Science | The Guardian

From seeing things to hearing voices, there's a finer line between hallucination and reality than you might supposeWhen did you last hallucinate? The visionary tendency is much more common among sane people than is generally suspected," wrote the 19th-century psychologist Sir Francis Galton. Setting aside the vivid, often emotive, cinema of our dreams, we are all more vulnerable to seeing things" than we might at first suppose.Around four fifths of people who have recently been bereaved report an encounter with their loved one: most commonly a lively sense of their presence, but some hear, see or speak with them. Up to 60% of people who lose sight in later life see things that aren't there, sometimes extravagant images such as the two young men ... wearing magnificent cloaks ... their hats ... trimmed with silver" who appeared in the first reported case of Charles Bonnet syndrome, as this phenomenon is known, before dissolving" away. A 20-year-old woman blindfolded for 12 hours saw cities, skies, kaleidoscopes, lions and sunsets so bright she could barely look at them'". After losing a limb, most people carry a constant or inconstant phantom of the missing member", as Weir Mitchell, the American neurologist who coined the term phantom limb after studying 90 cases from the American civil war, put it. Pilots on long flights, travellers through snowstorms and deserts, prisoners and hostages held in darkness; their restless brains are all prone to see the things of which they're being deprived. Continue reading...

Dazzling image shows galaxy more than 4bn light years away, whose starlight has been bent due to gravityThe Euclid space telescope has captured a rare phenomenon called an Einstein ring that reveals the extreme warping of space by a galaxy's gravity.The dazzling image shows a nearby galaxy, NGC 6505, surrounded by a perfect circle of light. The ring gives a glimpse of a more distant galaxy, sitting directly behind NGC 6505, whose starlight has been bent around the foreground galaxy. Continue reading...

The evening star will serve as a handy signpost for identifying the often unnoticed constellationHaving reached its highest point in the evening sky last week Venus is beginning to move back towards the sun. But before it disappears from view in March, it will continue to put on a dazzling show.It will blaze brightly on 16 February at a magnitude of -4.2, the brightest of this apparition. It will also still be high enough in the sky to be well visible several hours after the sun has set, when the sky is fully dark. Continue reading...

My friend and colleague Peter Honey, who has died aged 87, was a behavioural psychologist and independent consultant working with business managers and their staff.He designed workshops and courses emphasising behaviour that could be reviewed and dealt with directly. He would share the results of behavioural analysis (who asks questions? Who helps others? Who clarifies problems?) with those with whom he was working. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Health experts and cancer charities say findings should serve as wake-up call to ministersMore than 1,100 people a year in the UK are developing the most prevalent form of lung cancer as a result of air pollution, the Guardian can reveal.Exposure to toxic air was attributed to 515 men and 590 women in the UK in 2022 getting adenocarcinoma - now the most dominant of the four main subtypes of lung cancer - an analysis by the World Health Organization's cancer agency found. Continue reading...

Joanna Moorhead recalls her daughter's difficult birth as she watches her go through the same thing 32 years laterIt was a routine antenatal appointment with many weeks still to go until the birth. Things aren't quite as we'd hope," said the midwife, a worried look on her face. You need to go straight to hospital."The date was 8 April 1992. But also, it was 1 August 2024. The bump in 1992 was mine; the baby, who would be born the following day, at 29 weeks' gestation (term" is 40 weeks) was my daughter Rosie. The bump in 2024 was hers: 32 years on, history was repeating itself. Continue reading...

How long does it take to change a habit? It varies, but one paper suggests it takes an average of 66 days. We ask writers to change one thing in their lives within that timeframe ... and tell us if it works

Senescent cells power the body's ageing process, and scientists are developing treatments to annihilate themAt St Jude children's research hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, an unusual clinical trial is under way that, if successful, could have wider ramifications for the vast field of age-related chronic diseases. At first glance, childhood cancer survivors may seem like an unusual population in which to study ageing, but as Greg Armstrong, principal investigator of St Jude's Childhood Cancer Survivorship Study, explains, we now know they represent a group of individuals who are ageing unusually quickly.For while modern chemotherapies and radiotherapies have become increasingly efficient at curing childhood cancers, this comes at a great cost, owing to the corrosive impact of such treatment on these children's bodies, something that becomes more apparent when they reach middle age. Continue reading...

An accident left Noland Arbaugh paralysed, but Musk's Neuralink brain implant allows him to control computers with his thoughts. Is it a life-changing innovation that could help millions - or the start of a dystopia where a billionaire can access our thoughts?Noland Arbaugh's life changed in a fraction of a second in June 2016. He was a 22-year-old student, working at a kids' summer camp in upstate New York, when he went swimming in a lake. He can't tell me exactly what happened, but thinks one of his friends must have accidentally struck him very hard in the side of his head as they ran into the water and plunged beneath the surface.When he woke up face down in the water, unable to move or breathe, Noland immediately knew he was paralysed. But he didn't panic. He felt no fear at all, he says. You never know what you're going to do in those high-stress situations. I found out that day that it's hard to shake me. I am very, very calm under pressure." Continue reading...

Science committee chair calls for monitored species to include groups such as moths, lice and hymenopteraThe UK's targets to stop the destruction of the natural world are so inadequate that they could be met even if all the country's bees, wasps, ants and moths were to go extinct, the government has been warned.Natural England's red list and the government's biodiversity indicators are used to measure changes in species abundance and as the baseline measures for targets to halt species extinction. Continue reading...

Scientists around the world are leading research into cold fusion as an alternative to fossil fuels so it should not be dismissed as pseudo-scientific, say MIT-based researchers. Plus a letter from Huw PriceRecently, the letters pages of the Guardian have featured conflicting accounts of cold fusion, otherwise known as low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR). On the one hand, the Nobel laureate Prof Brian Josephson and his co-authors argue (27 January) that cold fusion's time has come: companies can make these reactions work quite reliably", with the promise of ending reliance on fossil fuels". In response, Dr Philip Thomas, a researcher at the University of Exeter, proclaims (2 February) that cold fusion is a pseudo-scientific fringe theory" in violation of the laws of nature". Which laws, in particular, Dr Thomas does not say.There is, however, a constructive middle ground between Josephson's fervour and Thomas's denigration. LENR advocates often fail to appreciate the evidentiary standard required to demonstrate novel nuclear effects. Overzealous critics are generally not well read on the LENR literature and lack perspective on the emergence of new fields from anomalous effects in science. As a result, they contribute to the palpable stigma that the Cambridge emeritus professor Huw Price calls the reputation trap". Regardless, there is compelling experimental data and strong theoretical motivations to study cold fusion. Continue reading...

A runic inscription on one of the Galloway hoard's elaborately decorated arm rings has been decipheredWhen the Galloway hoard was discovered in a ploughed field in western Scotland in 2014, it proved to be the richest collection of Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland. Now the long-standing mystery of who might have owned it when it was buried more than 1,000 years ago may have been solved.The spectacular silver and gold treasure had in fact belonged to everybody - the community" - just as it does today, having been acquired in 2017 by National Museums Scotland (NMS). Continue reading...

Space rock now has 2.3% risk of collision - up from 1.3% in December - but danger is likely to fall with more dataIt might not be the world-ending apocalypse foretold in the Netflix drama Don't Look Up, but astronomers have significantly upped the odds of a direct hit from a giant asteroid currently hurtling towards Earth.According to Nasa's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (Cneos), the odds of a strike in 2032 by the space rock that goes by the somewhat unassuming name 2024 YR are calculated to be 2.3% - a one-in-43 chance. Continue reading...

Linda Geddes tests new approach developed in Italian lab that involves alternating egg between different temperaturesDelia Smith demands one minute of simmering plus six of standing with the pan lid on. Heston Blumenthal brings his to the boil from cold. Now scientists have weighed in on the perfect way to boil an egg, and the results are egg-stremely tasty.From a materials perspective, cooking an egg within its shell is more complicated than it might at first seem. Chefs are challenged by the fact that an egg's components: yolk and white, are made of different proteins that denature and thicken at different temperatures: 85C (185F) for the white and 65C (149F) for the yolk. Continue reading...

Even brief exposure to particulate matter found to impede selective attention and emotional recognitionA person's ability to focus on everyday tasks is affected by short-term exposure to air pollution, a study has found.Researchers analysed data from cognitive tests completed by 26 participants before and after they were exposed either to high levels of particulate matter (PM) using smoke from a candle, or clean air for an hour. Continue reading...

From the shockwaves caused by DeepSeek's launch, to fears of a new AI arms race, and the continued questions over the technology's energy use, AI continues to throw up new challenges. As world leaders gather for the Paris AI summit, the Guardian's global technology editor, Dan Milmo, joins Madeleine Finlay to discuss what will be top of the agenda. And young people attending the Alan Turing Institute's Children's AI summit explain what their hopes and fears for the technology areSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

My friend Molly Bodinetz, who has died aged 46, was an inspiring clinical psychologist committed to working with young people at risk of going into care and custody, and their families.Time in the national and specialist adoption and fostering team at the Maudsley hospital in London in the 2000s led to Molly playing a key role in the success of early trials of a family-based intervention, Multisystemic Therapy (MST), in Hackney, London, starting in 2008. The subsequent implementation of MST across the UK resulted in increased school attendance and a reduction in offending rates. Continue reading...

Work and payments at universities, businesses and non-profits disrupted nationwide after executive ordersScientists around the US have described experiencing distress, disruption to their work and interruption of payments in the chaos following Donald Trump's executive orders affecting federal grant money.Among the funds caught in limbo in recent days were millions of dollars of congressionally appropriated research awards and grants across the vast networks of publicly funded scientific departments at universities, businesses and non-profits across the country. Continue reading...

Writing on PHerc. 172 papyrus, found at Roman mansion in Herculaneum, revealed after 3D X-rays and software competitionResearchers have peered inside an ancient scroll that was burned to a crisp in the volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii nearly 2,000 years ago.The scroll is one of hundreds found in the library of a Roman mansion in Herculaneum, a town on the west coast of Italy that was wiped out when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79. Continue reading...

Team has produced more than 20 embryos using method used in humans, though there are no plans for live joeys

UCL study into mental health and wellbeing finds that people generally feel worse at night and on SundaysNightmare day at work? Date stand you up? Don't worry, things really will seem better in the morning.In the most comprehensive study of its kind, scientists have found that generally, the world feels brighter when you wake up. Continue reading...

Scientists taking samples from city's river did not expect to find presence of under-threat molluscsTraces of rare mussels sensitive to pollution and thought to be on the point of extinction in France have been discovered in the Seine in Paris, raising hopes that efforts to clean up the river that bisects the French capital might be succeeding.The findings were made after Olympic swimming events were held in the Seine last year - the first time swimming in the river has been deemed safe in a century. Continue reading...

Meteorite falls are extremely rare and offer a glimpse of the processes that formed our world billions of years ago. When a space rock came to an English market town in 2021, scientists raced to find as much out as they couldAt 21.54 on 28 February 2021, 16 cameras belonging to amateur sky-watching network UKMON picked up a bright shape headed towards Earth. Pictures show a long white line, which was visible for eight seconds, a glowing globule of light against the dark sky. For me it's like fishing," said Richard Kacerek, one of the founders of UKMON. You cast your line and then you wait. There are days when you catch nothing but there are days when you catch a really, really big fish and it's so exciting." The fireball of February 2021 was such a fish: a lump of flaming extraterrestrial rock travelling at a speed of about 8.4 miles a second - 15 times the speed of a rifle bullet - and headed for the Cotswolds market town of Winchcombe.Meteorites are rocks from space that have entered our atmosphere. Most were once part of asteroids - the rocky, airless remnants left over from the formation of our solar system 4.6bn years ago. Almost all of them are what collectors call finds", meaning that the stone has been discovered by searching the ground, having fallen earlier - in most cases several thousand years earlier. A fall", a meteorite that is seen in flight and then recovered, is very, very rare. Worldwide, typically only about 10 such rocks are picked up each year. Before 2021, the last reported UK fall was a rock the size of a cricket ball that landed in a hedge in Glatton in Cambridgeshire in May 1991. Continue reading...

Senators are scheduled to vote today on whether to advance Robert F Kennedy Jr's nomination as Secretary of State for Health and Human Services. RFK Jr is known for his vaccine skepticism and Make America Healthy Again slogan, which has won him support from everyone from wellness fans and crunchy moms' to traditional Republicans. US health reporter Jessica Glenza tells Ian Sample about how he fared at last week's confirmation hearings, and what he might do if he takes a seat in Trump's cabinetSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

Regulators to tighten up criteria after concerns over inappropriate private prescriptions of popular drugsAccess to weight-loss jabs through online pharmacies is to be tightened up as part of a crackdown on inappropriate prescriptions - although some experts say even more must be done.Weight-loss injections such as Wegovy, which contains the drug semaglutide, and Mounjaro, which contains the drug tirzepatide, have boomed in popularity after trials showed they can help people lose significant amounts of weight, with many people seeking private prescriptions. Continue reading...

Research shows need for further studies into air pollution and other causal factors, expert saysThe proportion of people being diagnosed with lung cancer who have never smoked is increasing, with air pollution an important factor", the World Health Organization's cancer agency has said.Lung cancer in people who have never smoked cigarettes or tobacco is now estimated to be the fifth highest cause of cancer deaths worldwide, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Continue reading...

The answers to today's prime teasersEarlier today I set two puzzles involving prime numbers - in particular 3, 7 and 11. Primes are on this month's cultural radar thanks to the Apple TV+ thriller Prime Target, which stars hunk du jour Leo Woodall (above.)Here they are again with solutions. Continue reading...

Crevasses increasing in size and depth in response to climate breakdown, Durham University researchers findThe Greenland ice sheet - the second largest body of ice in the world - is cracking more rapidly than ever before as a response to climate breakdown, a study has found.Researchers used 8,000 three-dimensional surface maps from high-resolution commercial satellite imagery to assess the evolution of cracks in the surface of the ice sheet between 2016 and 2021. Continue reading...

Research looking at tissue from postmortems between 1997 and 2024 finds upward trend in contamination

Daily gram of essential fatty acid leads to three to four months rejuvenation of biological age' over three yearsA daily dose of omega-3 oils may slow the ageing process, according to a major clinical trial of interventions that aim to extend humans' healthspan - the number of years spent in good health before a decline in old age.Healthy older people who took one gram of the essential fatty acid for three years were found to have aged three months less than others on the trial, as measured by biological markers. Additional vitamin D and regular exercise boosted the effect to nearly four months, researchers found. Continue reading...

The eternal appeal of prime numbersUPDATE: Read the solutions hereToday's puzzles celebrate prime numbers - those beguiling numbers that divide only by themselves and 1, a sequence that begins 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, and carries on forever.The first question was suggested by Steve Thompson...a maths teacher who became one of the UK's most successful TV screenwriters. Continue reading...

From some high northern latitudes the moon will appear to pass in front of Mars, hiding the planet from viewThe month begins with a well-situated meeting between the moon and Mars. The chart shows the view looking into the east-south-eastern sky from London at 2000 GMT on 9 February.But you don't have to wait this long, because the pair will be visible from sunset, rising from the eastern horizon. The meeting will take place in the constellation of Gemini, the twins. Continue reading...

Researcher at Swansea University says tiny plant spores mixed into bitumen can extend surface lifespan by 30%For all motorists, but perhaps the Ferrari-collecting rocker Rod Stewart in particular, it will be music to the ears: researchers have developed a road surface that heals when it cracks, preventing potholes without a need for human intervention.The international team devised a self-healing bitumen that mends cracks as they form by fusing the asphalt back together. In laboratory tests, pieces of the material repaired small fractures within an hour of them first appearing. Continue reading...

Group of Darwin's frogs threatened by chytrid fungus thrive in specially built room that mimics their natural habitatDozens of endangered froglets have been born at London zoo after conservationists launched an emergency mission to rescue members of the species from a remote national park in Chile.Researchers rushed to Tantauco Park on the southern tip of Chiloe Island after tests confirmed that the lethal chytrid fungus had reached the nature reserve and threatened to wipe out some of the last remaining populations of Darwin's frogs. Continue reading...

Dr Philip Thomas responds to a letter claiming that cold fusion could be a viable alternative to fossil fuelsI was disappointed to see a letter promoting a pseudo-scientific fringe theory (Cold fusion may be a viable energy alternative to end reliance on fossil fuels, Letters, 28 January). Many scientists have tried and failed to reproduce Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons's initial report of cold fusion. After years of intense scrutiny, the mainstream scientific community overwhelmingly concluded by the early 1990s that cold fusion was not a credible idea supported by experimental evidence - a conclusion that stands after three decades of research.The authors of the letter to the Guardian suggest that cold fusion research is now being suppressed from publication. In reality, credible, rigorous studies continue to be published in reputable journals (such as a 2019 study in Nature), but none of them has successfully observed cold fusion. The letter claims that companies have been able to make these reactions work quite reliably", but do not provide any evidence to support this. Continue reading...

It was important for the daughter to acknowledge her sadness but to disentangle it from concepts of guilt, shame and responsibility

It was supposed to be a quiet and peaceful weekend, but it left one writer lost for wordsAs the taxi approached the remote Lake District house where I'd be spending a week doing a silent Buddhist retreat, a thought struck me with Zen-like clarity.You must be out of your tiny mind. Continue reading...

This month is viewed as galaxy season in the northern hemisphere, so seek out wide open spaces around the country to gaze up into the heavens, undimmed by light pollutionAs we streak through winter, shorter daylight hours offer the best opportunity to view the dark skies before the clocks spring forward in March and the constellations shift again. This month is viewed as galaxy season in the northern hemisphere, offering the chance to see the Andromeda galaxy, our nearest galactic neighbour, just 2.5m light years away, with the naked eye. Continue reading...

Research into dark personality traits' has always focused on men. But some experts believe standard testing misses the ways an antisocial personality manifests itself in womenPicture a psychopath. Who do you see in your mind's eye? Chances are it's a man. And chances are your answer would be similar if you were asked to picture a narcissist. From Charles Manson and Ted Bundy to Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump, most famous people we consider psychopathic or narcissistic are male. That's even the case for fiction - think Hannibal Lecter, Patrick Bateman or Norman Bates.Scientists long assumed that women were simply too wonderful to be significantly psychopathic or narcissistic, and didn't bother to study the possibility much, according to Ava Green from City St George's, University of London. But research over the past few decades is increasingly challenging this stereotype, suggesting women can have a dark streak, too. Much like in autism or ADHD, such traits just express themselves slightly differently in women - making them harder to spot with diagnostic tests that were essentially developed for men. Continue reading...

Phosphate, key to food production, is choking waterways, but a new sponge-like material returns it to the soil for cropsIt is one of the least appreciated substances on the planet and its misuse is now threatening to unleash environmental mayhem. Phosphorus is a key component of fertilisers that have become vital in providing food for the world. But at the same time, the spread of these phosphorus compounds - known as phosphates - into rivers, lakes and streams is spreading algal blooms that are killing fish stocks and marine life on a huge scale.It is a striking mismatch that is now being tackled by a project of remarkable simplicity. The company Rookwood Operations, based in Wells, Somerset, has launched a product that enables phosphates to be extracted from problem areas and then reused on farmland. Continue reading...

The British scientist on the risk of humans contracting bird flu, how people would cope with new lockdowns and being asked to pour the tea because she is a womanWendy Barclay is a leading British virologist and head of the department of infectious disease and the Action Medical Research chair in virology at Imperial College London. An expert on the pathogenesis and transmissibility of influenza viruses, she served on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) during the Covid-19 pandemic, providing advice on the risks posed by the coronavirus and appropriate medical countermeasures.What prompted you to study virology?

In fourth part of the inquiry, questons were asked about vaccine trials, procurement and the UK's preparedness for future pandemicsThe Covid inquiry has spent the past three weeks delving into the UK vaccine rollout and the decision-making around new and existing therapies for infected and vulnerable people. Here we look at the key findings from the module, the fourth of 10, in the inquiry chaired by Lady Hallett. Continue reading...

A demographic change is unfolding, and many of us can expect a long life. It's time to provide the support neededAt the age of 111, a British accountant named John Tinniswood has just been declared the oldest man alive. Asked for the secrets to his remarkable longevity, he mentioned his fondness for a plate of fish and chips every Friday. Mostly, he thought it was down to pure luck".When Tinniswood was born in Liverpool in 1912, the idea of living to 111 would have struck his parents as fanciful, if not absurd. The average life expectancy of a British male then was 52 years.Andrew J Scott is Professor of Economics at London Business School and author of The Longevity Imperative : Building a Better Society for Healthier, Longer Lives, Basic Books, 2024. Continue reading...

Clinical trials find one-time gene therapy exa-cel offers functional cure' in 96.6% of patientsA groundbreaking" 1.65m treatment offering a potential cure for people in England living with sickle cell disease has been approved for use on the NHS, the medicines watchdog has announced.Campaigners welcomed news of the approval of the one-time gene therapy, known as exagamglogene autotemcel, or exa-cel, which edits the faulty gene in a patient's own stem cells. Continue reading...

Researchers found that muscles move to orient ears toward sound source in vestigial reactionWiggling your ears might be more of a pub party piece than a survival skill, but humans still try to prick up their ears when listening hard, researchers have found.Ear movement is crucial in many animals, not least in helping them focus their attention on particular noises and work out which direction they are coming from. Continue reading...

Oral drug from Vertex, branded as Journavx, represents alternative to addictive opioids that have fueled US crisisThe US Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug to treat acute pain, the health regulator said on Thursday, offering a first-of-its-kind alternative to addictive opioid painkillers that have fueled a national crisis.The Vertex Pharmaceuticals oral drug, branded Journavx, works by blocking pain signals at their source, unlike opioids, which trigger the brain's reward centers as they travel through the blood and then attach to neural receptors, leading to addiction and abuse. Continue reading...

Readers reflect on Aida Edemariam's piece about what can be a fine line between physical symptoms and conditions dismissed as being all in your head'While enjoying Aida Edemariam's review of current neuro-psychological research (The mind/body revolution: how the division between mental' and physical' illness fails us all, 26 January), I disagree with her assertion that A conceptual division between mind and body has underpinned western culture, and medicine for centuries. Illnesses are physical', or they are mental'."Samuel Taylor Coleridge coined the term psychosomatic" in the late 18th century to describe bodymind conditions, while the term placebo" was first used in the same period, referencing a link between imagination and physical symptom. A few years later, in 1800, the physician John Haygarth published the widely read pamphlet Of the Imagination As a Cause and a Cure of Disorders of the Body. Continue reading...

Hundred-metre wide asteroid rises to top of impact risk lists after being spotted in December by automated telescopeA 100 metre-wide asteroid has triggered global planetary defence procedures for the first time after telescope observations revealed it has a chance of colliding with Earth in 2032.Asteroid 2024 YR4 was spotted by an automated telescope in Chile on 27 December last year but has since risen to the top of impact risk lists maintained by the US and European space agencies. Continue reading...

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore expected to stay at space station a week but have been there almost eight monthsNasa's two stuck astronauts took their first spacewalk together on Thursday, exiting the International Space Station almost eight months after moving in.Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore floated out to perform maintenance work and wipe the station's exterior for evidence of any microbes that might still be alive after launching from Earth and escaping through vents. Continue reading...