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...

Public investors can now buy shares in Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism ventureVirgin Galactic has become the first publicly traded space tourism company as Sir Richard Branson’s venture prepares to take its first paying customers beyond the confines of the planet.Investors can buy shares under the stock market ticker symbol “SPCE” in the company, which is betting enough wealthy tourists will pay the $250,000 (£195,000) ticket price to make a return on investments in the ambitious business that have run into hundreds of millions of dollars. Continue reading...

Swedish researchers say proceeding with induction trial would have been unethicalSweden has cancelled a major study of women whose pregnancy continued beyond 40 weeks after six babies died.The research was halted a year ago after five stillbirths and one early death in the babies of women allowed to continue their pregnancies into week 43. Continue reading...

Study by thinktank Resolution Foundation warns divergence will have political and economic impactsParts of the UK are ageing twice as fast as other areas of the country, while in some cities the population is getting younger, a divergence that will have a lasting impact on local economies, local government and national politics, according to new research.A study by the Resolution Foundation, an independent thinktank, found that the populations of Maldon in Essex, Copeland in Cumbria and Richmondshire in Yorkshire are ageing twice as fast as the rest of the UK, while Nottingham and Oxford are growing younger. Continue reading...

The moon, just entering its first quarter, comes into conjunction with the bright and steady giant planet near the south-western horizonKeep an eye out this week for a fine conjunction between a thin crescent moon and the giant planet Jupiter. To see the pairing you will need a clear south-western horizon, which may take some effort for city dwellers to find. However, having secured a good vantage point, the sight will be well worth it. The chart shows the view looking in this direction at 18:00 GMT on 31 October. The moon will be a tiny waxing crescent with just 15% of its surface illuminated. Jupiter will be an unmistakably bright and steady white point of light near the horizon. After this encounter, the moon will continue through its orbit, growing into a fatter crescent as sunlight illuminates more of the nearside surface. The moon will move on towards Saturn, which is sitting just above the setting “teapot” of Sagittarius. It will lie to the west of Saturn on 1 November, and to the east of the planet a day later. Continue reading...

First analysis of environmental impact of Munich festival reveals extent of emissionsFor the millions of people who descend on Munich for the annual bash, Oktoberfest is a celebration of beer, bands and bratwurst.But as the dust settles for another year on the world’s largest folk festival, and die Bierleichen (“beer corpses”) return to the land of the living, environmental scientists have released the first analysis of methane emissions from the 16-day party. Continue reading...

Eco groups and global treaty blamed for delay in supply of vitamin-A enriched Golden RiceStifling international regulations have been blamed for delaying the approval of a food that could have helped save millions of lives this century. The claim is made in a new investigation of the controversy surrounding the development of Golden Rice by a team of international scientists.Golden Rice is a form of normal white rice that has been genetically modified to provide vitamin A to counter blindness and other diseases in children in the developing world. It was developed two decades ago but is still struggling to gain approval in most nations. Continue reading...

Gestures, facial expressions, posture – they are all crucial to what we’re communicating, though many of us don’t realise itMy interest in human behaviour and psychology started in primary school. In my attempts to socialise with other children, I had a constant, nagging feeling that everybody else had received a manual entitled How to Interact with Others. I was socially awkward, to put it mildly, and this meant I was picked on a lot, which in turn meant I started to ask myself some questions: how did my behaviour differ from others? Why did my antagonists act as they did?And so began my lifelong exploration into why we do the things we do – to others and to ourselves. Psychological theory was interesting, but more urgently I needed practical social-survival skills. So I began to investigate every thinkable area of human behaviour. I took acting lessons. I worked in marketing. I studied philosophy. I looked into how the media shapes us. I developed a deep interest in magic (which is really about controlling the expectations of others). I took an interest in the structure of language. And, naturally, I did a lot of digging into social and cognitive psychology. Continue reading...

Air travel is set to be transformed sooner than you think as firms unveil vertical takeoff electric prototypesWhile conventional airlines struggle for more environmentally friendly alternatives to jet fuel, a host of startups are betting on zero-emission flight using electric power.They will not carry a hundred passengers across the Atlantic – but in the global race to develop an air taxi, two firms - one British and one German - have unveiled significant recent breakthroughs this month. Continue reading...

Scientists at Natural History Museum honour teenager’s ‘outstanding contribution’A tiny species of beetle discovered more than 50 years ago has been named after environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg.Scientists at the Natural History Museum in London have officially called the insect Nelloptodes gretae to honour the 16-year-old Swedish activist’s “outstanding contribution” in raising global awareness of climate change. Continue reading...

Study finds pose makes waist-to-hip ratio seem lower on one side and looks more appealingDancers do it, Instagrammers do it, even the Venus de Milo does it. When it comes to striking a pose, it seems the only way is contrapposto. Now research has shed light on why the attitude is so appealing.Experts say the pose, which involves standing with weight predominantly on one foot with a slight twist in the upper body, makes the waist-to-hip ratio appear strikingly low on one side of the body. Continue reading...

‘Total surprise’ discovery overturns conventional understanding of riversIn the turbid, frigid waters roaring from the glaciers of Canada’s high Arctic, researchers have made a surprising discovery: for decades, the northern rivers secretly pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a rate faster than the Amazon rainforest.The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, flip the conventional understanding of rivers, which are largely viewed as sources of carbon emissions. Continue reading...

Climate deniers often accuse scientists of exaggerating the threats associated with the climate crisis, but if anything they’re often too conservative

Researchers say figures are often inflated and rush for antibiotics may fuel resistanceThe public is being misled by scare stories about sepsis, say experts, warning that hype and misunderstandings about the so-called “hidden killer” have generated “an unhealthy climate of fear and retribution” in the UK and the US.The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has contributed to the mythology, they say in a letter to a leading medical journal. In March, Hancock tweeted: “Sepsis kills over 52,000 every year – each death a preventable tragedy.” The figure was an estimate from a charity campaigning for awareness on sepsis. Continue reading...

In 1986, philosopher Harry G Frankfurt wrote: “One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit.” This was the opening line of his seminal essay (later a book), On Bullshit, in which Frankfurt put forward his theory on the subject. Three decades later, psychologists are finally getting to grips with what might be going on in the minds of those who dabble in the dark arts of BS. Ian Sample asks two such psychologists what we can do to fight back Continue reading...

Exclusive: Andy Pitman says ‘misspoken’ statement has been used by Alan Jones, Chris Kenny and Andrew Bolt to dismiss links between climate change and droughtA leading Australian climate scientist has said his views have been misrepresented by conservative media commentators, who have used a “misspoken” statement to dismiss the links between climate change and drought.Prof Andy Pitman, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes at the University of New South Wales, has told Guardian Australia there are clear links between human-caused climate change and drought, but these links are indirect. Continue reading...

Online you can find miracle cures, writes Aliya Hasan, but only existentialism resonatesIt is breast cancer awareness month. As someone with secondary breast cancer I am aware of the disease every day. Since I was diagnosed last August I’ve been in a muddle about how to square it mentally and emotionally. Although my treatment is working, nobody knows how long for.Stage IV, secondary, advanced, metastatic, call it what you want, brings guilt and confusion about how best to be with and leave family and friends. Some may have a solution and put pressure on you to spend time at a clinic in Germany or source cannabis-related drugs or watch videos of people who have survived. I don’t understand how someone can know the cancer has pushed off for good until they die of something else. Continue reading...

Biologist who demonstrated that fish feel pain and caused a revolution in animal welfare researchUntil the early 2000s everyone knew that fish do not feel pain. The biologist Victoria Braithwaite, who has died aged 52 from cancer, showed that everyone who thought that was wrong.Her demonstration that fish do feel pain caused a revolution in animal welfare research, resulted in changes to Home Office regulations and even featured in Ian McEwan’s novel Saturday (2005) as a concern of its central character, Henry Perowne, when shopping for dinner at a fishmonger. More than that, while provoking some members of the angling community and causing scientists and philosophers to argue over what it means to experience pain, her work has begun to change the way that fish are treated in the pet trade, in the laboratory and in aquaculture. Continue reading...

Trained canines help locate burial sites dating back to the iron age in CroatiaThe scent-tracking abilities of trained dogs have helped archaeologists discover iron age tombs in Croatia dating back nearly three thousand years.The dogs sniffed out burial chests containing human bones and artefacts in a hilltop fort in the Velebit mountains along the Adriatic coast. Experts have said that using dogs could be a good way to identify archaeological sites, as it is less destructive than many traditional methods. Continue reading...

Astronaut visits aptly named Star in Pembrokeshire to remind locals to embrace wonders of night skyThe evening was still, peaceful and – thankfully – reasonably clear. As dusk fell in the Welsh hills the people of a tiny Pembrokeshire village called Star turned off their lights to help deepen the darkness and traipsed through the gloaming to a farmer’s field to meet a spaceman and gaze skywards with him.“It’s pretty amazing,” said Catrin Davies, a teacher who had brought a group of children from the local school to stargaze with the British astronaut Maj Tim Peake. Continue reading...

Women’s photography of greater sea snake, once believed to be an anomaly in the Baie des Citrons, help scientists understand the ecosystemA group of snorkelling grandmothers who swim up to 3km five days a week have uncovered a large population of venomous sea snakes in a bay in Noumea where scientists once believed they were rare.Dr Claire Goiran from the University of New Caledonia and Professor Rick Shine from Australia’s Macquarie University were studying a small harmless species known as the turtle‐headed sea snake located in the Baie des Citrons, but would occasionally encounter the 1.5 metre-long venomous greater sea snake, also known as the olive-headed sea snake. Continue reading...

Former employee Prof Ian Shanks created system used in glucose sensorsA retired Scottish scientist who invented a system widely used in glucose sensors has won £2m in a court case against the industry behemoth Unilever after claiming he never received a penny from his former employer, despite the invention having made millions for the company.Prof Ian Shanks, who has been fighting for compensation for 13 years, has been awarded compensation by the supreme court. Continue reading...

The centuries-long preference for collecting male specimens over female at five institutions worldwide could skew researchThe Natural History Museum in London boasts that it holds “the world’s most important natural history collection”. But, while excited families queue this half-term to explore its exhibits on volcanoes, dinosaurs and creepy-crawlies, one of its scientists has revealed a fatal flaw among the 29m animal specimens it holds for research purposes.A study led by NHM researcher Dr Natalie Cooper has uncovered discrepancies in gender representation, with significantly more male specimens than female. Continue reading...

The largest cause of bacterial bloodstream infections in the UK is not associated with uncooked meat as we thought

My sister-in-law, Vicki Gregory, who has died of cancer aged 51, was an international expert in influenza surveillance and research.As a stalwart of the Worldwide Influenza Centre at the Francis Crick Institute in London, Vicki was held in high regard by colleagues around the globe. With her wealth of knowledge and experience, notably during bird flu outbreaks, she collaborated with many of the laboratories of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s influenza response system. Continue reading...