Science | The Guardian

Scientists had called for Folbigg’s release after it was discovered two daughters had a genetic variant that can cause sudden death

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...

Invention can deliver medication after detecting pressure in the eye from fluid buildup, scientists sayA contact lens that can release a drug if it detects high pressure within the eye has been created by scientists who say it could help treat glaucoma.Glaucoma is an eye disease that involves damage to the optic nerve, and can lead to blindness if not treated. Continue reading...

Number fallen ill reportedly rose to almost 1.5 million as country thought to be without vaccine grapples with what it calls ‘fever’North Korea stands on the brink of a Covid-19 catastrophe unless swift action is taken to provide vaccines and drug treatments, experts have warned, as the number of people reported to have fallen ill rose to almost 1.5 million.The isolated country reported another big rise in new cases of what it continues to refer to as “fever” on Tuesday, days after it admitted it had identified Covid-19 infections for the first time since the start of the global pandemic. Continue reading...

Ditching the cutlery, scoffing a big first bite and discussing the carrots can help rewire our brains and make us more mindful of our mealsBefore diving in at a dinner party, my friend Lizzie always makes a point of asking the host to describe each dish they’ve made. It’s a way of acknowledging their efforts – but, according to food psychology, she could also be helping herself and her fellow diners eat better by making them more mindful of their meal.Charles Spence is a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, who researches the factors that influence what we choose to eat and what we think about the experience. His research highlights the extent to which those choices are shaped by the ways in which we engage with our food; in short, what our meals look and smell like, whether we eat them with forks or fingers – even the music we’re listening to while eating or food shopping can all play a role in how healthily we eat. The following techniques will help you “trick” your brain into making better decisions for your body. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Calls to improve car design and safety as females also found to have different injury patterns to menWomen are almost twice as likely as men to become trapped in a motor vehicle after a crash and they also sustain different patterns of injury, data suggests.The research – the first large UK study to compare sex differences in injury patterns and the likelihood of becoming trapped after a collision – could help vehicle manufacturers improve car design and safety features to reduce rates of injury in both sexes. It also strengthens calls for the inclusion of more biologically accurate crash test dummies in simulations of vehicle collisions, to investigate their impact on women. Continue reading...

The climate crisis is giving trees a bigger window to spread their pollen, but cleaner air and better early warning forecasts can help protect usIf you have sneezed your way through the last few days, you are not alone. About a quarter of the UK population are thought to suffer from hay fever, with numbers continuing to grow. And the latest research suggests that the climate crisis is going to make the hay fever season a whole lot longer and more intense, with up to three times as much pollen wafting around by the end of the century. Hold on to your antihistamines.For people with lung conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pollen bursts are a serious risk that can be deadly in the most extreme cases. In November 2016, a pollen outbreak caused by a thunderstorm fragmenting pollen into smaller pieces in Melbourne, Australia, overwhelmed the emergency services and resulted in at least nine deaths.Kate Ravilious is a freelance science journalist based in York, UK; she writes on Earth, climate and weather-related issues Continue reading...

UK’s first exercise guidance on bone disease affecting 3m in Britain encourages people to move moreMillions of people with osteoporosis should not be afraid to exercise regularly, experts have said in guidance aimed at boosting bone health, cutting the risk of falls and improving posture.The condition, which weakens bones and makes them more likely to break, affects more than 3 million people in the UK and more than 150 million worldwide. Continue reading...

Last November in Glasgow, countries agreed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial averages. Six months on, the world has changed, with the war in Ukraine, high energy prices and the cost of living crisis threatening to derail us from achieving our climate goals. Ian Sample speaks to the Guardian’s environment correspondent, Fiona Harvey, about what promises are still on the table and what else needs to be done to address the climate emergency as we approach the next conference, Cop27.Archive: Channel 4 News, Deutsche Welle, PBS News, 9 News Australia, ABC News, Euronews, COP26 Continue reading...

Researchers find link between fertility issues and cancer risk, but say biological reason unclearInfertile men may be twice as likely to develop breast cancer than those without fertility issues, according to one of the largest ever studies of the disease.Breast cancer in males is less common than in females and its relation to infertility had previously been investigated only in small studies. The new research was published in the journal Breast Cancer Research. Continue reading...

The answers to today’s rib-tickling riddlesEarlier today I set you the puzzles below, chosen by Irish mathematician Des MacHale, a prolific writer of joke and puzzle books. You can read some of his jokes here.The puzzles were a mixture of word, number and lateral thinking puzzles. They all give some ‘haha’ with the ‘aha!’. Continue reading...

Pregnant smokers were more likely to quit when using e-cigarettes than patches after four weeks, study showsE-cigarettes are as safe to use as nicotine patches for pregnant smokers trying to quit, and may be a more effective tool, researchers have revealed.Smoking in pregnancy can increase the risk of outcomes including premature birth, miscarriage and the baby having a low birth weight. But stubbing out the habit can be a struggle. Continue reading...

By studying isotopes scientists hope to gain insight into how elements within exploding stars came to beFrom carbon to uranium, oxygen to iron, chemical elements are the building blocks of the world around us and the wider universe. Now, physicists are hoping to gain an unprecedented glimpse into their origins, with the opening of a new facility that will create thousands of peculiar and unstable versions of atoms never before recorded on Earth.By studying these versions, known as isotopes, they hope to gain new insights into the reactions that created the elements within exploding stars, as well as testing theories about the “strong force” – one of the four fundamental forces in nature, which binds protons and neutrons together in an atom’s nucleus. The facility could also yield new isotopes for medical use. Continue reading...

Nasal or oral coronavirus vaccines, more and better drugs, and a variant-proof vaccine could catalyze a clear way outAs the virus accelerates its evolution, the humans capitulate. For two and a half years, Covid-19 has been outrunning our response, getting more and more transmissible, reaching a level of infectiousness that few pathogens have ever attained. Instead of taking a stance of getting ahead of the virus, and outsmarting it, people have succumbed.In recent months, we experienced a striking jump in transmissibility when the Omicron (BA.1) variant became dominant, with at least a threefold increase in reproductive number beyond Delta. Despite the hope that this might be reaching the upper limit of the virus’s spreadability, we quickly transitioned to a BA.2 wave, with at least another jump of about 30% transmissibility, and now we are heading, in the United States, to a dominant subvariant known as BA.2.12.1, which is another 25% more transmissible than BA.2 and already accounting for close to 50% of new cases. Continue reading...

Dramatic total lunar eclipse coincided with a super moon, when the moon is at its closest point to Earth and reflects a red and orange light Continue reading...

Covid cases are stabilising in the countries but many may continue to wear face coverings, even if rules changeFor more than two years, the people of Japan and South Korea have been united by their embrace of little white rectangles. While the US and countries in Europe debated the efficacy of masks at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Japanese and South Koreans quickly covered up, uncomplainingly and with few exceptions.Explanations for the wildly contrasting coronavirus death tolls in developed countries are many and varied, but in north-east Asia – more than anywhere else – mask-wearing has been at the forefront of the public health response to the virus. Continue reading...

An Irish professor walks into a barUPDATE: the solutions can be read hereWhat do you call an engaged toilet on a Jumbo jet? A HYPOTENUSE!The Theory of Relativity in a nutshell – time spent with your relatives seems longer. Continue reading...

Giant star in Scorpius belongs to class of poorly understood stars which vary in brightnessThere is something glorious about seeing the silvery moon contrasted with the blood-red light of Antares, the giant star in Scorpius, the Scorpion. Tonight offers an excellent chance to see this pairing.The chart shows the view looking south from London at midnight as 16 May becomes 17 May. The moon will be full with 99% of its visible surface illuminated. It will be about 3.5 degrees away from Antares (for reference the full moon itself measures about 0.5 degrees across). Continue reading...

Exclusive: Mensun Bound warns of ocean acidification and melting ice, as well as robotic technology that could enable theftsAs a marine archaeologist, Mensun Bound headed the 2022 Antarctic expedition that discovered the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance, more than a century after the legendary ship became trapped in ice and sank.Now he is warning that its protection cannot be guaranteed due to the combined threats of global heating and underwater robotic technology that could enable thefts from the historic site. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Alzheimer’s Society says fear of embarrassment or misunderstanding stops thousands coming forwardThousands of south Asian people living with dementia in the UK are being denied access to help and support because stigma and taboo deter them from getting diagnosed, a charity has warned.People from south Asian communities are more likely to develop dementia than the general UK population due to being at higher risk of other illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes, that increase the risk of dementia. Continue reading...

Exploring shared childhood memories with your siblings will cast light on the person you are todayWhen I come across couples celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary I always wonder: “Who are these rare creatures who have managed to sustain a relationship for 60 years?” All those baked potatoes for dinner and trips to put the bins out. I’m amazed at the endurance of their love, but mostly I’m touched by their ability to peer through varifocals and see the bride or groom of their youth, to understand what shaped them because they witnessed it all. Similarly, stories of friends who met over government-issue milk at school and are still best friends can completely undo me. It turns out I weep easily at the idea of being known and loved by someone close – for so long.I am lucky to have old friends. Being in their company is one of my favourite things. I have also been married for ages, and I sometimes indulge in the image of me in 2061, clasping the dry, old hand of my husband and telling whoever will listen about the young man I married, and our secret to a long and happy life together. Continue reading...

Earth’s shadow will turn moon brick red just before dawn on Monday, while US will be treated to evening eclipseAstronomy enthusiasts will be setting their alarms for the small hours of Monday morning to catch a glimpse of a dramatic super blood moon.The Earth will come between the sun and the moon just before dawn in western Europe, making the moon appear brick red as it falls into the Earth’s shadow. The effect is caused by the Earth’s atmosphere bending some of the sun’s light towards it. Continue reading...

Saying the word ‘like’ has long been seen as a sign of laziness and stupidity. But its use is actually richly nuanced, goes back to Shakespearean times, and is an indicator of, like, intelligenceI’m listening to BBC Radio 1, where they are interviewing the 26-year-old actor and singer Dove Cameron about her globally successful hit, Boyfriend. The DJ, Melvin Odoom, asks her, “Do you think that your acting career has helped you with, kind of, like, your music career?”“For me they’re, like, the same energy,” replies Cameron. “Which is, like, when people are, like, ‘You have to choose,’ I’m like, ‘They feel the same!’” Continue reading...

Stephanie and John Cacioppo were two neuroscientists specialising in love and loneliness. When they married, they put theory into practice. But when John died suddenly, would her science save her?Close your eyes for three seconds, Dr Stephanie Cacioppo instructs me early in our conversation. You might like to do the same at home, or on the train, or wherever you are. Now think of the person that you love most in the world. Got them? Remember the last time you made them laugh out loud. One-two-three. “Did that bring a smile to your face?” asks Cacioppo, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago, who specialises on the impact of love on the brain, and is the author of a new book, Wired for Love.It did. “It works all the time,” she goes on. “It’s because of this fantastic wiring we have in our brain that activates the love network, but also the mirror neuron system. That’s the neuro system that is activated when you move, but also when you anticipate or think about the actions or emotions of others. So imagining someone smiling, it’s like activating your own smile as well.” Continue reading...

Experts welcome planned laws on the use of genetic technology, but say growing global crises demand urgent actionOn 24 July 2019, Boris Johnson stood outside 10 Downing Street and delivered his first speech as prime minister. Among the many pledges he made was a promise that he was going “to liberate the UK’s extraordinary bioscience sector from anti-genetic modification rules”. Such a move would allow the nation to “develop the blight-resistant crops that will feed the world”, he added.Almost three years later, Johnson’s government has eventually got round to outlining, in last week’s Queen’s speech, how it hopes to achieve this goal. This will be done through the forthcoming genetic technology (precision breeding) bill. The proposed legislation has been welcomed by leading UK biologists, although they also warned last week that a long battle lies ahead before UK plant and animal science is at a stage to save the world. Continue reading...

As well as serving in the SS and a second act as a Nasa engineer, Wernher von Braun wrote a Martian sci-fi novel with a prescient twist…I recently read (and greatly enjoyed) V2, Robert Harris’s absorbing second world war thriller about British attempts to locate and destroy the base in the Netherlands from which Hitler’s “Retaliation Weapon 2” – those devastating rocket-powered bombs aimed at London – were launched. Harris is famous for the meticulous research that underpins his plots and V2 is no exception. For me, a particularly interesting aspect of the novel was his portrayal of Wernher von Braun, the German aerospace engineer who was the leading figure in the development of Nazi rocketry and who was snaffled by the US (with a large number of his technical associates) to enjoy a splendid second career as the mastermind of the US space programme.Harris portrays Von Braun as an exceedingly shrewd operator who effectively used the Nazi regime to enable him to further his dream of space exploration. Although he joined the National Socialist party in 1937, he claimed that doing so was the only way of being allowed to continue his technical work on rocketry, which is perhaps plausible. Less so perhaps was his decision to join the SS, a decision that plays a useful role in Harris’s story. Continue reading...

One person in infectious disease unit and the other is isolating, as UKHSA says no link to earlier confirmed caseTwo more people have been diagnosed with monkeypox in London, health officials said.The pair live in the same household and are not linked to the previous confirmed case in England that was announced on 7 May, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. Continue reading...

Over three decades, Susanna Abse has worked with every kind of couple. She shares what she’s learned on how to stay the distance – and why fighting is goodSusanna Abse is the marriage counsellor’s marriage counsellor – 30 years in practice giving her peerless insights into the challenges couples face without making any dent in her curiosity and originality. This serene, witty 65-year-old is exacting but non-judgmental; I imagine you’d feel able to say absolutely anything in front of her, unless it was bullshit. You would trust her with your marriage, but you’d want to take your A-game.Abse can’t begin to estimate how many couples she’s seen since her first in 1986, but puts it at tens of thousands of hours. She has worked with every kind of couple, from the ones who “bang their heads together and shout and stand up and walk out” (she calls these “doll’s house” couples in her book – people who break things without any sense of consequence), to the ones who think there’s never been anything wrong, and can’t understand why they’ve suddenly got issues. Continue reading...

Scientists find babies who died from Sids had lower levels of BChE on average, but say link ‘needs more investigation’Scientists may have come a step closer to uncovering the causes for sudden infant death syndrome in a study that has been hailed as a significant advance by the British scientist whose work underpinned the Back to Sleep campaign of the 1990s.The study is the first to identify a biochemical marker in the blood that is linked to the risk of Sids, sometimes called cot death, when an apparently healthy infant dies during their sleep. Although the test is not accurate enough to be used in newborn screening, it hints that abnormally low levels of a chemical linked to the brain’s arousal system could be involved in causing these babies to die suddenly in their sleep. Continue reading...

Two US patients recover from intractable infections, giving hope for treatments beyond antibioticsTwo US patients have recovered from intractable infections after being treated with a pioneering therapy involving genetically engineered bacteria-killing viruses.The cases raise hopes that so-called phage therapy could be used more widely to combat the global crisis of drug-resistant infections. One of the patients, Jarrod Johnson, a 26-year-old man with cystic fibrosis, was approaching death after suffering a chronic lung infection that resisted treatment by antibiotics for six years. After being given the phage therapy, his infection cleared allowing him to receive a lung transplant and resume an active life. Continue reading...

Musicians and scientists armed with synths and electrodes are plugging in to mushrooms and cacti to encourage humans to reconnect with the EarthTo musician Tarun Nayar, mushrooms sound squiggly and wonky. Nayar’s “organismic music” project Modern Biology has only been active since last summer but, with his videos of mushrooms making calming ambient soundscapes, he’s already racked up more than half a million TikTok followers and 25m views.The electronic artist and former biologist hangs out in mushroom circles, spending summers in the northern Gulf Islands of British Columbia with the Sheldrake brothers: Merlin, the author of the bestselling Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures, and producer-songwriter Cosmo. So it seems only natural that he would begin foraging mushrooms – not to eat, but to listen to. Continue reading...

Brutal heatwave in India and Pakistan also certain to have been exacerbated by global heating, scientists sayThe massive and deadly floods that struck South Africa in April were made twice as likely and more intense by global heating, scientists have calculated. The research demonstrates that the climate emergency is resulting in devastation.Catastrophic floods and landslides hit the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape on 11 April following exceptionally heavy rainfall. Continue reading...

Nice recommends alternative to injections or surgery for treating non-cancerous growths in wombThousands of women in England and Wales with fibroids are to be offered a new tablet to ease their symptoms as an alternative to injections or surgery.Fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the womb. About one in three women develop them at some point in their life. They most often occur in those aged between 30 and 50. Continue reading...

Regulator expected to consent to import of hormone replacement pills and patches from FranceExtra supplies of hormone replacement therapy products could be shipped to the UK from France and Poland as soon as next week, a major manufacturer has said after crisis meetings were held to address the nationwide shortage.Tina Backhouse, the general UK manager at Theramex, which makes about a dozen HRT drugs, including Bijuva pills and Femseven patches, said the company needed special permission to bring in products from France that were not licensed in the UK. Theramex’s products are mainly made in Germany, and some are only licensed in other European countries. Continue reading...

Researchers at the University of Florida planted thale cress in harsh lunar dirt returned by Apollo 11 astronautsFor the first time, scientists have grown plants in soil from the moon collected by Nasa’s Apollo astronauts.Researchers had no idea if anything would sprout in the harsh moon dirt and wanted to see if it could be used to grow food by a new generation of lunar explorers. The results stunned them. Continue reading...

Thale cress seeds survived but grew more slowly than those planted in volcanic ash, developing stunted rootsThe prospect of growing crops on the moon has edged a little closer after researchers nurtured plants – some more successfully than others – in lunar soil for the first time.Scientists planted thale cress seeds in moon dust brought back by three Apollo missions and watched them sprout and grow into fully fledged plants, raising the potential for astronauts to farm off-world crops. Continue reading...

Event Horizon telescope captures image giving a glimpse of the turbulent heart of our galaxyAn image of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way has been captured, giving the first direct glimpse of the “gentle giant” at the centre of our galaxy.The black hole itself, known as Sagittarius A*, cannot be seen because no light or matter can escape its gravitational grip. But its shadow is traced out by a glowing, fuzzy ring of light and matter that is swirling on the precipice at close to the speed of light. Continue reading...

While the $4tn global wellness industry bends over backwards to sell us dubious detox products, there is an accessible, easy, and free way to genuinely rid our bloodstreams of toxinsAmong all the toxins in the Pandora’s Box of chemical pollutants that humans have released upon the world, PFAS are particularly disturbing.PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are nicknamed “forever chemicals” for their ubiquity, persistence and toxicity. They are used in household items including non-stick pans, waterproof fabrics, and microwave popcorn bags, and can contaminate water, air, soil, crops and animal products. They accumulate in the blood, bones and tissues of living things and do not degrade. PFAS impair human immune systems, making us more susceptible to diseases – even those we’ve been vaccinated against. Researchers associate the chemicals with liver disease, obesity, thyroid disorders, and certain cancers, among other health problems. These observations generally pertain to the relatively few PFAS we have researched, including PFOA and PFOS; PFAS belong to a massive family of chemicals, thousands of them unstudied and potentially harmful.Adrienne Matei is a freelance journalist Continue reading...

Despite Omicron worries, England has fared no worse than other nations that kept restrictions in place

Renowned primatologist ‘had a laugh’ at the idea she’d be surrounded by models wearing Australian bamboo fabric brand Boody

A study suggests lunar cycles can heat or cool the globe by 0.04C – enough to affect climate change modellingThe moon does influence the temperature here on Earth, although the old belief that frost is more likely during a full moon is unfounded.New research by Prof Ed Hawkins and colleagues at the University of Reading looks at the regular 18.6-year cycle during which the moon’s orbital plane shifts in relation to the Earth’s equator. This cycle has been known since prehistoric times, and can be observed by slight changes in where the moon rises and sets. The cycle affects tides and how warm water from the surface of the ocean mixes with colder water below. This in turn influences how rapidly the sea absorbs heat. Continue reading...

It’s estimated that a million women in the UK could have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – but according to the ADHD Foundation, 50–75% of them do not know they have it. Going without a diagnosis can impact someone’s education, employment and physical and mental health. So why are women being left behind? Madeleine Finlay speaks to Jasmine Andersson about her experience of getting a late diagnosis, and Prof Amanda Kirby on why the condition is so often missed in women and girls. Continue reading...

Research on Wuhan patients reveals effects of long Covid, with 11% still not having returned to workMore than half of people hospitalised with Covid-19 still have at least one symptom two years after they were first infected, according to the longest follow-up study of its kind.While physical and mental health generally improve over time, the analysis suggests that coronavirus patients discharged from hospital still tend to experience poorer health and quality of life than the general population. The research was published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Continue reading...

One of the best-known public intellectuals of the pandemic gives her account of two years that shook the worldProfessor Nabila Sadiq was only 38 when she died of Covid-19. Unable to find a hospital bed in her native India, which had been overwhelmed by the virulent new Delta variant, her heart-rending Twitter messages pleading for help were picked up around the world. The story clearly hit home with the Scottish public health expert Professor Devi Sridhar, who is around the age Sadiq was and whose family are of Indian heritage. As she writes poignantly in her new book: “She would have lived had she been in Scotland, like me”.Accidents of geography are arguably a key theme of Sridhar’s book, an ambitiously wide-ranging study of a global pandemic with the emphasis firmly on the global. As she points out, individuals’ fates were too often determined by where they happened to have been born: living through the pandemic in Vietnam or Kerala was not like living through it in Britain. The refreshing twist in her tale, however, is that often it was countries from whom we are not used to taking public health lessons that got it right while a complacent west messed up. Continue reading...

Hawksbill turtles often travel circuitous routes for short distances – one swam 1,306km to reach an island just 176km away

The so-called Queen’s speech | Animal-to-human transplants | Parliamentary seating | Dress sense | Teaspoon treatIf the Queen doesn’t write her own speech and is no longer able to read it (Report, 9 May), isn’t it time to stop the charade and call things by their accurate names? The prime minister disguises his autocratic powers under the royal prerogative. If it’s his speech, let’s say so and stop pretending the monarch has anything to do with it. We must sever the monarchy from the political system: a democratic imperative that is centuries overdue.

Chance of stillbirth reduced by 15%, researchers find, after examining studies and trials that enrolled 117,552 womenDoctors have stressed the importance of Covid vaccinations for pregnant women after a major review found the shots were not only safe, but reduced the risk of stillbirth by 15%.Researchers at St George’s, University of London, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists analysed 23 published studies and trials that enrolled 117,552 pregnant women vaccinated against Covid, to assess the safety of the shots. Continue reading...

India and Pakistan have experienced their hottest April in 122 years. Temperatures are nearing 50C. Such extreme heat dries up water reservoirs, melts glaciers and damages crops. It’s also deadly.

Tensions rise again as lockdowns grind on and the city’s population tire of strict zero-Covid policy

UK-based team finds antibodies peaked higher after fourth jab given after gap of more than six months than after thirdA fourth dose of a Covid vaccine can ramp up the body’s immune defences beyond the peak achieved after a third dose, research suggests.A second booster – often a fourth dose of a Covid vaccine – is currently offered in the UK to those aged 75 or over, people living in care homes for older people, and those over the age of 12 who are immunosuppressed. Continue reading...