by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#4WP9Z)
Scientists believe galloping may have first emerged in crocs’ ancient cat-sized ancestorsCrocodiles have never had a friendly reputation, but they may just have become even scarier. Veterinary scientists have discovered that a surprising number of species are capable of galloping when they reach their top speeds.Previously it was thought that only a couple of crocodile species were able to use this horse-like gait, but the latest observations show that the ability extends to eight different species. Alligators and caimans, by contrast, can manage only a trot. Continue reading...
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has chosen its top 10 species discovered in 2019, celebrating the diversity of plants and fungi. From a bamboo-dwelling medicinal fungi to a snowdrop spotted on Facebook, this year’s picks represent the breadth of discoveries made by Kew and its collaborators around the world every year Continue reading...
A Harvard academic says the app he designed can prevent rare, hereditary diseases – and sinister interpretations are ‘ridiculous’A Harvard academic who designed a dating app based on gene-matching has said it was “ridiculous†to compare it to eugenics.George Church’s dating app proposes to match users based on their DNA in an attempt to eliminate genetic diseases. In a 60 Minutes episode from 9 December, Church confirmed that the app would screen out potential partners who are considered to have the “wrong†DNA. Continue reading...
The solutions to today’s puzzlesEarlier today I set the following two puzzles about number sandwiches.1) A number sandwich is a line of digits such that there is one digit sandwiched between the 1s, two digits sandwiched between the 2’s, three digits sandwiched between the 3’s, and so on. For example, 312132 is a number sandwich with the digits 1,2 and 3 Continue reading...
Mother’s fundraising campaign in Lyme Regis has been backed by likes of David AttenboroughEvie Swire was nine years old when she first heard the story of a woman who had lived near her home in Dorset and, in her own way, changed the world.Mary Anning was born into a humble family in Lyme Regis in 1799 and grew up hunting for fossils in the area’s cliffs to supplement their meagre income. When she was 12, she and her brother discovered one of the first ichthyosaurus skeletons, and she would go on to make many other pioneering finds and become immensely knowledgeable in the emerging field of palaeontology. Continue reading...
by Written by Timothy Winegard, read by Andrew McGreg on (#4WMD6)
These tiny pests adapt so successfully to changing conditions that they have become humankind’s deadliest predator. We might soon be able to eradicate them – but should we? By Timothy Winegard• Read the text version here Continue reading...
A multi-layered brain snackUPDATE: The solutions are now posted here.Here are two puzzles I ordered on room service.1) A number sandwich is a line of digits such that there is one digit sandwiched between the 1s, two digits sandwiched between the 2’s, three digits sandwiched between the 3’s, and so on. For example, 312132 is a number sandwich with the digits 1,2 and 3 Continue reading...
Unsavoury flavour may explain why certain species do not flee from predators, scientist saysIt might seem like they are being lazy but some moths do not bother to flee from predators because they make themselves taste disgusting.That is the case for a certain species of tiger moth, which researchers have found displays a nonchalant approach when faced with potential predators, on account of its disgusting flavour. Continue reading...
Discovery of remains in all-male monastic community in northern Greece poses questionsLaura Wynn-Antikas specialises in bringing bones to life. Decades spent studying skeletal remains across Greece, in subterranean vaults, tombs, chapels and archaeological sites, have yielded a host of unexpected discoveries. “You never know what you are going to find,†the American-born anthropologist said. “Bones don’t lie. They will tell you how a person lived and perhaps even how they died. You go in prepared to see everything.â€But when Wynn-Antikas was called to examine bones unearthed beneath the stone floor of a Byzantine chapel in the all-male monastic republic of Mount Athos even she was surprised. Some were so small they bore little resemblance to men’s at all. Continue reading...
Look east this week to find the constellation Leo, as the moon, entering its last phase, passes the bright white star RegulusThe moon slides through the constellation of Leo, the Lion, this week, passing the bright star Regulus along the way. The chart shows the view looking east from London at midnight tonight, as 16 December becomes 17 December 2019. The moon is approaching its last quarter phase, when only the western hemisphere remains illuminated. This occurs when the moon moves in to the last week of the lunar month. In Greek mythology, Leo was a murderous creature with golden fur that was impervious to weapons. It was finally defeated by the hero Heracles who used his bare hands to kill it. The star Regulus, whose name means “princeâ€, is a bright, white star. It lies just 79 light years from earth and contains almost 4 times the mass of the sun. Although it appears to be a single star, it is made up of four stars together but it is the light from Regulus A that dominates the group. The star was listed in Babylonian star charts as “star of the Lion’s breastâ€. Continue reading...
Deutsche Bahn says activist’s tweet implied she had not been offered a seat on journey homeSwedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been criticised by a German rail firm for what it said was her implication that she had spent a journey without a seat on an overcrowded train.The teenager tweeted a photograph of herself looking pensively out of the window of her German train on Saturday, writing: “Traveling on overcrowded trains through Germany. And I’m finally on my way home.†Continue reading...
Biochemist and ophthalmologist whose research concentrated on the formation of cataractsRuth van Heyningen, who has died aged 101, was a pioneering explorer of ophthalmic biochemistry, a field to which she made major contributions after she joined the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, at Oxford University, in 1951.Her research, much of which was carried out in collaboration with the laboratory’s then director, Antoinette (Tony) Pirie, was focused on the lens, in particular the biochemical pathways involved in the formation of cataracts. Tony and Ruth wrote a key book together, Biochemistry of the Eye (1956), which Ruth later said included almost everything that was known about the subject at that time. Continue reading...
European Space Agency asks for help from Nasa with ExoMars project as trials fail and cost rises to €1bnSpace engineers are racing against time to fix major faults in the robot probe they plan to send to Mars next year. The complex parachute system that should slow ExoMars – Europe’s largest ever planetary mission – as it plunges into the Martian atmosphere failed catastrophically during recent tests.As a result, the European Space Agency has called for emergency help from Nasa space engineers to help them save their stricken mission. New parachutes are now being tested at the US Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and will be subject to high-altitude trials in two or three months. Continue reading...
The attention after winning gold in Doha was amazing – but success really begins by staying focusedI love being the hunter. The one in pursuit. In training, I’ll latch on to the boys and chase them down. Even when I was younger, I tended to race girls who were older than me – at 17 I was racing 30-year-olds. It’s where I’m comfortable. But the hunter can go on to become the hunted. And this summer at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, I won gold in the 200m. At 23, I became the first British woman to win a world championship sprinting title.I had no idea there was so much excitement back in the UK after my win. Growing up in Orpington, southeast London, and training for years with the Blackheath & Bromley Harriers, I never once imagined the fuss that would come as a result of running fast. It’s a change I’ve had to mentally adjust to. The morning after the race, I was in the media tent and someone told me that I’d been mentioned in parliament and while that was, of course, lovely and exciting, I was so surprised. But I often have to separate myself from all the noise to keep focused on what’s most important to me. Continue reading...
How to tell a drug dealer from a pastry chef, the scientific wayScience is not my strong suit, but even I know the worth of lasers – eye surgery, sawing James Bond in half. But a recent report suggests myriad uses for these devices, from combating climate change to detecting fake whisky.According to Dr Robin Head, a scientist at M Squared Lasers, the use of lasers is why “we can suddenly differentiate between white powders. We can tell whether someone might be an international drug dealer or a pastry chef.†I don’t wish to come over all flat earther, but surely if you moisten your finger, dip it into said powder and taste, you might just as easily be able to tell the difference. Still, it could explain why I keep having such a run of failure with my Colombian yorkshire puddings. Continue reading...
The space scientist, 51, on appearing in The Clangers, being the class clown, how science can save us and extraterrestial life formsI can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by space. I was born in 1968, a year before the moon landings. It’s hard now to comprehend just how exciting that was for my generation. It really was moon madness. But it was also because of The Clangers, the children’s TV show. I was obsessed with it. They’ve rebooted the series now and it recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. They included a little Maggie model in it. I was about the happiest I’ve ever been!I don’t think I’m especially clever. I was very disillusioned at school. I was put in the remedial class, stuck at the back of the room playing with the safety scissors and the glue. I don’t think my teachers had any expectations for me and I ended up being the class clown, always mucking about and trying to make people laugh. Continue reading...
Brazil, India and China singled out in UN talks as acting to block agreement on article 6 of Paris agreementPoor countries have accused a handful of richer nations of holding up progress on tackling the climate crisis at UN talks in Madrid, as demonstrators and activists vented their frustration in the final hours of two weeks of negotiations.The talks, which had been due to end on Friday, dragged on with negotiators still battling on Saturday to salvage a result, as governments wrangled over the details of a seemingly arcane issue: carbon markets, governed by a provision of the 2015 Paris agreement known as article 6. Continue reading...
Many cases blamed on a single individual who appears to have caught virus for second timeHealth officials are investigating an alarming spike in Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with many blamed on a single individual who appears to have contracted the disease for a second time this year.Amid the struggle to bring the 16-month outbreak under control, the World Health Organization noted an almost 300% increase in cases in the last three weeks, with 17 of 27 linked to a single chain of transmission. Continue reading...
by Presented by Hannah Devlin and produced by David W on (#4WGHM)
Ketamine might sound like an unlikely candidate for treating addiction and depression. But a growing number of scientists believe the drug could help. In the second part of this Science Weekly mini series, Hannah Devlin speaks to another expert using ketamine in their work: a physiatrist who has been conducting research on the use of ketamine for treating depression for several years Continue reading...
Biochemist whose work was at the cutting edge of the understanding of protein structures, their function and evolutionTaxonomy – the classification of objects according to their relationships to one another – conjures up images of 19th-century amateur naturalists measuring fossils or counting the stamens of flowering plants.The biochemist Cyrus Chothia, who has died aged 77, took a taxonomic approach to research at the cutting edge of molecular biology, organising the bewildering variety of protein structures revealed by techniques such as x-ray crystallography and genome sequencing into coherent family trees. Continue reading...
The Dutch justice system is cutting jail populations by offering specialist rehabilitation to people with mental illnessesWhen Stefan Koning, who has a history of psychosis, was found guilty of threatening a stranger with a knife, a long custodial sentence might have felt like the only answer.In fact, after a short spell in jail, he is back at his home in Amsterdam. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#4WERH)
Reducing meat and dairy consumption will cut methane and allow forests to thriveLivestock production needs to reach its peak within the next decade in order to tackle the climate emergency, scientists have warned.They are calling for governments in all but the poorest countries to set a date for “peak meat†because animal agriculture is a significant and fast-growing source of global greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#4WEH2)
Researchers find no single hotspot but signs of owners releasing birds in health scaresTheir bright green feathers and unmistakable squawk make ring-necked parakeets a striking addition to British park wildlife, but the question of how the tropical birds were first introduced has been a subject of contention.One urban legend traces their origin to a pair released by Jimi Hendrix on Carnaby Street in 1968; another suggests they arrived in 1951 when Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn visited London with various animals in tow to film The African Queen, set in the equatorial swamps of east Africa. Continue reading...
Linguists find use of vernacular expressions aligning east-west 30 years after Berlin Wall fellThirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, an invisible border running through Germany continues to resist all efforts to make the country truly whole again. However, this dividing line is not about attitudes to democracy, refugees or Russia, but something more elementary: how to tell the time.In the northern half of the old West Germany, from Flensburg in the north down to Heidelberg in the south, people use the expression viertel nach zehn (“quarter past tenâ€) if their clock reads 10.15. Yet in a tract of land that covers the old socialist GDR as well as parts of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, the same time would be described as viertel elf or “quarter elevenâ€. Continue reading...
New species discovery could offer insights into how they came to move using tailsIt sounds like a Rudyard Kipling story but fossil-hunters say they have new clues as to how the whale came to move.Whales as we know them today evolved over millions of years from terrestrial creatures to semi-aquatic animals to fully aquatic species, with forelimbs becoming flippers, the fluked tail developing and well-developed hind legs – once used for swimming – lost over time. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#4WE03)
Pictures of human-like hunters and fleeing mammals dated to nearly 44,000 years oldCave art depicting human-animal hybrid figures hunting warty pigs and dwarf buffaloes has been dated to nearly 44,000 years old, making it the earliest known cave art by our species.The artwork in Indonesia is nearly twice as old as any previous hunting scene and provides unprecedented insights into the earliest storytelling and the emergence of modern human cognition. Continue reading...
by Fiona Harvey in Madrid, Jennifer Rankin and Daniel on (#4WDP1)
Everything from travel to air quality has been looked at in order to create ‘a growth that gives back’Nearly every major aspect of the European economy is to be re-evaluated in light of the imperatives of the climate and ecological emergency, according to sweeping new plans set out by the European commission on Wednesday.The comprehensive nature of the European Green Deal – which encompasses the air we breathe to how food is grown, from how we travel to the buildings we inhabit – was set out in a flurry of documents as Ursula von der Leyen, the new commission president, made her appeal to member states and parliamentarians in Brussels to back the proposals, which would represent the biggest overhaul of policy since the foundation of the modern EU. Continue reading...
Saying how far consumers need to walk to burn off the calories could change eating habitsLabelling food and drinks with how much walking or running is needed to burn them off could help tackle the obesity crisis, researchers say.While all packaged food must display certain nutritional information, such as calorie content, there is limited evidence that the approach changes what people buy or eat. Meanwhile, waistlines continue to expand. Continue reading...
Public Health England has said that the risk to public health is very lowCases of bird flu have been confirmed at a chicken farm in Suffolk, the government has said.All 27,000 birds at the commercial farm will be culled after a number were found to have the H5 type of avian flu, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Ancient pieces of amber found to contain dinosaur feathers riddled with louse-like insectsDinosaurs may have been fearsome and intimidating creatures that dominated the prehistoric earth – but it did not stop them having their feathers ruffled by parasites, researchers have found.Scientists have discovered ancient pieces of amber, dating from about 99m years ago, that contain dinosaur feathers riddled with louse-like insects. One of the feathers even shows signs of having been nibbled. Continue reading...
In our new era of ‘romantic realism’, more and more couples are seeking out counselling before they get married, rather than waiting for impossible problems to ariseWhen Thomas and Jenny approached a couples therapist before their wedding, they weren’t expecting it to become a long-term commitment. “Initially we decided to see a counsellor due to some trust issues in our relationship,†he says. “We found premarital therapy incredibly helpful, because it gave us a safe space to communicate with each other without fear of repercussion. It became an important part of the relationship – even when things were going well.â€After their wedding this summer, the couple continued to attend sessions while they settled into marriage. By discussing potential problems with an unbiased third party, Thomas says they both felt confident to be more open with each other. Continue reading...
Research on 378 killer whales finds those with grandmothers live longer and the older females help them when food is scarceDoting killer whale grandmothers help their grand calves survive, particularly in times of food scarcity, scientists reported in a paper that sheds new light on the evolutionary role of menopause.Orca females stop reproducing in their thirties or forties but can continue to live for decades more, a phenomenon known only to exist in humans and four other mammal species, all of which are whales. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#4W9ZZ)
Robotic junk collector will be first mission to remove item of debris from orbitA four-armed robotic junk collector will be launched into space by the European Space Agency in what it says will be the first mission to remove an item of debris from orbit.The ClearSpace-1 mission, scheduled for launch in 2025, will cost €120m and will grab a single piece of junk. But the agency hopes the mission will pave the way for a wide-reaching clear-up operation, with Esa’s director general calling for new rules that would compel those who launch satellites to take responsibility for removing them from orbit once they are retired from use. Continue reading...
The two very different planets meet this week near the south-west horizon, before Saturn disappears behind the sunTwo very different planets meet in the evening near the south-western horizon this week. Venus is the nearest planet to the earth. It is almost identical to our planet in terms of size, yet its closer proximity to the sun has rendered it a hellish world, with surface temperatures greater than a kitchen oven. It is surrounded by highly reflective clouds, making it very bright indeed. Continue reading...
New research suggests anthropomorphising your emotions can help you control them. But how do you actually go about it?In the Pixar film Inside Out, the emotions of an 11-year-old girl are personified as perky Joy, petulant Disgust and hulking Anger. Sadness – voiced by The American Office’s Phyllis Smith – is, predictably, a downer with a deep side-parting and a chunky knit. Amy Poehler’s Joy can hardly stand to be around her, like a colleague you would time your trips to the tea point to avoid.But the takeaway of the 2015 film – said by Variety to “for ever change the way people think about the way people think†– was that both emotions were necessary, and Sadness was as valid a part of life as Joy. Now there is a case for not only accepting Sadness, as in Inside Out – but embodying her, too. Researchers from Hong Kong and Texas recently found that individuals asked to think of their sadness as a person reported feeling less sad afterwards, a result they attributed to the increased distance perceived between the self and the emotion. Continue reading...
Natalie Portman shines but Noah Hawley’s fact-based drama lacks the right stuffNatalie Portman stars in a drama that is loosely based on the case of Lisa Nowak, the Nasa astronaut who was disgraced after attacking the girlfriend of her ex-lover. The feature debut from Noah Hawley pushes the idea that, once someone has ventured into space, readjusting to life back on Earth can be a struggle. This theme – of an all-consuming job that bends everything else out of shape – has been explored more successfully before, by Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker and by Portman herself in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, among others.Here, however, there are tonal issues. Neither as coolly observational as The Hurt Locker nor as stridently bonkers as Black Swan, Lucy in the Sky is low on real insight and feels like a psychology column in a supermarket tabloid. Portman gives her all, but she out-classes this rather pedestrian telling of a story of stratospheric levels of obsession and ambition. Continue reading...
Dozens of species are now at risk but a conference this week will showcase new technology that could help stop the illegal tradeThe two young women who arrived at Heathrow in February 2014 en route to Düsseldorf were carrying nondescript luggage. Customs officers were suspicious nevertheless and looked inside – to find 13 iguanas stuffed into socks inside the cases. Astonishingly, 12 of the highly endangered San Salvador rock iguanas had survived their transatlantic journey.“There only about 600 of these animals left in the wild, in the Bahamas, and these animals were being taken to a private collector somewhere in Germany. Incredibly, we were able to return 12 of them, alive, to their homeland – on San Salvador island,†said Grant Miller, who was then working for the Border Force’s endangered species team. Continue reading...
I’ve covered some of the biggest stories of our age, but this is the biggest and could change what it means to be humanWe live in a time when science and technology are having an impact on our society in more and more ways. And the decisions that shape how these new fields of knowledge develop ultimately affect all of us.Related: Human Nature review – quiet revolution that began in a yoghurt pot Continue reading...
The cultural anthropologist on why our view of testosterone as the male sex hormone skews both science and societyKatrina Karkazis, a senior research fellow at Yale University, is a cultural anthropologist working at the intersection of science, technology, gender studies and bioethics. With Rebecca Jordan-Young, a sociomedical scientist, she has written Testosterone: An Unauthorised Biography. It is a critique of both popular and scientific understandings of the hormone, and how they have been used to explain, or even defend, inequalities of power.You suggest that testosterone is understood as an exclusively male hormone, even though it’s also found in women. But surely no scientist believes this.
Being busy all the time is part of the way we live. But, whether gardening, reading or spacing out on the sofa, taking time to rest is just as importantI’m not very good at resting. When I told friends that after writing books covering emotions, time perception and the psychology of money I had started writing one on rest, their first reaction was usually, “But you’re always working. You never rest!â€More generally, if someone asks me how things are going, my stock answer is, “Fine, busy, too busy really.†But while this claim feels true of my life, how much is it also a claim to status? If you say you are busy, then it implies you’re important, you’re in demand. As the time-use researcher Jonathan Gershuny puts it, busyness has become “a badge of honourâ€. Continue reading...
Mode of delivery unrelated to whether a baby is overweight as a young adult, study suggestsDelivery by caesarean section does not increase the chance of a baby ending up overweight or obese as a young adult, researchers have found, contrary to previous research.The authors of the study say their work drew on a huge number of people and more fully takes into account a wide range of possible factors that could explain why babies born by caesarean tend to end up heavier. Continue reading...
Creative subjects are on the decline in schools and universities, yet they are vitally important to societyBlue Planet, Extinction Rebellion and Greta Thunberg are all household names bringing information about serious environmental issues to the masses. They’ve helped green issues shoot up the agenda for this year’s general election, with a poll last month revealing that more than half of voters said that the climate emergency would influence how they cast their vote.If it wasn’t for the media these scientific messages wouldn’t be heard or understood by millions of people. And Greta Thunberg’s extraordinary global impact demonstrates her mastery of skills that have little to do with what we usually think of as science. Continue reading...
by Presented by Hannah Devlin and produced by David W on (#4W5MA)
Ketamine might sound like an unlikely candidate for treating addiction and depression. But a growing number of scientists believe the drug could help. Over the next two episodes of Science Weekly, Hannah Devlin speaks to two experts who are using ketamine in their work in very different ways. In this episode, we’re focusing on alcohol dependency and the findings that a single dose of Ketamine could positively impact on heavy drinkers Continue reading...
Funds intended for specific project will instead be spread across Science Museum’s workThe Science Museum has been accused of trying to “quietly hide away dirty money†after it agreed to a request by the Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation to repurpose a £2m donation earmarked for a prominent new gallery.The donation, which was meant to fund the Medicine: the Wellcome Galleries collection – dedicated to thousands of medical artefacts, including the world’s first MRI scanner– was removed from the project earlier this year as the Sacklers’ philanthropic donations came under increased scrutiny. Continue reading...
Defunct satellite capture options include net, harpoon or embrace with mechanical armsThe European Space Agency is working to tackle the issue of space debris with the technological version of a big hug.It hopes to be able to use tentacle-like mechanical arms to embrace a dead satellite and remove it from orbit. Continue reading...
The Christmas tree at the Tennessee aquarium is being powered by an unusual renewable energy source – an electric eel. Miguel Wattson is the resident eel and through a special system that connects his tank to a nearby tree, the natural shocks he produces when he is looking for food or when he is excited, is being channelled to power fairy lights
Voters have woken up to the climate emergency. Equally urgent is the threat to nature and wildlife – and the issues are linkedIt has been heartening to see how the climate emergency has finally risen up the political agenda in recent months. What has had much less attention, but is equally urgent, is the catastrophic decline in our nature and wildlife. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and the situation is getting worse. A 2019 report into the state of British nature paints a bleak picture: nearly half the species assessed showed strong or moderate decline over the last decade; 15% of the UK’s wildlife species are threatened with extinction. Birds and animals that were familiar to our parents and grandparents, such as the curlew, water vole, adder or common toad, are now rare sights.We have hundreds of wonderful conservation organisations in this country such as the RSPB, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Plantlife, the Marine Conservation Society and more. They do important work, aided by people’s generosity and committed volunteers. But they have not been able to halt the precipitous decline in our wildlife. The Green party has always had the most ambitious policies on nature of any political party, with more than 70 such proposals in our current manifesto, from reducing pesticide use to repurposing our economy. But it is not enough to have strong policies: we need to be constantly challenged to go further. That is why, earlier this year, I commissioned a report from five of the leading conservationists and nature writers in Britain to produce a blueprint for how we ensure nature’s survival. It is called A New Deal for Nature. Continue reading...
Experts fear species decline after huge number of deaths on Henderson and CocosMore than half a million hermit crabs have been killed after becoming trapped in plastic debris on two remote island groups, prompting concern that the deaths could be part of a global species decline.The pioneering study found that 508,000 crabs died on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands archipelago in the Indian Ocean, along with 61,000 on Henderson Island in the South Pacific. Previous studies have found high levels of plastic pollution at both sites. Continue reading...