by Presented by Ian Sample, produced by Madeleine Fin on (#6PN3M)
Humans have always been obsessed with getting old, or rather staying young, and now science is beginning to catch up. Longevity has become a hot topic from university laboratories to Silicon Valley startups. In the second of a special Science Weekly three-part mini-series on ageing, Ian Sample talks to Venki Ramakrishnan, winner of the Nobel prize in chemistry and author of the book Why We Die. Venki outlines the most promising scientific advances in the field of longevity and discusses the more unusual ways that the wealthy are trying to extend their lives, from blood transfusions to cryonicsClips: Dr James Rouse, CBS Sunday Morning, The Vibez Show, ABC Bay AreaTo support the Guardian, order Why We Die from the Guardian Bookshop Continue reading...
Now is the winter of our discontent. Here are six ways you can overcome the seasonal slumpWith short days and colder temperatures, many of us begin to feel the weight of the winter blues. The lack of sunlight can disrupt our circadian rhythms and reduce serotonin levels, leading to feelings of sadness and lethargy. This seasonal slump can diminish our energy levels, dampen our mood and make the winter months feel interminable.For those who haven't experienced feelings like this before, it can be concerning. However, it's important to recognise that these feelings are common and can be managed. By understanding the causes and implementing proactive strategies, we can combat the winter blues and maintain a positive outlook. Continue reading...
Researchers name 14 factors for people to address to hugely' reduce risk of developing conditionAlmost half of dementia cases worldwide could be prevented or delayed, a study has found, as experts named 14 risk factors.The number of people living with dementia globally is forecast to nearly triple to 153 million by 2050, and researchers warn this presents a rapidly growing threat to health and social care systems. Global health and social costs linked to dementia exceed $1tn (780bn) a year, the research shows. Continue reading...
Experts say facility beyond reach of climate breakdown and other terrestrial events is needed to safeguard biodiversityWith thousands of species at risk of extinction, scientists have devised a radical plan: a vault filled with preserved samples of our planet's most important and at-risk creatures located on the moon.An international team of experts says threats from climate change and habitat loss have outpaced our ability to protect species in their natural habitats, necessitating urgent action. A biorepository of preserved cells, and the crucial DNA within them, could be used to enhance genetic diversity in small populations of critically endangered species, or to clone and create new individuals in the worst-case scenario of extinction. Continue reading...
The insects are being looked after in a conservation project that encourages visitors to enjoy their piercing' lightFar out in the Channel, the lights of ships at anchor flickered while the lighthouse at Anvil Point emitted its steadier beam. Late on, a crescent moon shone a coppery orange.But, undoubtedly, the most extraordinary light source to be seen was the vivid green gleam from the glow-worms that inhabit the herb-rich grassland on the cliffs and quarries in this tucked-away corner of southern Britain. Continue reading...
by Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent on (#6PMDK)
Initial blood test without need for semen analysis could make screening more accessible'A new accessible blood test that can predict male infertility could soon be available for use in GP practices, researchers say.Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the research looked at data from nearly 4,000 men who underwent semen and hormone testing for male infertility from 2011-20. Continue reading...
US researchers say they have uncovered potential link after tracking 130,000 people over four decadesEating processed red meat could be a significant risk factor for dementia, according to a large study that tracked more than 100,000 people over four decades.Processed red meat has previously been shown to increase the risk of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Now US researchers say they have uncovered a potential link to dementia. Continue reading...
Liraglutide appears to reduce brain shrinkage in people with early-stage Alzheimer's, a small UK study reportsA weight-loss drug could help slow the loss of brain volume in people with Alzheimer's disease, according to a small study.Liraglutide, which can also be prescribed for diabetes, is typically taken as an injection once a day. Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample, produced by Madeleine Fin on (#6PK7G)
Humans have always been obsessed with getting old, or rather staying young, but now science is beginning to catch up. Longevity has become a hot topic, from university laboratories to Silicon Valley startups. In the first of a Science Weekly three-part miniseries on ageing, Ian Sample speaks to Richard Faragher, a professor of biogerontology at the University of Brighton, to discover what we know about the biological hallmarks of ageing in our bodies -and why we have evolved to have the lifespans we doClips: Diary of a CEO, Huberman Lab, Healthy Long Life, The Economist Continue reading...
Separate study shows poor diet and added sugar also linked to rise in biological ageThe stress of bereavement may accelerate the ageing process, according to researchers who found evidence that losing a loved one early in life had an impact long before people reach middle age.Scientists spotted biological markers of faster ageing in people who had lost a parent, partner, sibling or child, but the signs were absent in others who had not experienced the death of someone close to them. Continue reading...
It's easy to blame your problems on everyone else. It's much more difficult to face your own failings and take agency in your lifeLike billions of other parents around the world, I have a baby who does not like to go to sleep. Which explains why, among other frankly unhinged attempts, I recently found myself standing over her cot, rhythmically alternating between clapping my hands and clicking my fingers while chanting: Moses supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously."
Science secretary Peter Kyle says national resilience suffered catastrophically' under ToriesThe UK science secretary has warned Britain is desperately exposed" to cyber-threats and the upheaval of another pandemic, claiming that national resilience suffered catastrophically" under the previous government.Deep public spending cuts under the austerity programme diminished the NHS and other local and national services, and hampered pandemic preparedness exercises, Peter Kyle told the Guardian, while too little was done to address rising cybersecurity risks. Continue reading...
Crescent moon will appear with Pleiades star cluster, Jupiter and Mars, and the bright star AldebaranJuly ends with a spectacular grouping of celestial objects in the eastern pre-dawn skies. The waning crescent moon will appear with the Pleiades star cluster, the planets Jupiter and Mars, and the bright star Aldebaran for two consecutive mornings.The chart shows the view looking east from London at 4am BST on 31 July. On this night, the 25-day-old moon will be a thin waning crescent with just 19% of its visible surface illuminated. The night before, the crescent will be larger, and less fragile-looking, but will be more centrally placed, appearing close to Mars. Continue reading...
Best time for viewing shooting stars in UK is expected to be in the hour or two after midnight on TuesdayThe first meteor shower of the summer may peak in the early hours of Tuesday morning with stargazers hoping to see dozens of shooting stars tearing across the night sky every hour.Astronomers have debated the origins of the Delta Aquariids meteor shower, with the sungrazing comet 96P/Machholz regarded as the most likely candidate. The four-mile-wide ball of dust, rock and ice takes a little more than five years to complete an orbit around the sun. Continue reading...
It may sound childish and potentially dangerous, but actually it's a novel way of really getting to know each otherMy friend Sam doesn't waste a single bite of an apple. He crunches through the core, swallows the seeds and doesn't leave anything behind, but the stalk. In this way, he couldn't be more different from our mutual friend Megan, who refuses to eat apples unless they've been sliced. Sam doesn't own an umbrella. Megan changes her bedsheets every week. Neither Sam nor Megan particularly love striking up conversations with strangers. When Sam was a child, he had to be taken home from his very first sleepover because he vomited Turkey Twizzlers on the carpet.These are the kinds of incongruous facts that people know about their loved ones in movies - as Harry famously said to Sally, I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich." In real life, we pass the time talking with our friends about their children, co-workers, exes and eccentric family members, but we don't always hear about the meaningless minutiae that makes up their daily lives. This is why I sincerely recommend that everyone starts doing one thing: ranking your friends. Continue reading...
Sustainable and nutritious, fava beans are being hailed by Nadia Mohd-Radzman as vital for the UK's mental healthNadia Mohd-Radzman is a botanist on a mission. The Cambridge University researcher wants the UK to recognise the wonders of a crop that she believes could transform the nation's health. Hence her campaigning - for the broad bean.Vicia faba has a host of special properties, she argues. It is rich in protein, fibre and iron, for example. More importantly, it contains chemicals that are linked to lasting improvements in the moods and emotions in those who consume them, Mohd-Radzman told the Observer. Continue reading...
With the bestselling Other Minds, the philosopher dramatically changed our view of octopuses. Now, concluding his trilogy about the evolution of intelligence, he shows how animal life has shaped the planet itselfPeter Godfrey-Smith is the scuba-diving philosopher who took octopus off the menu for many readers of his bestselling book, Other Minds. It looked at the distinctive intelligence of cephalopods, rescuing this myth-laden eight-limbed creature from its most frequent setting of a seafood salad and recasting it as subaquatic hero of perception and understanding.Following up that literary success with 2020's Metazoa (the word means multicellular animals), Godfrey-Smith is about to publish the final part of his trilogy on the roots of intelligence, Living on Earth: Life, Consciousness and the Making of the Natural World. Continue reading...
Dutch immunologist Jacques Neefjes believes the drug aclarubicin, unavailable in Europe for 20 years, could have helped 100,000 people with a rare blood cancerFor the past decade, the Dutch immunologist Jacques (Sjaak) Neefjes has been on a mission to bring back a cancer drug that hasn't been available in Europe since 2004. I'm still flabbergasted that a compound that could have helped thousands of people was taken off the market," says Neefjes. Why it was removed seems something of a mystery, but as far as he can tell, it was simply a lack of demand.His latest research shows that this drug, aclarubicin, can improve the survival of people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) much better than other forms of chemotherapy. If it had been available in Europe for the past 20 years, Neefjes estimates that it could have helped 100,000 people. Continue reading...
A new edition of his theories on dreams argues that he used sexuality' to describe any purely pleasureable activityFor a psychiatrist, so the joke goes, any object that crops up within a dream must represent a phallus. But it seems even Sigmund Freud did not really think all our sleeping fantasies are suppressed erotica. It was just a basic misunderstanding of the pioneering psychoanalyst's work, according to an eminent new version of his influential theories.A revised English edition of Freud's key work, The Interpretation of Dreams, by scholar Mark Solms will correct several errors of translation and aim to definitively challenge the common misconception that Freud believed the erotic drive was behind much of human behaviour. Continue reading...
People with head and neck cancers are said to have better outcomes if fusobacterium is found with their cancerScientists have discovered that a common type of mouth bacteria can make certain cancers melt".Researchers at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London said they had been brutally surprised" to find that fusobacterium - a type of bacteria commonly found in the mouth - appears to have the ability to kill certain cancers. Continue reading...
Defining nature as separate from people perpetuates troubled relationship with the natural world, say campaignersIt was last year, during a conference at the Eden Project, the botanic garden and conservation centre in Cornwall, that Frieda Gormley first heard the dictionary definition of nature.The businesswoman and environmental activist was answering questions about her plans to appoint a representative of nature to the board of her company, House of Hackney, when a member of the audience read it out. Continue reading...
A 3ft by 2ft rock marked with off-white spots may offer fossilised record of microbes dating back billions of yearsA spotty, vein-filled rock found by a Nasa rover on Mars contains features that suggest it may have hosted microbial life billions of years ago.The arrowhead-shaped rock, named Cheyava Falls, was discovered by Nasa's Perseverance rover on 21 July as it trundled along the northern edge of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley carved by water flowing into the red planet's Jezero crater. Continue reading...
by Kat Lay, Global health correspondent, in Munich on (#6PGKC)
Prof Linda-Gail Bekker receives ovation at Aids summit after presenting trial results of miracle' drug lenacapavirWhen the doctor behind the trial of a new HIV prevention drug heard the results, she could not contain her emotions. I literally burst into tears," said Prof Linda-Gail Bekker.I'm 62, I've lived through this epidemic ... I had family members who died of HIV, as did many, many Africans - many people around the world," she said. Continue reading...
We are sending 1m polio vaccines to Gaza but many people will die from preventable health threats unless we can quickly scale up aid delivery, says the WHO director generalThe polio virus was detected in wastewater samples in Gaza last week, an alarming yet unsurprising development given the dismantled state of the territory's health systems after nine relentless months of war.Across Gaza, more than 39,000 people have been killed, 89,000 wounded, and more than 10,000 are estimated to be missing. Most hospitals are no longer able to function. Already, diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections and hepatitis A, among others, are raging through Gaza. Nearly everyone in Gaza is facing acute food insecurity and catastrophic hunger. Thousands of children are malnourished, making them even more susceptible to disease. Continue reading...
by Jonti Horner and Tanya Hill for the Conversation on (#6PGEV)
The Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers both peak around 31 July - and stargazers should head out of the city for the best views
Science secretary backs five quantum technology hubs in push for UK to transform healthcare and industryBritain's plans to create advanced devices based on the mind-bending physics of the quantum world have received a 100m boost, in a move ministers hope will have a transformative impact on healthcare, transport and national security.Peter Kyle, the science secretary has announced funds to establish five quantum technology hubs across England and Scotland. They will work with industry and government to develop and commercialise devices and ultimately drive a new economy. Continue reading...
Nasa says pair are not stranded but will stay at International Space Station until technical issues have been resolvedTwo Nasa astronauts on Boeing's Starliner capsule will remain at the International Space Station with no official return date yet, Nasa and Boeing officials said on Thursday morning, as engineers continue to examine the technical problems with the spacecraft.Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams first departed for the station roughly seven weeks ago, in early June, on a test mission that was meant to last about a week. But the capsule's undocking was delayed because of faulty thrusters and small helium leaks that raised safety concerns. Continue reading...
Team of two new AI systems score one point short of gold medal in global maths contest for gifted studentsEven though computers were made to do maths faster than any human could manage, the top level of formal mathematics remains an exclusively human domain. But a breakthrough by researchers at Google DeepMind has brought AI systems closer than ever to beating the best human mathematicians at their own game.A pair of new systems, called AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry 2, worked together to tackle questions from the International Mathematical Olympiad, a global maths competition for secondary-school students that has been running since 1959. The Olympiad takes the form of six mind-bogglingly hard questions each year, covering fields including algebra, geometry and number theory. Winning a gold medal places you among the best handful of young mathematicians in the world.Let ABC be a triangle with AB < AC < BC. Let the incentre and incircle of triangle ABC be I and , respectively. Let X be the point on line BC different from C such that the line through X parallel to AC is tangent to . Similarly, let Y be the point on line BC different from B such that the line through Y parallel to AB is tangent to . Let AI intersect the circumcircle of triangle ABC again at P A. Let K and L be the midpoints of AC and AB, respectively.Prove that KIL + YPX = 180.Turbo the snail plays a game on a board with 2024 rows and 2023 columns. There are hidden monsters in 2022 of the cells. Initially, Turbo does not know where any of the monsters are, but he knows that there is exactly one monster in each row except the first row and the last row, and that each column contains at most one monster.Turbo makes a series of attempts to go from the first row to the last row. On each attempt, he chooses to start on any cell in the first row, then repeatedly moves to an adjacent cell sharing a common side. (He is allowed to return to a previously visited cell.) If he reaches a cell with a monster, his attempt ends and he is transported back to the first row to start a new attempt. The monsters do not move, and Turbo remembers whether or not each cell he has visited contains a monster. If he reaches any cell in the last row, his attempt ends and the game is over. Continue reading...
Shingrix linked to substantial reduction in diagnoses in the six years after people received the shotResearchers have raised hopes for delaying dementia after finding that a recently approved shingles vaccine was linked to a substantial reduction in diagnoses of the condition in the six years after receiving the shot.The discovery, based on US medical records, suggests that beyond the health benefits of preventing shingles, a painful and sometimes serious condition in elderly people, the vaccine may also delay the onset of dementia, the UK's leading cause of death. Continue reading...
Artefacts sent by farmer, who made the absolutely mad' discovery while cutting silageWhen the national museum of Ireland received two 4,000-year-old axe heads, thoughtfully" wrapped in foam inside a porridge box, from an anonymous source last month, it put out an appeal. The objects were significant" and exciting", it said, but experts needed to know more about where exactly they had been found.Now they have their answer: a farmer from County Westmeath has come forward as the mysterious sender, saying he made the absolutely mad" discovery while using a metal detector on his land. Continue reading...
Scientists say flaws in previous research mean health benefits from alcohol were exaggeratedFor the regular boozer it is a source of great comfort: the fat pile of studies that say a daily tipple is better for a longer life than avoiding alcohol completely.But a new analysis challenges the thinking and blames the rosy message on flawed research that compares drinkers with people who are sick and sober. Continue reading...
AI tools look for patterns in data over years to forecast weather accurately and faster than traditional methodsIn the past year, something of a revolution has hit the world of weather forecasting as artificial intelligence-based weather forecasts have come to the fore. Traditional weather forecasting methods rely on creating a digital three-dimensional grid that replicates as closely as possible the state of the atmosphere at the start of the forecast.Once this initialised state" is determined, complex equations are used to predict how the state of the atmosphere will evolve in the hours and days ahead. For decades, much research has gone into improving these forecasts, focusing on getting the starting point right, increasing vertical and horizontal resolution of these grids, and, of course, making refinements to the equations. Continue reading...
by Presented by Phoebe Weston, produced by Ellie Sans on (#6PFG4)
A series of super tusker elephant killings has sparked a bitter international battle over trophy hunting and its controversial, often-counterintuitive role in conservation. Biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston speaks to Amy Dickman, professor of wildlife conservation at the University of Oxford, about why this debate has become so divisive, and the complexities of allowing killing in conservationTrophy hunter killings spark fierce battle over the future of super tusker elephants Continue reading...
Study offers new ways to assess animal welfare in industry and could lead to happier flocksMark Twain wrote that Man is the only animal that blushes - or needs to". New research seems to have proved him wrong, however, with the discovery that hens have the capacity to blush and use other forms of facial expression.Researchers in France found that female chickens appear to blush when they are scared or excited and fluff up their head feathers when they are content. The finding offers a new way of understanding the birds' emotions, which could help farmers judge the happiness of their flock. Continue reading...
Sam never caught any birds or mice - he preferred to pilfer human food from nearby houses, writes Frances McKayRegarding cat thieves (Cat burglars: scientists try to solve mystery of why felines steal' random objects, 20 July), some years ago Ilived in a terraced street in south-east London, and had two cats. Onewas called Sam - a large neutered ginger male, like a small lion, who was extremely affectionate and characterful.He never caught any birds or mice. Sam preferred human food. He swiftly learned to open our fridge and remove any item he chose. We fitted child-proof locks. So he started going elsewhere - raiding houses with cat flaps. Continue reading...
Researchers uncover remarkable new way in which trees provide a vital climate service' by reducing emissionsMicrobes in the bark of trees play a vital role in removing methane from the atmosphere, scientists have discovered.The greenhouse gas is a product of agriculture and the burning of fossil fuels and is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. However, it remains in the atmosphere for a shorter time. Continue reading...
Krusatodon kirtlingtonensis, which lived 166m years ago, a piece of the puzzle' explaining mammals' successThe remains of a diminutive mouse-like creature that lived 166m years ago could help answer one of biology's biggest questions of why mammals have become so successful, fossil experts say.Krusatodon kirtlingtonensis belongs to the immediate predecessors of mammals and lived alongside the dinosaurs during the middle Jurassic age. But while it was originally known only from individual teeth, researchers have now reported two partial skeletons. Continue reading...
Reptile's teeth found to have covering that helps keep serrated edges razor sharp and resistant to wearWith their huge size, venomous bite and the fantastical connotations of their name, Komodo dragons seem like the stuff of legend.Now, that status has been elevated further: scientists have discovered that their teeth are coated with a layer of iron that helps keep their serrated edges razor sharp. Continue reading...
Report says serious research needed into risks and benefits as melting could cause devastating sea level riseWe need to seriously consider geoengineering projects to save our glaciers or face catastrophic sea level rise, scientists say in a report.Antarctica and Greenland's ice sheets are melting fast and even if we manage to reduce carbon emissions and limit global heating to 2C, it is not clear if that will be enough to prevent ice sheet collapse. But geoengineering glaciers may be a way to buy us vital time, the authors of the report argue. Continue reading...
UK Space Agency awards 30k in funding to 10 teams racing to solve the complex problemInventors hope to crack how to create a reliable clean water supply on the moon - and it may involve a microwave oven from Tesco.The goal to set up a crewed lunar base was launched many moons ago but has yet to come to fruition. With reliance on water supplies from Earth risky and expensive, one of the many challenges is how to extract and purify water from ice lying in craters at the lunar south pole. Continue reading...
Previous studies had suggested men could sense changes in body odour, but recent test found no compelling evidenceThe widespread belief that men are more attracted to the scent of a woman when she is at her most fertile may not be true after all, researchers say.A flurry of studies in recent decades have made a persuasive case that female body odour changes over the menstrual cycle, allowing perceptive males - in theory, at least - to sense when mating is most likely to result in pregnancy. Continue reading...
Edward Rosen, Jabeer Butt and Edward Lyon respond to the first report of the official Covid inquiryI attended the launch of the Covid-19 inquiry report by Lady Hallett and I left the viewing room with my emotions all over the place (UK in worse state' to deal with pandemic than before Covid, say experts, 19 July). I remembered my dead colleague, dead patients and a dead friend. But I also remembered our first informal meeting in the NHS, when the possibility of a new pandemic was briefly and nonchalantly discussed. That was in October 1999. Labour was in power and our focus was on innovation and modernisation across the NHS. I was a passionate enthusiast for all this new policy - a cheerful foot soldier for change. Sound familiar?My contribution as a senior NHS change leader between 2002 and 2005 was to help build a new learning system or infrastructure that included a health observatory capable of horizon scanning for any threats to the NHS and, by default, to the public. This innovation was one arm of the new NHS University, which was designed to provide an integrated learning system across the health sector. The two areas of concern were pandemics and climate change. Continue reading...
Researchers say many drugs have shelf life of three years or less, with a mission expected to take about 36 monthsWhen it comes to crewed missions to Mars there is no shortage of hazards, from space radiation to a hostile environment. Now researchers have found another snag: many of the medicines astronauts may take with them are likely to expire before they return to Earth.Researchers say they have discovered a host of medications used in space have a shelf life of three years or less - a problem given Nasa expects a mission to Mars to take roughly 36 months. Continue reading...
by Kat Lay, Global health correspondent, in Munich on (#6PDNJ)
Generic version of a drug already on the market, which can suppress and prevent HIV, would still yield 30% profit if the current price was slashed, researchers sayA new drug described as the closest we have ever been to an HIV vaccine" could cost $40 (31) a year for every patient, a thousand times less than its current price, new research suggests.Lenacapavir , sold as Sunlenca by US pharmaceutical giant Gilead, currently costs $42,250 for the first year. The company is being urged to make it available at a thousand times less than that price worldwide. Continue reading...
There are stabs of the same fear that made The Beast fascinating, but this tale of a bored teenager in a scary, affectless future is too unfocusedProminent French film-makers are supported by their national industry and even their lockdown projects have been received with respectful attention. Earlier this year Olivier Assayas's autofiction Hors du Temps, or Suspended Time, premiered in Berlin - a dreamy Covid-era indulgence that he just about got away with. Now we have a chance to see Bertrand Bonello's musing sketch Coma: a lockdown essay that preceded his brilliant futurist film The Beast, with many of the same ideas and tropes.Coma broods on a scary, affectless future in which humanity will evolve away from the primacy of love and selfhood, and in which sexuality and violence will then be prominent as a symptom of the need to feel something, anything. As so often, Bonello sees human beings as mere dolls or puppets; stuffed mammal-shapes whose supposed individuality is a preposterous fiction. Here, a teenage girl (Louise Labeque) mopes impassively in her bedroom, driven half-mad by lockdown boredom; the film's title hints at the inert hibernation we all went through. Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample, produced by Tom Glasser a on (#6PDHJ)
Last week, five supporters of the Just Stop Oil climate campaign who conspired to cause gridlock on London's orbital motorway were sentenced to lengthy jail terms by a judge who told them they had crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic'. Columnist and campaigner George Monbiot tells Ian Sample why the sentences are so significant, how they fit into a crackdown on protest in the UK in recent years, and what impact they could have on future climate activism in the UKClips: ITV, Just Stop Oil, BBC, The SunRead more reporting on this story Continue reading...
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