Hailed as ‘enormously significant’, results in groundbreaking trial are first time a drug has been shown to suppress effects of Huntington’s genetic mutationA landmark trial for Huntington’s disease has announced positive results, suggesting that an experimental drug could become the first to slow the progression of the devastating genetic illness.The results have been hailed as “enormously significant” because it is the first time any drug has been shown to suppress the effects of the Huntington’s mutation that causes irreversible damage to the brain. Current treatments only help with symptoms, rather than slowing the disease’s progression. Continue reading...

Around 25,000 of my colleagues flew to a conference, leaving a colossal carbon footprint in their wake. This makes our warnings less credible to the public

All women aged between 50 and 70 are offered screening for breast cancer. But how effective is it at stopping deaths – and might it actually do more harm than good?

The Earth cannot accommodate our need and greed for food. We must change our diet before it’s too lateBrexit; the crushing of democracy by billionaires; the next financial crash; a rogue US president: none of them keeps me awake at night. This is not because I don’t care – I care very much. It’s only because I have a bigger question on my mind. Where is all the food going to come from?By the middle of this century there will be two or three billion more people on Earth. Any one of the issues I am about to list could help precipitate mass starvation. And this is before you consider how they might interact. Continue reading...

Welburn, North Yorkshire With a tiny paintbrush and tweezers I salvage a skeleton: the tiny skull, the whisker-fine finger bonesI found it at the top of the field in July, after the barley harvest. A little body, wings folded and face scrunched. It was snagged on a scaffold of stubble like a miniature sky burial, overlooking a vista it must have known well until the previous night, when, somehow, all its knowing became nothing. Reflexively, I picked it up. In my hand, with its sky-tickling energy surrendered to gravity and its ultrasound din silenced, its dead weight might not have been there at all.We were leaving on holiday next morning and in the frenzy of packing I almost forgot it. I should have taken measurements and got past a generic identification Myotis (mouse-eared bats). Instead, I hurriedly sealed the little corpse in a margarine tub with a perforated lid, along with a splash of water to prevent mummification, and left it on a shady sill in the garden. Continue reading...

Last year our most reliable meteor shower was swamped by the proximity of a ‘supermoon’. This year, weather permitting, it should be spectacularThe reliable Geminids meteor shower has returned to our sky and, with the Moon as an unobtrusive waning crescent before dawn, we are in for a spectacular display of meteors over the coming week. Continue reading...

My mother, Shirley Hebbert, who has died at the age of 96, combined lifelong intellectual curiosity with an extraordinary ability to make and keep friends of all ages and from all walks of life.She was born in Gibraltar, to William Draycott, the then colony’s director of public works, and Winifred Moore, a D’Oyly Carte actor and the daughter of Charles Moore, the celebrated landlord of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub in Fleet Street, central London. Returning to Britain, the family led a happy bohemian existence in Odona, a caravan (complete with piano) on Hengistbury Head overlooking Bournemouth bay. Continue reading...

Research suggests that people with high IQ scores are more likely to have mood disorders, and a higher risk factor of ‘psychological overexcitabilities’ – perhaps that explains the behaviour of the man in the White HouseMy IQ is extremely, almost embarrassingly, high. I’ve never actually taken an IQ test, mind you, but my educated guess is that, if I did, my score would be whatever is the highest possible. No doubt your IQ is lower than mine, but please don’t feel stupid or insecure because of this, it’s not your fault. You’re probably just born that way. And you know what? Thank your lucky stars and subpar genetic makeup that you don’t bear the burden of brilliance like I have to. Being incredibly intelligent is a curse. This is not just one of the many astute observations I have every day, by the way, it is a fact recently confirmed by science.Research published in the journal Intelligence, a very intelligent publication, has found having a superior IQ is a “risk factor for psychological and physiological overexcitabilities”. These results are based on a survey that researchers from Pitzer College, in California, and Seattle Pacific University sent to Mensa members. To join Mensa, you have to score in the top 2% of the population on an approved intelligence test, which normally means an IQ of 132 or higher (the average being around 100). You also, I imagine, have to have a higher than average Insufferable Quotient – but that is beside the point. The survey found Mensans were more likely than the rest of the population to have conditions such as mood and anxiety disorders, allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases. Continue reading...

The documentary’s marvels are not just new to television – many are new to science as well. From hyper-intelligent fish to the origin of life itself, we round up the series’s breakthrough momentsIt is testament to the number of spectacles packed into Blue Planet II that a giant wrasse’s strategetic change of gender is – scientifically speaking, at least – one of the least remarkable. Changing gender, or sequential hermaphroditism, is a fact of life for more than 400 species of fish, and has already been widely studied.But many of the programme’s marvels are new not just to television but to science itself. Some have only been published within the past half-decade; others existed only anecdotally until now. Here we track some of the most astonishing findings of the series. Continue reading...

Face-to-face conversation reaps rich rewards, but it’s a dying art. Here’s how to revive itIt seems that we’re talking more than ever. And it’s true that we have more platforms for connection and communication than ever before. But what feels like conversation is actually just talking. Conversation – the exchange of ideas and thoughts between two people in which both understand one another and respond to each other – is disappearing underneath the mountains of tweets and posts, texts and emojis.It’s that conversation I want to revive, the kind that stimulates critical thought and increases empathy. That’s the kind of bond that builds bridges and crosses the political divides splitting us apart. Continue reading...

The world’s wealthy elite has its origins in the first landowners to use oxen and horses, a global study has foundScientists have traced the rise of the super-rich deep into our historical past to uncover the ancient source of social inequality. Their conclusion? Thousands of years ago, it was the use of large farm animals – horses and oxen that could pull ploughs – which created the equivalent of our multi-billionaire entrepreneurs today.The research, published in Nature, is the first attempt to assess how significant wealth gaps arose among our ancestors. These began when farming first established the idea of land ownership – although only mild disparities resulted from the sowing and reaping of crops. Continue reading...

Country hopes find will boost tourism industry, which has been suffering since 2011 uprisingEgypt has announced the discovery of two small tombs in the southern city of Luxor dating back about 3,500 years, a find the government hopes will help revive the country’s ailing tourism sector.The tombs, located on the west bank of the Nile in a cemetery for noblemen and top officials, are the latest discovery in the city famed for its temples and tombs spanning different dynasties of ancient Egyptian history. Continue reading...

On Sunday the King of Sweden will present Nobel winners with their awards, amid criticism that this year’s science prizes lacked diversityThe 2017 Nobel laureates will be presented with their awards by the King of Sweden during a ceremony in Stockholm on Sunday.The laureates include three American physicists who were recognised for their contributions to the first observations of gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of spacetime that were anticipated by Albert Einstein a century ago. Another trio of American scientists won this year’s Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries of the biology that underpins circadian rhythms. Continue reading...

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you have free will – a book by a US academic has analysed the unconscious, evolutionary instincts driving modern society and the results are a chilling indictment on how far we are yet to comeAs the year’s end draws near, many of us look back and reflect on what we got right and got wrong during the past 12 months. For some, this will be a less agreeable experience than for others, but however you feel about your behaviour in 2017, you will almost certainly assume that the choices you made were your own.You could not, according to John Bargh, be more wrong. The Yale psychologist has just written a book, Before You Know It, about the eye-opening extent to which our actions are dictated by forces within us to which we are almost entirely oblivious. Who knew, for example, that we feel less hostile to people different to ourselves after washing our hands? Or that the reason why you’re feeling so friendly is the cup of piping hot coffee you are holding? Or that parents who want to encourage their children to be generous will have more success by turning the room temperature up than by telling them to share? Bargh’s book, as Malcolm Gladwell puts it, “moves our understanding of the mysteries of human behaviour one giant step forward” – not least in helping make sense of some of the big stories of 2017. Continue reading...

It lived about 71m years ago, had a swan-like neck, razor-sharp “killer claws” and a duck-billed snout and was about the size of a mallard, with a long tail and longer legs. This ‘very weird’ creature (not my words, that’s an actual scientist’s description there) is apparently a new species of amphibious dinosaur, discovered in a smuggled fossil from Mongolia. And to toast that exciting news, you’ll need a really good glass of champagne - but how will you know whether you’ve been passed plonk or premier cru? According to researchers, the sound of the bubbles reveals all ... Assuming you’ve got a bottle of the good stuff to hand, it’s worth celebrating two more pleasing pieces of news. Firstly, scientists believe a gene editing breakthrough which uses a modified form of Crispr to boost gene activity could one day be used to overcome currently incurable diseases such as diabetes and muscular dystrophy. And secondly, the British Museum have revealed that 2106 was a record year for treasure finds, with 1,120 discoveries – the highest number since the revised Treasure Act came into law 20 years ago. That means there must a lot of very happy detectorists out there. Cheers! Continue reading...

We need to take responsibilty for our mistakes in choosing our partner rather than simply justifying it to ourselvesI have been reading Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, a book about cognitive dissonance – the phenomenon that arises, with uncomfortable feelings, when two deeply held internal points of view come into conflict with one another. To avoid such feelings, we resort to self-justification.The book contains a chapter on cognitive dissonance in marriage, which holds this process to be the main culprit in the outcome of relationships. “Misunderstandings, conflicts, personality differences and even angry quarrels are not the assassins of love – self-justification is,” the authors remark. Continue reading...

An Ipsos Mori survey has found that it’s in our nature to dwell on the negative aspects of life, thinking things are worse than they are – but we must confront itA new survey from Ipsos Mori reveals that the public in 38 countries have deeply inaccurate views about crime, terrorism and many other important social issues. And this is not just the result of random guessing – there is a systematic pattern to our errors. We tend to think things are worse than they are, and they’re going downhill fast.The Perils of Perception study found that only 7% of people think the murder rate is lower in their country than it was in 2000 – but it is actually significantly down in most countries, and, across the countries overall, it’s down 29%. Continue reading...

The marsupial lion quite possibly gambolled through the treetops on the hunt for food. Is the drop bear an actually true story? Tourists stop reading here!

Scratched image discovered at Woolsthorpe Manor using method that reveals detail invisible to the naked eyeA friend of Isaac Newton once described him as a compulsive scribbler on walls. Almost 300 years after the scientist’s death, a wobbly drawing of a windmill has turned up, scratched into a wall at his childhood home.The image was found during a conservation study at Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, now owned by the National Trust, where there is also an apple tree said to be the one that inspired Newton’s theory of gravity. Continue reading...

Nasa has fired up a set of reserve thrusters on Voyager 1 that will extend the spacecraft’s life by two to three yearsFor the first time in 37 years, Nasa fired up a set of reserve thrusters on Voyager 1. The resulting manoeuvre will allow the ageing spacecraft to remain in contact with Earth, extending its life by two to three years.Voyager 1 lifted off from Earth on 5 September 1977. It encountered the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn, and Saturn’s intriguing moon, Titan. Then it headed off towards interstellar space. Continue reading...

New form of genetic engineering designed to boost gene activity could one day be used to overcome diseases such as diabetes and muscular dystrophyIncurable diseases such as diabetes and muscular dystrophy could be treated in future using a new form of genetic engineering designed to boost gene activity, according to scientists.The technique is an adapted version of the powerful gene editing tool called Crispr. While the original version of Crispr snips DNA in precise locations to delete faulty genes or over-write flaws in the genetic code, the modified form “turns up the volume” on selected genes. Continue reading...

Some of Trump’s tweets generate more national coverage than devastating disasters. As the weather gets worse, we need journalism to get better

Google’s artificial intelligence sibling DeepMind repurposes Go-playing AI to conquer chess and shogi without aid of human knowledgeAlphaZero, the game-playing AI created by Google sibling DeepMind, has beaten the world’s best chess-playing computer program, having taught itself how to play in under four hours.The repurposed AI, which has repeatedly beaten the world’s best Go players as AlphaGo, has been generalised so that it can now learn other games. It took just four hours to learn the rules to chess before beating the world champion chess program, Stockfish 8, in a 100-game match up. Continue reading...

The Cambridge Dictionary has got its definition and its application wrong. It conflates the term with the nativism of the radical rightLast week the Cambridge Dictionary declared populism its 2017 word of the year. In many ways, that makes perfect sense. Since Brexit and Trump, virtually every political event has been couched in terms of populism, from the Dutch parliamentary elections to the French presidential elections earlier this year. New media catchwords such as “fake news” are linked to populism.However, it has become the buzzword of the year mostly because it is very often poorly defined and wrongly used. Indeed, the Cambridge Dictionary’s definition perfectly illustrates this. It describes populism as “political ideas and activities that are intended to get the support of ordinary people by giving them what they want”. Continue reading...

Research shows small increase in risk until about five years after contraception is stopped, despite hopes that newer types might prove saferAll forms of the pill and other hormonal contraception carry a small risk of breast cancer, which lasts for about five years after women stop taking it, according to new research.The increased risk has been known for some time, but there were hopes that newer forms of hormonal contraception – such as those which release progesterone only – would be safer. However, the new study in the New England Journal of Medicine confirms the 20% added risk that women run – although that is still very small for those not at high risk already. Continue reading...

Oxford University team calls for mandatory clinical trials for invasive devices following scandal that emerged this yearWomen have been exposed to unnecessary harm due to poor regulation for vaginal mesh products, medical experts have warned.

Long seen as a hobby for idealistic eccentrics, the constructed language has had a resurgence in the age of Brexit and Trump. And it’s all centred on a small village near Stoke on TrentIn the village of Barlaston, just outside Stoke-on-Trent, a strange language can be heard. It’s not the friendly Potteries dialect, but something that sounds a little like the lovechild of French and German. A Tudor house here is home to the Esperanto Association of Britain (EAB), which encourages people to learn the constructed language.Esperanto summer schools were first established in Stoke in 1960, and were funded by the council for more than 50 years. The concept of an easy-to-learn, universal second tongue was energetically promoted, drawing prominent speakers to the area. And the city still bears traces of its Esperanto history. In Smallthorne, in the north-east of the city, drinkers can stop off on Esperanto Way to get a pint at the Green Star – the symbol of the Esperantist movement. A row of terraced houses a short walk away are located on Zamenhof Grove, named after the inventor of Esperanto, LL Zamenhof. Continue reading...

Halszkaraptor escuilliei is thought to have lived around 71-75m years ago and had a swan-like neck, razor-sharp “killer claws” and a duck-billed snoutAn unusual set of fossilised remains illegally poached from Mongolia belonged to a new species of dinosaur with the rare trait of living on both land and water, researchers have claimed.Thought to have lived around 71–75m years ago, the creature boasts a swan-like neck, razor-sharp “killer claws” on its feet, a duck-billed snout and forelimbs with proportions that might have helped it swim. Continue reading...

Wakaleo schouteni is the fifth known species of dog-sized marsupial lion discovered at RiversleighAustralian researchers have identified a new species of marsupial lion that roamed the rainforests of northern Australia 25m years ago.Weighing in at just over 22kg and boasting a squat, flat head, the new species, named Wakaleo schouteni after wildlife illustrator and paleoartist Peter Schouten, is the fifth known species of dog-sized marsupial lion discovered at Riversleigh, located within Boodjamulla national park, near the Queensland-Northern Territory border. Continue reading...

Wakaleo schouteni is the fifth known species of dog-sized marsupial lion discovered at RiversleighAustralian researchers have identified a new species of marsupial lion that roamed the rainforests of northern Australia 25m years ago.Weighing in at just over 22kg and boasting a squat, flat head, the new species, named Wakaleo schouteni after wildlife illustrator and paleoartist Peter Schouten, is the fifth known species of dog-sized marsupial lion discovered at Riversleigh, located within Boodjamulla national park, near the Queensland-Northern Territory border. Continue reading...

Nicola Davis explores the origins of antiseptic surgery and asks what we might learn from its founding father about taking on today’s biggest healthcare threatsSubscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud & Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterIn March 1867, the Lancet published an article by surgeon Joseph Lister that would change the healthcare landscape completely. The article was the first of several, detailing the culmination of Lister’s life work exploring the connection between germs and infection. Fast forward a century-and-a-half and today Joseph Lister is widely known as the father of antiseptic surgery, saving countless lives both in hospitals and further afield. But how was it that Lister came to his groundbreaking conclusions? How did his colleagues react? And, looking at the present situation, what challenges might we face that Lister would be all too familiar with? Continue reading...

Worldwide, there are currently just 12 known Archaeopteryx fossils – but researchers believe one might in fact be a new species: Ostromia crassipesA paper published earlier this week in BMC Evolutionary biology suggests that one of only 12 known Archaeopteryx fossil skeletons is not in fact an Archaeopteryx at all but a new species of theropod dinosaur, Ostromia crassipes. One Dutch newspaper, perhaps over-egging it slightly, went as far as likening the discovery to finding out that your Monet painting turned out to be a Van Gogh. So what is Archaeopteryx and why has this paper got palaeontologists (a bit) excited? Continue reading...

Contrasts in people’s experiences of later life largely a product of poverty and disadvantage, study findsOlder women are more likely to be poor, socially isolated, badly housed, unhealthy and die sooner because of a lifetime of lower pay and unequal working conditions than older men, according to a new report.A study by the Centre for Ageing Better found “shameful” and stark contrasts in people’s experiences of later life, with severe inequalities among older people largely a product of poverty and disadvantage throughout life. Continue reading...

I don’t suggest depression isn’t a serious health problem or that it shouldn’t be professionally treated. But we should distinguish it from ordinary sadnessI have never suffered from a depressive episode. I’ve never thought of harming myself or been suicidal, nor have I been afflicted with any serious form of anxiety.Don’t get me wrong, my mind, like most people’s, is a confounding and mysterious place, but it’s also predictable in its mix of competing thoughts, grand ambitions and impractical whims. It doesn’t agitate or disturb, and there is no sense of an internal army of despair being held back at the gate. Continue reading...

Groundbreaking study reinforces urgent need to reduce emissions, and advises over-60s to avoid polluted air by walking in parks and green spacesThe over-60s should stick to green spaces and parks when they go for a walk and avoid the city streets, according to a groundbreaking study that says air pollution from traffic fumes largely wipes out the health benefit from the exercise.Walking is often recommended for older people, but the study from Imperial College London and Duke University in the USA suggests that the over-60s and those with lung and heart problems should steer clear of urban areas with heavy traffic. The negative effect may well be the same in younger people, say the authors, and it reinforces the urgency of reducing emissions in city streets. Continue reading...

Low-calorie diet caused remission in 90% of trial patients who lost 15kg or more, even those who had been diabetic for six years, say researchersA radical low-calorie diet can reverse type 2 diabetes, even six years into the disease, a new study has found.The number of cases of type 2 diabetes is soaring, related to the obesity epidemic. Fat accumulated in the abdomen prevents the proper function of the pancreas. It can lead to serious and life-threatening complications, including blindness and foot amputations, heart and kidney disease. Continue reading...

From replacement skin to entire new organs, regenerative medicine is finally leaving its early scandals – and the controversial ‘earmouse’ – behind. Could it one day provide a cure for birth defects, blindness and diabetes?

The sound of bubbles forming in a glass of fizz might reveal their size – often linked to quality – but choice of receptacle also plays a part, research suggestsWith the bubbly flowing freely over the festive period, you may well wonder if you are being plied with top-notch champagne or fobbed off with cheap fizz. Now scientists say you don’t have to have a discerning palate to find out.Researchers using underwater microphones say the sounds bubbles make as they ping off the sides of the glass can provide tell-tale clues as to their size – a factor long thought to be linked to the quality of the wine. While recent research has suggested tiny bubbles might not lead to optimal aroma release, the theory is that the largest bubbles are found in cheaper booze. Continue reading...

Eighteen months have passed since the EU referendum and the government’s position on science and research is no clearer – we need certainty

The prehistoric shift towards cultivation began our preoccupation with hierarchy and growth – and even changed how we perceive the passage of timeMost people regard hierarchy in human societies as inevitable, a natural part of who we are. Yet this belief contradicts much of the 200,000-year history of Homo sapiens.In fact, our ancestors have for the most part been “fiercely egalitarian”, intolerant of any form of inequality. While hunter-gatherers accepted that people had different skills, abilities and attributes, they aggressively rejected efforts to institutionalise them into any form of hierarchy. Continue reading...

The solution to today’s logic puzzleIn my puzzle blog earlier today I set you the following puzzle:Five cars are driving round a roundabout. In order, the drivers are Akira, Basho, Chie, Daichi and Etsu. The cars have licence plates numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, but not necessarily in that order. Each driver can see only the licence plate of the car in front of them and the car behind them, but not of the car they are driving. All the drivers can speak to and hear each other via headphones. Continue reading...

There were 1,120 treasure finds in 2016, the highest number since the revised Treasure Act came into law 20 years agoA glorious jewel made from hundreds of tiny pieces of garnet set in gold to form geometric and animal shapes lay for 1,400 years on the breast of an unknown woman until her Norfolk grave was rediscovered by a first-year university student. The item was among a record number of treasure finds reported by the British Museum in the year 2016.The pendant and other jewels and coins buried with the woman were among the spectacular discoveries mainly made by metal detectorists – including a hoard of 158 bronze age axes and ingots, the largest of its kind to be found in Yorkshire; and more than 2,000 silver Roman coins in Piddletrenthide, Dorset, which the finder and a local archaeologist managed to lift together with the clay pot holding them and the entire block of soil in which it was buried, so it could be studied at the British Museum.

Choose your words carefully and you can get someone to change their mind, or see you in a new lightIt’s not what you say, it’s how you say it – isn’t it? According to language analysts, we may have this wrong. ‘‘We are pushed and pulled around by language far more than we realise,” says Elizabeth Stokoe, professor of social interaction at Loughborough University. Stokoe and her colleagues have analysed thousands of hours of recorded conversations, from customer services to mediation hotlines and police crisis negotiation. They discovered that certain words or phrases have the power to change the course of a conversation.Some of these words are surprising, and go against what we’ve been taught to believe. (For example, in a study of conversations between doctors and patients, evidence showed that doctors who listed “options” rather than recommended “best-interest” solutions, got a better response, despite the suggestion from hospital guidelines to talk about the best interests of the patient.) But, from conversation analysts such as Stokoe to FBI negotiators and communication coaches, we’re learning which words are likely to placate or persuade us. Here are some of the biggest dos and don’ts. Continue reading...

Across the political spectrum we must all work harder to analyse our sources of information and our biases. The consequences of not doing so are direIt has been little over a year since Donald Trump stunned the world by becoming US president. His election marked a severe upset to conventional wisdom, with his startling use of social media drawing particular attention.A new nadir came last week, with Trump sharing videos from far-right group Britain First via Twitter. These were also shared by conservative Ann Coulter, one of only 45 people the president follows on Twitter.When asked by the BBC’s Nick Robinson to explain why the president might have retweeted videos from a far-right group, Coulter responded that Trump could not be expected to check the biography of people he retweeted and that “the video is the video, it’s not a faked video”. Continue reading...

Technology could be used to wipe out malaria carrying mosquitos or other pests but UN experts say fears over possible military uses and unintended consequences strengthen case for a banA US military agency is investing $100m in genetic extinction technologies that could wipe out malarial mosquitoes, invasive rodents or other species, emails released under freedom of information rules show.The documents suggest that the US’s secretive Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has become the world’s largest funder of “gene drive” research and will raise tensions ahead of a UN expert committee meeting in Montreal beginning on Tuesday. Continue reading...

We asked you to share photos as parts of the world experienced the only supermoon of 2017. Here are some of our favourite images

A logic puzzle about cars going round in circlesUPDATE: I’ve posted the solution hereHi guzzlers,Key to ignition. Brain in gear. Now drive: Continue reading...

Glitzy ceremony honours work including that on mapping post-big bang primordial light, cell biology, plant science and neurodegenerative diseaseThe most glitzy event on the scientific calendar took place on Sunday night when the Breakthrough Foundation gave away $22m (£16.3m) in prizes to dozens of physicists, biologists and mathematicians at a ceremony in Silicon Valley.The winners this year include five researchers who won $3m (£2.2m) each for their work on cell biology, plant science and neurodegenerative diseases, two mathematicians, and a team of 27 physicists who mapped the primordial light that warmed the universe moments after the big bang 13.8 billion years ago.

A series of three supermoons will start on the 3rd December 2017, continuing on the 1st and 31st of January 2018. The lunar phenomenon occurs when a full moon is at its closest point to earth so it appears larger than usual

Why good health requires good sleep, the role our senses play in what we choose to consume, and some mind-boggling maths about the air that we breatheThink of anything that ever breathed – from bacteria to blue whales to Roman emperors – and some of his, her or its last breath is either circulating inside you now or will be shortly. Thus, with this startling claim, Sam Kean begins his examination of all things gaseous, Caesar’s Last Breath (Doubleday £20), in which he attempts to make stories about gases visible “so you can see them as clearly as you can see your breath on a crisp November morning.”By and large, Kean succeeds in this hugely enjoyable, slightly rambling account of our atmosphere and the remarkable men and women who transformed our knowledge about the air we breathe. I am not quite convinced by the arithmetic used to justify his claim that a few of the molecules that once danced inside Caesar’s lungs are dancing in our own lungs today but still found enough to entertain and stimulate in Caesar’s Last Breath to make it my science book of the year. Continue reading...