Science | The Guardian

Growing numbers of wealthy people are turning to science to create copies of their beloved dog or cat. But they might not be identical in every wayName: Pet cloning.Age: 21. Continue reading...

Fun for you, craniumUPDATE: Read the solutions hereToday’s puzzles are all about helping Ukraine.They are written by the Grabarchuk family, who are one of the world’s most original and prolific puzzle creators. Originally from the Western Ukrainian city of Uzhgorod, on the Slovakian border, the family moved to the USA in 2013 on the back of becoming internationally renowned for their puzzle books, websites and apps. Computer science legend Donald Knuth says that Serhiy Grabarchuk, the father of the clan, “has my vote as the world’s current puzzle laureate. His works are particularly beautiful, instructive and fulfilling.” Continue reading...

Damage evaluated as minor, but fractures to the rims of several prints cannot be repaired at the Mill Canyon track siteThey survived intact for 112m years through scorching summer heat and freezing winters at Utah’s Mill Canyon. But several of the world’s most important and historic dinosaur footprints were damaged beyond repair earlier this year when a construction crew arrived to build a new boardwalk for tourists.The extent of the harm to the footprints – and those of an ancient crocodile crossing in the canyon near Moab – was detailed in a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) report into the January incident published last week. Continue reading...

Extremely close planetary pairing rises above horizon at dawnOne of the perennial fascinations with the night sky is that the planets are always changing their configuration against the backdrop of fixed constellations. Occasionally, however, this proves frustrating.Such is the case at the moment in the higher northern latitudes, where the naked-eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) are all skulking low in the sky. This makes observing them difficult but not impossible and so we will begin and end this month with two close planetary conjunctions that are worth the effort. Continue reading...

Nobody could read my writing but, desperate to conjure another world, I eventually became an authorStories for me have always been an escape. At first it was those written by other people – I slid into them when things in the real world became overwhelming. I can map my childhood through The Secret Garden via A Town Like Alice. As a dyslexic child who struggled to read, I listened endlessly to story tapes from the library, and my tastes were dictated by what was available.I used the story tapes to block out the small unhappinesses of my life – my loneliness at school, my mother’s long illness. She was one of the first sufferers of ME and for years struggled with exhaustion and depression, plotting her energy levels and despair on graphs, visiting doctor after doctor with increasing desperation. My father, tired himself from a full-time job, often had to look after three angry and confused children. It’s only decades later, as a mother myself, that I can begin to understand how difficult that time must have been for both of them. Continue reading...

ExoMars mission, of which the £840m British-built vehicle was part, depended on a Russian Proton rocketIt has cost £840m to develop and taken 15 years to build. But now fears are mounting that the British-built robot rover – which was to have flown on Europe’s ExoMars mission in September – may never make it to the red planet.The craft was to have drilled deep below the Martian surface to collect samples that could bear signs of past or present life, but had its launch on a giant Russian Proton rocket postponed last month after the invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Centre established in London with philanthropic donation to exploit promising new techniquesScientists are perfecting a new anti-cancer treatment that exploits the body’s own cellular waste disposal system. Some drugs are already producing promising results, and the number of new medicines is expected to rise in the near future with the opening of a British centre dedicated to using the technique.Fifteen researchers will work at the Centre for Protein Degradation which has been set up through a £9m donation to the Institute of Cancer Research, in London, by philanthropists David and Ruth Hill. Continue reading...

Whether it’s about Covid or badger culls, the science can be unclear. But the public must hear about it from the researchers not government press officersTwenty years ago, when I set up the Science Media Centre, researchers were notably absent from the nation’s airwaves. Frenzies about Frankenstein foods, designer babies and MMR may have gripped the media but most scientists put their heads down and tried to avoid controversy. The price was the British public’s rejection of GM technologies and levels of MMR vaccinations that dropped to a dangerous low.Today, researchers recognise it is not enough just to do great science – they must also communicate its implications. As a result, the UK now gets most of its science news directly from the best researchers, translated by our outstanding science correspondents. Continue reading...

Ruth Wilson is mesmerising as an unhappy benefits officer who develops an unhealthy attraction to a charismatic stranger in Harry Wootliff’s assured psychological dramaAfter her wonderfully engrossing feature debut, Only You, writer-director Harry Wootliff turns to a rather more toxic relationship, balancing elements of romantic melodrama and psychological thriller in a film powered by modern gothic passions. Loosely adapted from Deborah Kay Davies’s book True Things About Me, it’s a disturbingly seductive (and often unexpectedly funny) portrayal of manipulation and deceit that gets right under the skin of its protagonist, brilliantly played by Ruth Wilson, who walks a tightrope between enchantment and endangerment. With great physical poise and precision, Wilson (who optioned and developed the source book) engages the audience on a visceral level, her deceptively low-key performance taking us deep inside her character’s dreams, desires and insecurities.Wilson plays Kate, a somewhat tremulous thirtysomething daydreamer whose personal life has stalled and who is just about holding down a humdrum job at a benefits office in Ramsgate. When a charismatic claimant (Tom Burke) cockily asks what she’s doing for lunch, Kate flirtatiously throws caution to the wind and soon finds herself in an unexpectedly erotic car-park encounter that is as thrilling as it is risky. Like Kate, we know little or nothing about her mesmerising new lover, whom she names Blond, but whose particulars (his history, his status, even his whereabouts) remain enigmatically vague. What we do know is that Kate becomes instantly addicted to his pointedly unpredictable attentions, craving his calls and his company, infatuated with his presence – all the more so in his frustratingly frequent absence. Continue reading...

Daily case numbers are some of the largest seen in China since the virus was first detected in WuhanCovid-19 cases in China’s largest city of Shanghai have risen again as millions remain isolated at home under a sweeping lockdown.Health officials on Sunday reported 438 confirmed cases detected over the previous 24 hours, along with 7,788 asymptomatic cases. Both figures were up slightly from the day before. Continue reading...

I’m 23 and have been seriously ill for a year. Why don’t we spend more on treating this debilitating disease?Britain’s next public health crisis is already looming: long Covid. The numbers are stark. According to the Office for National Statistics, 1.5 million people in the UK have long Covid, 281,000 of whom are so ill that their ability to undertake day-to-day activities has been limited “a lot”. That’s roughly the population of Bradford.I know first hand how debilitating long Covid can be. I’m only 23. Before Covid struck, I had just graduated from Stanford University and was halfway through a master’s degree at Tsinghua University, Beijing, as a Schwarzman scholar. However, I’ve been seriously ill for a full year. My main symptom has been an intense fatigue that has forced me to spend up to 16 hours a day in bed and, when I do get up, I can’t do any strenuous activity without my symptoms worsening. Long Covid has put my life almost completely on hold. Continue reading...

From the scary to the truly weird, our nights were full of apt visions in the early days of the pandemic, a study at University College London found

Analysis: Scientists think we may be reaching a peak, but many cases will go undiagnosed

Kanye West and Lorde say they are HSPs. What’s the science behind this newly popular label for understanding our ability to process feelings?Do you find yourself noticing faint sensations that no one else can perceive? Are you startled easily? And is your mood easily swayed by the feelings of the people around you? If so, you may be a highly sensitive person (HSP), a personality profile that is of increasing interest to both scientists and armchair psychologists.As an HSP myself, the trait is most obvious in my embarrassing squeamishness; at the merest hint of violence or pain on TV, I will reflexively cover my eyes with my hands. For other HSPs, their greater sensitivity may be especially evident in an intolerance of strong scents or bright lights, or great discomfort in large crowds.Do you find yourself needing to withdraw during busy days, into bed or into a darkened room or any place where you can have some privacy and relief from stimulation?When people are uncomfortable in a physical environment do you tend to know what needs to be done to make it more comfortable (such as changing the lighting or the seating)?Do you find it unpleasant to have a lot going on at once?Does being very hungry create a strong reaction in you, disrupting your concentration or mood?Are you deeply moved by the arts or music?David Robson’s The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Transform Your Life is published by Canongate (£18.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply Continue reading...

Director of space agency Roscosmos says partnership will be restored only when ‘illegal sanctions’ are removed

Study into health and behaviour, which began in New Zealand in 1972, marks its half century this week as its subjects prepare for old ageIn 1972, a researcher in a small city at the bottom of New Zealand set out to track the development of more than 1,000 newborn babies and their health and behaviour at age three, not realising then that over the next 50 years, the research would morph into one of the world’s most important longitudinal studies.The study did not stop at three years, instead it gathered pace, following the lives of the participants from birth into adulthood, and creating a comprehensive body of data that has yielded more than 1,300 peer-reviewed research papers, reports and books. Continue reading...

Ease into the weekend with our brand new podcast, showcasing some of the best Guardian and Observer writing from the week, read by talented narrators.In this episode, Marina Hyde looks at the new additions to Downing Street (2m00s), Hadley Freeman interviews Hollywood actor Will Arnett (9m56s), Sirin Kale tries her hand at quiz show Mastermind (26m32s), and David Robson examines why we’re so stressed about stress (41m08s).If you like what you hear, subscribe to Weekend on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Continue reading...

Researcher who co-created substance says it is not an April fool’s joke and they hope to deploy it like a robot

Scientists have created a magnetic slime that is capable of squeezing through narrow spaces, encircling smaller objects and healing itself. The slime can be controlled by magnets and can act as both a solid and a liquid.The dark blob has been compared on social media to Flubber, the eponymous substance in the 1997 sci-fi film, and described as a 'magnetic turd' and 'amazing and a tiny bit terrifying'. The scientists envisage the slime could potentially be useful in the digestive system, for example in reducing the harm from a small swallowed battery.► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube

China’s largest city and financial powerhouse is struggling to cope with the country’s worst outbreak since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan

Adults and children wear device that monitors glucose level and adjusts amount of insulin deliveredHundreds of adults and children with type 1 diabetes in England have been fitted with an artificial pancreas that experts say could become the “holy grail” for managing the disease, in a world-first trial on the NHS.The groundbreaking device uses an algorithm to determine the amount of insulin that should be administered and reads blood sugar levels to keep them steady. The NHS trial has so far found the technology more effective at managing diabetes than current devices and that it requires far less input from patients. Continue reading...

Research published by Lancet confirms jabs add protection for people who have had Covid, especially against severe diseaseCovid-19 vaccines provide significant extra protection for people who have already been infected, according to two new studies.The jabs have proven highly effective in protecting those who have never had Covid, but their effectiveness at preventing symptoms and severe outcomes in people who have previously been infected has, until recently, been less clear. Continue reading...

More than 20 years after milestone of first draft, missing sections of sequence have been completedMore than two decades after the draft human genome was celebrated as a scientific milestone, scientists have finally finished the job. The first complete, gap-free sequence of a human genome has been published in an advance expected to pave the way for new insights into health and what makes our species unique.Dr Karen Miga, a scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz who co-led the international consortium behind the project, said: “These parts of the human genome that we haven’t been able to study for 20-plus years are important to our understanding of how the genome works, genetic diseases, and human diversity and evolution.” Continue reading...

Waning immunity, easing of restrictions and more transmissible variants are all to blame, experts sayWith Covid infection levels at a record high in parts of the UK, the virus is rife once more, with experts noting that one factor is the rise of a variant of Omicron known as BA.2. But what does this mean for reinfections? Continue reading...

The war in Ukraine, like other conflicts around the world, will mean millions of people going through horrific and traumatic events. Some may go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, experiencing psychological distress for months or even years afterwards. Ian Sample speaks to clinical psychologist Jennifer Wild about what happens in the body and brain when someone gets PTSD, why some people may be more susceptible to developing it than others, and how understanding the underlying psychology can help to build resilience and improve treatments for the futureArchive: ITV News, Channel 4 News Continue reading...

Light from Earendel has travelled for an estimated 12.9bn years to reach EarthThe most distant star ever seen has been captured by the Hubble space telescope in images that appear to give a remarkable glimpse into the ancient universe.Light from the star, named Earendel, has travelled an estimated 12.9bn years to reach the Earth – a huge leap from the previous most distant star, which dates to nine billion years. The observations were possible thanks to a rare cosmic alignment, meaning that Earendel may be the only individual star from this epoch that we will ever see. Continue reading...

Growing up outside cities appears to be good for development of navigational abilitiesPeople who grew up in the country have a better sense of direction and navigational skills than those raised in cities, a study has found.To find out how childhood environment influences navigation ability, scientists looked at how almost 400,000 people from 38 countries played a mobile video game designed for neuroscience research. Continue reading...

People are desperate to return to life as normal, but the rising number of infections is a reminder that this pandemic isn’t overWe’re living in two realities: one in which people have returned to living life as if Covid is over, and the other in which we are approaching record levels of infections, with an estimated 4.26m cases last week. Most of us know people who have Covid, work and education are being disrupted, and the NHS is under severe pressure again due to new patients and sick staff. Admissions with Covid are only 2% below the first Omicron peak two months ago and still rising. While about half are currently admitted primarily for other reasons, numbers are rising in primary Covid admissions too and admissions in over-65s are now 15% higher than their January 2022 peak.The pandemic has changed, but the idea that it is over is false. Omicron represents a major variant, taking over in the UK in a similar way to Delta last summer and Alpha last winter. The ubiquitous narrative that the pandemic is over exists because most people (including the government) now believe at least one of the three big myths of the Omicron age. We need to move past these myths to firstly anticipate the future, and secondly do something to prepare for it.Christina Pagel is director of UCL’s Clinical Operational Research Unit, which applies advanced analytical methods to problems in healthcare Continue reading...

Mark Vande Hei rides back with Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov after 355 days at International Space Station, a US recordA Nasa astronaut caught a Russian ride back to Earth on Wednesday after a US record 355 days at the International Space Station, returning with two cosmonauts to a world torn apart by war.Mark Vande Hei landed in a Soyuz capsule in Kazakhstan alongside the Russian Space Agency’s Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, who also spent the past year in space. Continue reading...

I remain concerned about both Covid and our frequently non-evidence-based responses to it, says Prof John IoannidisIn an otherwise reflective essay by Prof Devi Sridhar (Why can’t some scientists just admit they were wrong about Covid?, 24 March), I was surprised to learn that I held views I do not hold. Early in 2020, I wrote a piece asking for more data, but this certainly did not “mock” those who were worried about Covid-19. I was worried myself.I remain concerned about both Covid-19 and our frequently non-evidence-based responses to it. I have published dozens of peer-reviewed Covid-19-related papers (collected here under “Projects”). Like all science, I expect those papers must have many weaknesses. I always look for questioning scholars, like Prof Sridhar, to improve on them. However, I fear that isolating single sentences out of context, distorting the meaning of others and using misleading slogans (eg “Covid-as-flu”) can’t promote scientific precision or help society. Continue reading...

Richard Linklater combines his affinities for rotoscoping and depicting the quiet magic of childhood in a wonderful paean to late-60s idealismRichard Linklater is looking back from outer space at childhood’s blue remembered hills in this intensely enjoyable and sweet family movie for Netflix. It’s a rotoscope animation digitally based on live action; in its way, it is every bit as cultish and hallucinatory as the ones that Linklater has made before, like Waking Life from 2001 and A Scanner Darkly from 2006.A 10-year-old boy called Stan (voiced by Milo Coy and then by Jack Black as Stan’s adult self, narrating the action) is growing up in a Houston suburb in the late 60s in a big family with a dad employed in a lowly admin job at Nasa. Stan is obsessed (like everyone) with the Apollo 11 moon mission, and has a vivid fantasy or hallucination that he has been picked by Nasa agents to be a test astronaut for a top-secret dummy-run moon landing, codenamed Apollo 10½, for which the authorities accidentally built the lunar test module too small. So they need a kid of the highest calibre to pilot the thing down to the moon’s surface and bring it back home safely to reassure Neil, Buzz and Michael that they’ll be OK. Continue reading...

Over $80m in government funding has been generated – one of the greatest investments per capita in the worldWhen I started my PhD on excision surgery in endometriosis 25 years ago, the average time it took to diagnose endometriosis in Australia was more than 12 years. With greater awareness in the community – often led by the patients – this has reduced to about 6.5 years.While this is still too long, we are definitely making progress thanks to well-organised patient organisations tirelessly lobbying government. Continue reading...

Night-time thefts from vehicles almost halved where lights were turned off between midnight and 5amWhether lighting is a deterrent to burglars or simply helps them see what they are doing has been a matter of hot debate. Now research suggests that when it comes to reducing theft from cars, it might be best to leave criminals in the dark.Researchers found the level of night-time thefts from cars almost halved when street lighting was turned off between midnight and 5am, compared with staying on all night. Continue reading...

Existence of volcanoes makes idea that dwarf planet is inert ball of ice look increasingly improbableStrung out in the icy reaches of our solar system, two peaks that tower over the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto have perplexed planetary scientists for years. Some speculated it could be an ice volcano, spewing out not lava but vast quantities of icy slush – yet no cauldron-like caldera could be seen.Now a full analysis of images and topographical data suggests it is not one ice volcano but a merger of many – some up to 7,000 metres tall and about 10-150km across. Their discovery has reignited another debate: what could be keeping Pluto warm enough to support volcanic activity? Continue reading...

Institute for Digital Archaeology says it intends to serve injunction against museum imminentlyThe British Museum is facing legal action from one of the UK’s leading heritage preservation organisations over its refusal to allow the 3D scanning of a piece in its Parthenon marbles collection.The Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) said it would serve an injunction against the museum imminently, raising the stakes in the dispute between the two. Continue reading...

Whatever Twitter was doing when it banned the Oxford epidemiologist Carl Heneghan, it wasn’t protecting the world from disinformationCarl Heneghan is an epidemiologist first and foremost, professor of evidence-based medicine at Oxford, probably many other things – good citizen, well-liked family member – and then, way down the list, a person on Twitter. In other words he doesn’t create social media storms for fun, nor does he have any track record of contrarianism. So how does such a person get banned, as Heneghan was briefly last week, from a social media platform that, famously, has trouble keeping abreast of racial slurs and death threats?Heneghan published a study that suggested the number of people who had died from Covid may have been exaggerated. His final conclusion was that we still had no idea how many people have died because UK health statistics agencies use inconsistent definitions. This was enough to mark him out, albeit briefly, as a Covid denier, which in turn put him in the same camp as anti-vaxxers. Continue reading...

Ahpra says it is ‘aware of allegations in the media’ about McCrory’s compliance with the undertaking on his registrationAustralia’s medical regulator has said it is investigating the AFL’s former concussion adviser and world-renowned concussion expert, neurologist Dr Paul McCrory.McCrory resigned as chair of the Concussion in Sport Group on 5 March after being accused of plagiarising stories in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, with the journal removing one of his editorials from 2005 for alleged “unlawful and indefensible breach of copyright” of the work of Prof Steve Haake. Continue reading...

Major report finds increased risk of conditions including cancer, kidney disease and neurological illnessesPeople with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of 57 other health conditions, including cancer, kidney disease and neurological illnesses, according to the most comprehensive study of its kind.Millions of people worldwide have the condition, which is linked to being overweight or inactive, or having a family history of type 2 diabetes. It is well known that the condition increases the risk of ill health. Now researchers at the University of Cambridge have been able to show the true scale of the risk type 2 diabetes presents. Continue reading...

As human activities like agricultural production, mining and pollution continue to drive the so-called sixth mass extinction, government negotiators from around the world are currently meeting in Geneva to try to protect the planet’s biodiversity. At stake is an ambitious Paris-style agreement for nature, the final version of which will be negotiated at the COP15 summit in Kunming, China, in August. Madeleine Finlay speaks to reporter Patrick Greenfield from Geneva about what’s being discussed, how the talks are progressing, and whether time is running out to halt the destruction of life on EarthArchive: CNN, DW News, CGTN Global Watch Continue reading...

Pharmacogenomic testing could save the NHS money in the long term and reduce the risks of side-effectsGenetic testing to predict how individuals will respond to common medicines should be implemented without delay to reduce the risk of side-effects and ensure that everyone is given the right drug at the right dose, experts have said.About 6.5% of UK hospital admissions are caused by adverse drug reactions, while most prescription medicines only work on 30% to 50% of people. A significant part of this is due to genetics: almost 99% of people carry at least one genetic variation that affects their response to certain drugs, including commonly prescribed painkillers, heart disease drugs and antidepressants. By the age of 70, about 90% of people are taking at least one of these medications. Continue reading...

Spot will be used to identify safety and structural issues including tunnels dug by relic thievesA four-legged robot called Spot has been deployed to wander around the ruins of ancient Pompeii, identifying structural and safety issues while delving underground to inspect tunnels dug by relic thieves.The dog-like robot is the latest in a series of technologies used as part of a broader project to better manage the archaeological park since 2013, when Unesco threatened to add Pompeii to a list of world heritage sites in peril unless Italian authorities improved its preservation. Continue reading...

Psychologists find biggest effects in girls aged 11-13, while boys’ most vulnerable age seems to be 14-15Social media may affect the wellbeing of girls and boys at different ages, according to research that raises the prospect of windows of vulnerability in adolescence.Psychologists found that girls who increased their time on social media between the ages of 11 and 13 were less satisfied with their lives one year later, with the same trend playing out in boys aged 14 to 15. Continue reading...

The places that chose to pursue elimination suffered less overall. Unfortunately, few had the determination to do soIt was the alt-history, the policy that didn’t get enacted. No-Covid, zero-Covid or elimination aimed to stamp out community transmission of Covid-19 in a given area, rather than just reduce it to “manageable” levels. Most of the world eschewed it, and it got bad press from the start. Only autocratic regimes could pull it off, one mantra went. Countries like China and ah, New Zealand and, oops, that notorious police state Davis in California.There was something of the self-fulfilling prophecy about this. Many people thought No-Covid was impossible, but the handful of places that embraced it proved them wrong. Now that some of those places are themselves shifting to a reduction or mitigation strategy, countries that opted for mitigation from the beginning are enjoying a “we told you so” moment. But No-Covid’s early champions had to shift in part because other countries let the virus rip. Even if their strategy didn’t remain the optimal one, it bought them time to prepare others. It’s important that we remember that when the next pandemic sidles along.Laura Spinney is a science journalist and the author of Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World

The outgoing director of Africa Centres for Disease Control has seen Ebola, Aids and now Covid – and warns complacency is dangerousThe past five years have been “like going from one fire to the next, with barely any time to catch your breath”, says John Nkengasong, the outgoing head of the body charged with responding to health emergencies in Africa.A relentless term as the first director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) saw Nkengasong manage the response to Ebola and Lassa fever outbreaks. But nothing compared to the formidable test brought by Covid-19. Continue reading...

The evidence suggests performance could be less predictable and effective in the future – though there are promising developments

Community testing ends in England on 1 April and will be scaled back across UK as infections riseCome the end of March, the lights will dim on the UK’s Covid epidemic. Despite infection levels rising, cases will plummet, as free lateral flow and PCR tests are stopped for the majority of people in England, with other countries in the UK also set to reduce free testing in the coming weeks and months.But while the government has argued it is time to manage Covid as we do other infectious diseases such as flu, scientists have warned ending community testing could put vulnerable people at risk and undermine efforts to understand the virus. Continue reading...

The more comfortable we feel talking about suicide and self-harm, the easier it will be to detect when someone is in distress

There have been calls for those hospitalised with the coronavirus to be routinely test for influenza after new research revealed an increased mortality rate for those with both conditions

A work by the award-winning artist forms part of an exhibition about the pandemic at the Science Museum in LondonA pot made in lockdown by the British artist Grayson Perry is unveiled this week, as it takes its place as an exhibit in the Science Museum in London.The large decorated vase will stand next to other symbolic items that illustrate the historic impact of the pandemic, including a selection of the vials used in the first mass Covid-19 vaccinations, some of the signs used in the government’s daily public pandemic briefings and a few examples of early homemade face coverings. Continue reading...

Just before she moved away, my increasingly forgetful mum remembered exactly how to get to grips with an old craft“Things to ask Kate”. I spot the scrap of paper with this heading, on the kitchen table. My 84-year-old mum is dishing up lunch, talking animatedly about “the bloody government doing bugger all” about Ukrainian refugees. “It is so awful,” I reply, picking up the envelope and handing it to her. “Are there some things you want help with, Mum?” “Oh yes,” she replies, standing up again. “Where have I put my glasses?” I glance at the cooker to check the rings are all off and pick up the newspaper cutting she handed me when I arrived that she wants me to read. “Do you know,” she says, “I was writing an email at 5am and all of a sudden it just vanished. Vanished.” She turns to look at me, opening her eyes and hands wide to signal the void it’s fallen into. “I’ll have a look and see if I can find it,” I say, wondering whether to ask if she checked the drafts folder.Falling into a void is perhaps my mother’s greatest fear. Forgetful and sometimes wandering, she finds the world increasingly confusing, the spectre of dementia hanging over her old age. “That bloody thing,” she complains frequently, pointing to her iPad, “it drives me mad.” Lost emails are often on the list, along with occurrences such as The Crown going back to the beginning and showing her episodes she’s already seen, and variations on what “two dashes and a dot with a wiggly thing above it” means. She often asks where she can buy such-and-such – the ubiquitousness of Amazon having escaped her – how to pay bills or give to a cause she’s read about. The answer is nearly always online. Online. Online. Online. Sometimes I show her, knowing she almost certainly won’t remember. Mostly I do it for her. Continue reading...