Linguist who went on from his survey of English as used in Britain to promote Standard English, the written form common to speakers from all round the worldIn 1959 Randolph Quirk, who has died aged 97, embarked on a long-term project to produce a comprehensive analysis of British English as it is actually used in the present day, rather than as reflected in the distorting mirrors of ivory-tower linguists and armchair pedants. In doing so he came to have an enormous influence on the development of English language studies worldwide, particularly through his advocacy of Standard English, the common written ground maintained despite variations in speech, as a way of opening doors educationally.On his appointment the following year as professor at University College London, he read a paper to the Philological Society laying out the ground plan for a large-scale Survey of English Usage. Its goals were to compile and investigate a corpus or databank of spoken and written English. In Quirk’s view, deeply unfashionable at that time, good, reliable accounts of the language must rest securely on a wide sampling of authentic, observed language in use. To rely on the intuition of a native speaker was not enough. Continue reading...

My friend Zbigniew Kotowicz, who has died of cancer aged 67, was a rare, proud, sometimes solitary man with a gift for friendship. He wrote four acclaimed books: on the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, on the neurologist Egas Moniz (originator of psycho-surgery), on the psychiatrist RD Laing and on the philosopher Gaston Bachelard. The books themselves are impressive, but their range more striking still. In an age of specialisation, Zbigniew was something of a polymath.A love of literature took root early, as did a radical’s commitment to the political left, broadly construed. Psychology and psychoanalysis followed. Then philosophy offered him a way to exercise his restless intelligence more freely. Its greatest gift was an introduction to the work of Bachelard, who became the point around which all his thinking turned. Continue reading...

Researchers hope to improve current trial and error approach by devising algorithm based on a person’s cognitive characteristicsResearchers are developing an internet-based tool they hope will predict the effectiveness of antidepressants for individual patients, ending the current prescription lottery.Patients with depression often try many different drugs before settling on one that works, but a study aims to help clinicians make an informed choice as to which is likely to work best for a particular person. Continue reading...

Misha the aardvark dies in blaze at London tourist attraction and four meerkats are missing, presumed deadLondon zoo has reopened after several animals died in a fire.

Leading scientists pick the dozen most significant discoveries and developments of 2017 – from a steep decline in flying insects to a virus that can kill bacteria Continue reading...

The neuroscientist giving this year’s Royal Institution Christmas lectures on doing standup comedy and why rats laughSophie Scott is a senior fellow at University College London. She is an expert in cognitive neuroscience, particularly in relation to communications. This year, she is giving the Royal Institution Christmas lectures looking at how evolution has shaped our bodies to communicate with each other. She also does standup comedy.When and how were you asked to do the Royal Institution Christmas lectures?

Former Nasa biochemist Josiah Zayner became an online sensation by conducting DIY gene therapy on himself. He explains why he did itJosiah Zayner, 36, recently made headlines by becoming the first person to use the revolutionary gene-editing tool Crispr to try to change their own genes. Part way through a talk on genetic engineering, Zayner pulled out a syringe apparently containing DNA and other chemicals designed to trigger a genetic change in his cells associated with dramatically increased muscle mass. He injected the DIY gene therapy into his left arm, live-streaming the procedure on the internet.The former Nasa biochemist, based in California, has become a leading figure in the growing “biohacker” movement, which involves loose collectives of scientists, engineers, artists, designers, and activists experimenting with biotechnology outside of conventional institutions and laboratories. Continue reading...

An atheist’s Christmas celebrates hospitality and generosity – just like a Christian’sAlthough I’m a card-carrying atheist, I have some sympathy with those who argue that a Christmas without Christ or a mass is as meaningless as celebrating a birthday without a birth, or a jubilee without a coronation.

Launch in setting sun created shining streak widely seen throughout southern California and as far away as ArizonaA reused SpaceX rocket carried 10 satellites into orbit from California on Friday, leaving behind a trail of mystery and wonder as it soared into space.

This Christmas visit an older relative. For me Auntie Gillian’s bravery and sharp mind mean time spent with her is always a joy, never a choreMy Auntie Gillian is the bravest person I know. Now 85 and in declining health, she spends much of her time shuffling between two rooms holding on to her walking frame. Bent double with osteoporosis, she has not been out of her tiny house for three years. A widow for more than a decade since my uncle died, she has no children and is now completely reliant on carers to change her clothes and put her on the toilet. Over Christmas, they are the only people she will see, apart from me.My aunt lives over an hour away, which makes “popping over” difficult. Like so many people, I have countless calls on my time. So I have to make a really special effort to visit her and too often I find excuses not to bother. But when I do finally make the trip I’m always surprised how much I get out of our encounter. When I arrive my head is crammed with all the things I need to do at home or at work, yet by the time I leave many of these things will have been forgotten. Continue reading...

A wunderkammer of amazing facts inspires a better appreciation of the world and celebrates the wonder and explanatory power of scienceThe fate of our times,” wrote the sociologist Max Weber in 1917, “is characterised by rationalisation and intellectualisation and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world.” Though its urgency was new, Weber’s anxiety – that the rise of monotheism, followed by the gradual secularisation of culture and the march of science, were robbing the world of wonder – was an old one. In “Lamia”, published in 1820, John Keats expressed a fear that Newtonian optics would “unweave” the rainbow. In 1949, the critic Lionel Trilling warned of the “reductive spectre” of psychoanalysis which, he thought, “haunts our culture”. Nowadays, Trilling’s spectre has been replaced by what the writer and retired medical physician Raymond Tallis has identified as contemporary culture’s propensity toward “neuromania”: the belief that neuroscientific explanations for consciousness can fully account for all human experience and endeavour.Henderson wants to re-enchant the world, but not at the expense of scientific explanations of it Continue reading...

Former navy classmate John McCain leads tributes to the man who made history with his untethered flight in 1984Bruce McCandless, the Nasa astronaut who was first person to fly freely and untethered in space, has died aged 80.Related: That’s me in the picture: Bruce McCandless, 47, in the world’s first untethered space flight, February 1984 Continue reading...

It’s a significant step: gene editing has been used to prevent a form of genetic hearing loss in mice, raising the prospect of a new class of therapies that could transform future treatment. That’s small comfort for dolphins though, as apparently there’s a species of Mexican fish that has orgies so loud they can deafen other sea animals. Inconsiderate, no? Luckily they’re nowhere near any of the instruments we have scanning the skies for signs of alien life, as they might drown out any bleeps, blips or bloops, but why do we keep looking for life on other planets anyway? And will we ever answer the question “are we alone”? One thing is certain, however: we find space objects fascinating – even when they’re covered in a “thick crust of carbon-rich gunk”, as interstellar visitor ‘Oumuamua was revealed to be this week. Maybe we just need to wait for other life forms to evolve a bit more before they make contact – after all, it’s not as though humans are standing still on that score. A new study suggests that evolution is still acting on contemporary humans, although over many generations and very weakly. Let’s hope alien evolution happens a bit faster than ours, eh? And finally, a seasonal plea: keep those selection trays and chocolate tree decorations well out of reach of your furry friends. A study has shown that cases of chocolate poisoning in dogs peaks at Christmas time, and although it’s seldom fatal, even modest amounts of chocolate can cause vomiting, agitation and seizures. Continue reading...

The search for alien life continues, but how near are we to finding life on other planets – and will we ever answer the question ‘are we alone’?In less than an hour, the decision was made. It was 2 December and Avi Loeb, an astronomy professor at Harvard, was with Yuri Milner, the Russian billionaire and founder of Breakthrough Listen, a $100m alien-hunting venture. Milner had invited Loeb, an adviser on the project, to his Palo Alto home to discuss the bizarre features of the interstellar object, ‘Oumuamua.The first known visitor from another solar system, the monolithic lump appeared long and slender, a curious shape for a space rock. The two agreed there was the slimmest chance ‘Oumuamua was not what it seemed. Eleven days later, Breakthrough Listen swung the world’s largest steerable telescope, at Green Bank in West Virginia, into position and scanned the 400-metre-long body for signs that it was a passing spacecraft. Continue reading...

The Gift, written by Marcel Mauss in 1925, explores why we exchange things and the social rules we follow – and might help explain why gift-giving can be so fraught with worryExchanging stuff – as gifts or economic transactions – and reciprocating those exchanges in a socially acceptable way - is a practice found in all human cultures. The rules and scope of the exchanges may be very different, but the fact of them is universal.French anthropologist Marcel Mauss doesn’t attempt to explain the politics and practice of the office Secret Santa (alas) – instead, he describes “archaic societies” in Melanesia, Polynesia and the north-west coast Native American peoples who practiced ‘potlatch’, a ceremonial gift-giving and feasting ritual characterised by competitive shows of conspicuous giving and consumption. These, Mauss says, are systems of gift-giving that aren’t just about gifts, but carry legal, economic, spiritual and moral significance that saturates the whole social fabric (he calls them “total prestations”). In these societies, items given as gifts take on the spiritual significance of the giver. The value of the relationship is embodied in the thing given. Continue reading...

It is to our detriment that the political focus on technology sees science and society as separate or even as being opposed. We need joined-up thinking

With hundreds waiting for heart transplants, experts and patients urge public to register as organ donors – and make their wishes clear to family membersFamilies are being urged to talk about becoming an organ donor in the hope that more people on the waiting list for a heart transplant will be given the chance of life.Since last Christmas Day, 31 people have died on the heart transplant waiting list, according to NHS Blood and Transplant. To try to tackle the shortage of organs, the government has recently announced a consultation into an “opt-out” scheme. Everybody would be assumed to be willing to donate their organs unless they had signed up to a register to say no. Continue reading...

Nasa has selected two concepts for further study – for a robotic mission to launch in the 2020s, the fourth in its New Frontiers programmeA sample return spacecraft to a comet and a drone to fly across a moon of Saturn are the two robotic mission concepts chosen for further study by Nasa this week. Both proposals build upon previous missions performed by the European Space Agency.The Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return (Caesar) mission would revisit comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This is the icy body that ESA explored with its Rosetta spacecraft and Philae lander in 2014. Continue reading...

Solving the RSS’s fiendishly tricky festive quiz will require general knowledge, logic and lateral thinkingThe Royal Statistical Society has published a wickedly difficult Christmas quiz to entertain puzzle fans over the festive break for the past 24 years, and this year’s challenge, set by Dr Tim Paulden, may well be one of the toughest yet. Cracking the 13 problems below will require a blend of general knowledge, logic, and lateral thinking, but as usual no specialist mathematical knowledge is needed.Two helpful tips for budding solvers: Continue reading...

My father, Bryan Aves, who has died aged 92, established a successful career as a radiographer and radiotherapist despite having left school at 14 without qualifications. At one point he worked as an assistant for the physicists Otto Frisch and Joseph Rotblat in the secret “tube alloys” experiments that led to the creation of the atom bomb, apparently without knowing what the project was about.Born in Brixton, south London, to Arthur, an accounts clerk for a dog biscuit factory, and Ellen (nee Stallard), a cleaner, Bryan had a cleft palate at birth; reconstructive surgery was not undertaken until he was 13. Because of the Depression his father struggled for work and the family moved frequently – Bryan attended more than 10 schools, and his education was basic. Continue reading...

My friend and colleague, Keith Briffa, who has died aged 64, was a climate scientist whose influential work helped drive the international acceptance of global warming as being due to human agency.His scientific investigations ranged widely but his most influential and sustained contributions lay in decoding the complex climatic signals encrypted by annual tree rings and thereby positioning the science of dendro-climatology on rigorously tested foundations. Continue reading...

Ever since Rudolph first starred in a 1939 story, we’ve been getting him all wrong. Or should I say her? Let’s look at the science behind the world’s favourite reindeerIt is coming up to Santa’s busy time. Last minute preparations are being made, lists are being checked and double checked, routes are being analysed and optimised. Elves will be working overtime to put the finishing touches to their orders. But please spare a thought for Rudolph and the team of reindeer called on to drag tons of presents over thousands of miles in the most appalling weather.

Mini-ponds have formed in the surface roots of an ancient tree and provide an environment for minute organisms to thriveThe beech that stands at the end of the stepping stones across Waskerley beck is an elephantine presence, dwarfing surrounding trees. The scarred grey bark of its bole has the colour and texture of pachyderm skin. Its moss-covered surface roots seem to be melting into the earth under the massive burden they support. Over decades they have grown and coalesced, creating hollows between them that retain water, fed by rivulets of rainwater trickling down the trunk.There is a name for these mini-ponds that form on the surface of plants and are habitats for small aquatic organisms: phytotelmata, which translates from the Greek root as “plant ponds”. The best studied are those contained by leaf bases of urn plants or bromeliads that live on branches in rainforest tree canopies. They are breeding sites for frogs, dragonflies and even land crabs. Continue reading...

Heritage minister says protecting site as a scheduled monument will ensure its preservation for future generationsThe scruffy council car park in Leicester that was revealed in 2012 to an astonished world as the site where Richard III was buried in 1485 is being given scheduled monument status by the government.The listing is to protect “one of the most important sites in our national history”, the remains of the medieval friary where the battered, naked body of the last Plantagenet king was buried after he lost the Battle of Bosworth, his life and his crown to Henry Tudor. Continue reading...

Chocolate poisoning peaks during the festive period, say researchers, with even modest quantities able to cause vomiting, agitation, seizures and even deathDog owners need to be vigilant in keeping chocolate away from hopeful muzzles over Christmas, vets have warned, with research suggesting that the risk of canine poisoning from the confectionery peaks during the festive period.Chocolate can be toxic to dogs since canines break down a substance known as theobromine more slowly than humans, meaning that even seemingly modest quantities can result in vomiting, agitation, seizures and – albeit rarely – death.

Prospect of a new class of therapies that could transform future treatment of genetic hearing loss, at the root of nearly half of all cases of deafnessDeafness has been prevented in mice using gene editing for the first time, in an advance that could transform future treatment of genetic hearing loss.The study found that a single injection of a gene editing cocktail prevented progressive deafness in baby animals that were destined to lose their hearing. Continue reading...

It’s meant to be a time of good cheer, relaxation and celebration, but for many, Christmas is stressful. The reasons are more varied than you might thinkIt’s Christmas! Time off work. Gifts to give and receive. Eating and drinking as much as you like. Seeing friends, family, loved ones. The atmosphere of goodwill and cheer. What’s not to like?Quite a lot, actually. Christmas is often a source of great stress for many. At least one study suggests that it can literally give you a heart attack. Obviously, many people have good reason to not like Christmas, be it estrangement or loss of their own family or friends, trauma experienced during the festive period (with all the context cues constantly bringing the unpleasant memories flooding back) and so on. But, if you look at the modern manifestation of Christmas, it turns out there are a surprising number of elements that can, and probably do, lead to an increase in stress, rather than the opposite. Continue reading...

With do-it-yourself Crispr kits now available online, Hannah Devlin asks if it’s really possible to edit your own DNA, is it safe and how should it be regulated?Subscribe & Review on iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud & Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterIn October, biohacker Josiah Zayner gave a lecture in San Francisco in which he claimed to be the first person known to have edited his own DNA using Crispr technology. He insists it’s something anyone can do using one of his company’s gene engineering kits. But does this do-it-yourself approach have any evidence to back it up? Is it safe? And, ultimately, does this kind of self-experimentation drive science forward or expose the public to unacceptable risks? Continue reading...

From BF Skinner’s behaviourism to Milan Kundera’s existential comedy, these are some boldly counterintuitive guides to the part of ourselves we know leastTo what extent are our conscious intentions and strategies in control of our choices and decisions, our feelings and actions? The 20th century provided three different answers to this basic existential question: Freud’s psychodynamic theory placed a hidden and self-destructive unconscious mind in charge; Skinner and the behaviourists put control instead with the outside stimulus environment. Finally, cognitive science threw out the behaviourists and reinstated the conscious mind at the helm.When I started out in the 70s, these three camps were arguing but with hardly any actual evidence, so I began to study these issues scientifically. Before You Know It is the culmination of more than three decades of such research, from labs around the world, on the variety of unconscious influences in everyday life. These 10 books were my signposts along the way.

Don’t blame the NHS for denying vital medication, say members of a new activist group, Just Treatment. Blame the pharma companies hooked on huge profitsArms aloft, activist and breast cancer patient Emma Robertson emerged from the UK headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer last month wearing a bright blue T-shirt. Emblazoned on the back in bold yellow letters were the words: “No drug should ever cost a life”.Related: Cancer drug companies cut prices to win NHS approval Continue reading...

Diprotodon was the largest marsupial ever to live. New evidence shows it migrated annually – and could make us reassess what we know of other extinct marsupialsPerhaps nowhere is the debate regarding the causes of megafaunal extinction more prominent than in Australia. During the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs, a magnificent suite of giant marsupials (mammals who carry their young in a pouch), reptiles and birds roamed Australia, only to meet their demise at the end of the Pleistocene. Why these behemoths disappeared has been, and continues to be, the subject of extensive discussions.Much of the debate revolves around the timings of megafaunal extinctions, the arrival and spread of modern humans in Australia, and the role of climate change. However, as reliable dates for many of the extinct species are lacking and the arrival of modern humans in Australia keeps getting pushed back in time, the debate remains far from being resolved. Therefore, some scientists argue that if we want to know what really happened, we need to step away from the dating game, and start looking more into biological and ecological variables that contributed to the megafaunal demise.

Crest-tailed mulgara caught in a trap by University of NSW researchers working on Wild Deserts projectA tiny carnivorous marsupial that was presumed extinct in New South Wales has been discovered just inside the border, two years before scientists planned to reintroduce it.The juvenile female crest-tailed mulgara, Dasycercus cristicauda, was caught in a trap in November by University of New South Wales researchers working on the Wild Deserts project, which aims to reintroduce long-absent marsupials to two predator-free areas of the western edge of Sturt national park. Continue reading...

Mating call of the Gulf corvina, which is under threat from overfishing, sounds like ‘a really loud machine gun’A species of Mexican fish amasses in reproductive orgies so loud they can deafen other sea animals, awed scientists have said, calling for preservation of the “spectacle” threatened by overfishing.

My father-in-law, Dennis Bidwell, who has died aged 88, played a crucial part in the development in 1976 of the microplate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa), a laboratory tool that has had a lasting impact on the diagnosis of disease.The microplate consists of an eight-by-12 plastic grid of 96 small indentations numbered A1 to H12, which enables multiple tests to be carried out at the same time, rapidly and cheaply, using very small volumes of blood or other liquid samples. Research carried out by Dennis and his colleague Alister Voller demonstrated that the Elisa was superior to existing diagnostics for diseases including malaria and rubella. There was no commercial secrecy around the Elisa and so it became the most widely used diagnostic test for infective, immune, endocrine, cancer and haematological disorders, as well as horticultural and agricultural diseases. Continue reading...

Light emitted by a new species of lanternshark, Etmopterus lailae, is camouflage and helps them to hunt, communicate and find partners. But how does it work?Earlier this year a new species of deep water shark, Etmopterus lailae, was discovered in waters surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.Measurements of external features, teeth, vertebrae and intestines, along with specific external markings and patterns confirmed that it was indeed a new species – a member of the lanternshark family. Lanternsharks (Etmopteridae) are one of the most species-rich shark genera, with approximately 38 known species, 11 of which have been described since 2002. Continue reading...

‘Non-lethal’ bullets are often inaccurate and have potential to cause death, disability and serious injury, researchers findRubber and plastic bullets should not be used for crowd control, researchers have said, pointing out that such weapons are often inaccurate and can cause death, disabilities or severe injuries.Bullets made of plastic, rubber, or other materials such as metal shot in a fabric bag, are used as a “less lethal” means of crowd control the world over, from the US to India. While they can leave a gun with velocities similar to live ammunition, they are designed to lose speed rapidly, reducing the force of impact. Generally, users are supposed to aim the weapons at individuals’ lower limbs.

Rates of diagnoses and death set to rise in women not vaccinated against HPV, but likely to be almost eradicated in younger women, say researchersCervical cancer diagnoses and deaths in England are predicted to rise steeply among women over the age of 50 in the next two decades, even though deaths from the disease among the young who have been vaccinated are likely to be almost eradicated, according to a new study.The HPV jab is radically changing the outlook for cervical cancer among women living in countries where it is routinely given to schoolgirls aged 12 or 13, before they become sexually active, and brings hope in the developing world of reducing the deaths where they are highest. Continue reading...

The years 2017, 2016 and 2015 will make up the three hottest years on record for the planet. But there’s no convincing some peopleWhen the global temperature readings are in for 2017, it’s going to be a very hard sell for climate-science deniers: 2017 will likely be ranked either side of 2015 as the second or third hottest year on record, with 2016 still in top spot.The hottest five-year period recorded in the modern era will be the one we’ve just had. Continue reading...

Most people know about the link between smoking and cancer but few are aware of the other major and controllable lifestyle factors

New study suggests evolution is still acting on contemporary humans, although over many generations and very weaklyAs humans continue to evolve, natural selection appears to be favouring higher body mass index (BMI) in men and an earlier age for starting a family in women, research has revealed.Researchers used data from the UK Biobank, a large genetic and health database of half a million British people aged 45 and over, to look at how numerous traits from body mass index to height and birth weight, as well as particular genetic variations associated with such traits, are linked to the number of children individuals had during their lifespan. Continue reading...

Archaeologists excavating cellar find it full of bottles, crockery, jars and pipes from 18th-century Clapham’s coffeehouseClapham’s Coffeehouse closed down 250 years ago, no doubt to the anguish of its regulars who met at the site in Cambridge to swap news and gossip, as well as drink cups of coffee and delicate china bowls of tea.Against the traditional image of a Georgian coffeehouse, they also drank ale and wine and consumed hearty meals, or revived their drooping spirits with nourishing glasses of calf’s foot jelly. Continue reading...

Solutions to today’s picture puzzlesIn my puzzle blog earlier today I set you the following three questions:1) In the image of an equilateral triangle above, what fraction of the whole triangle is the red triangle? Continue reading...

My friend Mike Mortimore, who has died aged 80, was a pioneering geographer who lived and worked in the dry lands of west Africa. He was motivated by a love of the people in that region, northern Nigeria in particular, believing that human endeavour could build sustainable livelihoods.Mike was the eldest of three children born in Bermuda. His father, John Mortimore, was employed by Cable & Wireless, and his mother, Dorothy (nee Taylor), travelled the world with him. Mike was sent to Britain to attend Monkton Combe school, near Bath, where he enjoyed rowing and cycling. The Christian ethos of the school led him to a faith that would shape his life. Continue reading...

Cigar-shaped body has a deep surface layer made of organic ices baked in interstellar radiation – and potentially has ice in its heart, say astronomersThe mysterious interstellar object ‘Oumuamua that is shooting through our solar system is wrapped in a thick coating of carbon-rich gunk that built up on its cosmic travels, astronomers have found.New observations of the cigar-shaped body found evidence for a deep surface layer that formed when organic ices – such as frozen carbon dioxide, methane and methanol – that make up the object were battered by the intense radiation that exists between the stars. Continue reading...

Oxford Dictionaries’ word of 2017 is hardly earth-shaking. But instead of being broflakes, let’s join in on the funCasper Grathwohl has the rather fine title of president of dictionaries at Oxford University Press, so it was he who chose the much-discussed but rarely used “youthquake” as 2017 word of the year, over some other equally unlikely suggestions. I only mention that in case, in skimming over the story at this busy time of the year, you read Grathwohl alongside Antifa, gorpcore and broflake, and assumed it was one of the contenders.Why not? The Microsoft spellchecker puts the same wobbly line under youthquake and the rest of Casper’s shortlist as it does under his name, meaning it’s not just the man on the Leeds omnibus (me) scratching his head over El Presidente’s selection. Continue reading...

Metal detecting is enjoying a resurgence, driven by good press and fantastic finds. But archaeologists are not overjoyed at the rise of the hobby detectorists. Why?There’s been reason for cheer in metal detecting circles, with the news this month that 2016 saw a record number of finds reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. This announcement has spawned numerous congratulatory reports – including in the Guardian – detailing the wonderful things found, the back-stories of the lucky finders, and the sometimes extraordinary sums of money their finds have fetched. The rise in finds is attributed to improved detector technology and an increase in the number of people taking up the hobby, encouraged by recent spectacular finds and the popularity of the BBC’s Detectorists series.Within the archaeological community the response has not been quite so cheerful. Several archaeologists have complained to me about the Guardian appearing to promote metal detecting as a harmless leisure pursuit, and online there’s been a distinct rumble of archaeological discontent. So why are some archaeologists upset about the swelling ranks of detectorists and the flood of important finds they’re turning up? The explanation lies in the uneasy relationship between archaeology and metal detecting which stretches back over the last 50 years. Continue reading...

Simon Jenkins says universities should switch to two year degrees and give up research. I disagreeFor once there is something in an article by Simon Jenkins with which I agree. He wrote that “Britain’s wiping out of polytechnics in the 1990s and the subsequent suppression of 16-plus technical education was a disaster ... It left industry bereft of trained skills and work ethic, and reliant on foreign migrants.” Leaving aside the negative connotations of that last clause, I concur that lumping polytechnics and (pre-1992) universities together as all the same is unhelpful. They do not all have, or wish to have, indistinguishable missions and student populations, and thinking of the sector like that has been not only unconstructive but damaging.Despite his comment, Jenkins proceeds to treat the university sector as a homogeneous collection of institutions, attacking them all as “bastions of privilege”, a description that will incense vice chancellors and their staff. As a PPE graduate of Oxford, he has experience of a particular period of history and a particular course of study from which he has made general extrapolations that don’t stand up to scrutiny. Continue reading...

Writers from the Guardian’s science blog network choose the books from inside and outside science that delighted them most this yearThe Silk Roads; Inferior; Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race; Lila; Mr Shaha’s Recipe for wonders Continue reading...

Three appetising picture puzzlesMerry Christmas guzzlersToday’s three morsels are all geometrical: