Insecticide-resistant newcomer caused unprecedented urban outbreak in Ethiopia and can survive the dry season, scientists sayScientists are warning that the invasion of an insecticide-resistant mosquito could change Africa’s “landscape of malaria” after research showed it caused an unprecedented urban outbreak in Ethiopia.An investigation into a steep rise in cases in the Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa during a dry season this year identified the mosquito as the cause of the outbreak. Scientists say it is the strongest evidence to date that it could prompt surges of malaria in areas typically less affected by the disease. Continue reading...

On Sunday, world leaders, negotiators and industry representatives will begin to arrive in Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt for Cop27, the UN’s climate change conference. A UN report set the stage for talks last week, stating that there is “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place” and that progress on limiting global temperature rises has been “woefully inadequate”. So will governments take the opportunity to press ahead with their promises or could the conference live up to accusations of greenwashing?In the first of five special episodes covering Cop27, Madeleine Finlay hears from Guardian Australia’s climate and environment editor Adam Morton about what’s happened since Cop26, our current path to catastrophic heating and what’s likely to be on the agenda over the next two weeksArchive: WION, BBC News, DW News Continue reading...

A masterclass in cell function that will leave you in awe of biologyCells build organisms from the ground up, and therefore to choose to write about them is to give oneself permission to explore almost any aspect of the living world. They are “a life within a life” as Siddhartha Mukherjee puts it in his latest book, which takes advantage of that licence to offer a comprehensive account of basic biology, alongside a history of the many great minds that have helped us to see beyond widespread misconceptions to scientific truth.This is not just about clear-cut successes: alongside the stories of diligent scientists, there are intriguing tales of the many eccentrics whose contributions were vital to the transformation of medicine. As such, this is a book filled with missteps, arguments and prejudices. It almost made me feel sorry for my scientific colleagues, painstakingly working away in labs, trusting that systematic hard work is all that is required to achieve a big breakthrough. Continue reading...

Research could help explain how virus got so out of control this year, while also refining efforts to combat itBritish researchers have identified evidence of “considerable” transmission of monkeypox in the few days before symptoms of the virus emerge.If replicated, the finding would upend received wisdom about how the virus spreads. It could help explain how monkeypox, which causes sometimes excruciatingly painful lesions, got so out of control this year, while also refining efforts to combat it. Continue reading...

Nearly third of patients on largest trial using psychedelic compound went into rapid remissionThe psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms can help alleviate severe depression when combined with psychotherapy, according to a trial that raises hopes for people failed by existing antidepressants.Nearly a third of patients with severe depression went into rapid remission after a single 25mg dose of psilocybin followed by therapy sessions, which aimed to help patients identify causes and potential solutions to their depression, researchers said. Continue reading...

Broken by my parents’ divorce, I was all too ready to be remade by Margaret and her circle. But the ‘training’ was brutal and demeaningIt’s 1994, I’m in a school gym, 16 years old, examining the intersecting lines for basketball, badminton and tennis because it feels less confusing to stare at the floor than watch the spectacle unfolding in front of me. A woman, who I think is very old but who is probably in her 30s, is sweating and yelling: “I am sex. I love fucking.” People are clapping, cheering, telling her she is beautiful. She hollers at the ceiling, thrusting her pelvis. I feel repulsed. Nothing is more gross to a teenager than an adult thrusting, especially in public.I had ended up there because I was depressed after my parents’ bitter divorce. I had stopped going to school, spent all day in bed, mainly in tears. Around then, an old friend of my mum’s from the 60s – whom I will call Margaret – resurfaced. They revived their friendship, and Margaret started helping my mum through the emotional fallout of her divorce. “Sarah might benefit from being trained,” she said. Continue reading...

Altering packaging process could allow pasta to be kept for 120 days, tackling food wasteA new twist on packaging combined with a special ingredient could extend the shelf life of fresh pasta by a month, researchers have revealed.Heat-treated, industrial fresh pasta has a shelf life of approximately 30-90 days, if stored appropriately. However, by taking a triple-pronged approach, involving new forms of packaging, a different packaging atmosphere, and the addition of “good” bacteria, researchers have been able to extend this to 120 days. Continue reading...

With a diameter of 1 to 2km, space rock named 2022 AP7 crosses our orbit but has ‘no chance’ of hitting EarthAstronomers say they have discovered the largest planet killer-sized asteroid in eight years, and that the huge space rock will cross Earth’s orbit.The asteroid, named 2022 AP7, was reported by researchers looking for space rocks within the orbits of Earth and Venus. Continue reading...

The world’s richest man promises more than he has delivered. His social network purchase is likely to go the same wayElon Musk is a fan of the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. When his spacecraft company SpaceX successfully sent its Falcon Heavy rocket payload into orbit around the sun in 2018, the cargo included a digital copy of the author’s classic work: the Foundation trilogy. One of the main protagonists in that series is the Mule, a mutant, megalomaniacal telepath who uses his powers to inspire fanatical loyalty, upend history and conquer the galaxy. No one could miss that Mr Musk has a Mule-sized desire to own the future.His plan to make humanity a multiplanetary species includes nuking Martian polar ice caps to release carbon dioxide, warm the red planet and make it more hospitable for human life. Yet Mr Musk has a history of making promises he has never delivered on. His disease-curing “brain-machine interface” is way behind rivals. In his defence, the billionaire inventor has disrupted the car industry with his Tesla electric vehicles to save the planet. He has become an iconoclast in the public imagination. Continue reading...

California scientists surprised at amount of human-made pollutant whales consume in addition to usual diet of fish and krillMicroplastics have infiltrated nearly all our environments – from human lungs to the Antarctic. Now, scientists have estimated that whales are consuming millions of microplastics per day, in a study that deepens our understanding of plastic pollution in oceans and animal bodies.Scientists from a group of institutions around California used 191 suction-cup tags to follow whales – blue, fin and humpback – along the California coastline to quantify how much plastic they were swallowing, and where it was coming from. They determined the vast majority of plastics are consumed through whales eating krill and other food, instead of coming from water filtered into their mouths. A krill-eating blue whale may ingest 10m pieces of microplastics each day, they estimated, while fish-eating whales probably eat 200,000 pieces of plastic each day. Continue reading...

A new scientific paper has confirmed the power of curse words – and not only to shockName: SwearingAge: It varies: some ancient words became profane over time, other swearwords are more recent coinages. Continue reading...

Apple supplier Foxconn raises daily bonuses to $55 to ease discontent after strict Covid measures prompted some workers to flee the siteApple supplier Foxconn said it has quadrupled bonuses on offer for workers at its Zhengzhou plant in central China as it seeks to quell discontent over Covid curbs and retain staff at the giant iPhone manufacturing site.Daily bonuses for employees, who are part of a Foxconn unit responsible for making electronics including smartphones at the site, have been raised to 400 yuan ($55) a day for November from 100 yuan, according to the official WeChat account of Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant. Continue reading...

Researchers say change could be result of selection pressures as human hunters preferred to target animals with larger hornsRhinoceros horns have become shorter over the last century, researchers have found, adding the development could be a result of hunters and poachers targeting larger prizes.Rhino horns were much sought after among hunters over the centuries, while modern poachers sell them for use in traditional medicines in China and Vietnam. Continue reading...

A new trial is exploring if prescriptions of surfing, gardening and dance classes can reduce anxiety and depression in people aged 11 to 18. NHS mental health trusts in 10 parts of England will use a range of sports, arts and outdoor activities with 600 young people to see if it can stop conditions worsening while the sufferers are on waiting lists for care. This kind of support is known as ‘social prescribing’, allowing health professionals to refer patients to a range of community groups and organisations. But while social prescribing programmes are being rolled out around the world, a recent review has found scant evidence of their effectiveness. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Prof Susan Smith about the ideas behind social prescribing, its potential benefits for those with complex issues, and why more studies are urgently needed Continue reading...

The answers to today’s conundrumsEarlier today I set you these laugh-out-loud puzzles by the incomparable king of quizzers Frank Paul, winner of Only Connect, part time TV presenter and author of a new book of festive conundrums (of which more later.)Here are the puzzles again, with the answers. Continue reading...

With the right ethical safeguards, could ‘challenge trials’ defend against future pandemics?In the 1770s an English doctor called Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids didn’t seem to catch smallpox, the terrifying disease that caused around a third of the people who caught it to die. He thought that their frequent exposure to cowpox, a similar but less severe virus, might be what protected them. In order to test his hypothesis he gave his gardener’s eight-year-old son cowpox and then deliberately infected him with smallpox to see if he had become immune. He had, and Jenner successfully repeated the experiment. “Vaccination”, from the Latin word for cow, soon became commonplace.It was of course highly irresponsible to expose a child to a deadly disease with no sure knowledge that he would survive. Even so, with hindsight, we can see that the benefits were immense: the vaccine was safe and highly effective. Demonstrating that fact and publicising it encouraged untold numbers of others to follow suit. Continue reading...

Company spun out of Oxford University makes DNA and RNA sequencing devices to identify viruses and variantsNot far from Didcot, once a halfway stop between London and Bristol on the Great Western Railway celebrated for Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s engineering, innovation has returned with a hi-tech factory manufacturing DNA and RNA sequencing machines.Oxford Nanopore, a spinout from Oxford University, produces devices used to identify viruses and spot variants in the genetic makeup of humans, animals and plants. Its sequencers have been used to track Covid-19 variants globally and are now being trialled on intensive care patients with respiratory infections at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London, and in the fight against the 200 drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, the second-biggest killer worldwide after Covid in 2020. Continue reading...

Frank Paul’s finest lexical recreationsUPDATE: Answers can be read hereHe is the sultan of spoonerisms and the Aga Khan of anagrams. Today’s word puzzles are set by Frank Paul, a legend in the world of quizzes and puzzles.Paul is known to British TV viewers as a champion of Only Connect, and was co-host of Channel Four’s Answer Trap. He is also a fine artist, the son of artists Celia Paul and Lucian Freud. Continue reading...

Birds showing most self-control score higher in cognitive tests, suggesting they are more intelligentThe old saying states a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but it appears Eurasian jays may beg to differ: researchers have found the corvids shun an immediate reward for a tastier, but delayed, treat.What’s more, the team found the birds that showed the most self-control scored higher on a variety of cognitive tests, suggesting they were more intelligent. Continue reading...

Faint constellation of Lacerta is now perfectly placed for northern hemisphere viewers to identifyThis week the small, admittedly faint constellation of Lacerta, the lizard, is perfectly placed for northern hemisphere viewers to identify. This grouping does not date to antiquity but was defined by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687, who originally proposed the name Stellio after the Mediterranean lizard species Laudakia stellio.The constellation is located between the brighter ones of Cygnus, the swan, Cassiopeia and Andromeda. Cassiopeia in particular can help locate it because both constellations share a “W” shape. In the case of Cassiopeia, the shape represents a queen sitting in her throne, whereas for Lacerta, the shape is made by the constellation’s brightest stars. Brightest in this context means only of the fourth magnitude. Continue reading...

Storyteller, nosy neighbour, bad therapist… a friendly ghost must be all these things‘I promise I’m not a sociopath,” I tell them. “But I will be asking a lot of questions that might seem deeply strange or outrageously rude. I’ll want to know what colour the walls were in the consultant’s office when you got the results, I’ll ask what the weather was on the day of the funeral, I’ll want to know about the hotel breakfast on your honeymoon. But it’s because we’re not telling a quick story on a chatshow, we’re writing a book.”When I meet potential subjects with a view to ghostwriting their story, I always begin with “the talk”, so they understand I have no malevolent intentions. I’ve been doing the job for more than a decade now, and it bears little resemblance to most people’s assumptions. Continue reading...

The winning essay in the Max Perutz science writing award 2022, published below, was written by Emily Cornish, a clinical research fellow and PhD candidate at University College LondonThe Medical Research Council (MRC) Max Perutz science writing award is open to MRC-funded PhD students, who are invited to write about why their area of research matters. This year’s 10 shortlisted topics included immune therapies for cancer, Scotland’s drug-related death rate and the neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis. The high quality of the entries made judging hard. Ultimately, the panel, made up of the Observer’s Ian Tucker, Roger Highfield of the Science Museum, the journalist Samira Ahmed, the science communication lecturer Andy Ridgeway, the MRC’s Jennifer Anderson and the award-winning young science writer Zara Hussan, agreed that the £1,500 prize should go to Emily Cornish, a Phd candidate at University College London’s EGA Institute for Women’s Health, for her essay about recurrent pregnancy loss. “I am so thrilled to have won this inspirational prize,” says Emily. Continue reading...

Many of us find grappling with unfamiliar demands anxiety-provoking. Try these steps to ease yourself in

In a boost to a fledgling industry, UK-built mini-satellites will soon be able to begin their journey into orbit on home groundIn a few weeks, Britain will become a space power. A Virgin Orbit jumbo jet will take off from an airport in Cornwall, carrying a rocket strapped below one wing. As the plane flies 35,000ft above the Atlantic, it will drop its cargo, the rocket engine will be ignited, and a payload of small satellites will be hurled into Earth orbit.The LauncherOne mission – scheduled for mid-November – is intended to be the first of many launches from centres around the UK. Continue reading...

Satellite photo shows what appears to be a happy face pattern on the sun with dark patches called ‘coronal holes’A Nasa satellite captured an image of what appeared to be a happy face pattern on the sun earlier this week, prompting the US space agency to say the sun was seen “smiling”.The agency released the image on Wednesday on Twitter, writing: “Today, Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the sun ‘smiling.’ Seen in ultraviolet light, these dark patches on the sun are known as coronal holes and are regions where fast solar wind gushes out into space.” Continue reading...

Device less than 1mm in diameter is designed to be inserted in body and produce images of tissue with ‘unprecedented speed’A tiny microscope that can be manoeuvred through small spaces inside the body during surgery could speed up breast cancer treatment, according to the scientists who created it.Experts from Imperial College London have developed an endo-microscope that is less than 1mm in diameter – about the width of 25 human hairs – and is designed to be inserted into the body to provide views of tissue and organs. Continue reading...

Researchers examining data going back to 1990s find global south has borne brunt despite causing least emissionsHeatwaves brought on by human-caused climate breakdown have cost the global economy about $16tn since the 1990s, according to a study.The research calculates the financial impact of extreme heat on infrastructure, agriculture, productivity, human health and other areas. Continue reading...

Technology allows sperm to be frozen longer than legal 50-year limit but poses medical and ethical questionsA change of law has paved the way for more babies to be born from sperm frozen up to 50 years ago, but experts say there is no scientific reason why sperm hundreds of years old cannot be used.This week, a boy was born using sperm frozen in 1996, collected when his father was diagnosed, aged 21, with Hodgkin lymphoma, in case his treatment caused infertility.

Nasa’s InSight lander measured the seismic waves as the Reconnaissance Orbiter sent images of the impactTwo Nasa spacecraft at Mars – one on the surface and the other in orbit – have recorded the biggest meteor strikes and impact craters yet.The high-speed barrages last year sent seismic waves rippling thousands of miles across Mars, the first ever detected near the surface of another planet, and carved out craters nearly 500ft (150 metres) across, scientists reported on Thursday in the journal Science. Continue reading...

Group’s earliest primogenitor was probably a diminutive creature with a long snout, researchers suggestThe last common ancestor of today’s placental mammals – a group that includes humans, whales and armadillos – was probably a shrew-like creature with a long snout, researchers have revealed.The forerunners of mammals are believed to have split from what eventually became reptiles around 320m years ago, but it was not until some time between 70 and 80m years ago that placental mammals arose. Continue reading...

Therapy that imagines a happy ending to a recurring bad dream more effective with corresponding sound, study suggestsBeing played a sound while asleep may help to reduce the frequency of nightmares and replace them with sweeter dreams, research suggests.Whether it is sitting an impossible exam, being chased by wolves or wandering around a labyrinth, nightmares are common. Continue reading...

Research shows bees rolling wooden balls despite having no apparent incentive to do soBumblebees are associated with lives of work rather than play, but researchers have for the first time observed the insects playing with balls for enjoyment, just like humans and dogs.A team of UK scientists watched bees interacting with inanimate objects as a form of play and said the findings added to growing evidence that their minds are more complex than previously imagined. Continue reading...

Working in Antarctica is a wildlife enthusiast’s dream, but seeing the reality of the climate disaster up close will be brutalAntarctica holds an almost mythical appeal. Detached from the rest of the world, its beauty is unique. It is a continent that has never seen a war, and where testing military capabilities is strictly forbidden. It is, as the Antarctic Treaty reminds us, “a natural reserve devoted to peace and science”.And this impressive wilderness is the place I will be calling home for the next five months, as I embark on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) at Port Lockroy, Antarctica. As a conservation biologist, I’m drawn to Antarctica for lots of reasons, not least my interest in the major role it plays in our climate system, and the opportunity to monitor the gentoo penguin colony that calls Port Lockroy home. Continue reading...

Crushed by a cart, infected with parasitic worms and painful bunions caused by pointy shoes. These might sound like curses you’d wish on your worst enemy, but a group of researchers have discovered they were probably a part of normal life in medieval Cambridge. Across several archaeological sites, the team have excavated and analysed hundreds of bones to uncover the accidents and afflictions of people in the middle ages.In this Halloween special, Madeleine Finlay hears from Nicola Davis as she takes a trip to Cambridge to investigate what old skeletons can reveal about the lives of those in centuries gone by Continue reading...

Latest finding adds to theory that animals, including humans, naturally arrange things in a certain order, even without being able to countBees order numbers in increasing size from left to right, a study has shown for the first time, supporting the much-debated theory that this direction is inherent in all animals including humans.Western research has found that even before children learn to count, they start organising growing quantities from left to right in what has been called the “mental number line”. Continue reading...

Video shows captive Madagascan primates using elongated finger to pick nose and eat the mucusWith its big eyes, bushy tail and sensitive ears, the aye-aye may appear a cute, if quirky, creature. But now researchers have discovered it has a less endearing trait: it uses its long middle finger to pick its nose – and eat the mucus.Aye-ayes are – like humans – primates, but they are nocturnal, endangered and only found in Madagascar. An object of superstition, they have a number of unusual features, including rodent-like teeth and a skinny, elongated finger with a ball-and-socket joint. Continue reading...

Experts find artefacts from ancient empire during restoration of historic site destroyed by Islamic StateArchaeologists in northern Iraq have unearthed 2,700-year-old rock carvings featuring war scenes and trees from the Assyrian empire, an archaeologist has said.The carvings on marble slabs were discovered in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, where experts have been working to restore the site of the ancient Mashki Gate, which was bulldozed by Islamic State militants in 2016. Continue reading...

The mathematician, writer, presenter and podcast host will be back on our screens fronting Secret Wonders of the Modern World. She explains why, after undergoing treatment for cancer, she has come to see the limits to logicEven before she became a mathematician, Hannah Fry had strived to live her life by logic. Her most memorable fight with her sister when they were teenagers was over “the optimal route” home. She used to say that if there was a nutritionally complete pill to replace food, she would take it.She even came up with a “mathematically informed” seating plan for her wedding, crunching factors such as age, political persuasion and predicted alcohol consumption to decide which guests should share a table. Continue reading...

Jumble of rocks in far-flung locations help researchers work out how big and how far-reaching impact would have beenAny dinosaur that survived the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66m years ago then faced a mega-tsunami that washed around the entire world and began as a mile-high wave, a study shows.It is no surprise that a 14km-wide asteroid slamming into the Gulf of Mexico would generate one hell of a tsunami but this is the first time anyone has worked out how big and how far-reaching it would have been. Continue reading...

My friend Donald Pigott, who has died aged 94, was the last surviving founding professor of Lancaster University, and as a plant ecologist was influential in setting up the National Vegetation Survey in the 1970s, the first detailed classification of the range of plant species and their distribution within the vegetation types of the British Isles. The results were published in five volumes between 1991 and 2000, and have formed the basis for many other ecological studies.Donald was born in Sutton, Surrey, to John, a tea importer, and his wife, Helen (nee Lee). His mother taught him to recognise many plant species from an early age, and at Mill Hill school in north London, which was evacuated to Cumbria in the second world war, he developed a fascination with the countryside. Continue reading...

Many in my field are struggling. I value this work, but when my day ends I feel heavyA few weeks ago, I took two weeks of unplanned sick leave. It was nothing dramatic, just a creep of symptoms so slow I didn’t notice them, until suddenly, I did. Bad sleep, nightmares about violent clients, fatigue, poor appetite and concentration. For the past three years, I’ve felt like a bunch of overcooked spaghetti, repeatedly tossed at a wall. Most often, I stick – valiantly – but this time I slid right off.When I went back to work and spoke to colleagues about it, there were many nods. We started talking about how we felt, beyond the superficial and safe banalities of “tired” or “busy”. Since then, I’ve had many conversations with therapist friends and colleagues across the globe. The echoes are the same – tired, busy, exhausted, dropping caseloads, leaving the profession, reducing clinical work, indulging escape fantasies, re-training. Continue reading...

Skygazers able to see phenomenon on Tuesday morning, with best views in most northerly areasA partial eclipse of the sun has ended after the sun was blocked out on Tuesday as the moon passed between it and the Earth.Skygazers across the UK were able to see the phenomenon, with those in northern Scotland expected to enjoy good views. Continue reading...

World Health Organization identifies priority pathogens of greatest threat to public health as diseases grow resistant to antifungal treatmentsHealth-threatening fungi are spreading in geographic range due to climate change, while some fungal diseases spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to authors of a newly released World Health Organization report.On Tuesday the WHO published its first ever list of fungal priority pathogens, cataloguing 19 organisms that experts identified as being of the greatest threat to public health.Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Cats more responsive if owners speak to them like babies but less so if adult-to-adult tone used, study claimsAny cat owner knows that the correct way to get their pet’s attention is to sing “here, kitty kitty”, rather than utter a flat “come here cat”. Now research suggests cats may routinely tune into their owner’s tone of voice to detect when they are talking to them, rather than to other humans.Most people automatically adopt a higher-pitched, sing-song tone when speaking to animals and human infants. Although previous research has suggested that such “baby-talk” is more likely to capture dogs’ attention, less was known about how cats react to being spoken to in this way. Continue reading...

Researchers have successfully transplanted human neurons into the brains of rats. The recent, groundbreaking study described how the human cells took root inside the rat brains, hooked up to their blood supplies and tapped into neural circuitry. Rather than create a kind of super-rat, the ultimate aim is to better understand neuropsychiatric disorders such as epilepsy and schizophrenia, and examine the effects of drugs in real time.But do the potential benefits outweigh the ethical questions that come with combining human cells with other animals? Ian Sample speaks to Prof Julian Savulescu about how the scientists managed to transplant the neurons, what this means, and how we decide where to draw the line in such an ethically complex field of researchArchive: ABC7 News Bay Area Continue reading...

Researchers found the RSV and influenza viruses fused together to form a new type of virus pathogenTwo common respiratory viruses can fuse to form a hybrid virus capable of evading the human immune system, and infecting lung cells – the first time such viral cooperation has ever been observed.Researchers believe the findings could help to explain why co-infections can lead to significantly worse disease for some patients, including hard-to-treat viral pneumonia. Continue reading...

Analysis of oldest DNA in Britain from pair of individuals unexpectedly shows two distinct ancestriesBritain was home to at least two genetically distinct groups of humans at the end of the last ice age, the oldest human DNA from the UK has revealed.About 19,000 years ago, ice sheets that had covered much of Britain were melting and the landscape once again became habitable to humans. Evidence of their return dates back to about 15,500 years ago. These early groups crossed now submerged land that once connected Britain to mainland Europe. Continue reading...

Two Just Stop Oil protesters have smeared cake on a Madame Tussauds waxwork of King Charles, quoting the monarch: 'In the words of the King, the science is clear.' They went on to say: 'The demand is simple, just stop new oil and gas, it's a piece of cake. The stunt was part of a series of protests organised by the environmental activist group Continue reading...

Our Future Health project to recruit 3m people to share health records, give blood samples and have DNA analysedA project to diagnose and treat diseases early – or even prevent them from developing – has been launched in the UK, with 3 million people to be invited to take part this autumn.The project, called Our Future Health, will eventually recruit 5 million or more people from all walks of life, with participants sharing their health records and giving blood samples, as well as having their weight, blood pressure and cholesterol measured, and their DNA analysed. Continue reading...

From the UK, a maximum of about 15% of the sun’s surface will be blacked by the moon on TuesdayA partial solar eclipse visible from the UK will take place on Tuesday. It will be visible from most of Europe, north Africa, the Middle East and western parts of Asia, but nowhere will there be a total solar eclipse.From London, the eclipse begins at 10.08am BST. Over the next 50 minutes, the silhouette of the moon will slip across the top left-hand limb of the sun. At 10.59am, the maximum eclipse will occur, with 15.17% of the sun’s surface blacked by the moon. This will not result in any noticeable difference to daytime illumination levels. Continue reading...