Science | The Guardian

One of the largest creatures to have walked the Earth is to become the Natural History Museum’s new star attractionIt will be one of the largest exhibits to grace a British museum. In spring, the Natural History Museum in London will display the full cast of a skeleton of a titanosaur, a creature so vast it will have to be shoehorned into the 9-metre-high Waterhouse gallery.One of the most massive creatures ever to have walked on Earth, Patagotitan mayorum was a 57-tonne behemoth that would have shaken the ground as it stomped over homelands which now form modern Patagonia. Its skeleton is 37 metres long, and 5 metres in height – significantly larger than the museum’s most famous dinosaur, Dippy the diplodocus, which used to loom over its main gallery. Continue reading...

Instead of searching for the key to immortality, what if we tried to make people’s lives better in the here and now?Shortly after waking, Bryan Johnson drinks a murky concoction involving olive oil, cocoa flavanols and something derived from algae. Breakfast will be a blended green slurry of lentils, broccoli and mushrooms, with lunch and dinner not much different.The 45-year-old American entrepreneur is religious about his sleep, follows a strict workout regime, monitors the performance of his vital organs using hospital-grade medical equipment, and suggests to his social – media followers that deviating from what he calls the “blueprint” to have a raucous night out getting wasted with friends is a form of self harm.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Home fungus growers can boost soil quality in small gardens and cultivate exotic varieties using coffee grounds and online kitsAn increasing number of gardeners are growing mushrooms in their vegetable patches to improve soil quality and grow food in small spaces.Mushrooms are now cultivated in the kitchen garden at Kew Gardens in south-west London and visitors have been keen to know how they might grow their own. Hélèna Dove, Kew’s head kitchen gardener, says: “Mushrooms have seen a great rise in popularity and we’ve seen a huge amount of interest from visitors since we installed our mushroom beds in Kew’s kitchen garden this autumn. Continue reading...

Evidence has been found of complex cooking by Neanderthals. Our writer finds out how their meals might have tastedPity the Neanderthal chef. With only rudimentary cooking implements – a hot rock, some scraps of animal skin, perhaps a favoured prodding stick, plus stones for pounding, cutting, scraping and grinding – their hands must have been a scarred mess, and the woodsmoke from the hearth must have played havoc with their eyes. However, according to research published this week, they did at least have access to a smörgåsbord of ingredients.Gone is the stereotype of Neanderthals tearing into raw tubers or gnawing on a leg of roasted animal meat. Microscopic analysis of ancient food scraps unearthed from a hearth in Shanidar Cave, in Iraq, has provided the first real indication of complex cooking – and thus of food culture – among Neanderthals. Continue reading...

Vaccine against all strains of virus hailed as major step in protecting against potentially devastating flu pandemicA universal flu vaccine that protects against all strains of the virus could be available in the next two years, according to a leading scientist.An experimental vaccine based on the same mRNA technology used in the highly successful Covid jabs was found to protect mice and ferrets against severe influenza, paving the way for clinical trials in humans. Continue reading...

‘One size fits all’ guidance could lead to 20m litres of drinking water being wasted each day in UK, scientists sayA recommendation to drink eight glasses of water a day is likely to be excessive for most people, according to scientists.The suggestion has become accepted wisdom and often appears in health guidance. The latest work, however, the most rigorous study to date on water turnover, reveals that people have a wide range of water intakes. Many people only require about 1.5 to 1.8 litres a day, lower than the two litres typically recommended, the research suggests. Continue reading...

Science shows us that many of those in authority are so used to wielding it that they are unaware of their privilegeThe thing that people with power don’t know is what it’s like to have little or no power. Minute by minute, you are reminded of your place in the world: how it’s difficult to get out of bed if you have mental health conditions, impossible to laugh or charm if you are worried about what you will eat, and how not being seen can grind away at your sense of self.I am often in rooms with people who do not understand this, people more educated than me, more privileged than me – people who are so accustomed to having power that they don’t even know it’s there. I am a black woman in my fifties, I am neurodiverse, and I have multiple mental health diagnoses. Part of my job as a researcher and cultural thinker involves working with leaders in the arts, business and politics, supporting them to see the one thing they can’t: the effects of the power that they wield.Suzanne Alleyne is a cultural thinker, founder at Alleyne&, and fellow of the thinktank Demos

On 15 November the world’s population reached 8 billion, according to the UN. Much of that growth is because we’re living longer. As a species we will continue to age, but eventually stop growing. The UN predicts that in the next century humanity will begin to go into decline. So what happens when societies get older and smaller – a problem some countries are already encountering? Ian Sample speaks to Prof Vegard Skirbekk about how humanity got here, and how we prepare for future demographic changeArchive: ANC 24/7, BBC News, euronews Continue reading...

Hoard once thought to be a fraud appears to be genuine, indicating mysterious Roman Sponsian livedA hoard of gold coins once thought to be fakes have been authenticated by researchers who say the artefacts reveal a long-lost Roman emperor.The coins bear the name and image of a shadowy historical figure, Sponsian, whose existence was previously placed in doubt by experts who suggested the coins were the work of sophisticated 18th-century fraudsters. Continue reading...

John McFall, 41, becomes first astronaut with physical disability to be recruited by European space agencyA Paralympic sprinter from the UK has been named among the latest intake of astronauts recruited by the European Space Agency.John McFall, 41, becomes the first astronaut with a physical disability, or para-astronaut, to be recruited by the space agency in a drive to overcome the barriers that prevent disabled people from participating in space missions. Continue reading...

Many of the world’s most inspiring solutions have been created by scientists who stole their ideas from the natural worldRead more: What happens when humans meddle with nature?Over millions of years of evolution, nature has worked out solutions to many problems. Humans have arrived late in the day and pinched them. For example, Velcro was invented after a Swiss engineer marvelled at the burdock burrs that got stuck to his dog’s fur; the idea for robotic arms came from the motion and gripping ability of elephant trunks, and the front of Japan’s bullet trains were redesigned to mimic a kingfisher’s streamlined beak, reducing the sonic boom they made exiting tunnels.There are different types of mimicry, the most straightforward is the simple idea of copying something that exists in nature. Buildings are an obvious example, as outlined by research published in Nature. The Beijing national stadium is inspired by a bird’s nest, the Lotus Temple in India is shaped, unsurprisingly, like a lotus and the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai is shaped like a palm tree. Continue reading...

Pancake/flatbread with a ‘nutty’ taste is first evidence of complex cooking and food cultureIf you thought Neanderthals survived on a diet of foraged berries and uncooked animal flesh, think again. Charred remnants of what appears to be the world’s oldest cooked meal ever found have been unearthed in a cave complex in northern Iraq, prompting speculation that Neanderthals may have been foodies.“Our findings are the first real indication of complex cooking – and thus of food culture – among Neanderthals,” said Chris Hunt, a professor of cultural paleoecology at Liverpool John Moores University, who coordinated the excavation. Continue reading...

Self-camouflage is just one of the tricks of Brenner’s bobtail squid, a newly found species that is also helping research into microbes in the human gutBobtail squid are the second smallest group of squid in the world, at between 1cm and 5cm from neck to rounded, stumpy butt, and they only come out at night.In 2019, scientists named a new species, Brenner’s bobtail squid (Euprymna brenneri), after finding them while night-diving off the Japanese island of Okinawa. “When you shine a light on them, they freeze,” says Oleg Simakov from the University of Vienna, one member of the squid-finding team. This makes them easy to catch in a hand net. Continue reading...

Changes in atmospheric pressure can set soils in motion hours or even days after heavy rainCan a change in the weather trigger a landslide? Sometimes, yes, according to research.Most landslides are set in motion by an earthquake or torrential rain, but some have no obvious trigger. In 2009, scientists were stunned to discover that the stop-start Slumgullion landslide in the Rocky Mountains – which has been inching down the hillside for 700 years – is triggered by changes in atmospheric pressure. Continue reading...

Analysis challenges WHO health guidance on amount of time women should delay after miscarriage or abortionWomen don’t need to wait for at least six months before trying for another baby after a miscarriage or abortion, an analysis of data suggests, challenging World Health Organization guidance.The research was also at odds with WHO advice that women should delay at least 24 months after a live birth before becoming pregnant again, to avoid complications in the next pregnancy. Continue reading...

Physicist who played a key role from the birth of particle physics in the 1940s to the discovery of the Higgs bosonThe particle physicist Donald Perkins, who has died aged 97, made seminal discoveries about the structure of the proton, and nuclear interactions at extreme energies, and first proposed the use of beams of pion particles in cancer therapy. His career spanned the birth of particle physics, as it emerged from studies of cosmic rays in the 1940s, through its maturation in the final decades of the last century, to the climactic discovery of the Higgs boson in the 21st. He played key roles throughout.When Perkins began research in 1948, the electron, proton and neutron were the only known fundamental particles whose role in building atoms was understood. The pion, a particle predicted to carry the strong force that binds atomic nuclei, had recently been discovered in cosmic rays by Cecil Powell of Bristol University, and it was in Powell’s group that Perkins began his research career. Continue reading...

Remains of slug-like Ediacaran animal Kimberella contain compounds suggesting it had a gut and ate bacteria and algae from the ocean floor

Epidemiologist whose research into the role of blood in heart disease paved the way for new targeted treatmentsTom Meade, who has died aged 86, pioneered the field of cardiovascular epidemiology. His research, spanning five decades, gave medical science a vastly improved understanding of the biology of blood and the circulatory system, opening the door for targeted new heart disease treatments.By the early 1960s, heart disease was the leading cause of death in many countries, with the culprit widely believed to be atheroma (fatty deposits inside the arteries), brought on by high cholesterol and a fatty diet. But in 1965, Meade, a researcher at the Medical Research Council (MRC), read something he described as “a real eye-opener”. His boss, the pre-eminent epidemiologist Jerry Morris, wrote that while the numbers of men dying aged 50-69 had surged since 1908, analysis of autopsy reports showed that the numbers dying with coronary atheroma had decreased. Meade wondered if other factors were in play, and what role blood might have in heart disease. He wanted to investigate. Continue reading...

Are you secure, anxious, or avoidant: songs we play repeatedly can be revealing. So what is it with me and Pulp’s Babies?When I discover or am reminded of a song I particularly like, I am one of those people who will listen to it over and over and over again. The song will be on when I am exercising, when I am running errands, when I am putting things in my online shopping basket to replicate the rush of actually buying them. It becomes, for a couple of days, omnipresent in my life, until another takes its place.One such recent pick has been Babies by Pulp. This is a track whose chorus hook goes: “I want to take you home / I want to give you children,” but whose narrator at one point also hides in a cupboard to watch his girlfriend’s sister have sex with a guy called David from the local garage. I have played it to death lately, so it seems that researchers in the psychology department of the University of Toronto would have a field day with me. Continue reading...

Seven ways in which our destruction of the natural world has led to deadly outcomesIn the early 1990s, vultures across India started dying inexplicably. Long-billed, slender-billed and oriental white-backed vultures declined to the brink of extinction, with the number of India’s most common three vulture species falling by more than 97% between 1992 and 2007. Six other species were in sharp decline too. Scientists started testing the dead birds and worked out they had been exposed to diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug routinely given to cattle in south Asia at the time. The vultures fed on the carcasses of cows and were poisoned. Continue reading...

After years of setbacks, dementia researchers are getting excited about a new antibody drug called lecanemab. No one expects it to stop cognitive decline, but even slowing it would be a breakthroughAt the end of November, thousands of researchers from around the world will descend on San Francisco for the annual Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease meeting. The conference is a mainstay of the dementia research calendar, the place where the latest progress – and all too often, setbacks – in the quest for Alzheimer’s treatments are made public for the first time.This year’s meeting is poised to be a landmark event. After more than a century of research into Alzheimer’s, scientists expect to hear details of the first treatment that can unambiguously alter the course of the disease. Until now, nothing has reversed, halted or even slowed the grim deterioration of patients’ brains. Given that dementia and Alzheimer’s are the No 1 killer in the UK, and the seventh largest killer worldwide, there is talk of a historic moment. Continue reading...

Targeting non-cancerous cells in tumours could open up new frontiers in fight against the diseaseScientists hope to double the survival rate of people with advanced cancer within a decade by using new lines of attack to fight the disease.Speaking at the launch of a joint five-year research strategy by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust in London, experts described how targeting non-cancerous cells within tumours could open up new frontiers in the fight against the disease, enabling more people to be cured and others to survive for far longer. Continue reading...

It’s supposed to be the first ever carbon neutral World Cup. Organisers Fifa and host Qatar say they have implemented sustainability initiatives, taken measures to limit carbon output and will offset greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing credits. Fifa has admitted, however, that the tournament’s carbon footprint will bigger than any of its predecessors, and experts believe emissions have been underestimated, calling into question the claim of carbon neutrality.Madeleine Finlay speaks to sports reporter Paul MacInnes about the environmental burden of building stadiums, flying in players and fans from around the world and keeping the pitches green, and asks whether football is really ready to face up to its carbon footprintArchive: BBC Sport, Channel 4 News, Sky News, BBC News Continue reading...

Analysis shows significant benefits with no major side-effects for mother or baby but more trials needed ‘to confirm results’Acupuncture can significantly relieve the lower back or pelvic pain frequently experienced by pregnant women, according to a new global data analysis of the available evidence.There were no observable major side effects for babies whose mothers opted for the procedure, the findings suggest, although only a few of the studies evaluated outcomes. The meta analysis was published in the journal BMJ Open. Continue reading...

Nasa checked off another crucial milestone on its first crew-capable moon mission for 50 years early on Monday, with the Orion capsule of Artemis 1 “buzzing” the moon as it made its closest approach to the lunar surface of the 25-day space flight. The pass, 81 miles above the far side of the moon, was followed by a critical engine burn to place the spacecraft on a pathway to a wide lunar orbit 40,000 miles further on, the farthest a human-rated vehicle has ever travelled from Earth. Timelapse footage shows the capsule, moon and Earth in the same frame

Milestone in $4.1bn test flight that began last Wednesday after Orion launched into space atop massive Artemis rocketNasa checked off another crucial milestone on its first crew-capable moon mission for 50 years early on Monday with the Orion capsule of Artemis 1 “buzzing” the moon as it made its closest approach to the lunar surface of the 25-day space flight.The pass, 81 miles above the far side of the moon, was followed by a critical engine burn to place the spacecraft on a pathway to a wide lunar orbit 40,000 miles further on, the farthest a human-rated vehicle has ever traveled from Earth. Continue reading...

Sale of 1,400kg skeleton withdrawn after New York Times reported claims of similarities to T rex sold in 2020The British auction house Christie’s has been forced to call off the £20m auction of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton just days before it was due to go under the hammer after a well-known paleontologist raised concerns that parts of it looked similar to another dinosaur.Christie’s said on Monday that the 1,400kg (3,100lb) skeleton – nicknamed Shen – had been withdrawn from the auction in Hong Kong on 30 November, when it was set to be the star lot. Continue reading...

A study finds that six in 10 have no space for new patients. Therapists address the surge and how to tackle itAt a time when it feels like the world’s perpetually on fire, we all need a therapist – but trying to land one these days can be a nightmare.A study from the American Psychological Association (APA) published this week found that six in 10 psychologists “no longer have openings for new patients”. The shortage comes as demand for therapy soars: since the beginning of the pandemic, about three-quarters of practitioners have seen their waiting lists expand. In the same period, almost 80% of practitioners report an increase in patients with anxiety disorders and 66% have seen an increase in those needing treatment for depression. Continue reading...

The venerable constellation, first recorded by the Babylonians, will be framed by the two planets in the southern skyAquarius, the water bearer, is one of the fainter zodiacal constellations – the constellations bisected by the plane of our solar system, and as such the ones through which the planets, the moon and the sun all move. Aquarius sits between Capricornus and Pisces and is best seen from the northern hemisphere in the autumn.This week, Aquarius is framed by Jupiter and Saturn. The two planets straddle the constellation and can be used to find the right patch of sky. The chart shows the view looking south from London at 6pm GMT on Monday 21 November. Those with a good southern horizon may also be able to catch sight of the relatively bright star Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish. The placement of this constellation is no accident. In classical Greek depictions, Aquarius is seen upending a jar of water that spills out into a river in which the southern fish is swimming. But Aquarius dates back further than that, to Babylonian star lore of around 1000BC, when it was associated with the water god Ea. Continue reading...

My mother, Cornelia Schroeder, who has died aged 73, was a virologist specialising in influenza and also the editor of her mother’s memoir.Cornelia spent the early years of her career in her native East Germany, but after its collapse, she went to work at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London. From 1990 to 1993, she was Wellcome research fellow at the institute’s division of virology, working on isolation of the influenza virus protein. There, she met an international crowd of like-minded people with whom she remained friends and went hiking in west Wales every year - long after she went back to Berlin in 1993, returning to the Charité Institute for Virology to take up a post as associate professor. Continue reading...

Bills will cause many to think twice about turning on the heating this winter. How does the body adapt to cold – and will wearing a hat really help?We, along with other mammals and birds, are endotherms. We use thermoregulation to maintain a consistent internal body temperature – between 37C and 37.5C. When the external environment changes, “A range of physiological responses is initiated, including the reduction of tissue temperature – skin, blood and muscle,” says Dr Joseph Costello, exercise and environmental physiologist at Portsmouth University’s extreme environments laboratories. “If the exposure is over a longer period of time, you may also observe a reduction in deep body temperature.”Thermoregulation is controlled by the hypothalamus, a structure deep in the brain that maintains internal balance – or homeostasis – by regulating processes such as heart rate and body temperature. If the hypothalamus senses the body growing cold, it sends signals to the skin, glands, muscles and organs, kickstarting responses that will keep the body warm and protect the vital organs. Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsWill we ever set up an outpost on another planet? Finnley Clarkson, SheffieldPost your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday. Continue reading...

Head of Orion lunar programme says Artemis 1 mission is ‘first step to long-term deep-space exploration’Astronauts are on course to be living and working on the moon before the end of the decade, according to a Nasa official.Howard Hu, the head of the US agency’s Orion lunar spacecraft programme, said humans could be active on the moon for “durations” before 2030, with habitats to live in and rovers to support their work. Continue reading...

Instead of rewarding us for our suffering, Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak are offering nothing but more hardshipThe Covid-19 era is not yet over. The worst might have long since receded – though deaths linked to the virus go on – and for most of us, infection now means nothing more serious than a few days in bed. But the pandemic’s grim and complex legacy is becoming clearer, in continuing tragedies that still seem cruelly overlooked: the prevalence of long Covid, a stark crisis of mental health, and developmental problems among children who spent long months deprived of the most basic human experiences.Partly because the NHS was so consumed by the pandemic, we now seem to be facing an upsurge in deaths from conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes that were left undetected or untreated. Covid has hugely accelerated an exodus of adults from the workforce that is causing ministers no end of anxiety. More generally, millions of people are still living with the effects of two long years full of bereavement, fear and loneliness. Continue reading...

I grew up eating this comforting, warming dish and it remains just as important to me todayI remember my first taste of butter chicken. I must have been about 10 years old. My dad’s cousins used to marinate a whole chicken from their farm in yoghurt, spices, ginger, garlic and chilli, before cooking it over an open fire: not everyone owned a tandoor.Everything they used was from their own land: deliciously sweet and tangy tomatoes, homemade yoghurt, white makhan (a cultured butter). It was such an experience – and such a beautiful dish – that throughout the long train journey home after visiting them, I would hassle my mum to make it for us back home. Those delicate spices, though, and the smoky flavour from cooking over an open fire, are impossible for me to replicate, even now. Continue reading...

Last week’s Nasa launch is the first in a flurry of successors to the Apollo programme, reopening the debate on the value of sending humans into spaceIn a few weeks, Nasa will celebrate a remarkable anniversary. Fifty years ago the last astronauts to visit the moon returned to Earth, leaving behind the final tell-tale signs that our species had once visited another world. For three days in December 1972, Apollo 17 crewmen Gene Cernan and Harrison “Jack” Schmitt explored the moon’s Taurus-Littrow valley, travelling over 30 kilometres in their lunar rover while collecting more than 100kg of rocks for return to Earth.Then, on 14 December, geologist Schmitt returned to the mission’s lunar lander while Cernan gave a brief speech that was broadcast to Earth. “We shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind,” he pledged. Then Cernan closed the spaceship’s hatch and after adjusting the controls, placed his hand on the ship’s yellow ignition button and uttered the last words that a human would speak on the moon for the rest of the 20th century: “Okay, Jack, let’s get this mutha outta here.” Continue reading...

And is that answer different now in our Covid world? Linda Geddes looks at the evidence and talks to the expertsAs temperatures drop and November rain falls, the seasonal onslaught of coughs, sore throats and sniffles may feel inevitable, but does constant exposure to everyday infections such as colds or influenza drain us or make us stronger?Our immune systems are often said to have memory, meaning that if an individual has previously been exposed to an infectious bug, such as a virus, specialised immune cells that remember what it looks like will continue to circulate in the blood and body fluids, ready to trigger a rapid immune response should they encounter it again. The same principle underlies vaccination – only in this case, there is no need to risk a serious infection with a virus or bacterium to develop a memory of it. Continue reading...

Second added periodically to synchronise atomic time and Earth time can cause problems for GPS systems, software and telecomsScientists and government representatives meeting at a conference in France have voted to scrap leap seconds by 2035, the organisation responsible for global timekeeping has said.Similar to leap years, leap seconds have been periodically added to clocks over the last half century to make up for the difference between exact atomic time and the Earth’s slower rotation. Continue reading...

Ronna, quetta, ronto and quecto added to International System of Units in first such change for more than 30 yearsExperts have voted for an expansion of the universe – or at least the official terminology that can be drawn upon to describe the vanishingly small and the preposterously large.In a vote at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in Versailles on Friday, the International System of Units (SI) embraced four new prefixes with immediate effect, marking the first such changes in more than 30 years. Continue reading...

Scottish actor and physics professor describe their difficulty in checking in to same hotel using matching namesIt adds a whole new meaning to double booking. Or perhaps it’s more of a mathematical problem: solve Brian Cox squared? But when the question was raised by a hotel receptionist, it was left to an actor and a physicist to find an answer.Brian Cox, the former musician turned physics professor, was the first to encounter the problem when attempting to get a key to his room in the hotel in which Brian Cox, the Scottish actor best known for starring in Succession, was also staying before a joint TV appearance. Continue reading...

Nasa says space telescope is finding previously hidden early galaxies, including one that may have formed 350m years after the big bangNasa’s James Webb space telescope is finding bright, early galaxies that until now have been hidden from view, including one that may have formed just 350m years after the big bang.Astronomers said Thursday that if the results were verified, this newly discovered throng of stars would beat the most distant galaxy identified by the Hubble space telescope – a record-holder that formed 400m years after the universe began. Continue reading...

The weaponisation of private health information can feel like a violation of personal safety, but there are steps you can take to regain controlMillions of Australians have been left feeling violated in the wake of the Medibank cyber breach. The weaponisation of private health information can be deeply traumatic – particularly for those who have had sensitive health information released publicly.The promise of confidentiality and professional privacy helps us feel safe enough to enter into mental health or other medical treatment. However, having private information such as details of mental health issues, addictions, STIs or past abortions shared publicly can be shame-inducing and highly traumatic. It can feel like a real betrayal and a violation of personal safety. Continue reading...

Eight former employees file unfair labor practice charges, alleging they were retaliated against for criticizing company CEOFormer employees of SpaceX have filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging they had been retaliated against for writing a letter that was critical of the company CEO, Elon Musk.The eight former employees, who were fired in June, helped organize employees to draft the open letter condemning Musk’s online behavior, according to the New York Times. The letter, in part, addressed a joke Musk tweeted about a report suggesting he paid a company flight attendant who accused him of sexual harassment a $250,000 settlement.Musk has denied the allegations. Continue reading...

The revolutionary DCVax-L vaccine has allowed Nigel French to live a normal life seven years after a brain cancer diagnosisIt’s been seven years since Nigel French was woken up in the middle of the night by his wife after having a seizure, which came out of the blue after experiencing a mild headache – something he had simply put down to blocked sinuses.“She told me that the ambulance had arrived and I was like: ‘what ambulance?’” recalls French, 53, a mechanic who was diagnosed with glioblastoma that required urgent surgery, without which he would have had only months to live. Continue reading...

Trial results suggest people with newly diagnosed glioblastoma could potentially be given extra years of lifeThe world’s first vaccine to treat deadly cancerous brain tumours can potentially give patients years of extra life, a global clinical trial has concluded.A senior NHS doctor who was one of the trial’s chief investigators said the evidence showed DCVax had resulted in “astonishing” enhanced survival for patients. Continue reading...

In this week’s newsletter: Sex educator Emily Nagoski is on an eight-part mission to inspire confidence and joy in Come As You Are. Plus: five podcasts to help you make a positive change

Bacteria can fertilise ecosystems but need to be studied closely to identify potential pathogens, scientists sayHundreds of thousands of tonnes of bacteria are being released by melting glaciers, a study has shown.The microbes being washed downstream could fertilise ecosystems, the researchers said, but needed to be much better studied to identify any potential pathogens. Continue reading...

I used to laugh at my friends’ frequent toilet breaks. I have a lot more sympathy since I decided to stay properly hydratedI have long been quietly proud of my bladder control. Not for me the frequent, often urgent, toilet visits of my middle-aged friends. Motorway pitstops not for petrol, just for a pee? Not me. Nor was I ever heard to say, before setting off, “Ooh, I’d better just pop to the loo.” No need, you see. And in pubs, the hours I’d spend drumming my fingers, lonely as a cloud, waiting for my friends to return from the gents. Poor souls, ageing quicker than me, I reflected, smugly.Hubris, sheer hubris. Last week, I read that a chap of my age and weight – 55, and 97kg (15st 4lb) – should be drinking 3.7 litres (6.6 pints) of water a day. Since I have endeavoured to comply with this guidance, my pride in my bladder has been flushed away. No wonder I could control it – I was hardly putting anything in it.Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist Continue reading...

A year ago at Cop26, global environment editor Jonathan Watts caught up with two climate scientists to hear what they thought about the progress made. A lot has happened in the intervening 12 months, and the world hasn’t stayed on track with its previous promises and pledges. Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are expected to increase by 1% in 2022, hitting 37.5 billion tonnes – a record high.Ian Sample called them both up to find out how they’re feeling now. Speaking to Prof Peter Stott, Ian asks whether the 1.5C goal is still alive, and questions Katharine Hayhoe on how she stays hopefulArchive: WION Continue reading...

Rock that crashed into family’s driveway provides compelling evidence water arrived on asteroidsWater covers three-quarters of the Earth’s surface and was crucial for the emergence of life, but its origins have remained a subject of active debate among scientists.Now, a 4.6bn-year-old rock that crashed on to a driveway in Gloucestershire last year has provided some of the most compelling evidence to date that water arrived on Earth from asteroids in the outer solar system. Continue reading...