Scientists say man shares similarities with modern Italians and others who lived in region during Roman empireThe genome of a victim of the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius over the ancient city of Pompeii has been sequenced for the first time, scientists have revealed, shedding new light on the health and diversity of those who lived in the Roman empire at the time of the disaster.In a study published in Scientific Reports on Thursday, a team led by Gabriele Scorrano, an assistant professor of geogenetics at the University of Copenhagen, extracted DNA from two victims, a man and a woman, whose remains were found in the House of the Craftsman in Pompeii, a domus that was first excavated in 1914. Continue reading...
From ancient Egyptian cubits to fitness tracker apps, humankind has long been seeking ever more ways to measure the world – and ourselves. But what is this doing to us?If anything exemplifies the power of measurement in contemporary life, it is Standard Reference Peanut Butter. It’s the creation of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and sold to industry at a price of $1,069 for three 170g jars. The exorbitant cost is not due to rare ingredients or a complex production process. Instead, it is because of the rigour with which the contents of each jar have been analysed. This peanut butter has been frozen, heated, evaporated and saponified, all so it might be quantified and measured across multiple dimensions. When buyers purchase a jar, they can be certain not only of the exact proportion of carbohydrates, proteins, sugars and fibre in every spoonful, but of the prevalence – down to the milligram – of dozens of different organic molecules and trace elements, from copper and magnesium to docosanoic and tetradecanoic acid. Hardly an atom in these jars has avoided scrutiny and, as a result, they contain the most categorically known peanut butter in existence. It’s also smooth, not crunchy.The peanut butter belongs to a library of more than 1,300 standard reference materials, or SRMs, created by NIST to meet the demands of industry and government. It is a bible of contemporary metrology – the science of measurement – and a testament to the importance of unseen measures in our lives. Whenever something needs to be verified, certified or calibrated – from the emission levels of a new diesel engine to the optical properties of glass destined for high-powered lasers – the SRM catalogue offers the standards against which checks can be made. Most items are mundane: concrete and iron for the construction trade; slurried spinach and powdered cocoa for food manufacturers. But others seem like ingredients lifted from God’s pantry: ingots of purified elements and pressurised canisters of gases, available in finely graded blends and mixtures. Some are just whimsical, as if they were the creation of an overly zealous bureaucracy determined to standardise even the most peculiar substances. Think: domestic sludge, whale blubber and powdered radioactive human lung, available as SRMs 2781, 1945 and 4351. Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample, produced by Madeleine Fin on (#5ZNA9)
The sudden surge of monkeypox cases outside Africa has alarmed public health authorities around the world. In Europe and North America it’s the first time community transmission has been recorded among people with no links to west or central Africa. So what is happening?Ian Sample talks to virologist Oyewale Tomori about why monkeypox is flaring up, whether we should fear it, and what we can learn from countries such as Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which have been tackling this virus for decadesArchive: Sky News Australia, BBC News Continue reading...
UK confirmed cases in outbreak rise to 78, and experts say virus may have been spreading unseen for some timePublic health officials have confirmed seven more cases of monkeypox in England, bringing the UK total to 78, as scientists said the virus may have been circulating unseen for several years.The sudden surge in monkeypox, which is usually found in west and central Africa, has been recorded in at least 20 countries in the past month, with more than 200 confirmed cases and dozens more under investigation. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#5ZMPC)
Molecule found in coffee typically described by people with parosmia as disgusting or repulsiveScientists have identified the “trigger molecule” that makes pleasant aromas smell like burning rubbish or sewage in people whose sense of smell is disrupted by Covid.The loss of smell is a defining symptom of Covid-19, with about 18% of adults in the UK estimated to have been affected. Some people also experience disturbances in their sense of smell – a condition known as parosmia – but the biological basis for this has remained a mystery. Continue reading...
Medication is often prescribed as a quick-fix but therapy can be more helpful in the long-run, if accessible. Here’s how to work out what is best for youSince the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a soaring demand for mental health services, with an estimated 1.6 million people in England waiting for specialised support, and another 8 million who would benefit but whose deterioration in mental health is not considered serious enough to even get on the waiting list. Anxiety rates have been recorded as rising significantly between 2008 (the year of the financial crash) and 2018, with increases in all age groups under 55, but trebling in young adults.The number of prescriptions issued for anti-anxiety medication has also been rising. Earlier this year, research was published showing that between 2003 and 2008 the use of drugs to treat anxiety was steady, but by 2018 it had risen considerably. During that earlier period, new anti-anxiety prescriptions rose from 25 or 26 per 1,000 person years at risk – a measure of the prevalence of anxiety – to 43.6 in 2018. Nearly twice the number of women are being prescribed medication as men. Continue reading...
Nice approves Keytruda, which with chemotherapy can lengthen survival of women with triple negative breast cancerWomen with advanced breast cancer in England will be able to benefit from a new type of immunotherapy on the NHS after a U-turn by the medicines watchdog.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has overturned its draft rejection of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and said women in England can take the drug in combination with chemotherapy. Continue reading...
Rusty bits on Earth’s core could explain how the atmosphere became oxygenatedWhether it is your bike or a garden fork that you forgot to put away, most of us are familiar with the rapid rusting that happens when iron-containing objects are exposed to the elements.But it isn’t just iron left out in the rain that is vulnerable: research suggests Earth’s biggest deposit of iron – its core – could also be going rusty. Continue reading...
Firm aims to apply ‘equity lens’ across clinical tests to ensure diverse population groups take partThe pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is conducting a major review of diversity across its trials in an attempt to ensure its medicines work for all population groups, although it has admitted that including pregnant women is a particular challenge.The head of oncology at Britain’s biggest drugmaker, David Fredrickson told the Guardian that the firm was among those leading efforts to improve participation of people of colour and other under-represented groups in clinical trials. Continue reading...
Climate change is likely to exacerbate the rapid spread of viruses and pathogens as humans encroach on the natural worldIn the past three weeks there have been nearly 100 cases and 18 human deaths from a rare tick-borne disease in Iraq; a fourth case of the Ebola virus and more than 100 cases of bubonic plague have been found in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and just two years after Africa was declared free of wild polio, new cases have turned up in Malawi and Mozambique. A dangerous strain of typhus is circulating in Nepal, India and China. There are alarming outbreaks on several continents of mosquito diseases such as malaria, dengue and West Nile virus.Set against this global context, the so-far very limited monkeypox outbreaks that have started to appear in the last month – including 71 cases detected in the UK – are only remarkable because they are being reported in rich countries. Continue reading...
Legislation introduced in House of Lords aims to help speed up development of gene-edited productsGene editing could drastically increase global food security and reduce reliance on chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the coming decade, a scientific adviser to the UK government’s environment department has said.Speaking before the introduction of a bill on genetic technologies to the House of Lords on Wednesday, Prof Gideon Henderson said the legislation aimed to create a simpler regulatory framework that would speed up the development and commercialisation of gene-edited products by allowing them to be treated differently to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are subject to strict regulation. Continue reading...
Proportion of people protected has fallen substantially in decades since smallpox vaccination endedThe unprecedented surge in monkeypox cases in the UK and beyond was an outbreak waiting to happen after the end of global smallpox vaccination more than 40 years ago, scientists say.The UK Health Security Agency announced a further 14 cases in England on Tuesday, bringing the total to 70, and one further patient in Scotland. No cases have been identified in Wales or Northern Ireland. Continue reading...
In today’s newsletter: rising cases of an infectious disease will naturally cause alarm – but Guardian science editor Ian Sample tells Nimo Omer why we shouldn’t be too concerned
About 11% of cases could be prevented if people reduced TV watching from two or more hours to less than an hour a dayMore than one in 10 cases of coronary heart disease could be prevented if people reduced their TV viewing to less than an hour a day, research suggests.Coronary heart disease occurs when fatty material builds up inside the coronary arteries causing them to narrow, reducing the heart’s blood supply. Researchers say cutting down on time spent in front of the TV could lower the risk of developing the disease. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay, sound on (#5ZJJK)
Millions around the world are struggling with higher food and energy prices. In the UK inflation has reached a 40-year high of 9% in the 12 months to April, leaving many struggling to pay bills and shoulder normal living costs. When the weekly shop gets smaller and the flat gets colder, it’s our health that suffers.Madeleine Finlay speaks to health inequity expert Prof Michael Marmot about the ways poverty makes you sicker and why falling income is so bad for the country’s health. This cost of living crisis could be “austerity squared”, he warns. Continue reading...
The tomatoes contain as much provitamin D3 as two eggs, with UK outdoor field trials starting next monthScientists have created genetically edited tomatoes, each containing as much provitamin D3 – the precursor to vitamin D – as two eggs or a tablespoon of tuna.Outdoor field trials of the tomatoes are expected to begin in the UK next month, and if successful, could provide an important new dietary source of vitamin D. Continue reading...
One in eight Covid hospital patients have heart inflammation up to two months later, researchers findDamage to the body’s organs including the lungs and kidneys is common in people who were admitted to hospital with Covid, with one in eight found to have heart inflammation, researchers have revealed.As the pandemic evolved, it became clear that some people who had Covid were being left with ongoing symptoms – a condition that has been called long Covid. Continue reading...
The creator behind several iconic Star Wars ships also worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey and assisted in broadcasting the 1969 moon landingColin Cantwell, the man who designed the spacecraft in the Star Wars films, has died at the age of 90.Sierra Dall, Cantwell’s partner of more than two decades, confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that he had died at his home in Colorado on Saturday. Continue reading...
Twenty cases confirmed in UK amid reports of child being admitted to intensive care in London hospitalMore monkeypox cases are being detected in Britain “on a daily basis”, a senior doctor has warned, amid reports that a child has been admitted to intensive care with the disease.Dr Susan Hopkins, a chief medical adviser to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said an update on confirmed cases would be released on Monday as efforts continue to contain the outbreak using contact tracing, testing and vaccination. 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 conceptsWhat, if any, are the evolutionary purpose of toenails?
Author Tim Clare spent a year researching his condition and trying every treatment he could. This is what workedI’m pinned to the floor, screaming. From two rooms away comes the sound of nursery rhymes, playing at full volume – my wife’s attempt to drown me out, so I don’t frighten our baby daughter. I’m having a panic attack. I am terrified and, beneath the fear, burning with shame.A couple of years ago, this was my reality. For more than a decade, panic attacks had controlled my life. I had several every week. I was continually, grindingly anxious. Continue reading...
Clinical trials show that curcumin, present in the spice, may help fight osteoarthritis and other diseases, but there’s a catch – bioavailability, or how to get it into the bloodWhile Kamal Patel was probing through the reams of user data on examine.com – a website that calls itself “the internet’s largest database of nutrition and supplement research” – before a planned revamp later this year, he discovered that the most searched-for supplement on the website was curcumin, a distinctive yellow-orange chemical that is extracted from the rhizomes of turmeric, a tall plant in the ginger family, native to Asia.Patel concluded that this was probably because of curcumin’s purported anti-inflammatory properties. “An astounding number of people experience inflammation or have inflammation-related health conditions, and curcumin and fish oil are two of the most researched supplements that can sometimes help,” he says. Continue reading...
The range and number of cases has puzzled doctors, who are asking why the virus has spread to the westScientists have warned that they expect monkeypox cases to continue to rise this week as more infected people are traced by health authorities.More than 90 cases have already been reported in Europe, the US and Australia, including 20 in Britain. Continue reading...
Skull discovered in drought-depleted Minnesota River last summer to be returned to Native American officialsNative American officials will be given a partial skull discovered last summer by two kayakers in Minnesota after investigations determined it was about 8,000 years old.The kayakers found the skull in the drought-depleted Minnesota River about 110 miles (180km) west of Minneapolis, Renville county sheriff Scott Hable said. Continue reading...
From OCD to agoraphobia and PTSD, there are almost as many types of anxiety disorder as things to worry about. Here’s how to spot the signs and find the relevant supportMany people will be familiar with the dry mouth, intrusive thoughts, and fluttering heart and stomach that are the hallmarks of anxiety. Often a temporary, and completely natural reaction to threat, these responses can be helpful in certain situations, sharpening the mind and sending blood to where it is needed faster.But whereas stress usually resolves once a concern has passed, anxiety persists and is often disproportionate to the challenge faced. If it continues for months, and starts to interfere with everyday activities, an anxiety disorder may be diagnosed. Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent on (#5ZFW4)
Nicholas Walton gives up leadership of €2.8m pan-European research after dispute over Northern Ireland protocolA Cambridge University astrophysicist studying the Milky Way and hoping to play a major part in the European Space Agency’s (Esa) next big project has been forced to hand over his coordinating role on the scheme after the row over Northern Ireland’s Brexit arrangements put science in the firing line.Nicholas Walton, a research fellow at the Institute of Astronomy, reluctantly passed his leadership role in the €2.8m pan-European Marie Curie Network research project to a colleague in the Netherlands on Friday. Continue reading...
A nine-year-old pointed out what was missing in Lyme Regis. Her long campaign has now borne fruitIt all began with a curious nine-year-old and a question that she asked her mother. Where in their hometown of Lyme Regis was the statue of Mary Anning, the pioneering Victorian fossil hunter who, she had recently discovered, had lived and worked there?There wasn’t one, Anya Pearson was forced to tell her indignant daughter. Anning’s lifetime of discoveries – including finding the first ichthyosaur skeleton at the age of just 12 – may have profoundly shaped the emerging science of palaeontology, but in her own Dorset town and farther afield, she had been largely forgotten. Continue reading...
High-stakes test follows two years of delays in a program designed to give Nasa another vehicle for sending astronauts into orbitBoeing’s new Starliner crew capsule has docked for the first time with the International Space Station, completing a major objective in a crucial test flight into orbit without astronauts aboard.The rendezvous of the gumdrop-shaped CST-100 Starliner with the orbital research outpost, currently home to a seven-member crew, occurred on Friday nearly 26 hours after the capsule was launched from Cape Canaveral US Space Force Base in Florida. Continue reading...
It’s not the first time the virus has been found in Britain but now there are chains of transmissionThe person was sick when they boarded the plane. Five days before leaving Nigeria for Britain, they noticed a rash that spread into a scattering of fluid-filled bumps. When the plane touched down on 4 May, they wasted no time. The person attended hospital where doctors, alerted by their recent travel, immediately suspected monkeypox. The patient was isolated and a doctor, clad in full PPE, took a swab from a blister on their skin.Because monkeypox is listed as a “high-consequence infectious disease”, the situation moved fast. The sample was sent to Porton Down science park in Wiltshire where the UK Health Security Agency’s rare and imported pathogens laboratory swiftly ran a PCR test. This confirmed the infection, which the agency announced the next day, on 7 May. Continue reading...
Scientists believe site in Guangxi with trees up to 40 metres tall may contain undiscovered speciesAn ancient forest has been found at the bottom of a giant sinkhole in China, with trees up to 40 metres (130ft) tall.Scientists believe it could contain undiscovered plant and animal species. Continue reading...
Sally Jaspars says novelist’s rock collection shows youngest Brontë sister ‘was in tune with the scientific inquiry of the time’A student has helped reveal that one of Britain’s most famous authors was not only a talented writer but also a skilled rock collector with an active interest in geology.Anne Brontë, the youngest of the three Brontë sisters, built up a collection of attractive specimens before her death at 29 in 1849. Continue reading...
More than 500 larvae already set free in Hampshire and Cornwall as part of project to revive declining speciesThey once lit up summer nights, people read by their luminescence and they’ve been celebrated by everyone from William Shakespeare to Crowfoot, a 19th-century North American chief.But glowworms have had their lights dimmed by a cult of tidiness in the countryside, the loss of wild meadows and light pollution. Continue reading...
Condition of rodents with spinal cord damage improved after they had lung disease drug, say researchersMice with spinal cord injuries have shown remarkable recovery after being given a drug initially developed for people with lung disease, researchers have revealed, saying the treatment could soon be tested on humans.It is thought there are about 2,500 new spinal cord injuries in the UK every year, with some of those affected experiencing full loss of movement as a result. Despite a number of promising areas of research, at present damage to the spinal cord is not reversible. Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#5ZEJE)
Makers of Prehistoric Planet say it was perfect time to make show as new species are found at rate of one a weekA “dinosaur revolution” is taking place with a new species being discovered every week, the makers of a groundbreaking new docuseries exploring life on Earth 66m years ago have said.Prehistoric Planet, produced by BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit and premiering on Apple TV on Monday, is narrated by Sir David Attenborough and features original music composed by the multiple Oscar winner Hans Zimmer. Continue reading...
Intestinal parasites recovered from prehistoric rubbish dumps shine light on lives and diet of buildersParasite eggs found in 4,500-year-old human faeces suggest the builders of Stonehenge took part in winter feasts that included the internal organs of animals, researchers have revealed.The huge stone circle of Stonehenge is thought to have been built around 2,500BC, with evidence suggesting the builders were housed at a settlement known as Durrington Walls, about 2 miles away. The site was predominantly occupied in the winter months, and appears to have been used for between 10 to 50 years. Continue reading...
The company hopes to send a manned crew to the International Space Station later this year after two prior test flights failedBoeing’s crew capsule rocketed into orbit on Thursday on a repeat test flight without astronauts, after years of being grounded by flaws that could have doomed the spacecraft.Only a test dummy was aboard. If the capsule reaches the International Space Station on Friday and everything else goes well, two or three Nasa test pilots could strap in by the end of this year or early next for the company’s first crew flight. Continue reading...
Pyongyang has left its people highly vulnerable to this outbreak. But rich countries have a responsibility for the lack of protection in other placesWhen Covid-19 first emerged, the “Hermit Kingdom” lived up to its nickname – shutting its borders in January 2020, long before most of the world had taken real heed of the disease spreading in China. With healthcare already on its knees and a malnourished population, North Korea was exceptionally badly placed to cope with any serious outbreak of illness.For more than two years, it insisted that it had no cases whatsoever. Then, last week, it announced its first cases, of Omicron. The country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, warned of “great turmoil”. Now it has reported almost 2m cases of unspecified “fever” – probably because it can’t test for the virus – with 741,000 still being treated, and 63 deaths. Mr Kim, due to celebrate his 10th anniversary in power this year, has blamed officials for an “immature” response. But underlings can hardly be blamed. Closing the country off for so long, when it is heavily dependent on China and ordinary people were already struggling to survive, has left many in even direr straits. Yet the leadership failed to use the time to vaccinate the population, ignoring offers of doses from the Covax pooling scheme. For years, it has impoverished its people and allowed healthcare to deteriorate, while pouring money into a weapons programme, the chief function of which is to safeguard the regime. Within hours of announcing the Covid outbreak, the country had launched yet another missile test. Continue reading...
New research suggests the cetaceans may be self-medicating for their skin ailments, adding to evidence of the medicinal properties of some corals and spongesWho doesn’t like a bath scrub? Dolphins definitely do: they are known for being clever, playful, tactile animals, and they like to rub against rough surfaces, nap in coral beds and soak on sponges like guests at an underwater spa.However, dolphins may be getting more from their bath scrubs than just relaxation and leisure. A study published today suggests that bottlenose dolphins may be self-medicating their skin ailments with the help of corals, adding to growing research on their previously unexplored medicinal properties. Continue reading...
With the ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial poring over the destruction of a celebrity friendship, four people share their experiences of treachery and traumaAs the libel suit between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney rumbles on in the high court, the public has heard weeks of claims and counterclaims about Instagram stings, paparazzi ambushes and phones lost in the sea. But one thing has been clear from the outset: one of the two women has been betrayed. Either, as Rooney claims, Vardy sold stories about her fellow Wag to the Sun, or, as Vardy maintains, Rooney’s baseless accusation has dragged her good name through the mud.It is a messy and sordid tale from which no one – except possibly the lawyers – emerges the better. Rooney has described Vardy’s WhatsApp exchanges about her as “evil”; Vardy has said that the threats and abuse she received after Rooney’s accusations made her feel suicidal. What is driving the former friends to spend millions airing their most intimate details? Continue reading...
The Milky Way photographer of the year winners are selected every year by the travel blog Capture the Atlas. The Milky Way season ranges from February to October in the northern hemisphere and from January to November in the southern hemisphere Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Patrick Greenfi on (#5ZD5C)
From deep inside Gran Chaco, a dry tropical forest in Argentina one and a half times the size of California, comes a wake-up call for the world’s forests. We’ve lost more than a fifth of this incredibly biodiverse region since 1985. And it’s just one of many precious carbon-trapping ecosystems being lost to unrelenting deforestation.Six months ago in Glasgow, world leaders at Cop26 pledged to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. While destruction continues apace in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, other countries such as Indonesia offer glimmers of hope.Madeleine Finlay speaks to biodiversity reporter Patrick Greenfield about what his trip to Gran Chaco showed him, what’s at stake around the world, and what’s needed to turn things around Continue reading...
by Harriet Sherwood Arts and culture correspondent on (#5ZD0B)
Archaeologists find pits lying in crooked horseshoe formation at Castilly Henge near BodminA rare stone circle has been found at a prehistoric ritual site in Cornwall, with seven regularly spaced pits mapped by a team of archaeologists.Bracken and scrub were cleared over the winter at Castilly Henge near Bodmin to allow archaeologists to survey the site. They found the pits lying in a crooked horseshoe formation. Continue reading...
Female patients in England and Wales half as likely to receive TXA, which cuts risk of bleeding to death by 30%, as injured menInjured women are experiencing sex discrimination in the administration of a life-saving drug that cuts the risk of bleeding to death by 30%, researchers have warned.They found that female trauma victims were half as likely to receive tranexamic acid (TXA) as injured men – even though the treatment is equally effective regardless of sex. Continue reading...
Researchers believe the discovery in a Laos cave proves that Denisovans lived in the warm tropics of southeast AsiaA child’s tooth at least 130,000 years old found in a Laos cave could help scientists uncover more information about an early human cousin, according to a new study.Researchers believe the discovery proves that Denisovans – a now-extinct branch of humanity – lived in the warm tropics of southeast Asia. Continue reading...