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Durham University Botanic Garden: Curious fungi open a gate to the mysteries of mycologyBefore I retired from university teaching, I brought undergraduates to this valley at the bottom of the botanic garden to demonstrate the rudiments of mycology. It’s a perfect location for a fungal foray: deciduous beech and oak woodland on one side of a small stream, a conifer plantation on the other, with plentiful fallen timber.The site is managed for mycological diversity, allowing dead branches to decay where they fall, entering an afterlife where wave after wave of fungal hyphae slowly reduce them to humus. As that great woodsman Oliver Rackham once said: “A horizontal tree – alive or dead – is at least as good a habitat as an upright one.” Continue reading...

Researchers find link between tobacco cigarettes and depression and schizophreniaSmoking tobacco cigarettes could increase the risk of mental health problems such as depression and schizophrenia, research suggests.It has long been known that smoking is more common among people with mental health conditions. However, it has been unclear whether smoking could be a factor in causing such problems or is simply a form of self-medication among those already living with poor mental health. Continue reading...

Study reveals which conditions can render basaltic volcanoes highly destructiveMore than half of the world’s volcanoes are basaltic. Most basaltic eruptions tend to ooze their magma out in a relatively benign way, producing a thick, sticky flow. But occasionally they go off with a big bang, like the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79, which destroyed the Roman town of Pompeii. Now a study reveals what makes some basaltic eruptions so explosive.By cooking up miniature volcanoes in the lab, analysing rock samples flung from explosive basaltic eruptions and numerically modelling the eruption process, Dr Fabio Arzilli, from the University of Manchester, and colleagues showed that low temperature magma and fast ascent up the pipes are key conditions for an explosive basaltic eruption. Continue reading...

Statement sets out ‘vital signs’ as indicators of magnitude of the climate emergency

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsAt what point does the air around us become the sky above us?Rosa Aers, Newcastle upon Tyne Continue reading...

It’s difficult to find lasting love, but by recognising your attachment type you can be more conscious in your relationships and stop self-sabotagingIt was the breakup that changed Amir Levine’s life. Fifteen years ago, he told his partner that he was falling in love with him and wanted them to move forward as a couple. His partner fled, moving across the country. The end of the relationship was especially painful for Levine. At the time he was a student at Columbia University in New York, where he is now assistant professor of clinical psychiatry. He was working in a therapeutic nursery programme, helping mothers with post-traumatic stress bond with their children. Through it, he became fascinated by the science of adult attachment.In the 1950s, the influential British psychologist and psychiatrist John Bowlby observed the lifelong impact of the earliest bonds formed in life, between children and parents, or primary caregivers: attachment theory, which has been widely researched and drawn upon since then. There are three major styles of attachment: secure, anxious and avoidant. Continue reading...

EU’s agriculture policy needs urgent reform, organisations tell incoming commission presidentThe EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) should be overhauled urgently to stop the intensification of farming practices that is leading to a steep decline in wildlife, scientists from across the bloc have urged.Five organisations representing more than 2,500 experts have written to Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming president of the European commission, and the European parliament, to demand major changes to the way the CAP operates. Continue reading...

Previous research suggested health benefits increased with greater volume of runningAny amount of running is good for you, according to research suggesting it is linked to a similar reduction in the risk of early death no matter how many hours you clock up a week or how fast you go.According to the World Health Organization, about 3.2 million deaths each year are down to people not doing enough physical activity. Continue reading...

Since launching in 1977, the Nasa probe has captured never-before-seen images of the solar system

The solution to today’s puzzleEarlier today I set you a question from Oxford university’s Mathematics Admissions Test.You need to pack several items into your shopping bag without squashing anything. The items are to be placed one on top of the other. Each item has a weight and a strength, defined as the maximum weight that can be placed above that item without it being squashed. A packing order is safe if no item in the bag is squashed, that is, if, for each item, that item’s strength is at least the combined weight of what’s placed above that item. For example, here are three items and a packing order: Continue reading...

Nasa craft is second to travel beyond heliosphere but gives most detailed data yet

Swabs or urine self-sampling could be less invasive at identifying high-risk womenSwabs or urine samples taken at home could be as effective at identifying women at high risk of cervical cancer as traditional smear tests, according to new research.Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally. In the UK, women aged between 25 and 64 are invited for cervical screening every three years. Continue reading...

Grief and pain lay behind my obsession with buying new clothes. Moving in with my fiance forced me to shed the material burden, and the persona I had been hiding behind

Try your luck at its fiendish maths entrance examUPDATE: To read the solution click hereLast week about 3,500 of Britain’s most mathematically gifted sixth formers sat Oxford university’s annual Mathematics Admissions Test.The exam is designed to test “mathematical understanding…rather than a breadth of knowledge.” Today’s puzzle is taken from a recent paper. It’s about stacking items in a shopping bag. Continue reading...

Study shows people with more Bacteroidales bacteria may have up to 15% more risk of diseaseBacteria in the gut might influence the chance of developing bowel cancer, research suggests, in the latest study to link human health to the microbes within.The gut microbiome – the collection of fungi, bacteria and viruses within our gut – is a booming topic of research, with scientists suggesting certain microbial makeups could be linked to conditions ranging from anxiety to obesity. Continue reading...

The Harvard professor on science and scepticism – and why climate deniers have run out of excusesIn her new book Why Trust Science? Naomi Oreskes, professor of the history of science at Harvard University, argues that if more people heard scientists talk personally about their values, it would help turn back the creeping tide of anti-science sentiment. The former geologist recently gave evidence both to a US House of Representatives subcommittee hearing, “Examining the Oil Industry’s Efforts to Suppress the Truth about Climate Change”, and a Senate Democrats special committee hearing looking at “Dark Money and Barriers to Climate Action”.Your previous book, Merchants of Doubt, chronicled tactics used by professional climate deniers. What inspired this one?

Study by Nottingham researchers shows immune response to tumour cells can reveal diseaseBreast cancer could be detected five years before clinical signs appear in patients thanks to a blood test that could identify the body’s immune responses to tumour cells. That is the claim that has been made about research to be presented at a national cancer conference in Glasgow on Sunday. However, other cancer experts have warned these claims should be treated with caution.The study is the work of researchers at Nottingham University’s School of Medicine who focused on chemicals known as antigens. These are produced by cancer cells and trigger an immune response inside humans. In particular, they cause our bodies to make auto-antibodies that target and try to block those invading antigens. Continue reading...

Researchers say study dispels belief that state no longer has ‘real dingo’ populationsAlmost all of the so-called wild dogs in New South Wales that are killed to protect livestock are actually dingoes or “dingo-dominant hybrids”, according to new research.Researchers at the University of New South Wales said their DNA sampling project showed between 9% and 23% of the “wild dogs” in the state had only dingo ancestry, challenging a notion that most dingo populations had died out. Continue reading...

Scientists have found a discrepancy in estimates for the rate of expansion of the universe. Why is this and what does it mean?Astronomers have reached a fundamental impasse in their understanding of the universe: they cannot agree how fast it is flying apart. And unless a reasonable explanation can be found for their differing estimates, they may be forced to completely rethink their ideas about time and space. Only new physics can now account for the cosmic conundrum they have uncovered, many believe.“Five years ago, no one in cosmology was really worried about the question of how fast the universe was expanding. We took it for granted,” says astrophysicist Daniel Mortlock of Imperial College London. “Now we are having to do a great deal of head scratching – and a lot of research.” Continue reading...

My Instagram posts made me a role model for average-sized women. But overuse left me feeling overwhelmed and lostMy longest relationship began seven years ago. I think I can say that I’ve been a dedicated partner. Like any relationship, we’ve had our fair share of ups and downs. There have been times that felt like nothing could possibly come between us. Then there have been times that felt so dark I thought the only choice we had was to go our separate ways. For better or worse, we have always found our way back to one another. This love is addictive and all-encompassing. This love I’m referring to is my long-term, codependent relationship with Instagram.There were others before Instagram. Myspace was my first, then a moment with Facebook and a liaison with Twitter. I was cutting my teeth, learning how to communicate with the world beyond me. When Instagram rolled in, I was ready for the long-term. I loved that it was image-focussed; having worked as a model for most of my life, I knew how to make something look desirable. Continue reading...

Researchers re-create the face of a woman buried with an impressive collection of weaponry for a National Geographic documentaryThink of a Viking warrior and you probably imagine a fearsome, muscular, bearded man. Well, think again. Using cutting-edge facial recognition technology, British scientists have brought to life the battle-hardened face of a female fighter who lived more than 1,000 years ago.The life-like reconstruction, which challenges long-held assumptions that Viking warrior heroes such as Erik the Red left their women at home, is based on a skeleton found in a Viking graveyard in Solør, Norway, and now preserved in Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History. The remains had already been identified as female, but her burial site had not been considered a warrior grave “simply because the occupant was a woman”, according to archaelogist Ella Al-Shamahi. Continue reading...

Psychologists such as Steven Pinker and Jordan Peterson argue patriarchal society is the ‘natural order’, but it is a relatively new development, writes Gaia VinceFathers are happier, less stressed and less tired than mothers, finds a study from the American Time Use Survey. Not unrelated, surely, is the regular report that mothers do more housework and childcare than fathers, even when both parents work full time. When the primary breadwinner is the mother versus the father, she also shoulders the mental load of family management, being three times more likely to handle and schedule their activities, appointments, holidays and gatherings, organise the family finances and take care of home maintenance, according to Slate, the US website. (Men, incidentally, are twice as likely as women to think household chores are divided equally.) In spite of their outsized contributions, full-time working mothers also feel more guilt than full-time working fathers about the negative impact on their children of working. One argument that is often used to explain the anxiety that working mothers experience is that it – and many other social ills – is the result of men and women not living “as nature intended”. This school of thought suggests that men are naturally the dominant ones, whereas women are naturally homemakers.But the patriarchy is not the “natural” human state. It is, though, very real, often a question of life or death. At least 126 million women and girls around the world are “missing” due to sex-selective abortions, infanticide or neglect, according to United Nations Population Fund figures. Women in some countries have so little power they are essentially infantilised, unable to travel, drive, even show their faces, without male permission. In Britain, with its equality legislation, two women are killed each week by a male partner, and the violence begins in girlhood: it was reported last month that one in 16 US girls was forced into their first experience of sex. The best-paid jobs are mainly held by men; the unpaid labour mainly falls to women. Globally, 82% of ministerial positions are held by men. Whole fields of expertise are predominantly male, such as physical sciences (and women garner less recognition for their contributions – they have received just 2.77% of the Nobel prizes for sciences). Continue reading...

In October, a team of Dutch researchers were awarded a grant of €2.9m to develop a working prototype of an artificial womb for use in the clinic. But they are not the only ones working on this kind of technology. In 2017, a team in Philadelphia created the ‘biobag’, which could sustain premature lambs. Both teams hope their artificial wombs could allow premature babies to continue to develop as they would in a real womb, improving their chance of survival. Nicola Davis asks: What does current neonatal intensive care look like? Would an artificial womb really offer benefits? And what ethical and legal implications could arise if the technology is pursued? Continue reading...

First major academic research finds ‘war hoard’ likely captured in battles between regional kingdomsWhen an amateur metal detectorist first heard his machine beep in an unpromising field in Lichfield in July 2009 and dug down to uncover gold, it was clear this was no ordinary archaeological discovery.But who had collected the astonishing stash of gold, garnet weapons and ornaments he had found? Why had they been buried? And why were so many of them broken? Continue reading...

Some aquatic animals, like fish and octopus, are chewed to death while still alive. Others are boiled alive, ripped or cut apart, or even salted to deathOn Wednesday the New York City Council passed a ban on foie gras – the French delicacy made by force-feeding ducks and geese – to go into effect in 2022.From the perspective of animal rights activists, this is a long time coming. Foie gras has transformed many animal lovers from conscious consumers to passionate protesters. The production process of foie gras is particularly disturbing: a bird is force-fed three times a day with a long, metal pipe down their throat, all to satiate the gastronomic whims of Wall Street’s 1% in posh Manhattan restaurants. Continue reading...

Increase due to several factors including deprivation and rise in obesity says Cancer Research UKDeaths from liver cancer in the UK have shot up in recent years, with a rise of almost 80% in numbers between 2007 to 2017, new figures reveal.Experts say there are several factors behind the rise, including the fact that more people are being diagnosed with the disease, which is notoriously difficult to detect in its early stages, meaning it has a poor prognosis. Continue reading...

Operation was designed to test technology that allows multiple targets to be studied at same timeNasa launched its experimental Fortis (Far-ultraviolet Off Rowland-circle Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy) telescope on 28 October from the White Sands missile range in New Mexico.The flight lasted 15 minutes, reached 162 miles (260km) in altitude, and then fell back to Earth – exactly as planned. Launched using a Black Brant IX sounding rocket, the operation was the latest in a string of Fortis launches designed to test a new technology that allows multiple targets to be studied at the same time. Continue reading...

Scientists say threat posed by measles is ‘much greater than we previously imagined’Measles causes long-term damage to the immune system, leaving children who have had it vulnerable to other infections long after the initial illness has passed, research has revealed.Two studies of unvaccinated children in an Orthodox Protestant community in the Netherlands found that measles wipes out the immune system’s memory of previous illnesses, returning it to a more baby-like state, and also leaves the body less equipped to fight off new infections. Continue reading...

World Organisation for Animal Health warns spread of disease has inflamed worldwide crisisAbout a quarter of the global pig population is expected to die as a result of an epidemic of African swine fever (ASF), according to the intergovernmental organisation responsible for coordinating animal disease control.In the last year the spread of the disease has taken policymakers by surprise, and has been particularly devastating in China – home to the world’s largest pig population. The disease is also established in other Asian countries such as Vietnam and South Korea, and continues to wreak havoc in eastern Europe, where the current outbreak began in 2014. Continue reading...

Architects are taking issue with risk-averse playparks full of sluggish roundabouts and tiny climbing frames. But are playgrounds in the middle of roads really the answer?In the decades after the second world war, the celebrated architect Aldo van Eyck designed more than 700 playgrounds in Amsterdam, filling bomb sites with dazzling constellations of tumbling bars, leapfrog posts and climbing domes. His idea was that by providing children with a range of elemental forms and open-ended structures – rather than swings, roundabouts and other playground staples – their creativity would be stimulated and they would invent new games.These “tools for the imagination”, as he called his kit of sandpits, frames and posts, became a familiar part of Amsterdam’s streetscape, a connected galaxy of playtime fragments that spread across the city, from public spaces and even to roadside verges, never fenced off. It was a vision of play without walls, the protected domain of the child thrown open and spilling over into the rest of the city. Continue reading...

New agreement secures 66% reduction in cost of rifapentine, which prevents ‘latent’ TB from becoming activeThe price of a drug crucial to prevent tuberculosis is to be slashed by two-thirds in a deal that could stop millions from developing the disease.TB is the leading cause of death from infectious disease worldwide, killing 1.5 million people a year, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) global TB report. Continue reading...

Buruli ulcer has spread to town on Great Ocean Road and a suburb of GeelongThe spread to a new geographic area of Victoria of a severe tissue-destroying ulcer once rare in Australia has caused health authorities to issue a state-wide health alert to doctors.The Buruli ulcer occurs in very specific areas of Victoria and Queensland, and those who don’t enter an endemic area don’t get the disease. In Victoria, transmission of the disease has until now been confined to the Bellarine and Mornington peninsulas. Continue reading...

Scientists say policymakers must better account for climate impacts of damage to forests, and benefits of conserving themGreenhouse gas emissions caused by damage to tropical rainforests around the world are being underestimated by a factor of six, according to a new study.Research led by the University of Queensland finds the climate impact of selective logging, outright clearing and fire in tropical rainforests between 2000 and 2013 was underestimated by 6.53bn tonnes of CO2. Continue reading...

Google’s DeepMind beat 99.8% of humans at StarCraft II, but bigger challenge was not giving itself awayAI becomes grandmaster in ‘fiendishly complex’ StarCraft IIWhen DeepMind, Google’s AI research outfit, set out to demonstrate its latest breakthrough, it had to confront an added twist: how do you set your robot free to play games on the internet without anyone realising they’re competing against it?Related: AI becomes grandmaster in 'fiendishly complex' StarCraft II Continue reading...

Researchers say they have identified ‘immune switch’ that can trigger long-term damageA potential route to reducing brain injury in premature babies has been found, say researchers who have discovered a way to tackle overactive immune cells in the brain.Microglia are a type of immune cell that play an important part in the building of a baby’s brain. However, if these cells go into overdrive as a result of inflammation – often because of a bacterial infection of the foetal membranes, a maternal infection or even sepsis after delivery of the baby – they can cause harm to the child’s brain. In particular, they can damage white matter, reducing the degree to which neurons are insulated and thereby affecting connectivity in the brain. Continue reading...

Scientists are developing rapid-charging batteries that could be in use in a couple of yearsNew battery technology could give electric cars more than 200 miles of charge in as little as 10 minutes, according to new research.Lithium ion batteries have had a dramatic impact because of their ability to store a large amount of energy in a small, compact battery and be recharged again and again. A trio of scientists were awarded the Nobel prize in chemistry for their contributions to the development of the batteries earlier this month. Continue reading...

There are many reasons why we should really just leave these shy, possibly anxious, introverts alone• Vote here in the Guardian/BirdLife Australia 2019 bird of the year pollRumour has it that everything in so-called Australia can kill you. Cassowaries don’t do much to dispel those rumours. Not only do they look terrifyingly similar to the velociraptors in the Jurassic Park franchise with their three-pronged claws, but the bulging, fleshy casque that sits above their beak makes them seem even more intimidating. This hellish reputation is not helped by the news, which situates cassowaries as beastly killers, and the softer side of this large bird is, unjustifiably, ignored.Australians measure the worth of an animal by its relationship to humankind. Western thinkers see the ecosystem as a pyramid with man dominating the top position, whereas many non-western cultures see no separation or hierarchy, instead envisioning a spheric symbiosis where all creatures are one. Cassowaries rest in the rainforests of north-east Queensland, a place with a rich history and culture that is imbued within the cassowary, where the western ideals of hierarchy cannot exist. Continue reading...

Dawn Butler’s claims regarding animal sexuality have been called ‘offensive’ and ‘homophobic’ by one of Jeremy Corbyn’s advisers. But what’s the scientific verdict?A new split has emerged in the Labour party over a matter more urgent than Brexit: the sexuality of giraffes. “Ninety per cent of giraffes are gay,” Dawn Butler, the shadow secretary for women and equalities, told a PinkNews awards event earlier this month. “Let’s just accept people for who they are and live as our true, authentic selves.”Butler’s words were meant as praise for the school curriculum, which teaches children that it is normal for people to be gay. However, Jeremy Corbyn’s senior domestic policy adviser, Lachlan Stuart, responded angrily on Twitter over what he felt it also meant about gay people. “It is a ludicrous, offensive, homophobic claim,” Stuart said, insisting instead that the same-sex physical contact observed between giraffes in the wild is “not gay behaviour” at all, but a display of dominance. Continue reading...

Too little is known about how drugs affect older people, House of Lords committee toldElderly patients are being “poisoned” with medication because too little is known about how different drugs interact with each other and correct dosages for older people, experts have said.Speaking at the House of Lords’ science and technology committee hearing on healthier living in old age, Sir Munir Pirmohamed, the professor of molecular and clinical pharmacology at Liverpool University, said most of his patients are on more than 10 and often more than 20 drugs. Continue reading...

Infected ticks are discovered in Norfolk and on Hampshire-Dorset borderA disease that can harm the brain, and which is spread to humans through tick bites, has been identified in the UK for the first time.Public Health England (PHE) confirmed the presence of the tick-borne encephalitis virus in Thetford Forest, Norfolk, and on the Hampshire-Dorset border. Continue reading...

New study shows evidence of positive outcomes is scarce while symptoms can be exacerbatedThe use of cannabis medicines to treat people with depression, anxiety, psychosis or other mental health issues cannot be justified because there is little evidence that they work or are safe, according to a major new study.A review of evidence from trials conducted over nearly 40 years, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, concludes that the risks outweigh the benefits. And yet, say the authors, they are being given to people with mental health problems in Australia, the US and Canada, and demand is likely to grow. Continue reading...

Satellite cameras are being used to penetrate thunderstorms and produce a map of their densityScientists have long used satellite cameras, such as the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), to count lightning flashes and monitor storms. Now Michael Peterson, of Los Alamos National Laboratory, is using the pulses of illumination to produce “fulminograms” showing clouds from inside.“The output resembles an x-ray image of the storm,” Peterson says. “When light must penetrate thick convective cells, they stand out as dark spots in the image, while the brightest spots show us where lots of light can leak out of the cloud.” Continue reading...

Sir Richard Branson beat Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos by listing his venture in New YorkPublicity-hungry billionaires must have a space venture, and here’s Sir Richard Branson’s: Virgin Galactic is now a stock market-listed company with a $2.4bn valuation. Actual space tourists won’t depart until next year, but Branson has beaten Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in getting his business floated in New York.Galactic, despite the whizzy-looking planes, is quite a simple financial bet. It’s a punt that multimillionaires can be persuaded in droves to part with $250,000 – the price of a ticket to ride from New Mexico to 50 miles above the Earth’s surface and back. Galactic is projecting revenues of $590m and top-line earnings of $270m in 2023, by which time it expects to have flown 3,242 passengers. Who are they all supposed to be? Continue reading...

Healthier food choices almost always benefit environment as well, according to analysisEating healthy food is almost always also best for the environment, according to the most sophisticated analysis to date.The researchers said poor diets threaten society by seriously harming people and the planet, but the latest research can inform better choices. Continue reading...

Other scientists raise questions about results, which were based on DNA samplesScientists claim to have traced the ancestral home region of all living humans to a vast wetland that sprawled over much of modern day Botswana and served as an oasis in an otherwise parched expanse of Africa.The swathe of land south of the Zambezi River became a thriving home to Homo sapiens 200,000 years ago, the researchers suggest, and sustained an isolated, founder population of modern humans for at least 70,000 years. Continue reading...

Darker eggs may be at an advantage in colder regions as they are more heat-absorbentScientists have cracked the mystery of why bird eggs are different colours, with new research suggesting it boils down to temperature.The appearance of bird eggs is rooted in two pigments, one of which is greenish and the other reddish-brown. Different concentrations of these pigments, together with the underlying white calcium carbonate of the shell, give rise to colours ranging from deep blue to greenish-white and rich brown. Continue reading...

Research at University of California shows a ban slashed staff’s intake by nearly halfDoctors have called on workplaces to ban sales of sugary drinks after research showed that removing them from cafes, canteens and vending machines helped reduce people’s waistlines and improve their health.Researchers monitored more than 200 staff at the University of California in San Francisco and its associated hospital after a ban was introduced in 2015. Before the ban, the participating staff consumed on average more than a litre of sugary drinks daily, but 10 months later had slashed their intake by nearly half. Continue reading...