The solid inner core is contained within the liquid outer core, enabling it to rotate differently from the Earth itselfEarth’s inner core appears to have stopped spinning faster than its mantle. New measurements suggest that the rotation of the inner core has slowed in recent decades and is now about to reverse direction, spinning more slowly than the mantle. The finding helps to explain recent changes in Earth’s magnetic field and the length of day.The Earth’s solid inner core is contained within the liquid outer core, enabling it to rotate differently from the Earth itself. Its spin is driven by the magnetic field generated in the outer core, and balanced by gravitational effects within Earth’s mantle. Continue reading...

New research finds strong social networks and physical activity in mid life can help prevent long-term health conditionsEnjoying satisfying relationships with partners, family, friends and work colleagues and exercising at least once every month could boost your physical and mental health in old age, two studies suggest.Globally, people are living longer and every country in the world is experiencing growth in the size and proportion of older people in their population. The number of those aged 80 or older is set to triple between 2020 and 2050, to reach 426 million. Continue reading...

Form of virus, formerly known as monkeypox, fatal in about 15% of cases among immunosuppressed peopleA severe and “horrific” form of mpox has been identified in immunosuppressed people living with HIV, which appears to be deadly in about 15% of cases.Solid organ transplant recipients, and those with blood cancers, may also be at risk, although no cases have yet been detected in such individuals. Continue reading...

A life-changing encounter with the secretive creature led Arnaud Desbiez to dedicate his work to saving it from extinctionArnaud Desbiez, a French-born conservationist, lived in the Brazilian Pantanal for years before a chance encounter changed his life – and he wasn’t even there for it. His wife, tapir conservationist Patrícia Medici, came upon a giant armadillo one night in 2009 while working in the field. Hearing the story lit a fire in Desbiez.“This was my dream species, the holy grail of all mammals,” he says. “I said, ‘You know what? If I could just see it.’” Continue reading...

Director Marion Neumann not only pays tribute to the magic of mushrooms but claims they could save humanity from the coming climate apocalypseAt once earthy and magical, fungi not only link us to the origins of life itself but also open doors to alternate realms of consciousness. In Marion Neumann’s loose-limbed documentary, just the latest in a string of films that opine on its enigma, the mushroom can even save the world.Compared with the surreal time-lapse photography of Louie Schwartzberg’s Fantastic Fungi (2019) or the rustic charm of Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s The Truffle Hunters (2020), Neumann’s approach is more free-wheeling and eccentric. Interviews with a wide host of fungi lovers – who include scientists, culinary specialists and devoted enthusiasts – delve into the generative power of mushrooms with vigour and optimism. Considering that the cultivation of fungal cultures has allowed us to ease our physical ailments as well as repair damaged ecosystems, the film posits that, beyond a transactional relationship, humans can also model our behaviours after the virtues of the mushroom. Mycelium, the word that describes the thread-like structure of fungal colonies, is often brought up, suggesting that humanity should aspire to such interconnectedness in the face of increasing ecological disasters. Continue reading...

Ian Sample speaks to Guardian science correspondent Nicola Davis about the news that Wegovy, an appetite suppressant popular with celebrities in the US, will soon be sold at UK pharmacies. It’s a prescription drug aimed at helping people with obesity lose weight, but some argue it doesn’t tackle the root cause of the diseaseClips: BBC, abc7NY Continue reading...

Professor of mathematical biology to succeed Sir Patrick Vallance after advising MoD and working with Sage during pandemicDame Angela McLean has been appointed as the UK’s chief scientific adviser – the first woman to hold the post.McLean will take over the role of providing independent scientific advice to the prime minister and members of the cabinet on 1 April, after the end of Sir Patrick Vallance’s five-year term. She will also advise on aspects of science and technology policy, and work to improve the quality and use of scientific evidence and advice in government. Continue reading...

The answers to today’s word and number puzzlesEarlier today I set you these four lexical-numerical puzzles, inspired by Tom Lehrer’s song That’s Mathematics. Here they are again with solutions. You will also discover the highly-anticipated winning entry to the competition for most brilliant self-referential fraction.1. Pair and share Continue reading...

Researchers say they have found a way to help survivors regain control of their arms and handsWhen Heather Rendulic experienced a series of strokes in 2012 at the age of 22, she lost functional use of her left hand. A decade later, she is once more able to use a fork and knife, thanks to electrodes implanted in her neck.About one in four people globally will experience a stroke in their lifetime – a condition in which the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. Continue reading...

I am one of two million sufferers in the UK. When I read new studies, I am also trying to understand what’s going on in my legsI first arrived in the UK from Switzerland in 2019 to work at the High Consequence Emerging Viruses Group at what is now the UK Health Security Agency. At the time, my project was focused on Ebola virus disease survivors. I was excited for a new chapter in the Ebola field. But Covid quickly changed our plans.We applied our skills to develop Covid treatments and new antivirals. I was involved in early research to study the Sars-CoV-2 infection, and test vaccine candidates.The lab moved to the University of Oxford, where we joined a consortium of researchers who were studying how the immune system was responding after people had been vaccinated.Stephanie Longet is a postdoctoral researcher in immunology at the University of Oxford, and an expert in infectious diseases and vaccination Continue reading...

When wordplay meets numberplayUPDATE: Solutions now available hereBefore we get to today’s puzzles, here is a curious fact I learned recently:If you start with the word “YES” and advance each letter 16 along in the alphabet, it spells “OUI”? Continue reading...

Two of the brightest planets will be visible on western horizon – if weather cooperatesIf the weather cooperates and you can find a clear western horizon, this week will treat you to a spectacular evening conjunction.The two brightest planets, Jupiter and Venus, will meet in the western sky just after sunset. As an added bonus, the space between the two planets will play host to the tiny sliver of a crescent moon. The chart shows the view looking west from London at 1800 GMT on 22 February. The constellations are marked but no other stars will be visible at this time in that part of the sky. The planets, however, will stand out brightly against the gathering twilight. The moon will also look beautiful with slightly more than 8% of its surface illuminated. Stargazers around the world will be able to see the conjunction. Continue reading...

As the former Sage adviser leaves Wellcome to join WHO, he talks about exhausted health workers, the UK’s sluggish response to Covid and the danger of conspiracy theoriesMasks are a rarity now on streets and trains. We don’t leave empty seats in theatres or limit how many people browse in our shops. It seems like it’s all over – but Prof Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, once a key member of the government’s scientific advisory body Sage and an enormously influential figure in global health, says the Covid pandemic could still have unpleasant surprises in store.Farrar is not a doom-monger. But from where he is sitting, with long experience of epidemics from flu to Sars to Ebola, we are still in a risky place. We need to be ready for what this – or quite possibly another – bug could do to us. Continue reading...

Two thousand-year-old object found at Roman fort in Northumberland in 1992 has been reassessed by archaeologistsArchaeologists believe they may have found the only known lifesize Roman dildo, discovered in a ditch in what were the farthest northern fringes of the empire.If it was not used as a sexual implement then the 2,000-year-old object may have been an erect penis-shaped pestle, or it could have been a feature from a statue that people touched for good luck. Continue reading...

Object hit balcony in Matera and remnants in pristine condition – ‘almost as if we collected it directly from space’, says expertResidents of southern Italy’s picturesque and ancient “city of stone” have been gripped by another rocky phenomenon after a meteorite crash-landed on the balcony of a home in Matera’s suburbs.The space object, which had been travelling at about 200mph, was spotted in the skies above the Puglia and Basilicata regions on 14 February, becoming known as “Valentine’s fireball”, before falling on to the balcony of the home of brothers Gianfranco and Pino Losignore and their parents. Continue reading...

Research into the disease has focused on plaques in the brain. But some scientists think viruses and bacteria play a role – and their work is gaining groundAs Davangere Devanand, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center, combed through the reams of scientific data on Alzheimer’s, he stumbled across a surprising idea – could an infection be involved in driving the disease?“I was looking for an Alzheimer’s treatment approach that had a reasonable shot of working,” he says. “I found this old theory, going back 35 years, which linked herpes viruses to the disease, and there were all these indirect lines of evidence.” Continue reading...

Co-author advises taking off your shoes at the door after studying dog poop on Upper East SideResearchers at New York’s Marymount College have published a study that, in its essence, attempts to establish how much dog poop footwear carries into the homes of New Yorkers on the affluent Upper East Side.The study, released to the Indoor and Built Environment journal, concludes there’s a strong argument for leaving your outside shoes at the door – or risk tracking fecal bacteria around the house. Continue reading...

Discovery that extrachromosomal DNA act as cancer-causing genes seen as breakthrough that could lead to new therapiesScientists have pinpointed pieces of DNA which, they say, act like Bond villains in the way they help cancers spread. These microscopic agents have also been shown to be responsible for helping tumours gain resistance to anti-cancer drugs.The discovery of these bits of genetic material – known as extrachromosomal DNA or ecDNA – could revolutionise the treatments of some of the most aggressive tumours that affect people today, add the researchers. Continue reading...

The primatologist, 88, on why animals need names, the last time she cried properly (1969), looking forwards to life after death and looking back at being a four-year-old scientistThe scientist in me was evident early on. At four, desperate to know how eggs come out of chickens, I hid inside a hen house waiting to witness it. When I finally returned, Mum had called the police. I’d been missing for hours. Instead of punishing me, she listened intently to my discoveries.I was jealous of Tarzan’s Jane as a child. Yes, I know they were fictional. But I still felt spurned he didn’t pick me. Continue reading...

What’s the secret to making it into triple figures? Never stay stuck in the past, keep a diary … and dance while you still canBritish army colonel, diplomat and writer; Kent, England

Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett reflects on her life-changing role in Tár (1m25s), food writer Bee Wilson investigates the real impact of energy drinks on consumers (21m38s), and David Robson on what a ground-breaking study says about our power to shape our future selves (48m09s) Continue reading...

Study in mice suggests drug could temporarily stop sperm moving by blocking critical proteinWhen it comes to contraception, men may finally have a greater choice than a condom or vasectomy, with a study in mice released this week suggesting it may be possible to develop a pill that could be taken shortly before sex.With what some have described as a “global epidemic” of unplanned pregnancies, and surveys suggesting many men hold positive views about a potential “male pill”, it seems to be fertile ground. Continue reading...

Sumerian Lord Palace of the Kings found in archeological collaboration with British MuseumIt has been described by the director of the British Museum as “one of the most fascinating sites” he has has ever visited, but the archaeologist who led the discovery of a lost Sumerian temple in the ancient city of Girsu has said he was accused of “making it up” and wasting funding.Dr Sebastien Rey led the project that discovered the 4,500-year-old palace in modern-day Iraq – thought to hold the key to more information about one of the first known civilisations. Continue reading...

Research shows people get more deep REM sleep than in summer, and may need to adjust habits to seasonFor those of us who struggle to leave our beds in the winter, taunts of “lazy” could well be misplaced.New research suggests that while humans do not hibernate, we may need more sleep during the colder months. Continue reading...

Physicist who designed and developed innovative instruments that provided evidence of changes in the Earth’s atmosphereThe consensus on how human activity is changing our climate is now so comprehensive that it is easy to forget that crucial to building the scientific understanding has been the acquisition over decades of many careful environmental measurements. John Harries, who has died aged 76, was involved in designing, developing and deploying instruments that were placed on aeroplanes, balloons and satellites to measure the heat radiation emitted by the Earth. His work resulted in the first direct observational evidence of an increase in the carbon dioxide greenhouse effect.Visible light is radiation with a spectrum of colours from blue at short wavelengths to red at long wavelengths. Radiation at even longer wavelengths is invisible, but the spectrum continues with heat radiation in the infrared and far-infrared. Each gas in the atmosphere absorbs and emits radiation uniquely, having its own characteristic spectrum, and, knowing this, we can interpret measurements of radiation to reveal the concentration of that gas. Continue reading...

Exclusive: museum in London agreed to take care not to say anything that could damage sponsor Equinor’s reputationThe Science Museum in London signed a sponsorship contract containing a gagging clause with the Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor, agreeing to take care not to say anything that could damage the firm’s reputation, it can be revealed.The agreement, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian and the investigative journalism organisation Point Source, concerned sponsorship of the museum’s current Wonderlab exhibition. Continue reading...

Psychologists call it ‘vicarious trauma’ – the result of witnessing too much misery, even if you’re not experiencing it first hand. And it can affect anyone, from war correspondents to legal professionals and interpretersIf I had been told that my dream career could end up affecting my mental health, I might have thought twice about pursuing it. Or perhaps I wouldn’t have. After all, trauma is not new in journalism – “if it bleeds, it leads” is the adage.But while crime and war correspondents know the risks they run, I fell into covering harrowing stories accidentally. I spent more than a decade on and off in the BBC newsroom, mostly in the user-generated content (UGC) hub team, dealing directly with the audience – finding case studies and trends, and tackling disinformation early by verifying stories before they were broadcast. Sometimes it was the best job ever, when the stories we covered could change people’s lives. Other times, the job meant scouring through racist and xenophobic missives, and exposure to pornography and graphic images of human remains. I would weep and feel hopeless about the world we inhabit, as we found ourselves mapping the geographies of murder, deconstructing images of beheadings, or cross-referencing atrocities on social media videos and open-source intelligence from far-flung places. Continue reading...

The torrent of bad news – on the economy, on the climate and on the war in Europe – can be exhausting. Despite the news reflecting a grim picture of our society, some of Australia’s best writers, including Helen Garner and Tony Birch, have found happiness amid the chaos.In this episode of Full Story, Gabrielle Jackson talks to Guardian Australia’s editor-in-chief, Lenore Taylor, and assistant editor for features, culture and lifestyle, Celina Ribeiro, about how we can find joy without turning away from the world’s most pressing issuesRead more: Continue reading...

CBD is currently only prescribed for a small number of conditions such as rare, severe epilepsyOxford scientists are to launch a major global trial to investigate whether cannabis-based medicine can treat people with psychosis or psychotic symptoms.Currently, cannabidiol (CBD) is only prescribed for a small number of conditions. In the UK, for example, these include rare, severe epilepsy, and vomiting or nausea caused by chemotherapy. Continue reading...

Midlife used to mean settling down, going grey and buying a lawnmower. But with relaxation no longer an option, has the concept lost all meaning?Amid all the recent commentary about John Cleese resurrecting Fawlty Towers, one fact struck me as even more preposterous than the setting’s proposed relocation to a Caribbean boutique hotel: when the original series aired, Cleese was only 35 years old.When it comes to screen culture, middle age isn’t what it used to be. People magazine gleefully reported last year that the characters in And Just Like That, the rebooted series of Sex and the City, were the same age (average 55) as the Golden Girls when they made their first outing in the mid-80s. How can that be possible? My recollection of the besequined Florida housemates was that they were teetering off this mortal coil, but then everyone seems old when you are young. Continue reading...

According to new research by the children’s commissioner for England, one in 10 children have watched pornography by the time they are nine years old. And teachers say the effects are being felt in schools. So what makes young people vulnerable to this kind of content, and what impact might it have on their brains and behaviour? Madeleine Finlay speaks to Guardian education correspondent Sally Weale, and to consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Dickon Bevington Continue reading...

The explosion, called a kilonova, created a rapidly expanding fireball of luminous matter before collapsing to form a black holeAstronomers have observed what might be the “perfect explosion”, a colossal and utterly spherical blast triggered by the merger of two very dense stellar remnants called neutron stars shortly before the combined entity collapsed to form a black hole.Researchers on Wednesday described for the first time the contours of the type of explosion, called a kilonova, that occurs when neutron stars merge. The rapidly expanding fireball of luminous matter they detailed defied their expectations. Continue reading...

BMJ report found nutritional benefits cited by multibillion-pound industry lacked scientific referencesMost health claims on formula milk products have little or no supporting evidence, researchers have said, prompting calls for stricter marketing rules to be introduced worldwide.Millions of parents use formula milk in what has become a multibillion-dollar global industry. But a study published in the BMJ has found most health and nutritional claims about the products appear to be backed by little or no high-quality scientific evidence. Continue reading...

Film-makers should retire the cliche of the lone male scientific genius, says Rachel Youngman of the Institute of PhysicsIt is hardly surprising to hear that there is a lack of diversity in the portrayal of artificial intelligence researchers in movies (Just nine out of 116 AI professionals in key films are women, study finds, 13 February). There is too often an assumption in popular culture that a scientist, inventor or programmer is male, nearly always white and, of course, a driven, eccentric genius. It is a deeply damaging and lazy stereotype, and needs to be dispatched to the dustbin of social and creative history.At the Institute of Physics, we see the real-life consequences of this in the worryingly low numbers of girls – and all young people from underrepresented backgrounds – studying physics. This is despite the fact that girls got more top grades than boys in A-level maths in 2021 and 2022. Continue reading...

International scientists propose black holes as source for dark energy, created when stars collapseNothing sucks more than a supermassive black hole, but according to a group of researchers, the enormous objects found at the heart of many galaxies may be driving the expansion of the cosmos.The radical claim comes from an international team who compared growth rates of black holes in different galaxies. They conclude that the spread of masses observed could be explained by black holes bearing cores of “dark energy”, the mysterious force behind the accelerating expansion of the universe. Continue reading...

A study of four- and five-year-olds suggests they respond less compassionately to others when a personal reward is at stake

Every day, around the world, 2bn cups are consumed. But what actually happens after you swallow that first mouthful? Here is everything you need to knowCoffee. Go juice. Liquid gold. The one with all the psychoactive properties. Once used by Sufi mystics as an aid to concentration during religious rituals, it’s now one of the most ubiquitous drinks on the planet: we get through about 2bn cups a day.It’s also one of the most valued and pored-over drinks. One particularly sought-after blend, Black Ivory, which is produced by encouraging elephants to digest arabica berries, retails at more than £2,000 a kilogram, while coffee-making championships attract thousands of spectators. Continue reading...

Oyster mushroom feeds on roundworms using a deadly nerve agent that causes paralysisA mushroom that eats animals sounds like a horror story. But the oyster mushroom is a full-bloodied carnivore that feeds on roundworms, killing its prey using a nerve gas.Even though oyster mushrooms are a prized food delicacy, don’t be fooled; they kill nematodes, tiny roundworms. The oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus usually grows on dead or dying trees, but the wood has so little protein that the fungus turns to consuming nematodes for nourishment. It uses a lethal array of tiny balls attached to the hypae, the long hair-like filaments of the fungus. When a nematode brushes past a ball it instantly bursts, paralysing and killing the tiny worm in minutes. The fungal filament then penetrates the carcass, dissolving its tissues and sucking out the nutrients. Continue reading...

Teddi Shaw, from Northumberland, first recipient on health service of Libmeldy, world’s most expensive drugA girl born with a rare and deadly genetic condition is expected to live a long and normal life after becoming the first person to be cured on the NHS with the help of a revolutionary gene therapy.Teddi Shaw was diagnosed with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), an inherited condition that causes catastrophic damage to the nervous system and organs. Those affected usually die young. Continue reading...

‘Emotional’ posthumous discovery of 16-year-old hedgehog gives conservationists hope for the mammals’ future preservationA 16-year-old European hedgehog called Thorvald has been crowned the oldest in the world, smashing the previous record by seven years.The male hedgehog lived near the town of Silkeborg in the centre of Denmark. Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen, from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at Oxford University, who led the Danish Hedgehog Project that discovered Thorvald, said she was overwhelmed when she discovered how old he was. Continue reading...

Scientists studying 2014 Hazelwood coalmine fire say breathing in tiny particles is linked to increased emergency presentations

Years as a therapist have taught me that silence ruins relationships. So forget the cards and the roses and celebrate each otherI popped into my local newsagent last week to pick up a copy of the Guardian newspaper and, as I stood in the queue, I realised I was standing next to a rack of Valentine’s Day cards.I began to browse and was struck by how many of the cards were humorous. Some were just silly – “dim sum-body say it’s Valentine’s Day?”, or there was one with a couple in the bathroom – “Roses are red, violets are blue, you shave your legs while I do a poo!” But to my surprise, there were also a lot of cards that were very explicit – “Roses are red, I’m shit at poems. Fancy a shag?” These cards had a laddish, rather adolescent quality.Susanna Abse is a couple psychotherapist and author of Tell Me the Truth About Love Continue reading...

Climate change and pollution are the latest factors contributing to a global rise in antibiotic-resistant superbugs, according to a report from the UN environment agency. Given that no new class of antibiotics has been discovered since the 1980s, what are our best hopes for tackling these bugs in the future? Ian Sample speaks to the Guardian’s science correspondent Hannah Devlin about genetically modified bacteria, the potential of plant toxins, and why scientists are hunting for viruses known as ‘bacteriophages’ in birdbaths and sewersClips: CNBC Continue reading...

Appetite suppressant Wegovy, popular with celebrities, seen as breakthrough treatment but not permanent remedyWeekly weight-loss jabs that are popular with celebrities will soon be made available through high street chemists in England, despite controversy over their use.Many people struggle to tackle obesity through diet and exercise alone as they often find they regain the weight that they lose. Continue reading...

On Valentine’s Day, psychologist Chris Cheers proposes we redefine love – not as something we find, but something we doOver the last few years, as a psychologist and as a friend, I have sat with many people struggling with isolation and loneliness. Some government-enforced, some just the way things have turned out. But although the causes may be different, one thing is clear: nobody wants to be lonely.Our bodies need social connection. It’s in our biology. This is one reason, as often reported, that married people are shown to have lower rates of mortality compared to single people of the same age. But it’s important not to end the story there. In his book The Myth of Normal, Gabor Mate points to other important findings that get mentioned less: that those who are unhappily married show poorer wellbeing and health than the unmarried and that improving the quality of all your relationships reduces your risk of death by the same amount as quitting smoking or drinking. Continue reading...

Animals possibly being knocked off course by storm events on the east coast of the US and in the CaribbeanSmall, wrinkled and stranded in chilly waters, young hard-shelled turtles have been turning up on the beaches of the UK and Ireland in higher numbers than usual this winter.According to reports made to the Marine Conservation Society and Marine Environmental Monitoring, 13 juvenile turtles have been stranded since November – 12 loggerheads and one Kemp’s ridley turtle. Continue reading...

Think you’re stuck being scatty, or an introvert? The latest research suggests otherwiseHave you ever wished you could be better organised or more sociable? Or more inventive and original? Perhaps you’re a constant worrier, and you’d prefer to be a little more carefree?If any of these thoughts ring true, you are far from alone. A number of surveys show that at least two-thirds of people would like to change some element of their personality. In the past, such desires appeared to be futile. Our personalities were thought to be formed in childhood and to remain fixed throughout lives. Like the proverbial leopard that could never change its spots, our virtues and flaws were believed to be woven into the fabric of our psyche. Continue reading...

Scientists predict asteroid strike for only seventh time as 1-metre object enters Earth’s atmosphereAn asteroid has lit up the sky over the Channel in the early morning after scientists accurately predicted its strike – only the seventh time that has happened.The European Space Agency said on Sunday night that the 1-metre-sized object would enter Earth’s atmosphere and strike the surface around the French city of Rouen. The BBC then reported that it was seen over the Channel, creating a stunning shooting star effect. Continue reading...

An asteroid exploded in the night sky after entering Earth's atmosphere over the Channel. The small asteroid, called Sar2667 by scientists, was predicted to make impact at about 3am by the European Space Agency in just the seventh correct prediction of this kind of phenomena

Extreme weather and a prolific citrus disease have plagued Florida’s orange crop, sending prices through the roofHas breakfast in the US ever been this expensive? The recent eggflation seen across the country has caused an uproar, and now orange juice is adding to the financial pain.Orange juice futures – contracts to buy and sell OJ – have almost doubled to $2.60 per pound over the last year, up from $1.40 a year ago, leading to price surges in stores. In January, orange juice not from concentrate hit $10 a gallon, while juice from concentrate hit $6.27 per gallon. Continue reading...