Data obtained by the Guardian shows that one in six people in England were prescribed antidepressants in 2017More than four million people in England are long-term users of antidepressants, new figures obtained by the Guardian show.Data released under the Freedom of Information Act shows that more than 7.3 million people were prescribed antidepressants in 2017-18, 4.4 million of whom also received a prescription for such drugs in both of the two previous years. Continue reading...

Do customers realise that genetic genealogy companies like 23andMe profit by amassing huge biological datasets?In 1884, at the International Health Exhibition in South Kensington, four million punters came to view the latest scientific marvels: drainage systems, flushing toilets and electrically illuminated fountains. There, the scientist Francis Galton set up the Anthropometric Laboratory, where common folk would pay 3d (around 80p today) to enter, and anonymously fill out a data card. Galton’s technicians recorded 11 metrics, including height, hair colour, keenness of sight, punch strength and colour perception, and the ability to hear high-pitched noises, tested via whistlesmade by Messrs Tisley & Co, Brompton Road. Over the course of a week, 9,337 people went home with some trivial information about themselves, and Galton amassed the largest dataset of human characteristics ever compiled up to that time – and a stack of cash.Related: GlaxoSmithKline hopes the gene genie can hold the centre | Nils Pratley Continue reading...

President’s re-election campaign team organises poll on best symbol for new military unitThe Trump administration has announced a new space force to protect America from what Mike Pence has called “the growing security threats emerging in space”.But Trump supporters have been asked to put aside questions like “How much will this cost?” and “Isn’t the air force already doing this?” and instead focus their attention on another crucial issue: what should the space force logo be? Continue reading...

Always-on work culture causes an increase in stress levels for the partners of workers, says new researchIf your other half’s idea of a great night in is to sit on the sofa and check their work emails, the chances are that they are oblivious to how unpopular it makes them.People who constantly monitored office messages at home felt it did no harm to their closest relationships, but their spouses and partners told a different story, researchers found. Continue reading...

After lift-off, set for Saturday, Nasa’s solar probe starts its six-year flight to within 3.8m miles of the sun – the nearest visit yetNasa’s Parker Solar Probe is now on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its launch window will open at 3.48am (eastern daylight time, or 7.48am Greenwich mean time) on Saturday 11 August. Protected by a sophisticated heat shield the probe is designed to go closer to the sun than any previous spacecraft.The probe’s mission is to dip into the solar atmosphere and deduce how the rarefied gasses there are heated to millions of degrees centigrade when the solar surface itself is just 6,000°C. Continue reading...

Light from digital devices triggers creation of toxic molecule in the retina that can cause macular degenerationScientists say they have found how blue light from smartphones, laptops and other digital devices damages vision and can speed up blindness.Research by the University of Toledo in the US has revealed that prolonged exposure to blue light triggers poisonous molecules to be generated in the eye’s light-sensitive cells that can cause macular degeneration – an incurable condition that affects the middle part of vision. Continue reading...

Calls for new fathers as well as mothers to be screened for depression after the birth of a childThe mental health of new fathers is being overlooked despite evidence suggesting men might experience similar rates of depression to mothers after the birth of a child, experts have warned.It is thought at least 10% of new mothers experience postnatal depression, although charities have said figures could be higher as surveys have shown many women do not seek help or are not asked about their mental health after having a baby. Continue reading...

The cycle of moral panic around screen time and technology use feels endless. Here are three issues we need to address before we can move the debate onThe debate about children and technology has increasingly captured public interest over the past year, and has been raging for many more. As with anything of this nature, the public conversations about screen time have gradually become more heated and divisive. And in turn, it increasingly feels as though scientific evidence has become a casualty in the process.Just this week for example, we have seen the resurgence of scaremongering stories claiming that social media is leaving children “unable to communicate with each other”. Such claims are pushed into the spotlight in the complete absence of anything that vaguely resembles supporting evidence. The academic teams working on providing the science to inform this debate are most often overlooked. This is not surprising as science itself does not have keen PR teams or spare time to contact editors to correct flawed press coverage. And while it is true that science may be self-correcting, in practice this is a process that moves at a glacial pace. Continue reading...

Psychoanalyst who influenced generations of practitioners and had a deep understanding of the mind of a childThe analyst Anne-Marie Sandler, who has died aged 92, was the clinician’s clinician. Technically adept and unafraid of the difficult states of mind and feelings psychoanalysis can uncover, she influenced several generations of practitioners, returning them to the interest in minds, hearts and longings that had led them to train in the first place.Her passion was how people worked. Her curiosity, her genuine interest in the other person, the excitement of seeing an individual come to life after suffering, was infectious. It helped move many a trainee and experienced analyst away from the reductionism, constraining theory and cold analysis that had gripped some training institutes. Continue reading...

The world’s largest fish roams less than previously thought, new research has found. Using a ‘biological passport’, results show that whale sharks in the western Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf rarely swim more than a few hundred kilometres from their feeding grounds, making local action vital to their conservation Continue reading...

New research shows that those who can identify and regulate their emotions keep pushing when the going gets toughIn tests of endurance, some people push harder than others. These aren’t necessarily the people who collapse at the finish, who may simply have sprinted harder in the final straightaway. (Or have a flair for the dramatic.) During the long, lonely middle miles of a race, you make a thousand microdecisions about whether to press on or ease up. These decisions are mostly invisible to everyone else, but collectively they are the difference between a good race and a bad one.We often talk about this ability to push with vague generalities – toughness, grit, focus and so on – but we don’t have any reliable way of quantifying the differences between those who push more and those who quit sooner. So I was interested to see a recent paper from three psychologists in Italy, led by Enrico Rubaltelli of the University of Padova, exploring the links between emotional intelligence and half-marathon performance. In a nutshell, their research found that those who were better at recognizing and regulating their emotions ran faster races. Continue reading...

Too much research is aimed at insular academic circles rather than the real world. Let’s fix this broken system

Looser fitting underpants keep testicles cool, resulting in 25% more sperm being producedMen who want to boost their sperm counts may want to swap their tight-fitting underpants for more roomy boxers which are better suited to keeping testicles cool, scientists say.A major study into the impact of underwear on sperm quality found that men who favoured airy boxer shorts made significantly more sperm than those who tucked themselves into more restrictive items of underwear. Continue reading...

FA increases number of screenings for youth players after study finds several players died of heart problems not spotted by testsYoung footballers are dying from heart problems at a higher rate than was previously thought, according to doctors who oversee the cardiac screening programme for the Football Association.Their evaluation of 20 years of screening young footballers at the age of 16 who are on the verge of a professional career also shows that most died about seven years after a heart check that showed no problem. Continue reading...

The majority of people using dating websites chase potential partners who are significantly more desirable than themselves, study showsMen and women searching for a mate on online dating sites are hoping Cupid’s arrow will strike high, according to a new study that suggests users tend to chase potential partners who are more desirable than themselves.The study, based on data from a free online dating site, also reveals that while men become more desirable as they age – peaking at 50 years old – women are deemed steadily less so. Continue reading...

Research shows geoengineering method intended to combat climate change would have adverse effect on agricultureProposals to combat climate change by reflecting the sun’s rays back into space would cause widespread crop failure, cancelling out any benefits to farming from the reduction in warming, according to new research.By examining the effects of volcanic eruptions on agriculture – which has a similar effect to proposed artificial methods of scattering solar radiation through aerosols – scientists have concluded that such methods could have unintended consequences. Continue reading...

I turned 45 this week, but I have no intention of ‘acting my age’. In this respect, my latest birthday was just like all the othersThe middle-aged have pulled off an almighty swizz on the world: 40 is no longer old and only a really old person would remark upon your advancing age, while 50 is a fait accompli; of course you are middle-aged and if anyone wanted to mention it they should have done so years ago. It is a fabulous act of cunning, as if a 16-year-old told you that it was the most suburban thing that they weren’t allowed to vote, then turned round at 21 and said: “What did you let me vote for? You can see that I’m still basically a child.” Except a young person would never do that, because they have more honour.There is a hard ball of truth among this candyfloss of spin, which is the age of 45. You’re not 40. It’s not the new 35. You are not some symmetrical, nothing number – 42, 44 – to which no meaning can be attached. You are not mourning your youth, which is years behind you, but you are no longer in that enjoyable limbo where there is no name for what you are. You are more than a bit middle-aged: you are its dictionary definition. Continue reading...

Clinics should release information on pregnancy rates based on age, says the RCOGWomen who opt to freeze their eggs need to be made aware of how realistic their chances of pregnancy are, experts have warned, as more turn to the procedure.Egg freezing in the UK is funded by the NHS for girls and women for medical reasons, such as undergoing cancer treatments. However, women can elect to freeze their eggs privately for non-medical reasons. Currently the standard for elected freezing is that eggs can be stored for a maximum of 10 years. Continue reading...

Methylphenidate drugs safest and most effective while adults do better on amphetaminesRitalin and other drugs of the same class are the most effective and safest medications to prescribe for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a major scientific review.The review of ADHD drugs shows that they work, and work well, in spite of concerns among the public and some doctors that children in the UK are being overmedicated. Ofsted’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, has likened the drugs to a “chemical cosh” and claimed they were being overprescribed, disguising bad behaviour among children that could be better dealt with.

My friend Rachel Gibbons, who has died aged 90, spent much of her working life serving the now defunct Inner London Education Authority (Ilea), striving to improve maths teaching in the capital and in the UK in general.“Ray” as she was widely known, began working for Ilea as head of maths, before becoming deputy warden at Ilea’s Ladbroke Maths Teachers’ Centre and then an Ilea inspector, in which post she challenged and supported teachers to provide lessons that lifted maths off the page for children of all ages and ability. I took over Ray’s post at Ladbroke Maths Teachers’ Centre and she became my inspector, in which role she was a friend, a colleague and my conscience. Strong, stubborn and principled, she was also excessively hard working and was a truly remarkable woman. Continue reading...

Member states expected to get vote on proposals but UK will not have a say due to BrexitBrussels is on course to restrict the type of chemicals used in tattoo inks in response to an explosion in the popularity of body art and concerns that some of the substances used might cause cancer, change DNA or be harmful to human reproduction.A proposal to implement tight limits on the use of 4,000 chemicals is expected to be brought to a vote among EU member states by the middle of next year, but the UK will not have a say as it is to leave in March. Continue reading...

The future looks fiery and dangerous, according to new reports. But political will and grassroots engagement can change thisThis is the summer when, for many, climate change got real. The future looks fiery and dangerous. Hot on the heels of Trump, fake news and the parlous state of the Brexit negotiations, despair is in the air. Now a new scientific report makes the case that even fairly modest future carbon dioxide emissions could set off a cascade of catastrophe, with melting permafrost releasing methane to ratchet up global temperatures enough to drive much of the Amazon to die off, and so on in a chain reaction around the world that pushes Earth into a terrifying new hothouse state from which there is no return. Civilisation as we know it would surely not survive. How do we deal with such news?As a research scientist in this field, I can give some nuance to the headlines. One common way of thinking about climate change is the lower the future carbon dioxide emissions, the less warming and the less havoc we will face as this century progresses. This is certainly true, but as the summer heatwave and the potential hothouse news remind us, the shifts in climate we will experience will not be smooth, gradual and linear changes. They may be fast, abrupt, and dangerous surprises may happen. However, an unstoppable globally enveloping cascade of catastrophe, while possible, is certainly not a probable outcome. Continue reading...

We know exactly what works to prevent drug-related deaths – and yet the numbers are still rising

My father, Ian Wootton, who has died aged 97, was professor of chemical pathology at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London and part of a golden age in the development of the discipline of clinical biochemistry, which concentrates on the analysis of bodily fluids.He began as a research assistant at Hammersmith hospital, west London, to Earl King, the founding father of clinical biochemistry in Britain, and eventually took over as chair of chemical pathology on King’s death. King had written various editions of the textbook Microanalysis in Medical Biochemistry from 1946 onwards, and Ian co-authored the third edition with him. Continue reading...

Leading scientists warn that passing such a point would make efforts to reduce emissions increasingly futileA domino-like cascade of melting ice, warming seas, shifting currents and dying forests could tilt the Earth into a “hothouse” state beyond which human efforts to reduce emissions will be increasingly futile, a group of leading climate scientists has warned.Related: Don’t despair – climate change catastrophe can still be averted | Simon Lewis Continue reading...

More than seven or eight hours a night of sleep is associated with higher risk of premature deathSleeping longer than the recommended seven or eight hours a night has been linked with a higher risk of premature death, according to new research.

US researchers say gender of ER doctor might affect female patients’ chances of survivalFemale heart attack patients treated by male doctors have a worse chance of survival than those treated by female doctors, a study suggests.Previous studies based on data from Australia and Sweden have revealed that men and women experience different care if they have a heart attack, while UK research has shown women are more likely to be misdiagnosed. Continue reading...

There need to be national multi-agency collaborative pathways for the holistic assessment of children with attention difficultiesWe, as chartered psychologists (BPS), are delighted that the inadequate provision for children with mental health difficulties in the UK was highlighted (Shocking failures on children with ADHD, 4 August). We agree with the findings that there are considerable local differences in practice in this field. We note with concern the reported rise in prescriptions for stimulant drugs such as Ritalin (methylphenidate) between 2010 and 2015. We should not fall into the trap of believing that diagnosis and medication are the only, or the best, ways to address the emotional and behavioural problems of our children. There need to be national multi-agency collaborative pathways for the holistic assessment of children just as there has been for years with children on the autistic spectrum.Medication should be the last resort after all other recommended interventions. It should only follow evaluation of the alternative therapies and strategies used, followed by careful monitoring of any side-effects. The BPS in its recent submission to the Nice consultation on ADHD called for a ban on prescribing these stimulants to children under five. Continue reading...

Apollo space missions | China’s emissions | Denis Healy sightings | Telephones | Identifying artFurther to Peter Avery’s letter about watching cricket outside a TV rental showroom (4 August), in the late 1960s I was an avid follower of the Apollo space missions. One day the BBC announced the next broadcast from the capsule was going to be the first in colour. We did not have a colour set, so I made sure I was in the shopping centre so I could watch it in a shop window.

Archaeologist who recovered Lindow Man, the best preserved bog body in BritainRick Turner, who has died aged 66 of cancer, made the archaeological discovery of the 1980s when he recovered Lindow Man, the best preserved bog body in Britain. The find, in 1984, helped to pioneer new techniques of investigation and analysis, and provided fresh insight into how our ancestors lived.As county archaeologist for Cheshire, Rick was called out to the Lindow Moss peat bog near Wilmslow by the police when a human foot was found by a worker at a commercial peat cutting site. An incomplete and decomposing female head had been discovered the previous year, and was initially regarded as evidence in a murder investigation before being shown to be that of a woman who had died around AD210. Continue reading...

Fatalities linked to synthetic opioid increased by 29% in a year, according to ONS figuresDeaths caused by the drug fentanyl rose by nearly 30% last year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.While statistics show that the rate of deaths from drug poisoning in England and Wales has remained steady – 66.1 deaths per 1 million people (3,756 deaths) – fatalities involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl were up 29%. There were 75 deaths in 2017, up from 58 deaths in 2016. Continue reading...

E, Jean Hannah Edelstein’s husband, explains his side of IVF treatment, from the sperm analysis to the importance of patienceWhat’s it like to be the partner of someone going through IVF treatment? This week, I sat down to discuss the experience with my husband, E. Like me, E is in his mid-30s and has never had kids before. Here’s what he told me.We discussed IVF very early in our relationship – it’s been with us basically from the beginning. On our first date we talked about cancer in our families – I lost my mom about a year before you lost your dad, you told me about Lynch syndrome – and we talked about having kids. So we must have talked about it, too. We all get to places in different ways. So, if having kids couldn’t work for you the old-fashioned way, it made sense that we’d take a different route. Continue reading...

Ablation, a minimally invasive tumour-destroying technique using focused radiation, is proving effective. So why is it not more widely known?Seven years ago, when Heather Hall was informed by her oncologist that her kidney cancer had spread to the liver, she initially assumed she had just months to live. “I’d been on chemotherapy for a while, but they’d done a CT scan and found three new tumours,” she says. “But they then said that, because the tumours were relatively small, they could try to lengthen my prognosis by removing them with ablation.”Hall underwent a course of microwave ablation, a minimally invasive treatment where surgeons use hollow needles to deliver intense, focused doses of radiation to heat each tumour until it is destroyed. While ablation technologies – they also commonly include radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation, which destroys tumours using intense cold – are not tackling the underlying cause of the disease, their impact can be enormous as they relieve pain and often prolong survival for many years, all at a low cost. Continue reading...

Expect a good show over the weekend, when dust particles from the orbit of Comet Swift-Tuttle burn up (or even explode) in our atmosphereWidely regarded as the best meteor shower of the year, the Perseids will return to our skies this week. The peak activity from the shower is expected at the weekend, during the nights of 11-12 and 12-13 August. The chart shows the radiant of the meteors in the constellation Perseus at midnight on the second evening. Anything up to 60 or 70 meteors per hour will appear to streak across the sky from this point over the two nights. Occasionally, the shower can turn into an outburst when the hourly rate can double or even triple. Although that is not expected to happen this year, the viewing conditions are expected to be good because the Moon sets early in the evening. With the moonlight gone, many of the fainter Perseids will become visible too. The meteors themselves are dust particles from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which last passed by Earth in 1992, and will next draw close in 2126. The dust that makes up the Perseids was once part of the comet’s tail and now trails along in its orbit. The Perseids are known for exploding meteors, called fireballs. Continue reading...

Forty-year study shows loss of invertebrates, with repercussions for larger animalsOne of the longest-running studies of streams in the world – the minute study of 14 brooks that tumble through a remote Welsh mountain landscape – has exposed a troubling loss of riverine wildlife.Ecologists working on the Llyn Brianne Observatory project in mid Wales, which has been in operation for almost 40 years, have flagged up the disappearance and decline of invertebrates from the streams. Continue reading...

Romain Pizzi, who pioneered keyhole surgery for animals, is arguably the most versatile and inventive vet in the worldIn 2012, the conservation charity Free the Bears approached Romain Pizzi, one of the most innovative wildlife surgeons in Europe, with an unusual patient. A specialist in laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery – until recently rare in veterinary medicine – Pizzi has operated on giraffes and tarantulas, penguins and baboons, giant tortoises and at least one shark, and maintains a reputation for taking on cases others won’t. If you’re in possession of a tiger with gallstones, or a suspiciously sickly beaver, you call Pizzi. As Matt Hunt, CEO of Free the Bears says, “We have other vets who are incredibly talented. But Romain is one of a kind.”Pizzi has operated on giraffes and tarantulas, penguins and baboons, giant tortoises and at least one shark Continue reading...

A fruit bowl favourite and a staple food to millions, the banana is under threat from a formidable foeSome suggest the banana is on the brink of extinction. Panama disease, also known as fusarium wilt, is on the march, wiping out plantations that provide a staple food for hundreds of millions of people and a livelihood for hundreds of thousands more.Others say talk of Bananageddon is exaggerated. They point out bananas are as cheap and abundant as ever in our shops. The fungal strain that causes a new form of Panama disease has been spreading steadily for three decades, yet global production has continued to rise. Latin America – where some 80% of exported bananas are grown – has so far kept the pathogen at bay. Continue reading...

The Canadian culture warrior is coming to town. Prepare for new right platitudesI’ve only ever been on one of those team-building exercises favoured by large management consultancies and firms that operate in the technology sector.These enterprises may only involve a paintballing experience in a nearby forest where you can let the office dickhead indulge his leadership delusions and act out some fantasies from a childhood spent reading Commando comics. Continue reading...

The key to UK food security is not to grow more but to ensure our supplies and to cut out profligacyThis year’s heatwave and climate change in general highlight growing risks to food supplies and not just in this country (“To feed the world, we must exploit science, not spurn its advances”). Assuming that Britain will always be able to import food is folly. In 2010, Russia banned grain exports after a drought, while Trump’s reaction to a poor US harvest can be imagined. A falling pound and lack of trade agreements post-Brexit mean that European supplies are hardly guaranteed. Other countries might have their own problems and why should they bail out Britain, given its feckless attitudes?It took Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, not Defra, to help stop fishing throwback, while the UK condones factory farming, killing then not eating unprofitable livestock, wasting wood pigeons (and huge amounts of food in general) plus widespread overeating. Good land has vanished under oilseed rape and development (although some houses are needed) and there is no defined responsibility for UK food security. Continue reading...

Carl Safina’s educated anthropomorphism and Alex Preston’s vivid bird portraits are the wild stuff to illuminate our place in the natural worldWhich books best depict our relationship with other species without being oversentimental or too philosophical?

Environmentalists say lifting the restriction poses a grave threat to pollinating insectsThe Trump administration has rescinded an Obama-era ban on the use of pesticides linked to declining bee populations and the cultivation of genetically modified crops in dozens of national wildlife refuges where farming is permitted.

Postcode lottery chaos and misconceptions of mental health condition lead to delayed treatment, harming chances of education and future prospects

Poorly regulated aesthetic medicine industry needs more research to confirm or deny benefits and safety of procedures, say plastic surgeonsA growing number of websites are offering treatments to tighten and refresh vaginas, but leading plastic surgeons have warned that the safety and effectiveness of such procedures is not yet known.

Official guidelines are based on morality, not evidence, so will never admit that there may be benefits to drug or alcohol use

Species are hard to define, as they don’t fit neatly into the categories that science wants to put them into. But increasingly, people are naming new species without enough evidence to suggest they are indeed a separate taxon. Graihagh Jackson investigates why so-called taxonomic vandalism is on the rise and what we can do about itSubscribe and review on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom and Mixcloud. Join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterScience has long tried to divide nature into discrete categories. But the natural world doesn’t fit neatly into glass cabinets - the distinction between species is often much more fluid and blurred. So much so, that debates between academics often break out when they are trying to decide whether a newly discovered creature is a de novo taxa or belongs to an existing species. This has been the case with the marbled crayfish – it’s closely related to slough crayfish but unlike their American counterparts, it can reproduce asexually. Some argue it’s a new species, others disagree and believe that there’s not enough evidence. Continue reading...

Study shows correlation between levels of exposure to fine particulate matter and chamber enlargement seen in early stages of heart failureAir pollution is linked to changes in the structure of the heart of the sort seen in early stages of heart failure, say researchers.The finding could help explain the increased number of deaths seen in areas with high levels of dirty air. For example, a report last year revealed that people in the UK are 64 times more likely to die from the effect of air pollution than people living in Sweden. Such premature deaths can be linked to a number of causes including respiratory problems, stroke and coronary artery disease. Continue reading...

RSPB found urban sparrow colonies waning at fastest rate where traffic-borne nitrogen dioxide was worstThe cheeky house sparrow is the archetypal city bird. You can find them around the world, but they are in serious decline in cities in Italy, Canada, India and the UK. London’s house sparrow population fell by 60% between 1994 and 2006.Scientists from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds fed London sparrows in 33 colonies and compared them with birds at 33 other places where no extra food was offered. More food meant more fledglings, but it did not improve their wintertime survival. Continue reading...

Tests show 5,000-year-old remains found at the world heritage site came from more than 100 miles away in west WalesThe bones of people buried at Stonehenge, who died and were cremated about 5,000 years ago, have given up their secrets: like the bluestones, which form part of the famous prehistoric monument, they came from west Wales, near the Preseli Hills where the stones were quarried.The remains of at least 10 of 25 individuals, whose brittle charred bones were buried at the monument, showed that they did not spend their lives on the Wessex chalk downland, but came from more than 100 miles away. Examination of the remains showed they were consistent with a region that includes west Wales, the most likely origin of at least some of these people.

We have never been more aware of the appalling events that occur around the world every day. But in the face of so much horror, is there a danger that we become numb to the headlines – and does it matter if we do? By Elisa GabbertIn April this year, a woman calling herself Apathetic Idealist wrote to an advice columnist at the New York Times, asking for help in overcoming a sense of political paralysis. This condition, which was keeping her from engaging in “real action”, began in November 2016, when Donald Trump won the US presidential election. “I continue to be outraged by this administration’s treatment of Latinos, Native Americans, Muslims, LGBT folks, women and so many others,” she wrote. “But I’m struggling to summon a response.”“I have no doubt that many people can relate to your letter. I can relate to it,” began the response from the columnist, Roxane Gay. “It is damn hard to expand the limits of our empathy when our emotional attention is already stretched too thin.” Continue reading...

US-based professor is only the second Australian to win the prestigious prizeThe Australian mathematician Akshay Venkatesh has won the Fields medal, the mathematics equivalent of the Nobel prize.He becomes only the second Australian to win the prestigious prize, after Terence Tao in 2006. It is only awarded every four years to up to four mathematicians who are under 40. Continue reading...