staff at the giant iPhone manufacturing site.Daily bonuses for employees, who are part of a Foxconn unit responsible for making electronics including smartphones at the site, have been raised to 400 yuan ($55) a day for November from 100 yuan, according to the official WeChat account of Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant. Continue reading...
Rhino horns have become shorter in past century, study finds
Researchers say change could be result of selection pressures as human hunters preferred to target animals with larger hornsRhinoceros horns have become shorter over the last century, researchers have found, adding the development could be a result of hunters and poachers targeting larger prizes.Rhino horns were much sought after among hunters over the centuries, while modern poachers sell them for use in traditional medicines in China and Vietnam. Continue reading...
Could a prescription of surfing help with depression?
A new trial is exploring if prescriptions of surfing, gardening and dance classes can reduce anxiety and depression in people aged 11 to 18. NHS mental health trusts in 10 parts of England will use a range of sports, arts and outdoor activities with 600 young people to see if it can stop conditions worsening while the sufferers are on waiting lists for care. This kind of support is known as ‘social prescribing’, allowing health professionals to refer patients to a range of community groups and organisations. But while social prescribing programmes are being rolled out around the world, a recent review has found scant evidence of their effectiveness. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Prof Susan Smith about the ideas behind social prescribing, its potential benefits for those with complex issues, and why more studies are urgently needed Continue reading...
Did you solve it? Brilliant brainteasers by the wizard of witty wordplay
The answers to today’s conundrumsEarlier today I set you these laugh-out-loud puzzles by the incomparable king of quizzers Frank Paul, winner of Only Connect, part time TV presenter and author of a new book of festive conundrums (of which more later.)Here are the puzzles again, with the answers. Continue reading...
Should we give people diseases in order to learn how to cure them?
With the right ethical safeguards, could ‘challenge trials’ defend against future pandemics?In the 1770s an English doctor called Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids didn’t seem to catch smallpox, the terrifying disease that caused around a third of the people who caught it to die. He thought that their frequent exposure to cowpox, a similar but less severe virus, might be what protected them. In order to test his hypothesis he gave his gardener’s eight-year-old son cowpox and then deliberately infected him with smallpox to see if he had become immune. He had, and Jenner successfully repeated the experiment. “Vaccination”, from the Latin word for cow, soon became commonplace.It was of course highly irresponsible to expose a child to a deadly disease with no sure knowledge that he would survive. Even so, with hindsight, we can see that the benefits were immense: the vaccine was safe and highly effective. Demonstrating that fact and publicising it encouraged untold numbers of others to follow suit. Continue reading...
Small wonder: big DNA advances loom at university startup Oxford Nanopore
Company spun out of Oxford University makes DNA and RNA sequencing devices to identify viruses and variantsNot far from Didcot, once a halfway stop between London and Bristol on the Great Western Railway celebrated for Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s engineering, innovation has returned with a hi-tech factory manufacturing DNA and RNA sequencing machines.Oxford Nanopore, a spinout from Oxford University, produces devices used to identify viruses and spot variants in the genetic makeup of humans, animals and plants. Its sequencers have been used to track Covid-19 variants globally and are now being trialled on intensive care patients with respiratory infections at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London, and in the fight against the 200 drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, the second-biggest killer worldwide after Covid in 2020. Continue reading...
Can you solve it? Brilliant brainteasers by the wizard of witty wordplay
Frank Paul’s finest lexical recreationsUPDATE: Answers can be read hereHe is the sultan of spoonerisms and the Aga Khan of anagrams. Today’s word puzzles are set by Frank Paul, a legend in the world of quizzes and puzzles.Paul is known to British TV viewers as a champion of Only Connect, and was co-host of Channel Four’s Answer Trap. He is also a fine artist, the son of artists Celia Paul and Lucian Freud. Continue reading...
Eurasian jays shun reward for tastier delayed treat, study finds
Birds showing most self-control score higher in cognitive tests, suggesting they are more intelligentThe old saying states a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but it appears Eurasian jays may beg to differ: researchers have found the corvids shun an immediate reward for a tastier, but delayed, treat.What’s more, the team found the birds that showed the most self-control scored higher on a variety of cognitive tests, suggesting they were more intelligent. Continue reading...
Starwatch: let bright Cassiopeia guide you to Lacerta, the lizard
Faint constellation of Lacerta is now perfectly placed for northern hemisphere viewers to identifyThis week the small, admittedly faint constellation of Lacerta, the lizard, is perfectly placed for northern hemisphere viewers to identify. This grouping does not date to antiquity but was defined by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687, who originally proposed the name Stellio after the Mediterranean lizard species Laudakia stellio.The constellation is located between the brighter ones of Cygnus, the swan, Cassiopeia and Andromeda. Cassiopeia in particular can help locate it because both constellations share a “W” shape. In the case of Cassiopeia, the shape represents a queen sitting in her throne, whereas for Lacerta, the shape is made by the constellation’s brightest stars. Brightest in this context means only of the fourth magnitude. Continue reading...
‘I’m eternally fascinated’: confessions of a ghost writer
Storyteller, nosy neighbour, bad therapist… a friendly ghost must be all these things‘I promise I’m not a sociopath,” I tell them. “But I will be asking a lot of questions that might seem deeply strange or outrageously rude. I’ll want to know what colour the walls were in the consultant’s office when you got the results, I’ll ask what the weather was on the day of the funeral, I’ll want to know about the hotel breakfast on your honeymoon. But it’s because we’re not telling a quick story on a chatshow, we’re writing a book.”When I meet potential subjects with a view to ghostwriting their story, I always begin with “the talk”, so they understand I have no malevolent intentions. I’ve been doing the job for more than a decade now, and it bears little resemblance to most people’s assumptions. Continue reading...
Unlocking the mystery of placental disorders and recurrent stillbirths
The winning essay in the Max Perutz science writing award 2022, published below, was written by Emily Cornish, a clinical research fellow and PhD candidate at University College LondonThe Medical Research Council (MRC) Max Perutz science writing award is open to MRC-funded PhD students, who are invited to write about why their area of research matters. This year’s 10 shortlisted topics included immune therapies for cancer, Scotland’s drug-related death rate and the neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis. The high quality of the entries made judging hard. Ultimately, the panel, made up of the Observer’s Ian Tucker, Roger Highfield of the Science Museum, the journalist Samira Ahmed, the science communication lecturer Andy Ridgeway, the MRC’s Jennifer Anderson and the award-winning young science writer Zara Hussan, agreed that the £1,500 prize should go to Emily Cornish, a Phd candidate at University College London’s EGA Institute for Women’s Health, for her essay about recurrent pregnancy loss. “I am so thrilled to have won this inspirational prize,” says Emily. Continue reading...
Learning new skills can be daunting. Here are four ways to embrace being a beginner | Gaynor Parkin and Amanda Wallis
Many of us find grappling with unfamiliar demands anxiety-provoking. Try these steps to ease yourself in
Ready for lift-off: first space launch from British soil poised to make history
In a boost to a fledgling industry, UK-built mini-satellites will soon be able to begin their journey into orbit on home groundIn a few weeks, Britain will become a space power. A Virgin Orbit jumbo jet will take off from an airport in Cornwall, carrying a rocket strapped below one wing. As the plane flies 35,000ft above the Atlantic, it will drop its cargo, the rocket engine will be ignited, and a payload of small satellites will be hurled into Earth orbit.The LauncherOne mission – scheduled for mid-November – is intended to be the first of many launches from centres around the UK. Continue reading...
Ray of joy: Nasa captures image of the sun ‘smiling’
Satellite photo shows what appears to be a happy face pattern on the sun with dark patches called ‘coronal holes’A Nasa satellite captured an image of what appeared to be a happy face pattern on the sun earlier this week, prompting the US space agency to say the sun was seen “smiling”.The agency released the image on Wednesday on Twitter, writing: “Today, Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the sun ‘smiling.’ Seen in ultraviolet light, these dark patches on the sun are known as coronal holes and are regions where fast solar wind gushes out into space.” Continue reading...
Tiny endo-microscope could spot breast cancer cells forming
Device less than 1mm in diameter is designed to be inserted in body and produce images of tissue with ‘unprecedented speed’A tiny microscope that can be manoeuvred through small spaces inside the body during surgery could speed up breast cancer treatment, according to the scientists who created it.Experts from Imperial College London have developed an endo-microscope that is less than 1mm in diameter – about the width of 25 human hairs – and is designed to be inserted into the body to provide views of tissue and organs. Continue reading...
Climate crisis study finds heatwaves have cost global economy $16tn
Researchers examining data going back to 1990s find global south has borne brunt despite causing least emissionsHeatwaves brought on by human-caused climate breakdown have cost the global economy about $16tn since the 1990s, according to a study.The research calculates the financial impact of extreme heat on infrastructure, agriculture, productivity, human health and other areas. Continue reading...
‘Miracle’ baby opens debate over possible use of centuries-old sperm
Technology allows sperm to be frozen longer than legal 50-year limit but poses medical and ethical questionsA change of law has paved the way for more babies to be born from sperm frozen up to 50 years ago, but experts say there is no scientific reason why sperm hundreds of years old cannot be used.This week, a boy was born using sperm frozen in 1996, collected when his father was diagnosed, aged 21, with Hodgkin lymphoma, in case his treatment caused infertility.
Mars spacecraft record meteor strikes that made craters hundreds of feet wide
Nasa’s InSight lander measured the seismic waves as the Reconnaissance Orbiter sent images of the impactTwo Nasa spacecraft at Mars – one on the surface and the other in orbit – have recorded the biggest meteor strikes and impact craters yet.The high-speed barrages last year sent seismic waves rippling thousands of miles across Mars, the first ever detected near the surface of another planet, and carved out craters nearly 500ft (150 metres) across, scientists reported on Thursday in the journal Science. Continue reading...
Shrew-like creature was placental mammals’ last common ancestor
Group’s earliest primogenitor was probably a diminutive creature with a long snout, researchers suggestThe last common ancestor of today’s placental mammals – a group that includes humans, whales and armadillos – was probably a shrew-like creature with a long snout, researchers have revealed.The forerunners of mammals are believed to have split from what eventually became reptiles around 320m years ago, but it was not until some time between 70 and 80m years ago that placental mammals arose. Continue reading...
Being played certain sounds while asleep may cut nightmare frequency
Therapy that imagines a happy ending to a recurring bad dream more effective with corresponding sound, study suggestsBeing played a sound while asleep may help to reduce the frequency of nightmares and replace them with sweeter dreams, research suggests.Whether it is sitting an impossible exam, being chased by wolves or wandering around a labyrinth, nightmares are common. Continue reading...
Bumblebees get a buzz out of playing with balls, study finds
Research shows bees rolling wooden balls despite having no apparent incentive to do soBumblebees are associated with lives of work rather than play, but researchers have for the first time observed the insects playing with balls for enjoyment, just like humans and dogs.A team of UK scientists watched bees interacting with inanimate objects as a form of play and said the findings added to growing evidence that their minds are more complex than previously imagined. Continue reading...
I’m going to spend five months with penguins, and no wifi or running water – here’s why | Mairi Hilton
Working in Antarctica is a wildlife enthusiast’s dream, but seeing the reality of the climate disaster up close will be brutalAntarctica holds an almost mythical appeal. Detached from the rest of the world, its beauty is unique. It is a continent that has never seen a war, and where testing military capabilities is strictly forbidden. It is, as the Antarctic Treaty reminds us, “a natural reserve devoted to peace and science”.And this impressive wilderness is the place I will be calling home for the next five months, as I embark on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) at Port Lockroy, Antarctica. As a conservation biologist, I’m drawn to Antarctica for lots of reasons, not least my interest in the major role it plays in our climate system, and the opportunity to monitor the gentoo penguin colony that calls Port Lockroy home. Continue reading...
Stories from a medieval graveyard: worms, wounds, and wonky toes – podcast
Crushed by a cart, infected with parasitic worms and painful bunions caused by pointy shoes. These might sound like curses you’d wish on your worst enemy, but a group of researchers have discovered they were probably a part of normal life in medieval Cambridge. Across several archaeological sites, the team have excavated and analysed hundreds of bones to uncover the accidents and afflictions of people in the middle ages.In this Halloween special, Madeleine Finlay hears from Nicola Davis as she takes a trip to Cambridge to investigate what old skeletons can reveal about the lives of those in centuries gone by Continue reading...
Bees ‘count’ from left to right, study finds
Latest finding adds to theory that animals, including humans, naturally arrange things in a certain order, even without being able to countBees order numbers in increasing size from left to right, a study has shown for the first time, supporting the much-debated theory that this direction is inherent in all animals including humans.Western research has found that even before children learn to count, they start organising growing quantities from left to right in what has been called the “mental number line”. Continue reading...
Researchers reveal secret of aye-ayes’ long middle finger
Video shows captive Madagascan primates using elongated finger to pick nose and eat the mucusWith its big eyes, bushy tail and sensitive ears, the aye-aye may appear a cute, if quirky, creature. But now researchers have discovered it has a less endearing trait: it uses its long middle finger to pick its nose – and eat the mucus.Aye-ayes are – like humans – primates, but they are nocturnal, endangered and only found in Madagascar. An object of superstition, they have a number of unusual features, including rodent-like teeth and a skinny, elongated finger with a ball-and-socket joint. Continue reading...
Archaeologists unearth 2,700-year-old rock carvings in Iraq
Experts find artefacts from ancient empire during restoration of historic site destroyed by Islamic StateArchaeologists in northern Iraq have unearthed 2,700-year-old rock carvings featuring war scenes and trees from the Assyrian empire, an archaeologist has said.The carvings on marble slabs were discovered in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, where experts have been working to restore the site of the ancient Mashki Gate, which was bulldozed by Islamic State militants in 2016. Continue reading...
‘A celebrity? Only if you like niche maths videos on the internet’: Hannah Fry on cancer, Covid and the science of love
The mathematician, writer, presenter and podcast host will be back on our screens fronting Secret Wonders of the Modern World. She explains why, after undergoing treatment for cancer, she has come to see the limits to logicEven before she became a mathematician, Hannah Fry had strived to live her life by logic. Her most memorable fight with her sister when they were teenagers was over “the optimal route” home. She used to say that if there was a nutritionally complete pill to replace food, she would take it.She even came up with a “mathematically informed” seating plan for her wedding, crunching factors such as age, political persuasion and predicted alcohol consumption to decide which guests should share a table. Continue reading...
Terrawatch: Asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs triggered global mega-tsunami
Jumble of rocks in far-flung locations help researchers work out how big and how far-reaching impact would have beenAny dinosaur that survived the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66m years ago then faced a mega-tsunami that washed around the entire world and began as a mile-high wave, a study shows.It is no surprise that a 14km-wide asteroid slamming into the Gulf of Mexico would generate one hell of a tsunami but this is the first time anyone has worked out how big and how far-reaching it would have been. Continue reading...
Donald Pigott obituary
My friend Donald Pigott, who has died aged 94, was the last surviving founding professor of Lancaster University, and as a plant ecologist was influential in setting up the National Vegetation Survey in the 1970s, the first detailed classification of the range of plant species and their distribution within the vegetation types of the British Isles. The results were published in five volumes between 1991 and 2000, and have formed the basis for many other ecological studies.Donald was born in Sutton, Surrey, to John, a tea importer, and his wife, Helen (nee Lee). His mother taught him to recognise many plant species from an early age, and at Mill Hill school in north London, which was evacuated to Cumbria in the second world war, he developed a fascination with the countryside. Continue reading...
Bad sleep, nightmares, fatigue, poor appetite. After a difficult few years, therapists are burnt out | Dr Ahona Guha
Many in my field are struggling. I value this work, but when my day ends I feel heavyA few weeks ago, I took two weeks of unplanned sick leave. It was nothing dramatic, just a creep of symptoms so slow I didn’t notice them, until suddenly, I did. Bad sleep, nightmares about violent clients, fatigue, poor appetite and concentration. For the past three years, I’ve felt like a bunch of overcooked spaghetti, repeatedly tossed at a wall. Most often, I stick – valiantly – but this time I slid right off.When I went back to work and spoke to colleagues about it, there were many nods. We started talking about how we felt, beyond the superficial and safe banalities of “tired” or “busy”. Since then, I’ve had many conversations with therapist friends and colleagues across the globe. The echoes are the same – tired, busy, exhausted, dropping caseloads, leaving the profession, reducing clinical work, indulging escape fantasies, re-training. Continue reading...
Partial eclipse of sun by the moon takes place over UK
Skygazers able to see phenomenon on Tuesday morning, with best views in most northerly areasA partial eclipse of the sun has ended after the sun was blocked out on Tuesday as the moon passed between it and the Earth.Skygazers across the UK were able to see the phenomenon, with those in northern Scotland expected to enjoy good views. Continue reading...
Fungal disease spiked during Covid pandemic and pathogens spreading due to climate crisis, WHO says
World Health Organization identifies priority pathogens of greatest threat to public health as diseases grow resistant to antifungal treatmentsHealth-threatening fungi are spreading in geographic range due to climate change, while some fungal diseases spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to authors of a newly released World Health Organization report.On Tuesday the WHO published its first ever list of fungal priority pathogens, cataloguing 19 organisms that experts identified as being of the greatest threat to public health.Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup Continue reading...
Communi-cat-ive: cats attentive to owner’s voice, research finds
Cats more responsive if owners speak to them like babies but less so if adult-to-adult tone used, study claimsAny cat owner knows that the correct way to get their pet’s attention is to sing “here, kitty kitty”, rather than utter a flat “come here cat”. Now research suggests cats may routinely tune into their owner’s tone of voice to detect when they are talking to them, rather than to other humans.Most people automatically adopt a higher-pitched, sing-song tone when speaking to animals and human infants. Although previous research has suggested that such “baby-talk” is more likely to capture dogs’ attention, less was known about how cats react to being spoken to in this way. Continue reading...
Is it ethical to put human brain cells in a rat? – podcast
Researchers have successfully transplanted human neurons into the brains of rats. The recent, groundbreaking study described how the human cells took root inside the rat brains, hooked up to their blood supplies and tapped into neural circuitry. Rather than create a kind of super-rat, the ultimate aim is to better understand neuropsychiatric disorders such as epilepsy and schizophrenia, and examine the effects of drugs in real time.But do the potential benefits outweigh the ethical questions that come with combining human cells with other animals? Ian Sample speaks to Prof Julian Savulescu about how the scientists managed to transplant the neurons, what this means, and how we decide where to draw the line in such an ethically complex field of researchArchive: ABC7 News Bay Area Continue reading...
Immune system-evading hybrid virus observed for first time
Researchers found the RSV and influenza viruses fused together to form a new type of virus pathogenTwo common respiratory viruses can fuse to form a hybrid virus capable of evading the human immune system, and infecting lung cells – the first time such viral cooperation has ever been observed.Researchers believe the findings could help to explain why co-infections can lead to significantly worse disease for some patients, including hard-to-treat viral pneumonia. Continue reading...
UK had at least two genetically distinct human groups at end of last ice age, DNA reveals
Analysis of oldest DNA in Britain from pair of individuals unexpectedly shows two distinct ancestriesBritain was home to at least two genetically distinct groups of humans at the end of the last ice age, the oldest human DNA from the UK has revealed.About 19,000 years ago, ice sheets that had covered much of Britain were melting and the landscape once again became habitable to humans. Evidence of their return dates back to about 15,500 years ago. These early groups crossed now submerged land that once connected Britain to mainland Europe. Continue reading...
Just Stop Oil protesters smear King Charles waxwork with cake – video
Two Just Stop Oil protesters have smeared cake on a Madame Tussauds waxwork of King Charles, quoting the monarch: 'In the words of the King, the science is clear.' They went on to say: 'The demand is simple, just stop new oil and gas, it's a piece of cake. The stunt was part of a series of protests organised by the environmental activist group Continue reading...
Millions invited to take part in UK scheme to diagnose diseases earlier
Our Future Health project to recruit 3m people to share health records, give blood samples and have DNA analysedA project to diagnose and treat diseases early – or even prevent them from developing – has been launched in the UK, with 3 million people to be invited to take part this autumn.The project, called Our Future Health, will eventually recruit 5 million or more people from all walks of life, with participants sharing their health records and giving blood samples, as well as having their weight, blood pressure and cholesterol measured, and their DNA analysed. Continue reading...
Starwatch: look out (carefully) for a partial solar eclipse
From the UK, a maximum of about 15% of the sun’s surface will be blacked by the moon on TuesdayA partial solar eclipse visible from the UK will take place on Tuesday. It will be visible from most of Europe, north Africa, the Middle East and western parts of Asia, but nowhere will there be a total solar eclipse.From London, the eclipse begins at 10.08am BST. Over the next 50 minutes, the silhouette of the moon will slip across the top left-hand limb of the sun. At 10.59am, the maximum eclipse will occur, with 15.17% of the sun’s surface blacked by the moon. This will not result in any noticeable difference to daytime illumination levels. Continue reading...
Charles Darwin autograph manuscript could fetch £700,000 at auction
Naturalist penned document in response to request for sample of his handwriting to reprint in magazineA rare manuscript containing a passage from Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species is to be sold at auction in November.The document, which is expected to fetch between £530,000 and £700,000, is said to be the most significant autograph manuscript by Darwin to have appeared at auction. Continue reading...
Why we enjoy fear: the science of a good scare
The thrill of a frightening film can feel euphoric – and mild horror, say researchers, can also help foster lasting psychological resiliencePalms sweat, heartbeat quickens, muscles tense. Your skin prickles and stomach churns. When fear subsides, we can be left with feelings of pleasure. Is this just the relief of having survived – or is it something more? Continue reading...
Why yoga at home is simple, fun and rewarding
Push back the sofa and roll out your mat for Hatha yoga sessions in your front roomYoga studios had a tough pandemic. Just as the public’s interest in yoga reached an all-time peak, in-person classes – with all that close bodily proximity and deep breathing – came to an abrupt stop. But a new paradigm emerged almost overnight: coffee tables were pushed aside for yoga mats and this ever-evolving form with its roots in the ascetic practices of medieval India entered the Zoom world. Teachers grappled with video conferencing and online payments, while students figured out how to use the mute button to stop the kids’ Fortnite sessions from interrupting everyone’s savasana.Yoga, it turned out, was coming home. A whopping 91% of yoga students and 86% of teachers continued their classes from home, more than double the number who had ever tried an online class before. Two and a half years on, there’s a new normal. Many studios have reopened and, much like office life, yoga has settled into a hybrid pattern that combines in-person and at-home practice. But look closer and it isn’t so new at all. Continue reading...
Power cycle: could tracking periods help female athletes break records?
Many sportswomen say menstruation affects their performance, but researchers and companies hope to turn period woes into medalsIt should have been a show of British sporting dominance when Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita made it to the 100-metre final of the European Championships in August. Then, unexpectedly, Asher-Smith pulled up and Neita was not quick enough for the gold, both because of cramps. Later, Asher-Smith revealed hers to be a symptom of her period and shared her frustration at its impact on her sport. If it were a men’s issue, she argued, it would have been fixed by now.It is a feeling shared by many fellow athletes and coaches, including Chelsea FC’s manager, Emma Hayes. “Once a month for potentially up to around five days, many female players have an event that can cause significant distress and impact heavily on their performance,” she wrote in the Telegraph earlier this year. “Athletes deserve a greater understanding of the array of symptoms that can crop up.” Continue reading...
Autumn Covid numbers peak at lower levels – but flu cases are on the up
Despite encouraging survey, scientists warn of emergence of serious variant, leading to parallel epidemicBritain’s current wave of Covid-19 cases appears to be peaking at a lower level than previous outbreaks of the Omicron variant of the disease, researchers have revealed.The news is encouraging – though scientists have also warned that a further wave of the disease could sweep the nation before the end of the year. “We need to be vigilant and monitor the data with great care, all the time,” said Professor Mark Woolhouse, of Edinburgh University. Continue reading...
‘No new HIV cases by 2030’: England hopes to become first country in the world to defeat virus
New medicines will be made available across the country to end regional disparitiesThe NHS believes it will prevent all new cases of HIV by 2030 after signing a series of deals to ensure new medicines are available across England to end regional disparities.People with HIV have access to injectable forms of cabotegravir and rilpivirine, and those with drug-resistant infections will be able to receive fostemsavir after it was approved last week. Continue reading...
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