Worst possible scenario involves pyroclastic flows – currents of hot gas and rock moving at 70 miles per hourMount Agung, a volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali, has been in a state of unrest for several weeks and is now emitting smoke and ash. Mudflows, known as lahars, are running down the mountainside and loud booms have been heard. Experts say a large eruption could happen imminently. Continue reading...

The recent mass review of 10,000 criminal case samples shows what can happen when commercial demands get in the way of vital public servicesThe mass review of 10,000 criminal cases because of concerns over forensic evidence is shocking – it’s the biggest recall of samples in British criminal justice history. But it comes as little surprise to our union.Forensic data handled by Randox Testing’s laboratory in Manchester is being questioned as it may have been manipulated. Continue reading...

What to look out for in the coming month, including the Geminid meteor shower, more prolific than October’s Orionids and November’s LeonidsThe Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair is dominating the high SW sky as our long December nights begin, while the smaller and less impressive Square of Pegasus is just as high in the SE. By our map times, the Square has shifted to the SW and the striking form of Orion is climbing in the ESE. Continue reading...

My colleague and friend Geoffrey Oldham, who has died aged 88, was one of the founders in 1966 of the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex. He dedicated his life’s work to building pioneering institutions that advocated the intelligent and innovative use of science and technology for a sustainable and equitable world. His influence came to span the globe, and his kindness and enthusiasm were felt by a vast network of colleagues and friends.Son of Evelyn (nee Brooke) and Herbert Oldham, Geoff was born in Harden, West Yorkshire, where his father was a manager with the NatWest bank. He went to Bingley grammar and studied geology at the University of Reading. He was accepted for further studies at both Cambridge and Toronto universities; 10 days after his wedding in September 1951 to Brenda Raven, they sailed for Canada. Continue reading...

Henry Marsh is a celebrated neurosurgeon who travels the world teaching his exacting craft. Robert McCrum joins him in Ukraine as he tries to save the life of 11-year-old ViktoriaWe joined the green-gowned brain surgery team soon after daybreak. The chill of the operating theatre was filled with the inevitable frisson of nerves before a big op. Inside the Orlika Street children’s hospital in the suburbs of Lviv, on the western edge of Ukraine, the patient was waiting for us, under halogen lights, anaesthetised upon the table.She was corpse-like in unconsciousness. Her chilled cerise fingernails offered a poignant reminder she is a young girl. Viktoria, who is just 11, has a malignant brain tumour. The day before, in the ICU, she had been weepy, fretful and disoriented with brain sickness. She had come with her mother to this 10- storey late-Soviet paediatric facility for a high-risk, potentially life-saving operation. Continue reading...

Communities which design their own buildings are more likely to be happy and healthy“We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us,” said Winston Churchill. He was right; our surroundings can make us healthier and less likely to drop litter, enhance our beauty, decrease our perception of pain and enable us to solve puzzles more quickly.

Project, which could help restore damaged coral populations, has seen success in the PhilippinesScientists have stepped in as environmental matchmakers by breeding baby coral on the Great Barrier Reef in a move that could have worldwide significance.

The artist tells how his work provides a map of the digital world’s hidden landscapes and forbidden placesTrevor Paglen describes himself as a landscape artist, but he is no John Constable. The landscapes Paglen frames extend to the bottom of the ocean and beyond the blurred edges of the Earth’s atmosphere. For the last two decades, the artist, a cheerful and fervent man of 43, has been on a mission to photograph the unseen political geography of our times. His art tries to capture places that are not on any map – the secret air bases and offshore prisons from which the war on terror has been fought – as well as the networks of data collection and surveillance that now shape our democracies, the cables, spy satellites and artificial intelligences of the digital world.There is little abstract about this effort. Paglen has spent a good deal of his artistic career camped out in deserts with only suspicious drones for company, his special astro-telescopic lenses trained on the heavens or distant military bases. (“For me, seeing the drone in the 21st century is a little bit like Turner seeing the train in the 19th century.”) He trained as a scuba diver to get 100ft beneath the waves in search of the cables carrying all of human knowledge. He recognises few limits to his art. In April, he will launch his own satellite and, with it, the world’s first “space sculpture”, a manmade star that should be visible from most places on the Earth for a few months, “as bright as one of the stars in the Big Dipper”. Continue reading...

The British astronaut, 45, on how vulnerable our planet looks from space, strange floating dreams and whether we’ll find life out thereI’m not a huge fan of heights, which sounds strange for an astronaut. My most terrifying moment was doing a parachute jump. That first leap of faith out of the aircraft at 14,000ft was far more terrifying than going into space.Sandhurst is not posh at all. It’s a completely level playing field, everybody is treated the same… and that’s abysmally! The first few weeks is all about breaking you and then they rebuild you into the mould they want you to be. It was an incredibly positive experience for me. Continue reading...

Guardian supporter Matt Bowden explains why an article by the author Robert Macfarlane helped him understand the ‘Anthropocene generation’Matt Bowden, 34, works in the textiles industry. He is from Durham, UK and currently living in Taipei, TaiwanI came across Robert Macfarlane’s article Generation Anthropocene: how humans have altered the planet forever, as part of my MA course last year. It was recommended reading and ignited a deep interest in humans’ impact on the planet, and an impetus to reimagine my relationship with the environment. Continue reading...

As robots slash the time it takes to complete an order at companies like Amazon and Ocado, what does that mean for their human colleagues?Next to the M56, on the outskirts of Manchester, the future has landed. A cluster of huge distribution centres sits at the heart of Airport City, a new development part-funded by the Beijing Construction Engineering Group (two years ago, it was visited by president Xi Jinping of China). Among the biggest buildings is one of Amazon’s self-styled “fulfilment centres”. Known within the company as MAN1, it opened in September last year, but everything inside, from the chairs to the wall-mounted screens, looks as if it has just come out of a box. Deeper within the centre, beyond the reception area and meeting rooms, there is something else just as new: a great expanse of space behind a metal cage, where dozens of robots, finished in Amazon orange and each emblazoned with its own number, glide across the floor, gracefully avoiding collisions and sprinting to their next task.Amazon employees call them “drives”, but to all intents and purposes these are droids, summoned from the dreams of science fiction and put to work. In some Amazon warehouses, workers – or, in the company’s parlance, “associates” – still pace up and down huge aisles, picking out goods and preparing them for shipment; these shifts are said sometimes to involve hikes of 11 miles. But here everything moves much more quickly. The humans in charge of the process known as “picking” now remain in closed workstations, built around a screen that tells them what they need to get next, while the robots bring the shelves – reinvented as four-sided fabric towers, full of pouches that contain everything from DVDs to dolls – to them. Continue reading...

It was humane to pursue the hope of rehabilitation. And it’s right to act decisively now that Jon Venables is judged to present new risksThey were Child A and Child B. The public weren’t told the names of the boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, until they had been found guilty of the murder of two-year-old James Bulger in 1993. The decision by the judge to reveal the identities of the pair was controversial, causing complications and difficulties that were outlined by Sir David Omand in his 2010 review of the probation service’s handling of the case.Related: James Bulger killer back in jail after being caught with abuse images again Continue reading...

I have been told that no research is being done in Britain to establish whether there is a causal factor between eating chicken and declining male sperm counts, writes Baroness Jean CorstonLetters and articles on the apparent decline in male fertility, and its probable causes, have been in our newspapers for years, with the cause variously ascribed to diet, exercise or the environment. Nearly 20 years ago, as a member of the House of Commons select committee on agriculture, we held an inquiry into the poultry industry. Some of us were appalled by the industrialisation of poultry production, with birds crowded together and given diets to ensure that they were ready for slaughter as soon as possible, and very often so quickly that their immature legs broke under the strain of the burgeoning muscle. We were told that the rapid increase in body weight was partly owing to “growth promoters”. They are oestrogens, and oestrogen is a female hormone. On a parliamentary visit to the US in 1999, I asked whether they had conducted any research into the use of oestrogens in poultry production, and its possible effect on male fertility. The question was met with silence. Since then, I have been told via parliamentary questions that no research is being done in this country to establish whether there is a causal factor between eating chicken and declining male sperm counts. We deserve to know.

It was exciting when first detected hurtling past the sun last month, and it’s even more exciting now. Astronomers have named the visitor ’Oumuamua and have confirmed that it hails from another star system. Even more intriguingly, its red colour suggests it carries organic molecules that are building blocks of life. Another big hit this week was research revealing why left-handers excel at certain elite sports but not others. Leaving a bitter taste in the mouth, however, was a paper claiming that 50 years ago, the sugar industry withheld research into the effects of sucrose. The paper’s authors say the negative health impacts of sucrose could have been combated sooner had the research been released, although industry bodies dispute their findings. Also worrying is a new study linking poor sperm quality to air pollution. Scientists found a strong association between high levels of fine particulate matter and abnormal sperm shape, though the wider impact on fertility remains unclear. And finally, heading into the festive season here is the research you’ve all been waiting for: a study has concluded that the type of alcohol you’re drinking determines whether you become merry or maudlin. Researchers hope understanding a bit more about the emotional impact of alcohol will help people think more carefully about their booze intake. Continue reading...

A London pub’s offer of a free dinner for anyone who’s alone at Christmas is a heartwarming reminder of a social ill that exists all year roundTo say that somebody is a “product of their environment” is to suggest that their actions or behaviour can be explained by where they’ve grown up, where they’ve worked and, in particular, who they’ve had around them.For example, a child isn’t born with a certain view on race, gender or a favourite football team. I have a school friend who earned a work placement at a bank in the City and he wasn’t even a little bit of a tosser when he merrily travelled off to Liverpool Street in 2002. However, I’m almost certain that the 15 years he’s spent within that environment has possibly helped chisel out the man who stood before me at a recent reunion said he was “more than happy to spunk his latest bonus up the wall”. Continue reading...

Christie’s expects volume, which shows the author refining his theory in light of new research, to fetch between £300,000 and £500,000After eluding scholars for decades, a copy of On the Origin of Species with handwritten revisions by Charles Darwin has come to light and is due to be auctioned next month.Christie’s has put an estimate of £300,000 to £500,000 on the annotated book, which it said will allow “for the first time a precise reading of Darwin’s exact revisions without the veil of reconstruction and translation … [it] provides an insight into his working method, and documents the further development of his ideas for his ‘big book’.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Little evidence that phosphate binders improve patient wellbeing, warn experts, while one type may contribute to increased risk of cardiovascular diseaseThe UK’s drug guidelines body is recommending a type of medication to treat chronic kidney disease despite no firm evidence that it benefits patients – and some signs that the drugs may do more harm than good, experts have warned.Phosphate binders are commonly prescribed to lower blood phosphate levels in patients with advanced kidney disease, including those on dialysis. High phosphate has been linked to worse patient outcomes, including bone and muscle problems, a build-up of calcium in the blood vessels causing them to stiffen, and an increased death rate.

With its low-THC and high-CBD products already on sale in Switzerland and France – and soon the UK – Swiss business CBD420 are keen to see clearer regulation around the supply of cannabis

This superb book by Michael Brooks is in part a biography of the mathematician Jerome Cardano. But it delves into the most fundamental questionsWhat, you might ask, is a quantum astrologer? This beautifully written book is a kind of experimental scientific biography that mashes up science with what seems to be non‑science, the better to explore the boundaries of what we still don’t know. If quantum astrology were a thing, after all, it wouldn’t be any more ridiculous than what modern physics asks us to believe.The book’s hero, the alleged quantum astrologer, is one of those Renaissance men for whom the term “Renaissance man” itself seems insufficient. Jerome (or Gerolamo) Cardano was a 16th-century doctor and mathematician from Milan. He produced horoscopes for the great and the good, but he also invented the mathematics of probability to help him win at gambling, so that he could pay his way through medical school. He invented the “cardan joint”, which to this day is used in the power transmission of cars. He was, too, the first to accept the existence of imaginary numbers, which are the square roots of negative numbers. In so doing, Brooks argues, he laid the necessary foundations for modern quantum theory. Continue reading...

Australia investigating allegations that Joan Howard would steal from archaeological sites during her husband’s diplomatic tripsThe Australian government has confirmed it is looking into the case of a 95-year-old Perth woman accused of looting artefacts from countries including Egypt.Monica Hanna of Egypt’s Heritage Taskforce posted an open letter to Australia’s ambassador to Egypt, Neil Hawkins, on Facebook this month, alleging Joan Howard spent most of her time during her husband’s diplomatic trips looting archaeological sites. Continue reading...

Our callout for dialectal words and phrases uncovered two words unknown to British Library researchers working on the Evolving English WordBankIt’s not every day you discover a new word, or at least a new meaning for an old word. But when the Guardian asked its readers to contribute their favourite dialect words, it discovered not one, but two. Continue reading...

Life expectancy is increasing, but the number of years of healthy life in retirement is not keeping up, with dramatic variations seen across the countryAdults are spending an increasing number of their retirement years in poor health, a thinktank on ageing and population has warned.The report, which focuses on the situation facing those approaching retirement, also highlights the growing inequalities in life expectancy around the country.

More than 3,000 ‘citizen-scientists’ have transcribed into digital form the 1.5m observations made at the Ben Nevis weather observatory from 1883 to 1904In 1883 a weather observatory was opened on Britain’s highest peak, Ben Nevis. For the next 21 years the summit observatory was manned continuously by three meteorologists, with detailed measurements taken every hour, day and night, throughout the year. This week around 3,600 “citizen-scientists” finished transcribing the 1.5m observations into digital form. “We will be able to better examine particular storms and unusual weather events during the time the observatory was open,” says Ed Hawkins from the University of Reading. The records will also help scientists to understand how wind strength and sunshine have varied over the past century, which could be useful to renewable energy providers.Related: Weatherwatch: The Victorian who climbed Ben Nevis every day Continue reading...

Museum plans 2018 exhibition, called The Future Starts Here, exploring how groundbreaking technologies could change the worldNew technology could allow us to clean up devastating damage to the environment, charge a phone with our clothes and create vast factories in space. But it appears to have its limits: the tedium of laundry, a new exhibition suggests, will still be down to us.An exhibition next year at the V&A on possibly revolutionary design will include some less successful ideas besides the triumphs – the robot, for instance, programmed to fold towels and taking 15 minutes to do each one. “The robots are coming but they’re not coming that quickly,” admitted the curator, Rory Hyde. Continue reading...

Geneticist who carried out groundbreaking research into the behaviour of diseases including scrapie and CJDThe geneticist Alan Dickinson, who has died aged 87, was aware even as a young man that he might not live to answer the question that dominated his career: what causes mind-rotting diseases such as scrapie in sheep and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in people? Such was the risk faced by a scientist who in the 1950s chose to specialise in a field then known as “slow viruses”.As these disorders, joined in the 1980s by mad cow disease, were reclassified over the years as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and, latterly, “prion” diseases, the research group that Dickinson founded in Edinburgh trod a unique path. Whereas rival labs elsewhere in the UK and abroad attempted to reduce diseased brains until all that was left was the pathogen, and then routinely failed, Dickinson preferred to study clinical symptoms and patterns of brain damage caused by scrapie in generations of specially inbred mice, then gradually deduce what kind of infectious agent might be causing it. Continue reading...

Environment secretary moves to end social media campaign against Conservative MPs who voted against EU withdrawal bill amendmentMichael Gove has promised to make “any necessary changes” to UK law to recognise that animals can feel pain, after a social media campaign accused Conservative MPs of voting down proposals to accept they are sentient beings.The environment secretary issued a statement to the House of Commons insisting that it was a misconception to say Tory MPs voted against the idea that animals are sentient and feel pain. Continue reading...

Criticism of explorer Benedict Allen, rescued in Papua New Guinea, raises an important question: when is it legitimate to travel to remote communities?

An emotive article on the ‘ice apocalypse’ by Eric Holthaus describes a terrifying vision of catastrophic sea level rise this century caused by climate change and the collapse of the Antarctic ice sheet. But how likely is this – and how soon could such a future be here?I’ve been gripped by the story of Antarctic ‘ice cliff instability’ ever since Rob DeConto and Dave Pollard published their controversial predictions last year. They suggested disintegration of ice shelves caused by global warming could leave behind coastal ice cliffs so tall they would be unstable, crumbling endlessly into the ocean and causing rapid, sustained sea level rise.I’m glad Eric Holthaus is writing about an impact of climate change that is both certain (seas will rise around the world, no matter what we do) and incredibly important (we must adapt). I’m sympathetic to his concerns about the future. But I think his article is too pessimistic: that it overstates the possibility of disaster. Too soon, too certain. Continue reading...

Spread of light pollution is bad for the environment, animal life and humans, five-year study concludesThe world’s nights are getting alarmingly brighter – bad news for all sorts of creatures, humans included – as light pollution encroaches on darkness almost everywhere.Satellite observations made by researchers during five consecutive Octobers show Earth’s artificially lit outdoor area grew by 2% a year from 2012 to 2016. So did nighttime brightness. Continue reading...

All bereaved families have had loved ones released back to them and most funerals have taken place, says coronerThe last two of the 70 inquests for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were opened and adjourned on Wednesday with the coroner paying tribute to bereaved families and the “unrelenting work of dedicated professionals” who recovered and identified remains.The Westminster coroner, Fiona Wilcox, who has presided over 19 hearings in the past five months, said the final inquests marked an important milestone. Continue reading...

The use of dowsing by major water companies shows that the appeal of natural magic needs to be understood – and, where needed, confrontedThe news that many water companies use dowsing to locate underground water has prompted outraged demands from scientists that they desist at once from wasting time and money on “medieval witchcraft”. They are right to call this practice deluded. But it reveals how complicated the relationship is between scientific evidence and public belief.When the science blogger Sally Le Page highlighted the issue after her parents spotted an engineer dowsing for Severn Trent Water, the company responded to her query by claiming that “we’ve found some of the older methods are just as effective than [sic] the new ones” (such as the use of drones and satellite imaging). The engineer concerned told her parents that dowsing works for him eight times in 10. Continue reading...

At the ancient site of Charax Spasinou, military activity has left an indelible mark. Should it be viewed as modern damage – or as an important record of historical events?Modern conflict archaeology, the study of 20th and 21st century conflicts, is a new and slightly uncomfortable discipline in the world of archaeology. It’s problematic in a number of ways. Firstly, very little of it involves what most people would recognise as archaeology – digging up cultural material from the ground for study. Most of the material legacies of modern conflicts remain above ground and embedded in current society, necessitating a more anthropological, interdisciplinary approach. Secondly, the time periods under study are often within living memory, and often remain highly contentious within the affected regions. This means that modern conflict archaeology can be a political minefield – as well as an actual minefield.I’m currently working in Iraq down in Basra province at the two thousand-year-old city of Charax Spasinou, founded by Alexander the Great in 324 BC. Thirty years ago, however, the site was home to thousands of Iraqi soldiers. The Iran-Iraq war was dragging towards its end, both sides exhausted by the waves of offensives which had made 1987 the war’s bloodiest year. That spring the Siege of Basra had cost the lives of at least 60,000 Iranian and 20,000 Iraqi soldiers. Continue reading...

It turns out that water companies have been using dowsing to find damaged pipes, and this is an extremely common practice. But is it a big deal? Yes, it is.OK, so most UK water companies have people who use divining rods to find leaks and burst pipes, although many have since back-pedalled on these admissions since the story broke, thanks to the sterling work of science writer Sally Le Page, who deserves all credit for it. Understandable perhaps; if you were a major utility provider earning millions by providing an essential resource to large populations, you’d probably be a bit embarrassed if people found out your highly-trained and expensive technicians were essentially using witchcraft to fix problems.But, the expense and professionalism aspects aside, is it really that bad? Aren’t people overreacting a bit? It’s not like they’re claiming they can cure cancer or speak to the dead or anything like that, effectively taking money from the grieving and desperate. So some technicians wander around a field waving twigs about in an effort to find a leak? Bit weird, but where’s the harm? There must be something to it, surely? So what’s the harm? Continue reading...

Alcoholism as a term has long expired, so why do common narratives around alcohol problems still rely on it so much?The term alcoholism has long been retired from official alcohol clinical and policy guidance, abandoned as a reductionist and stigmatising label for problem drinking. Instead, alcohol use disorders, some including varying degrees of dependency, reflect the wider continuum nature of alcohol problems. Despite this, inappropriate references to “alcoholics” are ubiquitous in everyday narratives including mainstream media, undermining opportunities to reduce alcohol harms in a number of subtle ways.One reason for over use of the alcoholism concept may be a lack of a common language to describe the nuances of heavy drinking behaviours. Alcoholism may be assumed to be synonymous with alcohol dependence, but it is inherently bound to stereotypes of hitting rock bottom and beliefs in its nature as a lifelong disease. The media rarely offers alternative problem drinking accounts other than the equally flawed spectacle of binge drinking, and in turn perpetuates an overly simplistic framework for the public to reference their own beliefs and attitudes against. Continue reading...

‘Mad’ Mike Hughes, 61, plans to reach an altitude of 1,800ft over California in his home-made steam-powered rocketScience is littered with tales of visionaries who paid for pioneering research to prove their theories, and this weekend “Mad” Mike Hughes is hoping to join them. He plans to launch a homemade rocket in California as part of a bid to eventually prove that the Earth is flat.Hughes has spent $20,000 (£15,000) building the steam-powered rocket in his spare time, and will be livestreaming the launch over the internet. The self-described daredevil says he switched his focus to rockets after twice breaking his back doing stunt jumps in cars. Continue reading...

Chickens and ducks may not fill you with awe. But their early cousins were the largest birds on Earth – and a new study reveals how the bird groups are linkedWe don’t generally think of chickens and ducks as particularly awe-inspiring birds. Kept across the world as pets or as a food source, chickens (Galliformes) and ducks and geese (Anseriformes) are ubiquitous and seen as docile and unintimidating. The comparative anatomist Thomas Huxley noted in 1867 that Galliformes and Anseriformes shared a number of anatomical features, suggesting that the two groups of birds must be related. Later morphological and molecular studies confirmed their close relationship, and all fowl are now grouped in Galloanserae. Galloanserae are considered one of the most primitive groups of modern birds, and their ancestry can be traced back to the time of the dinosaurs. In contrast to their cuddly modern cousins, early fowl were truly giants by avian measures, and included the largest birds on Earth during the Paleogene.There are several groups of enormous, extinct terrestrial birds that are considered part of Galloanserae. One of them is the Dromornithidae, or Thunderbirds, from Australia. These giant flightless birds lived from the Oligocene until the Pleistocene and formed part of Australia’s megafauna (Worthy & Holdaway, 2002). Some dromornithids reached colossal size, such as Bullockornis, nicknamed the Demon Duck of Doom, which likely stood 2.5 metres tall. Continue reading...

Don Draper turned it into an art form, but, for the rest of us, pitching can be a terrifying prospect. An ad man, a Dragons’ Den investor and a TV producer give their top tipsA pitch is often all there is between an individual and their film getting made or their business receiving funding. Having a good idea can be the easy part – selling it to strangers requires nerves of steel and more than a working knowledge of the art of persuasion.Related: Petrified of public speaking? Let your body do the talking Continue reading...

Study finds ‘strong association’ between high levels of fine particulate matter and abnormal sperm shape – but impact on wider fertility remains unclearHigh levels of air pollution are associated with poor sperm quality and could be partly responsible for the sharp drop in male fertility, according to a new study.A team of scientists, led by researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, studied the sperm of nearly 6,500 men and found a “strong association” between high levels of fine particulate air pollution and “abnormal sperm shape.” Continue reading...

What role might the immune system play in mental illness? And how might this challenge long-held beliefs about the divide between body and brain?Subscribe & Review on iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud & Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterEarlier this month, a clinical trial began to test a radical new approach for treating schizophrenia. The trial comes from a team of scientists based in London who have discovered intriguing evidence that schizophrenia could be a disease of the immune system. But how could disruptions in the immune system lead to the kind of symptoms seen in schizophrenia? And might the immune system play a role in other mental disorders? Continue reading...

Spirits are associated with confidence and red wine is linked to relaxation – and researchers hope findings will help people consider alcohol’s emotional effectsWhile indulging in booze can inspire cheerful merrymaking in some, for others it can lead to a tearful journey to the bottom of the glass. Now researchers say the emotions people feel when drinking could be linked to their tipple of choice.An international survey has revealed that spirits are often associated with feelings of energy, confidence and sexiness – but on the flip-side anger and tearfulness – while red wine is the drink most commonly linked to relaxation, but also tiredness. Continue reading...

Data suggests being left-handed is a particular advantage in sports where time pressures are particularly severe, such as baseball, cricket and table tennisFrom cricketer Wasim Akram to baseball pitcher Clayton Kershaw and table tennis star Ding Ning, the world of sport has no shortage of left-handed players. But now researchers say they’ve worked out why lefties are overrepresented in some elite sports but not others.The study, published in the journal Biology Letters, suggests that being left-handed is a particular advantage in interactive sports where time pressures are particularly severe, such as table tennis and cricket – possibly because their moves are less familiar to their mostly right-handed opponents, who do not have time to adjust. Continue reading...

Researchers say negative health impacts of sucrose could have been combated sooner had research been released – but industry bodies dispute the findingsSugar’s demise from childhood staple to public enemy can be seen everywhere. Chocolate bars are shrinking, sugary drinks are set to be taxed and our recommended daily sugar intake has been slashed in half. But the battle against sugar might have begun sooner if the industry hadn’t kept secrets to protect its commercial interests, according to new findings.In 1967, when scientists were arguing over the link between sugar consumption and increased risk of heart disease, researchers now claim that the International Sugar Research Foundation (ISRF) withheld findings that rats that were fed a high-sugar diet had higher levels of triglycerides (a fat found in the blood) than those fed starch. In a move researchers from the University of California at San Francisco have compared to the tobacco industry’s self-preservation tactics, the foundation stopped funding the project. Continue reading...

Alex Orr, Elaine Bagshaw, Peter Lyth and others look at Britian’s future after BrexitIn recent days the UK’s standing in the world has further diminished as the impacts of Brexit become more tangible. Earlier this week the relocation of two EU agencies currently based in London was announced. The European Medicines Agency will move to Amsterdam, while the European Banking Authority will be lost to Paris, which narrowly pipped Dublin to host this prestigious organisation (London loses EU agencies to Paris and Amsterdam in Brexit relocation, 21 November). Between them, the two agencies employ 1,150 people, as well as attracting thousands of visiting researchers and staff members to London. This is despite Brexit secretary David Davis previously voicing his hope that the agencies could remain in London, or at least form part of the negotiations. To add insult to injury, the UK will have to pay for the relocation.In addition, the UK has withdrawn its candidate from election to the UN international court of justice (Report, 21 November). Britain will not have a judge on the UN’s most powerful court for the first time in its 71-year history. Last week, after five rounds of voting by the security council and the general assembly in New York, four judges from Brazil, Lebanon, France and Somalia were chosen for the bench ahead of the UK’s candidate, Christopher Greenwood. The UK’s failure to guarantee a place on the court of an organisation it helped to found is clearly a further sign of its increasing irrelevance on the world stage following the decision to leave the EU. As the UK turns inwards following the Brexit vote, it is hardly a surprise that it is no longer able to command the global influence it once did.

Some of the 1,250 people working at the year-old laboratory say its open plan layout, designed to produce collaboration, makes it hard to focus on workIt is a £700m cathedral to biomedical science, where scientists work together to make breakthroughs in cancer, neuroscience, pandemics and genetics. But the Francis Crick Institute is not proving to be the easiest place to concentrate.A year after opening, some of the 1,250 people working at the Crick Institute, in its central London laboratory, have complained that the open plan design, intended to assist informal collaboration, means some areas set aside for thinking and writing up research are too noisy. Continue reading...

CSIRO is limiting pay rises for Australians whose work supports Nasa despite the fact they are paid out of Nasa’s budget​A group of Australian engineers whose work supports the Nasa deep space network are targeting the space agency with industrial action at a communication centre in Canberra.The employees of the Canberra deep space communication complex in Tidbinbilla are employed by Australia’s science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), which is limiting their pay rises despite the fact they are paid out of Nasa’s budget. Continue reading...

Édouard Philippe issues ban on inclusive writing in official texts after outcry by traditionalists over punctuated ‘aberration’The French prime minister, Édouard Philippe, has clamped down on attempts to make the French language more female-friendly, issuing a ban on “inclusive writing” in official texts.Moves to end the linguistic dominance of the masculine over the feminine have sparked impassioned debate in France, coming as a flurry of revelations about sexual harassment and assault continue to dominate global headlines. Continue reading...

‘Extremely high’ levels of a radioactive isotope were discovered in parts of Russia in September. But where did it come from? And is it dangerous?

TV academic’s Home Lab, a collection of scientific experiments that can be carried out at home, won over jury of young readersTV professor Robert Winston has proved he has the winning formula as a science writer for children by scooping the prestigious Royal Society young people’s book prize for the fourth time with Home Lab, a collection of scientific experiments that can be done at home.Voted for by young readers, the book was described as “really cool” by six-year-old judge Mohammed, and “brilliant” by eight-year-old judge Faith. It was given the ultimate stamp of approval by 10-year-old judge Ella: “I liked it so much that I went out and bought a copy of my own with my pocket money,” she said. Continue reading...

Sónar festival is beaming cutting-edge dance music to an exoplanet 12 light years from Earth. But can such experiments ever be more than hubris?What item would you choose to sum up humanity if you were, like Captain James T Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, seeking out new life and new civilisations? A “five items or less” sign from a supermarket, with a note explaining why it should be “fewer”? Maybe a selection of press cuttings about the Greggs sausage roll Jesus controversy, summing up both humanity’s silliness and its capacity for overreaction?Of course you wouldn’t. You’d do what the Barcelona electronic music festival Sónar has done to mark its 25th anniversary: send out 33 separate 10-second clips of music by electronic artists such as Autechre, Richie Hawtin and Holly Herndon. Continue reading...

The healthcare system faces a crisis of trust; ill-informed doctors and poor research are harming patientsThe healthcare system is facing failure, rooted in an epidemic of misinformed doctors and patients.During a recent keynote lecture at the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation annual conference, I gave the example of a man who had had a heart attack and been given statins and whose months of disabling muscle pain resolved within a week of stopping taking them. His elation was cut short when his GP told him he must never stop his statin or he could die. When the audience was asked to guess what his risk of death was from stopping the pill for two weeks, the first response was 25%. There were gasps when I revealed it was actually between zero and one in 10,000. Continue reading...