Saturn, Mars and Jupiter are all in a row this week in the pre-dawn south-eastern skyEarly risers may have already noticed the beautiful planetary alignment taking place in the south-east before dawn. The bright planets of Saturn, Mars and Jupiter are strung out in a line. Saturn sits in Sagittarius, Mars in Ophiuchus and Jupiter in Libra. The colours of the planets are particularly notable. Jupiter’s bright clouds give it a brilliant white light, whereas Mars is distinctly red to the eye. Completing the trio, Saturn is a pale yellow that betrays the more muted tones found in its atmosphere. Just below this line of planets, filling in the gap between Mars and Jupiter, is the red giant star Antares. This alignment alone is worth keeping an eye open for but starting on 7 March the waning gibbous moon joins the tableau, making it even more special. The chart shows the view at 05:30 GMT on 8 March when the Moon is in the constellation Scorpius. Continue reading...

Silicon Valley is keen to exploit the brain chemical credited with keeping us tapping on apps and social mediaIn an unprecedented attack of candour, Sean Parker, the 38-year-old founding president of Facebook, recently admitted that the social network was founded not to unite us, but to distract us. “The thought process was: ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?’” he said at an event in Philadelphia in November. To achieve this goal, Facebook’s architects exploited a “vulnerability in human psychology”, explained Parker, who resigned from the company in 2005. Whenever someone likes or comments on a post or photograph, he said, “we… give you a little dopamine hit”. Facebook is an empire of empires, then, built upon a molecule.Dopamine, discovered in 1957, is one of 20 or so major neurotransmitters, a fleet of chemicals that, like bicycle couriers weaving through traffic, carry urgent messages between neurons, nerves and other cells in the body. These neurotransmitters ensure our hearts keep beating, our lungs keep breathing and, in dopamine’s case, that we know to get a glass of water when we feel thirsty, or attempt to procreate so that our genes may survive our death. Continue reading...

Young people in mental distress need – and deserve – faster access to support services, as well as pillsNearly a decade ago I found myself perched on the edge of a hard chair in a dark doctor’s office. I was 13 and struggling a lot with self harm, body image, and the simple task of keeping myself alive. Shuffling my feet and wondering how I ended up here, I remember not fully understanding what was happening when I was handed a little green prescription for Fluoxetine – an antidepressant drug often better known as Prozac.Back then, my frame of reference for mental illness was pretty minimal. All I knew was that I felt numb and I wanted everyone to leave me alone. The thought of something being able to help felt so far away it was almost laughable. Antidepressants had never crossed my mind. Everything I knew about them was framed around the words of American emo bands or soap operas. As the doctor handed me the prescription, I remember it was talked about as the most natural thing in the world. “We’ll give you a course of pills and go from there.” What? Go where? Am I really hopeless enough that only drugs can fix this? Continue reading...

Philippa Perry on her struggle with total devotion… to her cat, KevinPets can highlight your mental health issues. Ask my late dad how he was, he would tell you, “Fine”. If you wanted more information, it was best to ask him how the dog was. “Oh, the dog is depressed.” My dad was doing what Freud described as projection. This is when you split off a part of you that is too shameful for you to own and project it on to someone else and you believe your stuff is their stuff. My father could not own his vulnerability, but he could dump it on his dog. I hope I would be far too self-aware to project on to my pet. I’d hate to think I was that dotty, but the magazine has just asked if they can send a photographer round. “Kevin isn’t too keen on photos,” I said.Our cat Kevin had been a stray and came to us from Battersea two years ago when he was around six months old. His body was the size of a can of extra-strong lager. That tubular torso would press against me all night, sometimes stretched alongside me, sometimes curled up in my armpit. In the evening, he would start on a lap but his thin body would elongate itself from your ankles to your thighs like a furry tube. He was playful, affectionate and excellent at being a cat. Continue reading...

Free vaccine program in schools leads to big drop in rates, although they remain high in the developing world

We have the unique opportunity to wipe out a cancer that kills 250,000 women worldwide each year

Side-effects in immunotherapy for cancer patients have given scientists an ally in the battle against rheumatoid arthritisThe human immune system is one of the most effective defence mechanisms known to nature. It can ward off myriad microbial invaders: bacteria, viruses and parasites. It is sometimes overwhelmed by disease, of course, but the billions of men and women who now live on Earth are a testament – at least in part – to the effectiveness of their immune defences.However, on occasions they go too far. Instead of killing off invading organisms, our immune systems turn on our own tissue and attack it. Conditions such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus are all triggered in this way, very often with deeply unpleasant consequences. Continue reading...

In the 1970s and 80s, 4,689 British haemophiliacs were treated with contaminated blood products. So far, more than half of them have died. The government knew there were risks involved. The patients didn’t. Will they ever get justice?It has been called the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, and a “horrific human tragedy”. But Su Gorman, whose husband has endured years of ill health as a result of haemophilia treatment, does not believe this adequately describes Britain’s contaminated blood scandal. As far as she is concerned, it is simply a crime.In the 1970s and 80s, 4,689 haemophiliacs became infected with hepatitis C and HIV after they were treated with contaminated blood products supplied by the NHS. Of those infected, 2,883 have since died. Continue reading...

The 42-year-old scientist is head of cellular genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, CambridgeSleep I need seven or eight hours. My daughters, aged 10 and five, are in bed by 8.30pm. My husband and I have different methods of getting them to bed: he likes nature television programmes; I like reading in German. Both my father and husband are German, so we try to maintain the language. Before I go to sleep, I read books such as Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, or essays from Harvard Business Review. I am usually asleep by nine and wake as early as 4am; it gives me a few hours to think about work before the rest of the family wakes at 7am.Eat I try to have a low-carb diet. In the morning, my husband cooks scrambled eggs and I’ll have lunch on the Wellcome Genome campus in Cambridge. I am a creature of habit so I always have a salad, melon and coffee – I drink too much coffee. I try to have supper with the family three times a week. Our nanny - a retired academic from Uruguay - often cooks whatever is in the fridge. At weekends we cook but it’s very much dominated by what the kids like: pasta and pizza. There are no phones at the table and we try to get information out of the kids about school, sports and friends; they are not always forthcoming. Continue reading...

We ask Prof Steven Pinker whether today’s doom and gloom headlines are a sign we’re worse off than in centuries gone by, or if human wellbeing is at an all-time highSubscribe and review on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud and Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterCognitive psychologist and linguist Prof Steven Pinker of Harvard University is no stranger to intellectual controversy. Since 1994, a series of bestselling books, including The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate and The Better Angels of Our Nature, have unleashed a torrent of criticism. Pinker’s determination to apply scientific thinking to politics, society and culture has left some accusing him of scientism – an overweening faith in the power of science in every sphere. His latest book, Enlightenment Now, is a vigorous defence of Enlightenment progress against the prophets of doom. Continue reading...

Girls’ subject choices in school are one clear symptom of their unequal experiences, says Julia Higgins of the Institute of PhysicsIt is astonishing that, in 2018, girls still grow up being treated very differently from boys through entrenched stereotyping and unconscious biases. Girls’ subject choices in school are one clear symptom of their unequal experiences. One example is that four times as many boys as girls take physics, a subject seen as having value by universities and employers alike. As a society we have become inured to such disparities in choices and also to the deeper malaise it reveals.Gendered stereotypes are pervasive in our culture – ingrained by long-standing biases (both conscious and unconscious). They affect all of our expectations and, at an early age, those of our youngsters. Many of the stereotypes relate to different expectations of boys and girls. Why does this matter? First, we are losing talent. We need many more good engineers, scientists and programmers. Second, there is a personal cost for young women as we limit their expectations. Continue reading...

Climate change is causing the season to start comparatively earlier the further north you go, say scientistsThe Arctic spring is arriving 16 days earlier than it did a decade ago, according to a new study which shows climate change is shifting the season earlier more dramatically the further north you go.The research, published on Friday in the journal Scientific Reports, comes amid growing concern about the warming of Greenland, Siberia, Alaska and other far northern regions, which have recently experienced unusually prolonged and frequent midwinter temperature spikes. Continue reading...

Physician who researched the effects of nuclear radiation and in the cold war years reached the peak of the new profession of radiobiologyPatricia Lindop, who has died aged 87, was one of Europe’s most brilliant medical radiobiologists and a physician driven as much by compassion and wisdom as by natural skill. As well as setting up the medical radiobiology department at St Bartholomew’s hospital in London in 1960, she was a key player in the Pugwash peace initiative, aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear conflict and co-founded by the physicist Joseph Rotblat, her colleague and friend, along with the philosopher Bertrand Russell, in 1957.Apart from her medical qualifications, Lindop had doctorates in physiology and biochemistry. As a departmental professor she researched and taught these specialties at St Bartholomew’s hospital for more than 30 years. During the postwar years, sidestepping the male dominance of medicine in Britain, she reached the peak of the then new profession of radiobiology alongside her older contemporaries Dame Janet Vaughan and Dr Alice Stewart. Continue reading...

To own an animal is to learn about the inevitability of dying – not that loved ones can be replicated if we cough up the cashBarbra Streisand might not brim with the white-hot cultural relevance she used to, but nobody can deny that she’s a trier. For example, when everyone’s back was turned, she went off and created her very own Black Mirror episode.In her episode, a broken-hearted millionaire realises that she cannot bear to part with her sick dog, so she spends an inordinate amount of money to have it cloned. However, with every passing day, the millionaire realises the futility of her gesture. The clones don’t behave like the original, and the differences between old and new tear at her soul until she drowns the puppies in a lake. Continue reading...

After up to two million years of separate evolution, two types of common raven have been ‘caught in the act’ of consolidation, say scientistsSpeciation, where one species diverges into two, is a well-known concept in the theory of evolution. But a new study based on almost 20 years of research has revealed that “speciation reversal”, the merging of two previously distinct lineages, may also play an important role.Scientists have discovered that two lineages of common raven that spent between one and two million years evolving separately appear to be in the process of such a consolidation. The findings raise intriguing questions about how science should define species – and whether the boundaries are as clearcut as once thought. Continue reading...

Its defenders claim to be standing up for uncomfortable truths, but race science is still as bogus as ever. By Gavin EvansOne of the strangest ironies of our time is that a body of thoroughly debunked “science” is being revived by people who claim to be defending truth against a rising tide of ignorance. The idea that certain races are inherently more intelligent than others is being trumpeted by a small group of anthropologists, IQ researchers, psychologists and pundits who portray themselves as noble dissidents, standing up for inconvenient facts. Through a surprising mix of fringe and mainstream media sources, these ideas are reaching a new audience, which regards them as proof of the superiority of certain races.The claim that there is a link between race and intelligence is the main tenet of what is known as “race science” or, in many cases, “scientific racism”. Race scientists claim there are evolutionary bases for disparities in social outcomes – such as life expectancy, educational attainment, wealth, and incarceration rates – between racial groups. In particular, many of them argue that black people fare worse than white people because they tend to be less naturally intelligent. Continue reading...

Findings shed light on variations in response to treatment between diabetics –and could help identify those at high risk of complicationsDiabetes that begins in adulthood falls into five distinct categories, new research has revealed, with scientists suggesting it is time to ditch the idea that diabetes is largely split into two types.Researchers say all of the newly classified subgroups are genetically distinct and have numerous differences, including the age at which they tend to occur and different levels of risk for complications such as kidney disease.

Pictures taken close to the face distort the proportions of your features, study emphasisesIf a penchant for selfies has left you worried about the size of your nose, you might want to consider a selfie-stick.Researchers say selfie-lovers should be aware that snapping a picture with the camera close to your face distorts the proportions of your features.

Have those psychologists who criticise mobile phone use ever had to IMDb the plot of Tango & Cash to save a friendship?Whether you’re someone who keeps yours on the table during dinners with friends, or one who gets offended at new-message-checking between courses, there’s no denying that mobile phones cause problems. Tools of distraction and distancing that chip away at our attention spans with every vibration and ping, they steadily steal the real connection of person-to-person communication. At least, so say older relatives who comment on your WhatsApp use during family gatherings. And so say the psychologists who worked on the University of British Columbia’s study titled “Smartphone use undermines enjoyment of face-to-face social interactions” academic study.What’s not irritating and won’t let you down? That true friend, the smartphone … that is, until the battery runs out Continue reading...

On Baby Sleep Day, here are some insights that might help get you through the long, broken nightsPairing the words “baby” and “sleep” can evoke strong emotions. Those who have had limited contact with little ones might interpret this word-combination as implying deep and prolonged slumber. For others, this union of words may elicit memories of prolonged periods of chaotic sleep (or what can feel like no sleep at all).

Newly discovered marks push back evidence for tattooing in Africa by a millenniumA wild bull, a Barbary sheep and S-shaped motifs discovered on two mummies in the British Museum have been revealed as the world’s earliest known figural tattoos.Researchers say the discoveries on two naturally mummified bodies that date from between 3351 and 3017BC mean they will have to rewrite the story of tattooing. Continue reading...

Staphylococcus epidermidis may help to protect against skin cancer, and could lead to preventive treatments, scientists revealA type of bacteria commonly found on human skin produces a substance that may help protect against skin cancer, researchers have revealed.The scientists say the surprise discovery regarding a strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis highlights the importance of the community microbes found on and in the body in preventing disease. Continue reading...

My former colleague Howard Rees, who has died aged 89, was the chief veterinary officer who dealt with the problem of salmonella in eggs in the 1980s and introduced the measures that eventually saw off the problem of BSE in cattle. He was widely regarded as the most able veterinary public servant of his generation.On retirement in 1988 he became president of the World Organisation for Animal Health’s animal health code commission in Paris and under his presidency the commission drafted complex and contentious guidelines that dealt with the international trade in livestock in the context of BSE. He held the post for nine years and was awarded the organisation’s gold medal in 1994. Continue reading...

‘Revolutionary’ observations suggest the first stars appeared 180m years after the big bang – and may hold information on dark matterAstronomers have detected a signal from the first stars as they appeared and illuminated the universe, in observations that have been hailed as “revolutionary”.The faint radio signals suggest the universe was lifted out of total darkness 180m years after the big bang in a momentous transition known as the cosmic dawn. Continue reading...

Normally depicted as lunch for other animals, illustrator Franz Anthony brings a diverse range of fossil cephalopods to lifeAlthough the coiled shells of ammonites are a familiar fossil when it comes to reconstructing past environments through art, invertebrates like cephalopods (the group that includes octopuses, nautiluses, “squids” and their relatives, as well as fossil forms ammonites, belemnites and lesser known ancestral groups) normally only feature in the jaws of plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Artist Franz Anthony has sought to address this disservice (#justiceforcephalopods) with a series of illustrations focusing on a diverse line up of extinct cephalopods to show these animals off in their own right and not just as background characters – or lunch – in palaeoart.Related: Zombie ammonite discovery is 'snapshot of an unusual moment in deep time' | Elsa Panciroli Continue reading...

Singer and actor tells Variety she made clones of 14-year-old Samantha before it died last yearBarbra Streisand has revealed she successfully made two clones of her pet dog after it died last year.The singer and actor told the Hollywood trade publication Variety that cells were taken from the mouth and stomach of her 14-year-old Coton de Tulear dog, Samantha. Continue reading...

Many people hate the idea of networking, despite appreciating its potential value to their careers. Here’s an expert’s guideDo you want to advance your career or business and make more money? Silly question probably. Widening your network might be the answer. A study led by North Carolina State University’s Jeffrey Pollack found a link between entrepreneurs’ networking activities and how much money they brought in.Many people understand that they should network, but at the same time hate the idea of it. It’s easy to think of networking as a process of having to talk to complete strangers, schmoozing and pretending to be something you’re not. But many individuals go from not feeling like they can manage it to doing it very well indeed.

We can say with certainty that antidepressants are effective drugs. But don’t be disheartened if they’re not for youIn my first year of university, just after I had been prescribed fluoxetine for depression, I had an argument about it with a close friend. He told me that taking antidepressants would make my feelings false, my emotions manufactured. I wouldn’t be able to tell if what I was feeling was real – and that was wrong. At the time I did not know how to articulate that all of our feelings are linked to chemicals: that even eating a chocolate bar can give me a blood-sugar spike and alter my behaviour, that feeling the sunshine on my skin can give me hope and energy. Furthermore, that the contraceptive pills his girlfriends took were liable to make them angry, not to mention less horny. I did not know how to say that the antidepressant I took in order to cope with my life was not that different to the ketamine and cocaine he used to cope with his. In any case, it was a pretentious argument of the kind one has at university, and both of us lacked the scientific knowledge to really underpin our views. It was all posturing.Once I accepted that I needed help and began treatment, I felt calmer within a week Continue reading...

Sahara snow and volcanic colours are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last monthRare snowfall in north-west Algeria, on the edge of the Sahara desert. Despite the desert at times being one of the hottest places on Earth, the snow was reported to be up to 40cm thick in some places. Although temperatures plummet during the night, snowfall is very unusual in the Sahara because the air is so dry. It is only the third time in nearly 40 years that this part of the desert has seen snow. Continue reading...

Study confirms accuracy of using mouth clicks to identify location of objects, and uncovers insights which could help teach the skillSome people who are blind learn the extraordinary skill of echolocation, using mouth clicks to explore their environment in a way comparable to how bats navigate.Now scientists have uncovered new insights into how this feat is performed, which could help others to learn the skill. Continue reading...

Scientists suggest authoritarian attitudes may be partly rooted in biological urge to avoid catching diseases from unfamiliar peoplePeople who have a greater tendency to turn their nose up at the whiff of urine, sweat and other body odours are more likely to have rightwing authoritarian attitudes, research suggests.The study also found having a greater disgust for body odours was linked, albeit to a small degree, with support for Donald Trump when he was a presidential candidate.

One of the leading theoretical astrophysicists of his generationDonald Lynden-Bell, who has died aged 82, was one of the leading theoretical astrophysicists of his generation. He proposed in 1969 that quasars are powered by supermassive black holes and that most large galaxies, including our own, would host a dead quasar in their nucleus. He was a brilliant dynamicist, inventing the concept of “violent relaxation” in stellar systems, but he was also interested in what could be learned from observational mapping of our galaxy and its surroundings.Quasars, short for quasi-stellar radio sources, had been found during optical follow-up of radio surveys. In 1963 Maarten Schmidt had found that the quasar 3C273 had what was for the time a high red shift, indicating that it had a huge luminosity, and others soon followed. For a while, there was controversy about whether the red shifts were cosmological. Continue reading...

Yotam Ottolenghi | Snow | Mnemonics | Tony Blair | Groundhog DayAnne Summers throws down the olive-oil-mash-in-eight-minutes gauntlet to Yotam Ottolenghi (Letters, 27 February). I had the good fortune to attend an Ottolenghi demonstration in 2010 at Leiths. Most visiting chefs managed four or five, or at most six, quite complex dishes during a three-hour demo: Ottolenghi managed nine – all delicious – without breaking sweat, while simultaneously interviewing 48 diploma students about their hopes and interests. I fear she’d lose the bet.

Didn’t you report 2002 that two tiny pieces of engraved ochre found in Blombos Cave in South Africa were the oldest works of art ever discovered, writes John PictonGiven all the recent publicity about the attribution of European cave paintings to Neanderthal artists at an earlier date than expected for Homo sapiens (Neanderthals were artists 65,000 years ago, 23 February), it is a pity the Guardian does not recall its own previous headlines. In an article 16 years ago (World’s first artwork found in Africa, 11 January 2002) you said: “Two tiny pieces of engraved ochre are the oldest works of art ever discovered, scientists say, showing the artist in mankind was awakened, in Africa at least 77,000 years ago. Found in Blombos Cave in South Africa, the pieces are carved with a pattern of crossed lines, showing that humans had a capacity for abstract thought, and use of symbols, tens of thousands of years before they spread from Africa to Europe.” Homo sapiens was always ahead of the game!

Interest in Enceladus as a potential host for alien life likely to intensify as tests show Earth bacteria thrive in similar conditionsDeep-sea bacteria thrive in conditions designed to closely match those on Saturn’s tiny moon, Enceladus, according to scientists investigating the potential for alien life forms to survive there.The findings are likely to intensify interest in Enceladus, which has risen to the top of the list of potential locations in our solar system that might have the right conditions to support extraterrestrial life. Last year Nasa announced that a flyby of Enceladus by the Cassini spacecraft had identified water, ice and most of the chemical ingredients necessary for habitability. Continue reading...

Record warmth in the Arctic this month could yet prove to be a freak occurrence, but experts warn the warming event is unprecedentedAn alarming heatwave in the sunless winter Arctic is causing blizzards in Europe and forcing scientists to reconsider even their most pessimistic forecasts of climate change.Although it could yet prove to be a freak event, the primary concern is that global warming is eroding the polar vortex, the powerful winds that once insulated the frozen north. Continue reading...

Dr Daniel Glaser and Producer Max are back for a second season of A Neuroscientist Explains – and this time they’re going it alone!Subscribe and review on iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud and Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterA Neuroscientist Explains returns for a second season! Each week Dr Daniel Glaser and Producer Max will revisit a column from Dan’s hugely successful weekly column in the Observer Magazine. One subject, one interview and many, many interesting questions. Continue reading...

Pollution of coastal waters by sources including sewage and farm run-off may be the cause, experts suggestPeople who swim in the sea are at significantly higher risk of stomach bugs, ear problems and other illnesses than those who stick to the sand, research suggests.

Humans make huge use of marine vertebrates, but manta rays may pass the self-awareness test and other fish potentially could too. Ethically, where does that leave us?As a shark biologist, I enjoy nothing more than going scuba diving with sharks in the wild. However, I realise it’s an immense privilege to do this as part of my work – and that for the vast majority of people experiencing the underwater world in such a way is simply not possible.

Pills may help adults, but most depression has its roots in our early years, and helping children who are struggling could stop it before it beginsSian was just 14, brought by her misery to the edge of self-harm, when I met her in a cafe at the top end of one of the old mining valleys. Neutral ground. She told me about her rugby-playing older brother and her bright little sister who had lots of pets and wanted to be a vet. She felt that her parents doted on them and that there could be no room in anyone’s heart for her. She told me about her only friend, who had been killed in a road accident just as they went up to big school. About the recent death of her grandmother, who had been the only person she could confide in. And about the GP who had said she was depressed and given her a course of pills.I thought about Sian again this week. The newspaper headlines across the world were welcoming a major study that confirmed the value of antidepressant medication in the treatment of depression in adults. And so did I. Depression was validated at long last as an illness every bit as serious as physical conditions, that could cause untold human suffering and economic devastation, but could be helped with a course of antidepressant pills. Continue reading...

One of Britain’s greatest strengths is set to diminish as China asserts itself on the world stageIn China last month, Theresa May attended the launch of the British Council’s English is Great campaign, intended to boost interest and fluency in our national language. This might sound like Donald Trump’s notorious “Make America great again”, but comes in fact from a stronger position. Beyond doubt, the use of English is greater than ever, and far more widespread than any other language in the world. All non-English-speaking powers of our globalised world recognise it as the first foreign language to learn; it is also, uniquely, in practical use worldwide. The British Council reckons that English is spoken at a useful level by some 1.75 billion people, a quarter of the world’s population. It is taught from primary level up in all China’s schools; it is the working language of the whole European Union.Related: Inside the OED: can the world’s biggest dictionary survive the internet? Continue reading...

From sexual politics to actual politics, language is changing fast and dividing us not only by generation but also by education. It’s easy to trip up, even if you mean wellIt had to happen, I suppose, in this era of self-identification. Lately, I have come to identify as the Duke of Edinburgh, a man famous for barging around the world insulting the locals. I also say the wrong things, although I try to avoid out-and-out racism. To a visually impaired woman with a guide dog, the Duke once said: “Do you know they’re now producing eating dogs for the anorexics?” He is lauded as the don of the Clarkson-Littlejohn truthtelling variety rather than a rude git. Can I say “git”? I love the word git.As I live with a social justice warrior (a teenager) I feel increasingly Dukey. I am in constant trouble for the things I say. When referring to somone as gay the other day, she yelled that I was “biphobic”. It all ended badly, with me informing her that the difference between a straight man and a gay man was half a lager. I shouldn’t have said that. I should have said craft beer. We made up with a takeway. She ordered a potato curry with her masala dosa. When I said: “That’s a lot of potatoes,” she called me racist, because she is half Irish. Continue reading...

The solutions to today’s puzzlesIn my puzzle blog earlier today I set you four examples of the Turkish puzzle Tapa.If you want to see the questions click here. Continue reading...

The Zoological Information Management System takes the guesswork out of animal attraction and helps promote genetic variety

This Turkish puzzle is a delight.

Cancer Research UK says people born between early 80s and mid-90s set to overtake baby boomersMillennials are set to be the fattest generation of Britons, with 70% dangerously overweight before they hit middle age, research shows.People born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s are set to overtake baby boomers as the age group with the highest proportion of overweight or obese people, according to Cancer Research UK. Continue reading...

The moon is almost full this week as its path on the ecliptic plane takes it close by Regulus in the constellation of LeoThis week’s “must see” is another for early risers. On 1 March the almost full Moon will pass very close to Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo (see chart). Regulus is the closest bright star to the ecliptic plane. This is the path that the planets, the Sun and the Moon all follow in the sky. The ecliptic passes through a number of constellations. Most of these are known as the zodiacal constellations and, like Leo, their names are familiar because of their long association with astrological myth. At 06:00 GMT on 1 March, the Moon will be less than a degree to the north of Regulus. The Moon itself measures half a degree across when full, meaning that it draws to within two-diameters-distance of the star. Although Regulus looks like a single object to the naked eye it is instead composed of at least four stars in orbit around each other. Continue reading...

The first human contact with another intelligent species is a staple of science fiction, but we now know it happened 40,000 years agoThe three human subspecies known to have hybridised to produce the present human population of the planet, Neanderthals, Homo sapiens and Denisovans, last had a common ancestor more than half a million years ago. Until now it has been assumed that the only branch of her descendants to think symbolically was us, Homo sapiens. In fact, until the development of sequencing techniques sensitive enough to work on ancient DNA, it was thought that the other two species had died out entirely, rather than leaving portions of their genome in European and Melanesian populations respectively. But the discovery, reported last week, of palaeolithic art at four sites in Spain that dates from the time when the peninsula was occupied only by Neanderthals, shows that they worked with symbols of stone and paint.We have no idea what these markings mean. That is in the nature of symbolism, and indeed of language: the meaning of a sound, or a marking on the wall, is given by the community that uses it; it can’t be read by outsiders. We already know that Neanderthals were anatomically equipped for speech; their use of painted symbols suggests that they could make audible symbols and not just visible ones. Continue reading...

Leading astrophysicist Mark McCaughrean, based in the Netherlands, says many may have to forgo British citizenshipOne of the most senior British scientists in Europe has made an impassioned plea to the government to reconsider its implacable opposition to freedom of movement, saying it is a direct attack on around 1 million British nationals living on the continent.Britons living in Europe will be left with fewer rights if free movement disappears, while European passport holders living in the UK will continue to have rights as EU citizens post-Brexit. Continue reading...

A study proving the effectiveness of medication was no surprise. But the news that talking therapies can be as effective as drugs was a striking detailThe results of a comprehensive, six-year study confirmed last week what I’ve known a long time: antidepressants work. I know this because half the people I know are on them – and that’s only the half I know about. Antidepressants saved my life, they tell me, and I believe them. I don’t say: “The only thing you’ve swallowed is propaganda, mate, straight from Big Pharma’s chalky teat.” I would have to be a maniac to do that. And I’m not a maniac. At least, not in that way.I’ve been on antidepressants at various points in my life. And I’ve always been one of the 80% who come off them within a month, looking for another way. I quickly tire of the tweaking of drugs and dosages required to find the appropriate prescription. I freak out at the initial side-effects – the flaccidness in my brain, the lack of ideas in my underpants. More than that, I’ve always had been uncomfortable accepting there is something medically wrong with me. Continue reading...