The most intriguing abandoned settlements, from ancient ruins to modern ghost townsLast week laser scanning revealed the true scale of the ancient city of Angamuco in western Mexico. The city, built around AD900, is thought to have had 100,000 residents and included pyramids, road systems, vegetable gardens and ball courts. It was a major centre for the Purépecha people, rivals to the Aztecs. Both cultures collapsed in the 16th century when Europeans introduced typhoid-like diseases to which they had no immunity. Continue reading...

The journalist and author Henry Nicholls has been struggling with several sleep disorders for decades, but for many it’s just a jokeFor a serious examination of the devastating and incurable disability that is narcolepsy, Henry Nicholls’s book, Sleepy Head, is a surprisingly funny account.There is the obvious, if somewhat cruel, humour to be found in stories of people falling asleep in surprising places: in a small boat sailing around the Farne Islands, with the freezing North Sea cascading over the gunwale; while scuba diving; on a rollercoaster; at the dentist’s; on the back of a horse; on a surfboard. But there are other extremely funny insights that Nicholls gives into the crepuscular world that narcoleptics inhabit: his laconic fretting over the etiquette of attending a CBT group for insomniacs, which he discovers he also suffers from while researching the book. “A narcoleptic attending an insomnia clinic could be seen as the height of insensitivity,” he deadpans. Then there’s the attempt to solve sleep apnoea by learning the didgeridoo. (Didgetherapy, since you ask. It involves acrylic didgeridoos and is, apparently, quite effective.) Continue reading...

It’s never been easy for people to change their mind. But in a world of social media and polarised opinion, the stakes are now even higher. Time for a listening revolutionIn the past week, the spectacle of the American gun lobby facing down the bereaved families of Parkland, Florida, has been difficult to watch. So close to the latest tragedy, the insistence on the sanctity of the right to bear arms has looked not only wrong-headed but wildly perverse. The weight of evidence, which grows shooting by shooting, goes a long way to proving that the second amendment has the diametrically opposite effect from that – keeping families safe – in which its proponents place their faith. The disconnect invites a question that seems increasingly insistent in our lives: on big issues, why is it so very hard for people to change their minds?In the case of gun control, it is tempting to believe this is primarily a political question or even a financial one. In Wednesday’s emotive town hall debate in Miami, one young survivor of the shooting put that case directly to the Republican Florida senator Marco Rubio: the National Rifle Association had supported Rubio’s career to the tune of $3.3m; would he now refuse to take any more? For Donald Trump, intent on arming teachers, the monetary incentive looked even more telling: his campaign had benefited from a reported $21m of NRA funding. Continue reading...

Study into ‘health attacks’ on embassy staff sparks controversy, with some experts claiming situation is being spun for political gainWhen a mystery illness rippled through the US embassy in Cuba in late 2016, the diplomatic fallout was rapid.The US slashed the number of people at its Havana mission and expelled 15 Cuban diplomats after at least 24 American staff and family reported a mix of headaches, dizziness, eyesight, hearing, sleep and concentration problems. Continue reading...

At first blinking was hard. But I worked at it, fighting my brain. Every task is an effort, but I’m committed to getting betterHalf a day. That’s all it took. Half a day turned my world upside down. My life as a mother, with dreams of building a successful law practice and growing another hobby business. And throughout, aspirations to write.All gone. Flipped in half a day. Continue reading...

Pioneer of ‘green chemistry’ through his groundbreaking research into ionic liquidsKenneth Seddon, who has died aged 67 after suffering from cancer, was a pioneering chemist and acknowledged leader of “green chemistry”. He led the growth of research into a relatively new area of study, ionic liquids.Ken did not discover these substances, but in the 1980s he was the first to see that they were an unexplored form of matter with huge potential. Unlike everyday molecular solvents, such as water, acetone (nail varnish remover) or petrol, which are uncharged, these liquid salts consist of disparately shaped positive and negative ions. This gives the liquids high electric fields, and therefore high solubilities. It also means they mostly do not release fumes, evaporate or boil. Ken realised that changing the ion combinations of the material meant trillions of compositions were possible: you could potentially make a liquid to meet any need – viscous or runny, hydrophobic or hydrophilic – that was also environmentally benign, as the material itself could be designed to minimise toxicity or biodegradability issues. Continue reading...

Ian Sample delves into a preliminary study of US embassy staff said to have been targeted by an energy source in Cuba. With no unifying explanation, what do scientists think happened?Subscribe and review on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud and Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterBetween 2016 and 2017, a number of US diplomats in Cuba reported distressing symptoms including headaches, dizziness, eyesight, hearing, concentration and balance problems. Many claimed to have heard curious sounds either at home or in hotel rooms in Havana. Were the diplomats attacked with a mysterious new weapon? Was it espionage gone wrong? Or is there another explanation? Last week, a preliminary medical study of the diplomats was released, prompting further debate. Continue reading...

Academics dispute the claims made for these drugs in a recent study, while one long-term user recounts how they have worked for her and other readers point to the usefulness of meditation and community in fending off depressionIt was disappointing to read such an uncritical description of the latest analysis of antidepressant trials that does not address doubts about the widespread use of these drugs (The drugs do work, says study of antidepressants, 22 February).The analysis consists of comparing “response” rates between people on antidepressants and those on placebo. But “response” is an artificial category that has been arbitrarily constructed out of the data actually collected, which consists of scores on depression rating scales. Analysing categories inflates differences. When scores are compared, differences are trivial, and unlikely to be clinically relevant. Continue reading...

This weeks headlines have been full of our ancestors, most prominently the discovery that Neanderthals painted on cave walls in Spain 65,000 years ago – tens of thousands of years before the arrival of modern humans. Some say this made them the first artists on Earth, but Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones has some interesting points to make about that claim. Neanderthals aside, an intriguing theory that Homo erectus may have been a sailor and able to speak has been put forward. Researchers also say that ancient DNA reveals that the arrival of the Beaker folk changed Britain forever. Genetic analysis has shown that at least 90% of the ancestry of Britons was replaced by a wave of migrants, who arrived about 4,500 years ago. Also unpicking the past were some Australian scientists, who say that if you want to know about T rex’s locomotion then watching how an ibis moves might just be the key. Another team of antipodean researchers are using 3D scans to try to unlock the evolutionary history of the Tasmanian tiger. Shedding light in a totally different way were scientists who have used synthetic bioluminescent molecules to make brain cells glow so brightly they can be seen outside the body. Used only in animals so far, the luminescence allows researchers to track individual cells in animals with unprecedented accuracy. The future’s bright, it seems ... Continue reading...

Scientists say cave paintings in Spain, thought to have been by our ancestors, were actually by Neanderthals. So did they teach us everything we know?

At the beginning, we hunted frantically for any medical breakthrough that might hint at a cure. Then hope gave way to the unbearable truth

Health secretary says mistakes in dispensing medicines cause ‘totally avoidable harm and death’

Using the TESS satellite, now at the Kennedy Space Centre, the agency is to study 200,000 stars in a quest for habitable planetsNasa’s next planet hunting mission has arrived at the Kennedy Space Centre, in Florida, for final checks ahead of its April launch. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will spend at least two years studying more than 200,000 nearby stars and looking for planets. The mission is expected to discover thousands of previously unknown worlds by detecting the small drops in light which occur when each planet passes across the face of its parent star.This approach, known as the transit method, was employed to great effect by Kepler, a Nasa mission which has detected, so far, more than 2,500 confirmed planets around other stars. Continue reading...

Synthetic bioluminescent molecules allows researchers to track individual cells in animals with unprecedented accuracyScientists have stolen a trick from fireflies and jellyfish to make animals with cells that glow so brightly they can be seen from outside the body.The Japanese team created mice and marmosets whose brains contain nerve cells that produce light which can be picked up by a camera to study the tissues inside the living animals. Continue reading...

Neanderthals painted on cave walls in Spain 65,000 years ago – tens of thousands of years before modern humans arrived, say researchersMore than 65,000 years ago, a Neanderthal reached out and made strokes in red ochre on the wall of a cave, and in doing so, became the first known artist on Earth, scientists claim.The discovery overturns the widely-held belief that modern humans are the only species to have expressed themselves through works of art. Continue reading...

A look at the problems Victor Frankenstein would have faced, from preservation of tissue to developing new surgical techniquesThe bicentenary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus has meant a lot of people are re-examining this brilliant work of science fiction. My particular interest is the science fact behind the science fiction. How much real science influenced Mary Shelley? Could a real-life Victor Frankenstein have constructed a creature?In terms of the technical aspects of building a creature from scraps, many people focus on the collecting of the raw materials and reanimation stages. It’s understandable as there are many great stories about grave-robbers and dissection rooms as well as electrical experiments that were performed on recently executed murderers. But there quite a few stages between digging up dead bodies and reanimating a creature. Continue reading...

At least 90% of the ancestry of Britons was replaced by a wave of migrants, who arrived about 4,500 years ago, say researchersThe largest ever study on ancient DNA has shown that Britain was changed forever by the arrival of the Beaker folk, a wave of migrants about 4,500 years ago who brought with them new customs, new burial practices, and beautiful, distinctive bell-shaped pottery.Related: First modern Britons had 'dark to black' skin, Cheddar Man DNA analysis reveals Continue reading...

Doctors hope study will put to rest doubts about the medicine, and help to address global under-treatment of depressionIt’s official: antidepressants are not snake oil or a conspiracyAntidepressants work – some more effectively than others – in treating depression, according to authors of a groundbreaking study which doctors hope will finally put to rest doubts about the controversial medicine.Millions more people around the world should be prescribed pills or offered talking therapies, which work equally well for moderate to severe depression, say the doctors, noting that just one in six people receive proper treatment in the rich world – and one in 27 in the developing world. Continue reading...

A groundbreaking new study shows antidepressants are effective – we should get on with taking and prescribing themIt’s official: antidepressants work.They are not a multibillion-dollar conspiracy dreamed up by Big Pharma Bond villains. They are not a snake oil distilled in secret laboratories, designed to stupefy us all. They are not a futile cop-out from overextended family doctors. Continue reading...

Researchers hail ‘surprising’ findings about sugar after analysing more than 3,000 casesPeople who regularly consume at least one sugary soft drink a day, no matter the size of their waist, could be at increased risk of cancer, according to a new study.Researchers from Cancer Council Victoria and University of Melbourne studied more than 35,000 Australians who developed 3,283 cases of obesity-related cancers. Continue reading...

The Australian white ibis is one of a dozen bird species whose locomotion is revealing a lot about their dinosaur cousinsThe Australian white ibis, aka “bin chicken”, might not have won the title of Australia’s favourite bird, but its next race might help scientists solve the mystery of how Tyrannosaurus rex walked and ran.

‘The mountain in the distance is her goal but we don’t think she’ll get to the top. It’s going to take her another five years just to get to the bright rock formation below’

An intermittent rumbling similar to a case investigated on The X-Files has been driving some residents berserk for years – with similar noises heard around the world. The truth is out there ...Name: The Windsor Hum.Age: About seven years old. Continue reading...

A recent Canadian documentary promoted a fringe idea in American archaeology that’s both scientifically wrong and racistLast month’s release of The Ice Bridge, an episode in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series The Nature of Things has once again revived public discussion of a controversial idea about how the Americas were peopled known as the “Solutrean hypothesis”. This idea suggests a European origin for the peoples who made the Clovis tools, the first recognized stone tool tradition in the Americas. As I was one of the experts appearing on the documentary, I want to share my thoughts about it and why I see the ideas portrayed within as unsettling, unwise, and scientifically implausible.

A new specimen has redefined who’s in and who’s out of the Archaeopteryx genus – and poses questions about other theropod dinosaursHave you heard? There is a new Archaeopteryx in town. Number 12, to be exact. Technically, this specimen has been around since 2010, but was only formally described three weeks ago, thereby making up for the tragic loss of the Haarlem specimen (now renamed as Ostromia crassipes) last year.Archaeopteryx has since long formed a central piece in evolutionary debates. At the time of its discovery, it was the first Really Old Bird ever found. Moreover, its discovery in 1861 came just a few years after Darwin’s magnum opus On the Origin of Species, in which Darwin argued that one species could evolve into another. Archaeopteryx with its dapper mix of both reptilian and avian features was seen as a true transitional fossil, proving Darwin’s theory. Upon hearing of its discovery, in a letter from the Scottish palaeontologist Hugh Falconer dated 3 January 1863, Darwin replied to express his interest and excitement: Continue reading...

Participants who ate the most vegetables and consumed the fewest processed foods, sugary drinks and unhealthy fats shed the most kilogramsThe amount and quality of food and not a person’s genetics will lead to weight loss, a US study has found.It has been suggested that variations in genetic makeup make it easier for some people to lose weight than others on certain diets. Continue reading...

CT scans of thylacine specimens are being used to investigate why they resembled dogs despite last sharing an ancestor 160m years agoJoeys of thylacines, or Tasmanian tigers, look much like the young of every other marsupial: bald, pink, and with pronounced forelimbs and jaws for crawling into their mother’s pouch and latching on to a teat.So it’s perhaps not surprising that, in the 200-year history of collecting and cataloguing various thylacine specimens for museum exhibits, there has been a bit of a mix-up. Continue reading...

Questions also raised for moderate drinkers of alcohol about their social habitHeavy drinkers are putting themselves at risk of dementia, according to the largest study of its kind ever conducted.Research published in the Lancet Public Health journal provides powerful evidence that people who drink enough to end up in hospital are putting themselves at serious risk of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It will also raise questions for moderate drinkers about the possible long-term consequences of their social habit. Continue reading...

Cambridge University is recruiting thousands of people to play a fake-news simulator, in the hope they will learn to identify the real thingName: Pre-bunking.Age: A modern malaise/cure, still in its early infancy. Continue reading...

British Antarctic Survey is trying to reach a newly revealed ecosystem that had been hidden for 120,000 years below the Larsen C ice shelfA team of international scientists is due to set off for the world’s biggest iceberg on Wednesday, fighting huge waves and the encroaching Antarctic winter, in a mission aiming to answer fundamental questions about the impact of climate change in the polar regions.

And why it mattersWhenever I describe the fundamental forces to an audience that does not entirely consist of other particle physicists (happens more often that you might think), it is the weak force that causes trouble.Electromagnetism holds atoms together (amongst other fun stuff), the strong force holds atomic nuclei together, and gravity holds the planet together. But what does the weak force do? I am usually reduced to hand-waving about neutrinos and the Sun, in a faintly unconvincing fashion. Continue reading...

Researchers are analysing material on which early Disney cartoons were inked to find best way to save and store the animationsHands clasped, silver slippers together and with an air of gentle condescension, Snow White looks like the epitome of a Disney princess. Except there’s a hitch: across her face and dress run unmistakable cracks.While Disney’s cartoon characters have an indelible place in popular culture, the material that propelled many of the vintage heroes to fame is proving less durable. Continue reading...

A new theory suggests that Homo erectus was able to create seagoing vessels – and must have used language to sail successfullyThey had bodies similar to modern humans, could make tools, and were possibly the first to cook. Now one expert is arguing that Homo erectus might have been a mariner – complete with sailing lingo.Homo erectus first appeared in Africa more than 1.8m years ago and is thought to be the first archaic human to leave the continent. Continue reading...

Leather bands dating from AD120 are thought to be only known surviving examplesRoman boxing gloves have been discovered near Hadrian’s Wall, thought to be the only known surviving examples, even though the sport was well- documented on Roman wall paintings, mosaics and sculptures.With a protective guard designed to fit snugly over the knuckles, the gloves were packed with natural material which acted as shock absorbers. They date from around AD120 and were certainly made to last: they still fit comfortably on a modern hand. One of them even retains the impression of the knuckles of its ancient wearer. Continue reading...

Brian Sissons, who has died aged 91, mapped and interpreted the effects of the Ice Age on the Scottish landscape. From the late 1950s until his retirement in 1982, Brian transformed the understanding of the evolution of Scotland’s scenery.As a fieldworker, Brian surveyed the ways in which the landscape had evolved under glacial and post-glacial conditions. His two books, The Evolution of Scotland’s Scenery (1967) and The Geomorphology of the British Isles: Scotland (1976), provided a synthesis of the current knowledge. He also inspired scores of researchers, including 30 of his own PhD students, of whom I was one. Continue reading...

Six years ago, researchers asked a radical question: could eggcases taken from trawler-caught sharks still hatch live, healthy young?Back in December 2012, I met up with Greg Nowell, co-founder of Sharklab-Malta, a non-profit NGO founded in 2008. Sharklab collaborates with shark researchers on a global and local scale, with an overall mission to highlight the current plight of sharks in our oceans whilst increasing awareness and education of the public.Greg was interested in my experience working with neonate small spotted catsharks (Scyliorhinus canicula) and the greater spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus stellaris); in the UK these are usually known as the lesser spotted dogfish and bull huss, respectively. At Macduff Marine Aquarium I’d worked with both species, as well as on the maintenance of viable eggcases, which resulted in successful hatching and rearing of shark pups. Continue reading...

While we debate whether the durian is the best or worst food on the planet, it turns out this wonderful oddity requires healthy populations of flying fox for survival

2017 saw more than 21,000 cases and 35 deaths, with large outbreaks in one in four countries, says World Health OrganisationMeasles cases have soared across Europe over the last year, with large outbreaks affecting one in four countries, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) which is concerned by low rates of immunisation against the disease.

My father warned me about scoundrels in business. Now bad behaviour can be called out online, but international shame still doesn’t stop roguesAs my father had been seriously ripped off three times during his life in business by people he trusted, he often warned me about the surprising number of rogues and scoundrels swanning around, ready to use any vile trick to relieve me of my money.Just my father’s bad luck, I thought, until about a decade ago, when I came across one of these villains. He was a rather grand agent, who asked me to give an after-dinner talk at a serious conference on education. Flattering, but scary, because I had never done such a thing before – a long, serious speech. I asked how much I would be paid. Continue reading...

The chemical BPA is widely added to food and drink packaging, and more than 80% of teenagers have it in their bodies. But how dangerous is it?Can exposure to plastics harm your health? It’s a question currently being explored by researchers after a recent study suggested that traces of a synthetic chemical called Bisphenol A (BPA) can be found in more than 80% of teenagers. BPA is added to plastic to create a special form called polycarbonate plastic, used in making robust, impact-resistant materials for everything from food and drink packaging to DVD cases and medical devices. First created in 1891, it has been used commercially since the 1950s and is now one of the most commonly produced chemicals in the world, with 3.6bn tonnes of BPA generated every year.The problem is that BPA can be ingested or absorbed through skin contact, meaning that humans are regularly exposed through the chemical leaching out of packaging into food and drink – and over the past 20 years various studies have linked BPA to a variety of adverse health effects. The biggest concerns have been the impact on foetuses and young children, who have underdeveloped systems for detoxifying chemicals – the consequences being that the younger you are, the higher the levels of BPA in your body. Continue reading...

Evidence of effectiveness remains ‘limited’, says Medical Journal of Australia editorialDoctors have been warned against rushing to prescribe medical cannabis despite Australians’ acceptance of its use.To date, the evidence on the effectiveness of medical cannabis remains “limited”, say Jennifer Martin and Associate Professor Yvonne Bonomo in an editorial for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). Continue reading...

Blood and urine test, believed to be first of its kind, could lead to earlier diagnosis of autism spectrum disordersScientists in Britain say they have developed a blood and urine test that can detect autism in children.Researchers at the University of Warwick said the test, believed to be the first of its kind, could lead to earlier diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children who could then be given appropriate treatment much earlier in their lives. Continue reading...

Therapies may one day enable healthy part of brain to take over tasks from damaged areas

Researchers find elderly people with high cognitive function have more of a certain type of brain cell“Superagers” have long puzzled scientists, but now researchers say they are unpicking why some people live beyond 80 – and still appear to be in fine fettle, with cognitive capacities on a par with adults decades younger.Researchers have spent years studying superagers in an attempt to understand what sets the senior citizens apart.

Chinese investment is paying off with serious advances in biotech, computing and space. Are they edging ahead of the west?I first met Xiaogang Peng in the summer of 1992 at Jilin University in Changchun, in the remote north-east of China, where he was a postgraduate student in the department of chemistry. He told me that his dream was to get a place at a top American lab. Now, Xiaogang was evidently smart and hard-working – but so, as far as I could see, were most Chinese science students. I wished him well, but couldn’t help thinking he’d set himself a massive challenge.Fast forward four years to when, as an editor at Nature, I publish a paper on nanotechnology from world-leading chemists at the University of California at Berkeley. Among them was Xiaogang. That 1996 paper now appears in a 10-volume compendium of the all-time best of Nature papers being published in translation in China. Continue reading...

The pioneering geneticist on why he wants us to earn money by sharing our genomic data, his plans to resurrect the woolly mammoth and how narcolepsy helps him generate ideas

If you have your DNA sequenced, someone somewhere will be making money from the data. A new start-up aims to make sure that you get your share

Do you tend to work to put another person at their ease, or are you happy to let things get awkward? Take these simple questions to find outChoose which statement, a) or b), best applies to you.Asked to give an impromptu speech, you: Continue reading...

We are supposed to be inquisitive and yet …John Brockman has run out of questions. Brockman, a literary agent, runs the science and philosophy site Edge.org. Every year for 20 years, he has asked leading thinkers to answer a particular question, such as: “What questions have disappeared?” or: “What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?” This year, though, Brockman announced that he has no more questions left. So he asked his final question: “What is the last question?”“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers,” Voltaire insisted. Questions help us define what we don’t know and force us or others to justify what we think we do know. Continue reading...