Science | The Guardian

In today’s newsletter: The first rocket mission from the UK didn’t reach orbit, but industry leaders explain why the burgeoning field is ready for liftoff – and what comes next

Video footage shows fireball which was sighted in areas including London and WolverhamptonAn apparent meteor has stunned stargazers after lighting up the sky above parts of the UK on Monday night.Video footage was shared online of the fireball, with reported sightings in London, Hertfordshire and Wolverhampton, among other locations. Continue reading...

A bright meteor was seen from various parts of the UK tearing through the night sky on Monday. Several people managed to film it as it passed overhead. The Met Office encouraged people to share footage Continue reading...

Teams behind historic mission describe tearful scenes but express determination to try again

Study suggests 23m years of evolutionary history could be wiped out if the island’s endangered mammals go extinctFrom the ring-tailed lemur to the aye-aye, a nocturnal primate, more than 20m years of unique evolutionary history could be wiped from the planet if nothing is done to stop Madagascar’s threatened mammals going extinct, according to a new study.It would already take 3m years to recover the diversity of mammal species driven to extinction since humans settled on the island 2,500 years ago. But much more is at risk in the coming decades: if threatened mammal species on Madagascar go extinct, life forms created by 23m years of evolutionary history will be destroyed. Continue reading...

Sanger Institute initiative could lead to single test allowing more effective vaccines and treatmentsAt the peak of the Covid pandemic, UK labs were sequencing thousands of Sars-CoV-2 genomes a day to keep track of circulating variants, and identify any new ones that emerged.Now researchers at the Sanger Institute are launching a project that could ultimately achieve something similar for the numerous other respiratory viruses that make us sick – and fill up UK hospital beds – each year. Continue reading...

Gaping hole mysteriously appears where former PM once stood at UK space mission with business secretary

A historic space mission that took off from Cornwall, in south-west England, has ended in bitter disappointment after a rocket carrying the first satellites launched from British soil failed to reach orbit and was lost.Virgin Orbit, which is leading the mission, announced there had been 'an anomaly' and the rocket failed to reach the required altitude. The rocket and satellites were lost but the UK Space Agency insisted they posed no danger and were expected to burn or break up over the north Atlantic. The 747 returned to Cornwall safely

Last year saw several major science breakthroughs – from the first time a nuclear fusion experiment produced more energy than it used, to Nasa smashing a spacecraft into an asteroid in a mission that demonstrated the possibility of redirecting any space rocks heading our way. So what will 2023 bring?Ian Sample and science correspondent Hannah Devlin discuss the major stories they are expecting to hit the headlines in 2023, and their science predictions for the year ahead.Archive: PBS NewsHour, CNET Highlights, STV News, BBC News, CBC News, euronews Continue reading...

Boeing 747 used in mission from Cornwall successfully released rocket before ‘anomaly’ was reported

Successful trial of groundbreaking device, now approved by Nice, uses algorithm to determine amount of insulin neededMore than 100,000 people with type 1 diabetes in England are to be offered an artificial pancreas, which experts believe could become the “holy grail” for managing the disease.The groundbreaking device uses an algorithm to determine the amount of insulin that should be administered and reads blood sugar levels to keep them steady. Continue reading...

Swimming-induced pulmonary oedema involves the accumulation of fluid in the lungs of swimmers without it having been inhaledA potentially life-threatening condition that can affect fit and healthy open-water swimmers causing them to “drown from the inside” may involve a buildup of fluid in the heart muscle, researchers have suggested.Swimming-induced pulmonary oedema – SIPE – is a form of immersion pulmonary oedema and involves the accumulation of fluid in the lungs of swimmers without it having been inhaled. The condition is thought to be a result of increased pressure on the body’s blood vessels as a result of exertion, immersion and cold. Continue reading...

The solutions to today’s puzzlesEarlier today I set you these two questions, in the spirit of Lewis Carroll, who died 125 years ago this week.1. A handy chat Continue reading...

Virgin Orbit’s Start Me Up mission to conduct first rocket launch of satellites from British soilThere was a festival atmosphere at Cornwall Airport Newquay on Monday afternoon as more than 2,000 space fans began to arrive to view a historic rocket launch.As long as there are no last-minute technical hitches and the weather in the far south-west of Britain behaves, a converted Boeing 747 will take off from Spaceport Cornwall, fly out across the Atlantic and launch a rocket that will propel nine satellites into space. Continue reading...

Analysis will help improve treatment for millions affected by poorly understood conditionScientists have mapped the cellular changes linked to endometriosis to help improve therapeutic options for the millions of women affected by the disease.Roughly 1 in 10 women are affected by the condition, which is characterised by cells similar to those lining the uterus growing elsewhere in the body – most commonly on the ovaries, fallopian tubes and in the abdominal cavity. Patients with the disorder can experience chronic pain, infertility, headaches and fatigue, as well as bowel and bladder dysfunction. Despite it being so common, it takes an average of seven to eight years to be diagnosed with endometriosis because it is so poorly understood. Continue reading...

Scientists in Italy are testing the impact of fire and drought to learn how the changing climate affects underground fungal networksWhen Toby Kiers and a group of fungi experts hiked the Apennine mountains in northern Italy last July, the country was experiencing its worst drought for 70 years. But Kiers, an evolutionary biologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, saw the dried vegetation and burnt forests of the drought- and fire-stricken areas bordering Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna as a unique learning opportunity.Armed with rubber mallets, measuring tape and GPS devices, Kiers and her team were investigating a very particular life form: the bustling fungal life beneath their feet. Continue reading...

Logical adventures with cats and cardsUPDATE: Read the solutions hereLewis Carroll, who died 125 years ago on Saturday, was perhaps the world’s greatest populariser of logical puzzles. His most famous book, Alice in Wonderland, is a masterclass in how to turn arcane mathematical logic into whimsy and humour. Today’s challenges begin with a little known conversation between two of Carroll’s best-loved characters.1. A handy chat Continue reading...

There are no very bright stars in Lepus and it’s not clear how it acquired its name eitherWe return to the same southern patch of sky as last week to track down the faint constellation of Lepus, the hare. Lying just south of the celestial equator, Lepus can be seen from both hemispheres at this time of year.The chart shows the view looking south from London at 22.00GMT on 9 January. Continue reading...

Start Me Up mission will send nine civil and defence satellites into orbit from Newquay spaceport on MondayThousands of people are expected to descend on Cornwall to witness the first orbital rocket launch from UK soil in what is being heralded as the start of a “new era” for the British space industry.As long as there are no last-minute technical hitches – and the Cornish weather does not spoil the party – the historic Start Me Up mission will take off on Monday night from Spaceport Cornwall, blasting nine satellites into orbit. Continue reading...

Guardian is given unique access to observe procedure that can radically improve outcomes for babies with spina bifidaEmily Ellis flicks through photos of her four-day-old baby, Austin, on her phone. “He is perfect,” she says with the certainty of any new parent. But the journey to his arrival has been more complicated than most. Austin has spina bifida and is one of a growing number of babies in the UK to have undergone a pioneering foetal surgery that is transforming outcomes for infants with the condition.Before his birth, surgeons at King’s College hospital operated on Austin’s spinal defect while he was still inside the womb and the Guardian was given unique access to observe the same procedure on another mother and baby from inside the operating theatre. The procedure is not a cure, but could be the difference between Austin walking or not. Continue reading...

Warming seas almost certainly prompted the huge mammal’s wanderings, even if deniers claim all is well in the ArcticAs migrant arrivals go, the appearance of Thor the Walrus in British waters last week was encouraging. Thousands flocked to greet the huge mammal as he meandered up England’s east coast after his arrival in Hampshire in December.Subsequent stopovers included Scarborough, where the local council cancelled New Year’s Eve celebrations so they did not frighten Thor, who gratefully responded by masturbating. Then he moved on to Blyth, in Northumberland, before heading home to the Arctic.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Wildlife photography contest that was subject to the agreement described environmental impact of oil rigs in positive lightThe Natural History Museum has been denounced for signing a contract with a gagging clause that prevented it from criticising a Danish oil company that sponsored its wildlife photography competition.The clause was put into a contract with Dong Energy in 2016 when the company was heavily invested in oil and gas. Dong changed its name to Ørsted in 2017 when it divested of fossil fuels to focus on renewables. Continue reading...

Harvests that form a vital element of the diets of 4.5 billion people are being devastated by global heating. Now research has found a key to create a heat-resistant varietyIt is the plant that changed humanity. Thanks to the cultivation of wheat, Homo sapiens was able to feed itself in ever-increasing numbers, transforming groups of hunter-gatherers struggling to survive in a hostile world into rulers of the planet.In the process, a species of wild grass that was once confined to a small part of the Middle East now covers vast stretches of the Earth. As the historian Yuval Noah Harari has observed: “In the great plains of North America, where not a single wheat stalk grew 10,000 years ago, you can today walk for hundreds upon hundreds of kilometres without encountering any other plant.” Continue reading...

Drug works with the body’s immune system to clear amyloid protein buildup from the brainThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Lecanemab, a breakthrough drug to treat Alzheimer’s, that is manufactured by biotechnology companies Biogen and Eisai.The drug is an intravenously administered humanized monoclonal antibody that targets amyloid, the toxic protein in the brain linked to the cognitive disease. Continue reading...

Memorial spaceflights offer people in New Zealand a new way to say goodbye, sending tokens holding their ashes into orbitOn 19 January, Keryn Townsley will be hoping for a clear night sky. Her family will gather at their home in Wellington, New Zealand, to watch a live stream of a rocket launching in the US – a tradition they have observed many times in the past. But this time will be different. On board the rocket will be a small inscribed metal token holding a portion of ashes belonging to 14-year-old Remy – Townsley’s rocket-loving son – who died suddenly in 2020.His ashes will orbit Earth for up to 10 years, before crashing back through the atmosphere and burning up. “He will always be stardust up there and that has meaning for us,” Townsley says, of choosing to memorialise her son in what is known as a “space burial”. Continue reading...

Research finds secret of durability of buildings such as the Pantheon could be in the techniques used at the timeThey have stood through the fall of an empire, the carnage of great wars and the foundation of a new country. But quite why structures made using Roman concrete are so durable has remained something of a mystery.Now researchers say they have discovered one possible explanation: the technique used to make the material may have helped to give it self-healing properties. Continue reading...

Facility in France still far from being able to show feasibility of generating carbon-free energy despite recent breakthrough in USAn international project in nuclear fusion may face years of delays, its boss has said, weeks after scientists in the United States announced a breakthrough in their own quest for the coveted goal.The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) project seeks to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy. Continue reading...

My father, Daniel Catovsky, who has died aged 85, was a specialist in the study of adult blood cancers and helped to develop diagnostic and treatment programmes for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia as well as rarer conditions such as prolymphocytic and hairy cell leukaemia.Daniel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Felix Catovsky, a Bessarabian Jew who had emigrated to Argentina and worked as a journalist and author, and Ana (nee Kabanchick), a homemaker whose roots were also in Bessarabia (now modern-day Moldova). Continue reading...

Humanity is now a ‘geological superpower’ and declaring a new epoch is critical to tackling its impact, scientists sayExactly where and when did the Anthropocene begin? Scientists are attempting to answer this epochal question in the coming months by choosing a place and time to represent the moment when humanity became a “geological superpower”, overwhelming the natural processes that have governed Earth for billions of years.They could decide the start is marked with a bang, thanks to the plutonium isotopes rapidly blasted around the planet by the hydrogen bomb tests that began in late 1952, or with a shower of soot particles from the surge in fossil-fuel power plants after the second world war. Continue reading...

Government deal with BioNTech paves way for early access to trials of personalised mRNA therapiesTrials of personalised cancer vaccines in England are to be speeded up after a government deal with a firm behind one of the major Covid jabs.The UK health secretary, Steve Barclay, is to sign a memorandum of understanding with BioNTech on Friday to “ensure the best possible treatments are available as soon as possible” for cancer. Continue reading...

If global heating continues at current rate of 2.7C, losses will be greater with 68% of glaciers disappearingHalf the planet’s glaciers will have melted by 2100 even if humanity sticks to goals set out in the Paris climate agreement, according to research that finds the scale and impacts of glacial loss are greater than previously thought. At least half of that loss will happen in the next 30 years.Researchers found 49% of glaciers would disappear under the most optimistic scenario of 1.5C of warming. However, if global heating continued under the current scenario of 2.7C of warming, losses would be more significant, with 68% of glaciers disappearing, according to the paper, published in Science. There would be almost no glaciers left in central Europe, western Canada and the US by the end of the next century if this happened. Continue reading...

Julia Fahrenkamp has been unable to work since getting Covid. Plus Robert Saunders on the link with chronic fatigue syndrome and the need for better researchI have been suffering from long Covid since April 2020, so I read Joanna Herman’s article with great interest (Why those of us with long Covid finally have reason to feel hopeful, 27 December). Ever since I contracted Covid, I have been unable to work and am struggling to maintain social connections and fitness because of post-exertional malaise: any exertion, physical or mental, above a certain threshold can leave me exhausted for days.In November, my daughter performed with her orchestra for the first time since the pandemic. It was a short concert and I spent most of it in the foyer to reduce the noise levels that I was experiencing, but nevertheless I had to stay in bed for the next two days to recover. I am therefore extremely interested in anything that could improve my condition. I expected a little more when I read the headline, as there still seems to be scant hope for meaningful treatment options in the foreseeable future. But any article highlighting the continuing problems experienced by those with long Covid is welcome, and I will be sending Herman’s to members of my family, as it describes well the difficulties that those with long Covid face.

My friend David Lewis, who has died aged 85, was an academic botanist and pro-vice chancellor at the University of Sheffield.David’s scientific speciality was the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and their plant partners. Away from university administrative duties, he also served as editor (1970-1983) and then executive editor (1983-1995) of the New Phytologist, elevating its status from a national to an international botanical journal. He was a regular contributor to the publication himself; his last paper appeared just two years before he died. Continue reading...

Low-orbit satellites are photo-bombing astronomers’ pictures of the night sky, ruining images and affecting their ability to make new discoveriesThere’s a point at which light pollution starts to make astronomical observations impossible – a point we are fast approaching, thanks in part to Elon Musk.More than 3,000 of the 5,000 active satellites orbiting Earth belong to Musk’s SpaceX, including its Starlink fleet. Another 12,000 Starlink launches have been approved, and SpaceX wants a further 30,000 second-generation satellites on top of that, covering the entire globe. Continue reading...

‘Lunar calendar’ found in caves may predate equivalent record-keeping systems by at least 10,000 yearsA primitive writing system used by ice age hunter-gatherers appears to have been uncovered by an amateur archaeologist, who concluded that the 20,000-year-old markings were a form of lunar calendar.The research suggests cave drawings were not only a form of artistic expression but also used to record sophisticated information about the timing of animals’ reproductive cycles. Continue reading...

Twelve month’s worth of smart self-help tips from someone you’d want on your team in a crisisThis charming self-help book is broken down into 12 seasonally appropriate themes. January is for future-facing resolutions. March is for spring cleaning – mental as well as physical. September is about re-engaging with work, perhaps seeing it differently it after a break. The guiding principle is that clinical psychology isn’t just for fixing dysfunctional situations; you can also use it to improve functional ones. If you feel a bit off-kilter but not quite bad enough to spend hundreds of pounds on therapy, Maddox’s tips and tricks from the consulting room could be for you. Not only do the book’s modest claims make it likable, but the fact that it isn’t trying to sell you some pumped-up, perfect version of yourself has the effect of making it seem trustworthy too.A Year to Change Your Mind was written during the pandemic and is suffused with an air of staying calm while the world is having a freakout. Maddox feels like a solid companion. She self-discloses, but not too much – just enough to let you know that the person behind all the sensible advice has had a hard time too. She alludes to the hardcore problems she confronts in her work with young people in hospital settings, not to set up an us-and-them hierarchy of suffering, but to show what we can learn from people who face serious battles with their inner and outer circumstances. It’s easy to see how these people might benefit from Maddox’s insight and kindness. She doesn’t show off at all – you can just deduce from her manner on the page that she’s someone you’d want on your team in a crisis. Continue reading...

Many of my friends are leaping into wheelie bins full of ice cubes. I will be sticking to indulgence and easy living – and the research is on my sideSomehow, I’ve become the sort of person whose WhatsApp friends are planning a January ice bath challenge. The warning signs were all there: they have been going on about chlorine floaters and wireless thermometers for months, swapping pictures of their outdoor tubs and tipping each other off when B&Q has a flash sale on water butts. Now it has escalated: five minutes a day in the 12C glug is the prescription, with a 100 press-ups bonus round and no-booze rider for the genuine maniacs. In, I repeat, January.Obviously, I won’t be participating. First, I’m not convinced the science suggests I need 31 ice baths: yes, there’s some evidence that they reduce inflammation, but that might be counterproductive if you are aiming to build muscle, as I frequently am. Research also suggests that targeted cold exposure might improve attention, mood and cognitive focus, and that if it’s applied to your glabrous skin surfaces – a fancy word, as I’ve recently learned, for all the hairless areas – it might even improve your 5k time or bench press.Joel Snape is a writer and self-improvement enthusiast. Continue reading...

Study finds some strong auroras are accompanied by noises from changes in the atmosphereYou may have seen the shimmering greens and pinks of the aurora borealis lighting up the night sky, but have you ever heard them? Rare reports of crackling and whooshing noises accompanying auroras have traditionally been dismissed by scientists as folklore, but data gathered in Finland has shown that under the right weather conditions, auroras can be accompanied by a noise.The northern (and southern) lights are caused by solar particles colliding with gas molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere. They tend to be visible near the poles because the charged particles are steered towards the poles by Earth’s magnetic field. But most aurora take place well out of earshot, about 62 miles (100km) above our heads. Continue reading...

When Nasa unveiled the first images from the long-awaited James Webb space telescope, they revealed our universe in glorious technicolour. The $10bn space science observatory will help scientists answer fundamental questions in astronomy and look back to the dawn of time.In this episode first broadcast in July 2022, Prof Ray Jayawardhana, who is working with one of the instruments onboard the JWST, speaks to Ian Sample about what these images show us, and what they mean for the very human quest of discovering our place in the cosmosArchive: NBC News, SciNews Continue reading...

Astronaut who took part in America’s first successful manned Apollo space mission in 1968On 11 October 1968, Walter Cunningham, who has died aged 90, and his fellow crew members, Wally Schirra and Donn Eisele, became the first astronauts to fly in an Apollo spacecraft. Cunningham was only the second American civilian in space – Neil Armstrong had been the first. Their vehicle was Apollo 7, which Cunningham regarded as providing the first of the five highly successful “giant steps” – Apollos 8, 9 and 10 provided the next three – that culminated, 10 months later, with Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, from Apollo 11, making the first moon landing.The first Apollo mission, Apollo 1, had ended catastrophically in January 1967 when its three crew members were incinerated during a launchpad rehearsal, and the following missions were unmanned. But by October 1968, while the US was convulsed with anti-Vietnam war and civil rights protests, Apollo 7 was orbiting faultlessly some 187 miles above, and the astronauts were testing modules for the moon landing. However, Apollo 7 was not a happy ship. “The only thing that wasn’t working smoothly was the crew,” observed their fellow astronaut Tom Stafford. Continue reading...

Natural History Museum bought album of images by pioneering scientist in 1899 and has now digitised themFor most farming families in 19th-century rural Vermont, winter snowstorms were dreaded and endured. But for Wilson Bentley, snow was a source of intense fascination that led him, at the age of 19, to produce the world’s first photomicrographs of snow crystals, which he described as “tiny miracles of beauty”.A stunning album of 355 of the original prints by the man who came to be known as Snowflake Bentley was bought by London’s Natural History Museum in 1899, and the collection has now been digitised and made available to view online. Continue reading...

Scientists claim that heavier, rather than flatter, rocks can produce ‘almighty’ leaps out of the waterScientists have identified particular types of stone that can produce “almighty” leaps out of the water when skimmed across the surface.While aficionados of the pursuit favour thin, flat stones for long-distance skimming, the researchers’ mathematical model reveals that heavier, potato-shaped stones can achieve more dramatic results, which blast the rock into the air. Continue reading...

He was one of three aboard the 1968 11-day mission that garnered an Emmy award for live reports beamed from Earth orbitWalter Cunningham, the last surviving astronaut from the first successful crewed space mission in Nasa’s Apollo program, has died. He was 90.A Nasa spokesman, Bob Jacobs, confirmed Cunningham’s death but did not immediately provide further details. Cunningham’s wife, Dot Cunningham, said in a statement that he died on Tuesday but did not say where or provide a cause of death. Continue reading...

Exclusive: iKnife can reliably diagnose endometrial cancer and help thousands of healthy women get all-clear quickerA revolutionary surgical knife that “smells tumours” can diagnose womb cancer within seconds, researchers have found in a breakthrough that could enable thousands of healthy women to get the all-clear quicker.The disease is the fourth most common cancer in women and affects about 9,000 a year in the UK, but only about 10% of those with suspected symptoms who undergo a biopsy are found to have it. Continue reading...

The offshoot accounts for 40% of Covid cases in the US, raising fears of fresh waves of illness as it spreads to other countriesScientists have raised concerns about a new Covid variant that is spreading fast in the US and threatening to fuel further waves of infection. Here’s what we know so far.What is the new variant called? Continue reading...

A culture of secrecy around sperm and egg donations has given way to greater openness, helped along by a key legal changeSince 2009, the number of donor-conceived children born in the UK has more than tripled. They now account for one in 170 of all births, which means, as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) chair, Julia Chain, puts it, “a couple of donor-conceived children in every primary school, and an immeasurable amount of joy brought to families that could not have otherwise existed”. While nearly half of all donor gametes are used by heterosexual couples suffering male- or female-factor infertility, much of the recent increase, particularly in the use of donor sperm, has been driven by women in same-sex relationships and solo mums.The opening up of new routes to having children is a wonderful thing. But as the practice of donor conception – using donor sperm, eggs or embryos to create a family – has become more common, the resulting ethical dilemmas are also becoming more complex. Crucially, though, many warmly welcome the important changes happening this year, whereby donor-conceived children reaching 18 will finally have access to identifying information about their donors.Zeynep Gurtin is a lecturer in women’s health at UCL, an authority member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and a fertility consultantSome names have been changed Continue reading...

Some rural women could find a way through the challenges brought by climate crisis, inequality and conflict by cultivating fungi in the former Marxist stateAt the forest’s edge, a scientist is giving a lesson on the mushrooms that grow here in the damp ground around the trees of Toui-Kilibo reserve in Benin. Olyvia Fadeyi is a mycologist – she studies fungi – and is teaching the women from the village of Yaoui how best to harness the economic value of this strangest of crops. Mushrooms can be cultivated year round, in back gardens, on vertically stacked shelves, rather than waiting for the naturally abundant ones in the rainy season.“There are 40 species, of which only 2% are currently harvested,” says Fadeyi. “I want to empower these women and help them break free from the pressures of society.” Continue reading...

It’s been a year of huge news on Earth, but how are things looking from up above? Plus: Waterloo Road returns. Here’s what to watch this evening Continue reading...

Exclusive: study is first to compare pioneering targeted treatment on difficult-to-treat tumours with standard radiotherapyThree breast cancer patients have undergone pioneering proton beam therapy for the first time on the NHS as part of a world-first trial.The hi-tech treatment targets tumours far more precisely than conventional radiotherapy, suiting patients with difficult-to-treat growths in critical areas. The NHS has previously used proton beam therapy to treat patients with tumours in and around their brain or spinal cord. Continue reading...

It’s estimated that 1 million women in the UK could have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – but according to the ADHD Foundation, 50% to 75% of them do not know they have it. So why are women being left behind?In this episode, first broadcast in May 2022, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Jasmine Andersson about her experience of getting a late diagnosis, and asks Prof Amanda Kirby why the condition is so often missed in women and girls Continue reading...