Reasons for the ‘shocking’ drop are unclear, say researchers, and represent a huge and neglected area of public health

This Thursday, we’ll be recording a very special Q&A episode with Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw and we want your questions!Subscribe & Review on iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud & Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterOn Thursday 27 July at 5.30pm (BST), we’ll be recording a very special episode of Science Weekly, live on the Guardian’s Facebook page. Sitting down with Nicola Davis will be Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw for a Q&A about the origins and evolution of our universe, as described in their latest book Universal. That means we need your questions! Continue reading...

My father, Sydney Cohen, a scientist with a deep love of nature, who has died aged 95, developed from his South African education and wide travels in Africa a determination to vanquish malaria, the continent’s scourge.His pursuit of a vaccine led, in 1961, to a landmark paper in Nature, co-written with Ian McGregor, that found that immunoglobulin from immune Gambian adults had an anti-parasitic effect when administered to infected children. While variation in parasites has precluded to this day an effective vaccine against all strains of malaria, Sydney was one of the first to show that successful vaccination was possible, using forms of the parasite that live in the blood. Continue reading...

The commission includes no political scientists or election experts to test claims of voter fraud or suppression. No wonder it’s already been called ‘a sham’Last Wednesday, the US Presidential Advisory Commission on Electoral Integrity (PACEI) held its first meeting, with many election experts and political observers anxious to get clarity on the group’s composition and stated objectives. But even before its first meeting, experts have called it a sham and orchestrated chaos, and have accused it of breaking the law.Our assessment of the first meeting is that, as currently structured, the commission will almost certainly create more problems than it solves. The most remarkable thing about the first meeting is not who was there and what was said, but rather who was not there and what was not said. Continue reading...

Research comparing perceptions of death with accounts of those imminently facing it suggest that maybe we shouldn’t worry so much about our own end“The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else,” wrote Earnest Becker in his book, The Denial of Death. It’s a fear strong enough to compel us to force kale down our throats, run sweatilyon a treadmill at 7am on a Monday morning, and show our genitals to a stranger with cold hands and a white coat if we feel something’s a little off.But our impending end isn’t just a benevolent supplier of healthy behaviours. Researchers have found death can determine our prejudices, whether we give to charity or wear sun cream, our desire to be famous, what type of leader we vote for, how we name our children and even how we feel about breastfeeding.

Taken 250 miles (402 km) above Earth and at a speed of 17,500 mph (28,164 km/h), this stunning timelapse video of the aurora borealis was tweeted by Nasa astronaut Jack Fischer from the International Space Station. Fischer shared his enthusiasm online: ‘People have asked me what a “burrito of awesomeness smothered in awesome sauce” is … Well folks, it looks like this … awesome sauce is green.’ Aurora borealis is the result of collisions between the Earth’s gaseous particles and matter released by the sun’s atmosphere Continue reading...

Sarah Craske found the copy of Metamorphoses in a secondhand bookshop and used bacteria within its pages to create art with her own bloodThere was more than poetry trapped between the leather covers of a 300-year-old volume of Ovid’s Metamorphoses: blood, sweat and snot feature in an art installation that displays the bacteria within its pages.The sweat and the droplets from an ancient sneeze that spattered one page were contributed by centuries of previous owners and readers of the book – but the blood was the artist’s own, donated by Sarah Craske as part of the medium for cultivating the organisms. Continue reading...

How does a book about theoretical physics sell more than 1m copies? Rovelli explains how he set about sharing his wonder at quantum scienceThere are two kinds of popular science books. The first kind is for passionate readers. Say you are mad about butterflies. You want a book that gives you all the details about all varieties of butterflies, their lives, habits and colours. You are keen to know everything.The other kind of popular science book is written for everybody else. Say you never cared much for butterflies, but one day you happened on a book filled with incredible images of their phantasmagorical wings and read an interesting fact, such as how many of them live only for a single day … even though you don’t want many details, you suddenly find yourself wanting to learn more.

UK to pioneer energy innovation through batteries in homes as energy department announces £246m research fundingBatteries and renewable power sources are on the verge of bringing about an “epochal transformation” of the UK that could make energy clean, abundant and very cheap, according to a cabinet minister.As the government unveiled plans for a more flexible energy system and £246m of funding for battery research, Greg Clark told the Guardian that a smarter grid would “radically” bring down bills. Continue reading...

Satellite data reveals trapped water across the moon’s surface – not just at the poles – in deposits from ancient eruptions, say researchersThe inside of the moon is wetter than previously thought, research suggests, opening up fresh possibilities for manned missions to the lunar landscape.While the moon was once thought to be bone-dry, in recent years water has been found trapped in lunar volcanic glasses – material formed from magma ejected from the moon’s interior. Continue reading...

A 5% drop in measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations could cause a threefold increase of measles cases, costing the public sector millions, US study showsA small decline in the uptake of vaccines could have a dramatic impact on both public health and the economy, research suggests, as concerns about outbreaks of preventable diseases grow in the US and Europe.The new study reveals that even a 5% drop in uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine among children in the US could result in a threefold increase in measles cases, and cost the public sector millions of dollars.

Aided by a supercomputer, meteorologists find 34% chance of record monthly rainfall being set, raising fears about major floodingFears have been raised that the UK could soon see a repeat of the sort of flooding that has hit in recent years after forecasters predicted a one-in-three chance there would be a new record set for monthly rainfall during coming winters.The Met Office used a supercomputer to simulate possible extreme weather conditions to help build up a picture of what was likely to befall the UK. Forecasters found a 7% chance of a monthly rainfall record being set in the south-east. This rose to 34% once other regions of England and Wales were taken into account. Continue reading...

Berkeley’s KPFA Radio cancels appearance by evolutionary biologist after learning of his ‘hurtful speech’ against the religion – a charge the author contestsRichard Dawkins has denied using “abusive speech against Islam” after a California radio station cancelled a book event with the scientist, citing his comments on Islam, which it said had “offended and hurt … so many people”.Dawkins, whose bestselling study of evolution, The Selfish Gene, was named the most influential science book of all time by the Royal Society last week, was lined up to speak about his memoir A Brief Candle in the Dark at an event hosted by Berkeley’s KPFA Radio in August. Continue reading...

From the first settlers to the New World, English speakers have absorbed myriad influences – modern anxieties about ‘corruption’ say a lot about our times

Researchers say case of child infected at birth but no longer displaying symptoms may spare others long-term therapyA child who was infected with HIV at birth and given a short course of treatment has remained healthy for the last nine years without further drugs, according to scientists at a conference in Paris, in a case that could give hope to children born with the virus.Researchers say they hope to learn from the case of the child, born in South Africa, to save others from having to take powerful daily medication as they are growing up and for the rest of their lives. Continue reading...

A large number of counsellors have volunteered to be available for survivors and firefighters at Grenfell tower, but what’s the evidence for talking therapy immediately after a trauma?There were a few weeks a month or so ago when I started to dread turning on the radio in the morning. Manchester, London and then Grenfell … the news was horrific and deeply sad.In the aftermath of shocking violence and loss of life, it’s understandable that people want to reach out and help. What’s less clear is the best way in which to do this. Continue reading...

‘Period brain’ may be one of the mainstays of internet banter – but a new study doesn’t find any scientific evidence for itIs there such a thing as period brain? There are teams of researchers asking exactly what having a period does to your memory, ability to pay attention and your judgment. So far, the weight of studies has been firmly tilted towards fluctuating levels of hormones during the menstrual cycle having both physical and mental impacts. The authors of a review in the Archives of Gynaecology and Obstetrics state: “The effects of the menstrual cycle on emotional state and cognitive function have been long recognised,” and cite internet humour as confirmatory. Continue reading...

They promise to reveal everything from our ancestry to our chances of serious illness. But are DNA tests accurate and do they tell us anything worthwhile?There may come a time in everyone’s life when they find themselves sitting at the kitchen table on an otherwise unexceptional weekday morning, drooling saliva into a test tube in the spirit of scientific inquiry.The spit is for one of the home genetic-testing kits I’m sampling. A growing number of these kits (brands such as 23andMe, DNAFit, Thriva, MyHeritage DNA, and Orig3n) promise to unlock the mystery of your genomes, variously explaining everything from ancestry, residual Neanderthal variants, “bioinformatics” for fitness, weight loss and skincare, to more random genetic predispositions, denoting, say, the dimensions of your earlobes or the consistency of your earwax. Continue reading...

The most enduring works are made with heartfelt intent, says Ryan Holiday, not to mention a lot of hard workIn 1937, literary critic Cyril Connolly sat down to write a book around an unusual question: how does an author create something that lasts for 10 years? Connolly’s view was that the mark of literary greatness lay in standing the test of time. With the spectre of world war looming on the horizon, the idea of anything surviving in an uncertain future had a kind of poignancy and meaning to it.The book that Connolly wrote, Enemies of Promise, explored contemporary literature and the timeless challenges of making great art. While it never became a trendy cultural sensation, this unusual book ultimately endured through wars, political revolutions, fads, massive technological disruption and so much else. It lasted first for a decade – in 1948, 10 years after its release, Enemies of Promise was expanded and given its first reprinting. The book got the same treatment in 2008. Continue reading...

Retailer backs futurologist’s claim that devices conversing in canine will be available in, ruffly speaking, a decadeImagine talking to a tiger, chatting to a cheetah, as Dr Doolittle once sang – what a neat achievement that would be. Well, Amazon has revealed that the animal-loving doctor’s ambition might not be entirely fantasy.Pet translators that can turn woofs into words and make sense of miaows, might really be on the horizon, according to a report backed by the internet retailer. Continue reading...

Spanish study suggests side effects of new immunotherapy drugs may include restoring hair pigmentA group of cancer patients’ grey hair has unexpectedly darkened after they took new types of drugs, researchers have revealed.Chemotherapy is known to make patients’ hair fall out, but the 14 people involved were all being treated with new immunotherapy drugs that work differently and have different side effects from chemotherapy. A Spanish study suggests those may include restoring hair pigment, at least in patients with lung cancer. Continue reading...

New guidelines mean homeopathic remedies and 17 other items will no longer be prescribed, for reasons ranging from low clinical effectiveness to low cost-effectiveness

I can’t even fold t-shirts neatly (yes, yes, I’ve seen the online tutorials, I’m ham-fisted, ok?) but if you’re or origami expert or a whizz at folding, Nasa might have just the challenge for you. The space agency is crowdsourcing ideas for ways to efficiently pack a radiation shield to protect manned spacecraft on deep space missions. Potentially more achievable for the majority of us, however, are some of the lifestyle changes highlighted in a new report on dementia prevention. The researchers say that potentially over a third of dementia cases could be prevented, although they admit that’s a best case scenario. Still, with 2015 figures showing 45 million people worldwide living with dementia, it’s a ray of hope. Ageing of a different kind has caused excitement this week in Australia, as an archaeological dig has found evidence of Aboriginal habitation from up to 80,000 years ago. The artefacts discovered in Kakadu national park have been dated as being between 65,000 and 80,000 years old, extending the likely occupation of the area by thousands of years. And finally, what once seemed like impossible science fiction is now happening - and causing ethical dilemmas. Robots are now starting to enter public spaces and work alongside humans, bringing with them a need for additional safety measures, say academics, who are calling for robots to be given ‘ethical black boxes’ to track and explain their decisions. Continue reading...

Nationalistic fantasies about future export strengths, an ill-informed public debate and political deceit all masked the economic disaster that was ConcordeThe idea that we now live in an age of ‘post-truth’ implies that once-upon-a-time politics was guided by objective reality. Clearly, this is nonsense. We shouldn’t mistake a period in which the media and political establishment offered more coherent stories for a time when politics was truthful. In the recent past, politics could be astonishingly dishonest, especially when it came to supporting national machines. Concorde, the fastest lame duck ever built, was a flying Brexit. The political establishment privately despaired about its costs, whilst knowingly pretending that the project would improve Britain’s place in the world.Few politicians actually believed in the Concorde project. It was accepted inside Whitehall that the scheme would be an economic disaster. After Harold Wilson came to power in 1964, the Anglo-French supersonic airliner only survived because the government was concerned that unilaterally cancelling the project would lead the French to sue them for more than it would cost to continue to develop the machine. Continue reading...

In the search for ways to efficiently pack a radiation shield to protect manned spacecraft on deep space missions, Nasa is looking to the public for helpIf you know your crane from your bishop’s mitre, Nasa needs you. The space agency is launching a challenge to crowdsource origami-inspired ideas for a foldable radiation shield to protect spacecraft and astronauts on voyages to deep space, such as missions to Mars. Continue reading...

The Sentinel-5P spacecraft is designed to monitor the pollution that causes a reported tens of thousands of deaths every year in the UKLast year, the European Space Agency launched the Trace Gas Orbiter to Mars. It is designed to look for methane – a key tracer of life – to determine if Martian microbes are present on the red planet.Now, ESA is preparing to launch another spacecraft to look at methane on another planet: our own.

Philosophy of science has built an industry around confirmation theory. But unprecedented methodological challenges are forcing philosophers to go back to the drawing-boardThe Dark Energy Survey (DES) concluded its biannual Collaboration meeting at University of Chicago in mid-June. DES is one of the largest surveys in cosmology searching for evidence of dark energy, the elusive entity that according to the so-called “concordance model” in cosmology should constitute 73% of the whole mass-energy of the universe. After years of observations at the Blanco Telescope in Chile, spanning the southern sky and mapping 200 million galaxies, DES Year 1 data will soon be publicly released; and there is a lot of anticipation as to whether the data will prove consistent with the current concordance model or not.DES uses four different probes — baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO), weak gravitational lensing, Supernova of type Ia, and galaxy clusters — to measure both how fast the universe is accelerating in its expansion and how clumpy the universe was at different epochs after the Big Bang. Precise measurements of both quantities are crucial for establishing whether dark energy is indeed a non-zero vacuum energy responsible for the accelerated expansion of the universe; or, whether instead Einstein’s general relativity needs be modified to account for the observed accelerated expansion. Continue reading...

The 2016 election and a wealth of psychological data show how much our reasoning can be influenced by how information is framedIn March 2016, before Trump was selected as the Republican nominee, cognitive scientist George Lakoff was already concerned about the emerging Trump phenomenon. So he wrote an article called “Understanding Trump” that details the ways in which Trump “uses your brain against you” – and sent it to every member of the Clinton campaign.Lakoff researches how framing influences reasoning, or how the way we say something often matters much more than what we say. And he has used his research to inform how Democrats can better frame their party positions. He consolidated his advice for Democrats in his book, Don’t think of an elephant! The title conveys one of its main insights: if you negate a frame, you strengthen a frame. In other words, if you say “don’t think of an elephant,” you can’t help but think of one. Continue reading...

Researchers admit prevention estimate is a ‘best-case scenario’, but stress that action can be taken to reduce dementia risk

A dig at Madjedbebe on the traditional lands of the Mirarr people in northern Australia has unearthed thousands of artefacts, some as old as 80,000 years. The discovery upends decades-old estimates about the human colonisation of the continent (previously estimated at between 47,000 and 60,000 years) and adds western scientific evidence to Indigenous cultural knowledge about the length of time their ancestors have occupied the land• Australian dig finds evidence of Aboriginal habitation up to 80,000 years ago

Health bodies condemn panel’s conclusion that more jabs against cancer-causing infection are unlikely to be cost-effectiveA decision not to vaccinate boys against a cancer-causing sexually transmitted infection has been condemned by health bodies and campaigners.The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which has been reviewing the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme, concluded that it was “highly unlikely to be cost-effective” to extend the scheme to include adolescent boys as well as girls. Continue reading...

Artefacts in Kakadu national park have been dated between 65,000 and 80,000 years old, extending likely occupation of area by thousands of yearsA groundbreaking archaeological discovery in Australia’s north has extended the known length of time Aboriginal people have inhabited the continent to at least 65,000 years.The findings on about 11,000 artefacts from Kakadu national park, published on Thursday in the journal Nature, prove Indigenous people have been in Australia for far longer than the much-contested estimates of between 47,000 and 60,000 years, the researchers said. Some of the artefacts were potentially as old as 80,000 years. Continue reading...

What can advances in neuroscience and psychology reveal about this age-old phenomenon? And how might digital avatars help patients answer back?Subscribe & Review on iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud & Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and TwitterOnce thought to originate from the realm of the supernatural, auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) have a well-documented history, with more recent times often seeing them linked to mental health issues. But with recent surveys suggesting that up to 10% of the population report hearing voices that nobody else can hear, could these hallucinations reveal the way our brains distinguish voices? And if so, how might we use this knowledge to answer back? Continue reading...

As robots start to enter public spaces and work alongside humans, the need for safety measures has become more pressing, argue academicsRobots should be fitted with an “ethical black box” to keep track of their decisions and enable them to explain their actions when accidents happen, researchers say.

Iranian mathematician who was the first woman to win the Fields medalIn 2014 the Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, who has died aged 40 of cancer, was awarded the Fields medal, the discipline’s most celebrated prize. The 52 previous recipients had all been men. Maryam won it “for her outstanding contributions to the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces”.Surfaces are basic objects in mathematics, appearing in many guises. The surface of our planet is a sphere, but from local observations alone one cannot be sure of this: the Earth could be shaped like a bagel, for example, or a bagel with a few handles attached. A bagel-like surface is known in mathematics as a torus. Continue reading...

The disease is now the leading cause of death among the oldest people. Given focus and funding, however, Alzheimer’s will yield to science and reason

Rapid climate change is a unifying feature of ancient mass extinctions – how bad might it be now?At one level extinction normal and natural. Most of the diversity of life on Earth that has ever existed is now gone, and all species will one day pass from being extant to being extinct. But although it is normal for species to die out, the normal rate is considered to be quite low. On average perhaps just one or two species go extinct in any given year out of all of the bewildering diversity of beetles, mammals, plants, microbes, worms, fungi and fish. In short, a tiny percentage of the literally millions of species.The current rate of loss though, while naturally hard to measure (not least when we have perhaps only described around 20% of the species on Earth) is considered to be considerably higher. There is a growing list of species we know have gone extinct in the last century and plenty of others are critically endangered or already doomed to extinction (some species have no known breeding animals, or are known from populations of only males). Even though many species are still apparently flourishing they are at a fraction of their previous distribution and populations – there may be tens of thousands left in one forest, but if they formerly numbered in the millions and were much more widespread, then they are now clearly very vulnerable to an outbreak of disease or a single disaster like a flood or fire. Naturally then, there is huge concern about what is happening to these species and what it might mean in the future and scientists are keen to show how bad this may be and for people to respond.

Computer trained to determine what makes places beautiful could help design new towns and decide which areas should be protected, say researchersWordsworth found it in a host of daffodils; Nan Shepherd in the nooks of the Cairngorms. For Monet it popped up all over the place, from the windmills and canals of Amsterdam, to the sailing boats of Argenteuil.What lends a scene beauty has long been left to the poets and painters to define, but that may be about to change. In a new study, researchers trained a computer to tell scenic views from blots on the landscape. One day it could help with decisions over what land to protect, and how better to design new towns and cities, the scientists claim.

Since the early 19th century, artists have depicted colourful – if sometimes fictional – dinosaurs and prehistoric environments, mingling science with unbridled fantasy. This art is the subject of a new book: Paleoart Continue reading...

June 2017 was beaten only by June in 2015 and 2016, leaving experts with little hope for limiting warming to 1.5C or even 2CLast month was the third-hottest June on record globally, temperature data suggest, confirming 2017 will almost certainly make a hat-trick of annual climate records, with 2015, 2016 and 2017 being the three hottest years since records began.

Zion Harvey had procedure in US in 2015 and can now use scissors and play baseball, but report highlights his difficult recoveryAfter almost 11 hours of surgery involving four teams of doctors, Zion Harvey had earned his place in medical history. The eight-year-old had become the first child in the world to receive two new hands in a procedure that seemed to herald a revolution in transplant medicine.Related: UK's first double hand transplant patient delights in writing letter to thank surgeon Continue reading...

‘Cotton wool’ clouds above sub-tropical shores unmasked as formations caused by humidity variations high in the skyThe weather forecast had predicted a cloudless day, but when Ilan Koren, an atmospheric scientist, looked up he saw small “cotton wool” clouds dotted across the bright blue sky over Israel.Related: Stunning 'new' cloud formations captured in updated atlas – in pictures Continue reading...

Experts draw comparisons with the thalidomide scandal as they reveal that traumatic complications are more common than official figures suggestSenior doctors have called for a public inquiry into the use of vaginal mesh surgery amid mounting concerns that a significant proportion of patients have been left with traumatic complications.Speaking at a meeting in parliament, Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence-based medicine at the University of Oxford, drew comparisons with the thalidomide scandal, saying that there was evidence that mesh procedures, used to treat complications from childbirth, carry significantly more risk than official figures suggest. Continue reading...

The Sopranos put a mobster through analysis. Now Gypsy is making a psychotherapist the star of the show. Does TV get it right – or is gross malpractice just dramatically inevitable?

A new Neanderthal mitochondrial genome supports a remarkable hypothesis – that there was interbreeding with an extremely early migration of African homininsKeeping pace with new developments in the field of human evolution these days is a daunting prospect. It seems as though every few weeks there’s an announcement of exciting new findings from hominin fossils, or the recovery of an ancient genome that significantly impacts our understanding of our species’ history.The best way to keep up is by regularly revisiting and reassessing a few core questions. When and where did our species first appear? How and where did we migrate? What was our relationship to our (now-extinct) hominin relatives? What evolutionary and cultural factors influenced our histories? How do new findings change the answers to these questions? Are they generally accepted by the relevant community of experts, or are they provisional or controversial?

Behind the Royal Society’s prestigious Royal Medals, whose 2017 winners were announced today, is a 200-year-old story of Britain’s fear of scientific decline in the face of international competitionThe Royal Society today announced a slew of medal and award winners. I wrote previously about the curious history of the Society’s oldest prize medal, awarded earlier this year, but today press focus is on their next most prestigious, the Royal Medals. While the illustrious list of past winners may be recalled, few recognise the medals’ origin in a period of concern for British science and sustained attack on the Society.As the Society’s website tells us, the Royal Medals were founded by George IV in 1825, to be offered annually for the two “most important contributions to the advancement of Natural Knowledge” in the physical and biological sciences. In the 20th century a third medal was added, for applied sciences. A full list of winners – boasting names like Dalton, Davy, Herschel, Faraday, Darwin, Crookes, Eddington, Dirac and Perutz – can be found here. Continue reading...

Experts highlight need for earlier diagnosis and improved access to treatments, as figures show UK healthcare spend is lower than the European averageCancer survival rates in the UK continue to lag behind those of other European countries, research suggests, with experts flagging the need for earlier diagnosis and improved access to treatments.The report is the latest to highlight the problem, with previous research suggesting that UK survival rates for breast cancer are a decade behind countries including France and Sweden. Continue reading...

With so many unknowns in our DNA, using genetics in medical testing doesn’t always bring the answers – sometimes it brings only doubt. By Carrie ArnoldAnneMarie Ciccarella, a fast-talking 57-year-old brunette with more than a hint of a New York accent, thought she knew a lot about breast cancer. Her mother was diagnosed with the disease in 1987, and several other female relatives also developed it. When doctors found a suspicious lump in one of her breasts that turned out to be cancer, she immediately sought out testing to look for mutations in the two BRCA genes, which between them account for around 20% of families with a strong history of breast cancer.Ciccarella assumed her results would be positive. They weren’t. Instead, they identified only what’s known as a variant of unknown or uncertain significance (VUS) in both BRCA1 and BRCA2. Unlike pathogenic mutations that are known to cause disease, or benign ones that don’t, these genetic variations just aren’t understood enough to know if they are involved or not. Continue reading...

The astrophysicist talks about alien life, sci-fi and why he believes Australians shouldn’t get stuck in trafficAlbert Einstein has been called many things: a genius, a pioneer, a Nobel prize winner. Neil deGrasse Tyson just calls him a badass.“I think it fits, right? It’s not a stretch,” he tells Guardian Australia before his appearance in Melbourne on Saturday night. “The dude’s a badass.”

Punctuation | Solar-powered legs | Dogs and litter | Crossword themes | Puzzle changePunctuation is indeed important (Letters, 17 July). The story goes that an American millionaire’s wife, travelling through Europe, came across a beautiful diamond ring for sale for $1,000. She sent a telegram: “Can I buy?” “No price too high” came the reply. So she purchased the ring and her husband was furious. He had meant “No; price too high” – and it is said that after that incident the telegram companies introduced the convention of inserting the word “stop” at the necessary places.