‘Almost unique’ remains of wealthy home from town’s Roman heyday found under public park in centreThe foundations of a luxurious private bath house once owned by some of the richest citizens of Roman Chichester have been found under a public park in the centre of the city.
Given a ‘down to earth’ nickname for the time being, a newly found fast-moving gas ribbon is fascinating astronomersA mysterious streak of purple light spotted by aurora watchers adds to a growing list of upper atmospheric phenomena. Previously spotted electrical effects have been called elves, sprites and gnomes; the newcomer has the less fairytale name of Steve.The name was bestowed by the Alberta Aurora Chasers, an online skywatching group who first noticed the phenomenon. Initially it looked like a faint contrail, but longer exposures showed that it was luminous with a distinctive purple colour. Continue reading...
Maternal instinct – the devotion that informs our idea of archetypal motherhood – doesn’t mean only women with children can care about future generationsAs a mother, I understand the powerful bond that can exist between a parent and child. I love my son, and I really would do anything for him. Society assumes that all women, with enough exposure to their babies, will feel the same sense of endless, selfless love. We’re thought to be biologically programmed this way. But the truth is far more complicated.It’s hard for any woman to escape the expectation to be a mother. The maternal myth suffuses every human culture, from Catholicism’s Virgin Mary to Hinduism’s goddess mother. It’s considered the most natural state of womanhood, leaving the childless woman the object of pity. Let’s not even mention the woman who doesn’t want or like children at all. Continue reading...
Exclusive: ice cores and records from the Black Death show lead entered the air from human activity – and scientists claim “natural background†levels are zeroAnalysis of an ice core taken from the Swiss Alps together with records dating from the time of the Black Death have revealed that there is no “natural†level of lead in the air, researchers have claimed.
Sarah Harper, director of Oxford Institute of Ageing, suggests people in their 70s and 80s should be considered active adultsPeople should not be called old until they are seriously frail, dependent and approaching death, one of the UK’s leading social scientists has told Hay festival.
It has taken 60 years for bacteria to become resistant to vancomycin; modified drug now works in three ways, making it harder for bugs to develop resistanceAn antibiotic has been modified to make it more potent against bacteria, in an advance which researchers hope will help fight the threat of antibiotic-resistant infections.The medicine, vancomycin, has been prescribed by doctors for 60 years and bacteria are only now becoming resistant to it. Continue reading...
Some people just love pointing out mistakes and errors made by others. Why? What do they get from it?Pedants are literally everywhere. Although, there’s still space for oxygen and rabbits and scented candles. Announcing themselves with a catchphrase that could be from a Richard Curtis film about rustic water sources and being charmingly upper-class and awkward (Well, actually…), pedants can frequently be seen correcting grammar, factoids and social etiquette at auspicious occasions, before disappearing in a puff of nothing back to wherever it was they came from. It’s enough to make you nauseous.Sigmund Freud stated that pedants are men who are unable to laugh at themselves. I would point out that female pedants exist, but he’d probably say I was being anal. Or maybe genital. Between you and I, I can never remember the developmental stages. Irregardless, pedants are individuals who make excessive displays of their own knowledge based on formal rules and overly precise details with an enormity that disregards common sense. Pedantry represents a behaviour and as such can potentially be explained through psychology/neuroscience/scientific just-so stories. Continue reading...
Bones of young woman buried with her greatest treasures will be part of collection housed at new Museum of London siteThe skeleton of a young Roman Londoner will soon return to within 100 yards of the site where she was buried more than 1,700 years ago – with her greatest treasure, a stack of seven bronze bangles – heaped up on her breast.
Combination of carbon emissions and ‘urban heat island’ effect of concrete and asphalt gives rise to worst-case scenario by end of 21st centuryUnder a dual onslaught of global warming and localised urban heating, some of the world’s cities may be as much as 8C (14.4F) warmer by 2100, researchers have warned.
Study finds 95% of patients who had heart attack but not heart failure saw no benefit, suggesting drugs are overprescribedMany patients given beta blockers after a heart attack may not benefit from being on the drugs, suggesting they may be being overprescribed, researchers have said.
HSE University unveils 1.5 tonne die stamped with phrases including “Major Changes†and “Reject†to highlight importance to research of peer reviewHuge, concrete and with ominous phrases including “Major Changes†and “Reject†stamped on its six sides, a new monument in Moscow celebrates an unlikely hero: the anonymous peer reviewer.Unveiled at the Institute of Education, HSE University on Friday, the 1.5-tonne die is the result of a crowdfunding campaign that drew support from a host of researchers, including the Nobel laureates Erik Maskin and Andre Geim – the latter being the co-discoverer of graphene who is currently based at the University of Manchester. Continue reading...
Although psychosis is rare, factors including stress related to migration and discrimination could contribute to increased risk, say researchersPeople from ethnic minorities have up to a five times greater risk of psychotic disorders than the white British population, researchers say.A new study reveals that the trend holds in both urban and rural settings, with first-generation migrants who arrive in the UK in childhood among those at increased risk.
Onlookers were treated to a stellar show on Sunday when the phenomena appeared above Tasmania and New Zealand’s South IslandThe southern-most points of Australia and New Zealand have been treated to an extraordinary spectacle as unusually colourful aurora australis lights swept across the skies.Images and video of the event flooded social media on Sunday night. The Aurora Australis Tasmania Facebook page, which counts more than 52,000 members, was a focal point for people to share what they captured. Continue reading...
Jupiter rules the heavens, but keep an eye open for noctilucent clouds that gleam low in the sky after nightfall and before dawnJune brings our summer solstice on the 21st and sees Jupiter remain as the stand-out object in a night sky that is blighted by persistent twilight at our latitudes. The latter is so severe over northern Britain that it swamps all but the brighter stars and planets. Those bright stars include Vega in Lyra which is high in the E by our map times as the Summer Triangle it forms with Altair in Aquila and Deneb in Cygnus returns to prominence. Continue reading...
by Robin McKie Observer science editor on (#2R0G7)
Scientists studying FRBs – energy explosions from distant parts of the universe – are on to something vitally important. But what causes them?In summer 2006, astronomer Duncan Lorimer started work on a seemingly routine piece of scientific research. He and a team of students began examining old records of sky surveys that had been carried out using the Parkes radio telescope in Australia in past years.Lorimer was looking for observations of pulsars – highly energetic rotating neutron stars left over from supernovae explosions – that might have been missed during previous sweeps of the heavens. Pulsars are his celestial obsession, the astronomer admits, and he was keen to discover as many new ones as possible. Continue reading...
Do you sit around the house naked, read poetry and make compost? If so, you’re not the conscientious typeHow do your daily activities define your personality?Psychologists have explored personality from every conceivable angle except one: what do people with particular personality traits actually do in terms of everyday activities? First, compared to other people broadly similar to you (in terms of age, class and gender) are you more or less: Continue reading...
Getting hooked is not just about chemical propertiesA Canadian study suggests that people who think that they only use cocaine “recreationally†could be in danger of becoming addicted more easily than previously thought. After taking cocaine, participants underwent a PET scan while watching people with whom they had used the drug taking more cocaine. Just watching fellow participants take cocaine led to craving and a dopamine release in the dorsal striatum, which could lead to dependency.Certain hard partying reprobates may right now be thinking: “How do I get on to a study like that?†More seriously, drug addiction is a grim, complex and sometimes fatal business and, as the study points out, it would be beneficial to catch it early. Presumably, other factors must be taken into account: how the drug was taken, how often and whether someone has an addictive personality. Something more than dopamine release has to explain why some people taking a hard drug such as cocaine end up addicted, while others don’t. Continue reading...
For such a small nation, Scotland punches far above its weightThe most startling revelation of the year so far came at the end of a BBC Horizon programme called Strange Signals From Outer Space!. I’ve always admired the lads and lasses who produce Horizon; for decades, they have been giving us programmes that stretch our minds and fill them with uplifting concepts about the possibilities of human endeavour. Clearly, though, the producers haven’t been reared in a newsroom environment. If they’d been schooled in the arts of detecting and conveying hard news, they would have stuck this potentially game-changing information at the top of their programme.It seems astronomers and space scientists have been showing more than a fancy to some bursts of activity in the blue yonder, which they believe might give them a chance of detecting alien messages. They’ve been looking at bursts of radio waves produced by neutron stars to search for unusual signal formations. Basically, these signals happen routinely and intermittently. But if any were to form into a pattern then there’s a decent chance that ET and his chinas are trying to contact us. Continue reading...
A papal audience for families affected by the inherited brain disease could end centuries of stigma – and open vital doors in the search for a cureIt was with the pomp and intrigue of a Dan Brown novel that earlier this month Pope Francis made his way into the Aula Paolo VI audience hall, a room the size of an aeroplane hangar in Vatican City. Flanked by the flamboyant Swiss Guard and dark-suited men muttering into earpieces, he headed for an oversized chair on a stage in front of nearly 2,000 people. Many applauded, most gawped in disbelief.The pope was there to do something no other world leader has done before. He was meeting people with Huntington’s disease, a rare and incurable neurological disorder that has long been shrouded in shame and discrimination. It’s a genetic disease that runs in families. It causes involuntary jerky movements and can make people depressed or aggressive, symptoms that can leave them socially isolated, thanks in part to a historic misunderstanding. Continue reading...
Hello. Are you sitting comfortably? And are you paying attention? If so, what are you pay attention to? If you happen to be a dad, and have young children, a US study suggests fathers are more likely to be more attentive to their female toddler than a son, 60% more in fact, spending time talking about feelings, singing and whistling, while interaction with boys is more likely to be rough-and-tumble play and used more “achievement-related†language, including words such as “proudâ€, “win†or “bestâ€. What effect that can have later in life? That is unknown, but is that why people use the phrase “daddy’s girlâ€? Perhaps we need to be brainier to understand these gender influences. Fortunately, science might help, with the identification of 40 genes that shed new light on the biology of intelligence. The genes provide instructions for the building of healthy neurons, the paths they take through the 3lb lump of tissue, and the construction of hundreds of trillions of synapses that connect them. That doesn’t make you a genius though, but if you want a healthy mind, a healthy body can certainly help. However, if you do regular exercise and want to measure how many calories you burn, don’t rely on fitness trackers, which are revealed to show a wide margin of error on calories consumed, but are far more accurate when monitoring heartbeat. Finally, fitness fanatics aren’t the only things on the move. Scientists say an extra layer of tectonic plates have been discovered within Earth’s mantle, which could explain a mysterious series of earthquakes in the Pacific. An finally another big and moving story from below the oceans, explaining why some species of whales, such as the blue whale, became so large. Research suggests that it was driven by changes in the distribution of their food in the ocean rather than falling water temperatures. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#2QVR8)
Paul Ramchandanim, new Cambridge University academic set to lead research into child leisure activity, says parents’ involvement more important than gender roles or games played
Researchers using MRI scans of participants found those taking the cholesterol medicines were less likely to have a thickened heart muscle (left ventricular hypertrophy)Statins not only lower cholesterol but can improve the structure and function of the heart, research has shown.People taking the drugs were less likely to have abnormally enlarged hearts, a sign of stress and weakness, scientists said. Continue reading...
Poll commissioned by Cancer Research UK finds 52% of adults walk only 2,000 steps a day, figures described as ‘worrying’ and likely to increase cancer risk
We all tend to give more weight to negative messages than positive. Recent research reveals that this psychological bias is much stronger in conservatives than liberals(Preface: all of the research reported in this post has been done with American voters and not those in the UK, where equivalent research is lagging. While there may be some interesting correlates, conservatives in the UK differ in important ways from conservatives in the US.)Believing what we are told is critical to our development as a species. It allows us to accumulate knowledge and build on it rather than having to learn slowly through trial-and-error or evolutionary selection. Continue reading...
Don’t be fooled by apparently good numbers. Despite Labour’s recent gains, regional trends in polling suggest big names like Tom Watson and Clive Lewis, along with Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, could be under threatYou might think that Tom Watson has a pretty safe seat. Labour’s Deputy Leader and MP for West Bromwich East enjoys a majority over 9,400, which he increased from 6,700 at the 2015 election, only two years ago. In fact, Labour have won every single election in the seat since it was created in 1974. They’ve had a recent boost in the polls, and could even beat their share of the vote in 2015. What could possibly go wrong?Tom Watson is in big trouble. The sky is falling. Blue meteors are hurtling toward his head, spewing smoke and fire across the skies of West Bromwich. Swarms of purple locusts muttering about foreigners have turned the sky black and plunged the town into darkness. A town full of people who could barely even tell you what a Tory looked like ten years ago could be on the verge of electing one next week. Continue reading...
Excitement greets pictures of giant, chaotic weather systems plus new measurements that will help build unprecedented map of planet’s interiorThe first close-up observations from Nasa’s Juno spacecraft have captured towering clouds, swirling cyclones and dramatic flows of ammonia that drive giant weather systems on the largest planet in the solar system.The $1.1bn probe swung into orbit around Jupiter in July last year on a mission to peer through the thick clouds that shroud the planet and learn how the alien world, and ultimately all of the planets in the solar system, formed around the nascent sun 4.5bn years ago.
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#2QQ1Y)
Striking differences in the way men talk and play with their children depending on whether they are male or female revealed by US researchersFathers of toddler daughters are more attentive to their children than those of sons, according to a study that suggests unconscious gender biases can dictate the way parents treat their children.In the study, which monitored 48 hours of interactions between fathers and toddlers, striking differences emerged between the way fathers spoke to and played with boys compared to girls. Continue reading...
Stunning images from New Zealand’s North Island as Rocket Lab, a Silicon Valley-funded company, launches the maiden space flight of its battery-powered, 3D-printed rocket from the Mahia peninsula
Successful launch of low cost rocket seen as bringing down barriers to space while also making New Zealand a hubRocket Lab, a Silicon Valley-funded space launch company, on Thursday launched the maiden flight of its battery-powered, 3-D printed rocket from New Zealand’s remote Mahia Peninsula.
CT scanning techniques should be used instead of invasive autopsies in cases of probable natural death- and should be offered free of charge, say researchersDigital autopsies should be the first-line approach in postmortem investigations of probable natural death, and should be offered free of charge to families, researchers have said.About 90,000 autopsies requested by coroners are carried out in England and Wales every year, with the majority of deaths found to be a result of natural causes. Continue reading...
People who drink more coffee – even decaffeinated – are less likely to develop liver cancer, an analysis of data from 26 studies has foundIncreasing coffee consumption may help to stave off liver cancer, a new study has suggested.Researchers have found that people who drink more coffee are less likely to develop hepatocellular cancer (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer – and the effect was even found in decaffeinated coffee. Continue reading...
Researchers, co-led by University of Queensland academics, discover five additional DNA sections for disease affecting one in 10 Australian womenResearchers are one step closer to identifying genes linked to a gynaecological disease affecting one in 10 Australian women.A global study into the genetic causes of endometriosis has identified a wider array of genetic links to the disease than what was previously known. Continue reading...
Doctors say cannabidiol offers hope for thousands with rare condition who have several life-threatening convulsions a dayA new drug derived from cannabis has been shown to reduce the convulsive seizures experienced by children with a severe form of epilepsy by nearly a half – and in a small number, stop them altogether.Doctors involved in the trials say the drug could change the lives of thousands of children for whom there is little treatment, and might also help children and adults with more common forms of epilepsy. Continue reading...
Investigation concludes ‘unexpected high rotation’ caused probe to plunge to its destruction, hitting Mars surface at estimated 335mphAn electronic dizzy spell caused by spinning too fast led the European Space Agency (Esa) probe Schiaparelli to crash land on Mars, an investigation has concluded.Scientists said three minutes after entering the Martian atmosphere, “unexpected high rotation†resulted in “saturation†of an instrument in the craft tracking spin rate. Continue reading...
My friend Jim Brooks, who has died aged 78, was a distinguished scientist whose life was full of surprises. Branching out from initial studies in industrial chemistry at Bradford Institute of Technology (later Bradford University), he elucidated the properties of sporopollenin, a virtually indestructible component of plant spores found in ancient rocks, which provided evidence of life on Earth at least 3,500m years ago. Jim’s work in this area culminated in the publication of a beautifully illustrated book, Origins of Life (1985).He was born in West Cornforth, Co Durham, but grew up in the textile village of Saltaire, West Yorkshire, where his father, Ernest, was a dyer. His mother, Beatrice (nee Hunter), had been in service. After his first degree at Bradford, Jim gained a master’s and a PhD. He joined BP as a research geoscientist in 1969, and his research career continued while he held various positions in the oil industry. Continue reading...
Health system in Yemen at breaking point as sharp spike in reported cases prompts urgent work to identify suspected new cholera strainAs Yemen’s cholera outbreak gathers pace, an investigation is under way to determine whether a new and more deadly strain of the disease is responsible for a second wave of cases that hit the country last month.With more than 2,000 suspected cases reported daily, medical supplies are running low and in some hospitals beds are shared by up to six children. Scientists are urgently trying to identify the suspected new strain at specialist laboratories in France. Continue reading...
Sport and palaeontology rarely overlap, but a new study shows ancient arthropods may have used the same slipstreaming techniques as elite cyclistsTrilobites are common fossils. Resembling nothing so much as a glorified woodlouse, these animals teemed in our oceans for millions of years. The first fossils are around 520 million years old, while the final demise of one last group of survivors took place 250 million years ago, in the Earth’s biggest known mass extinction event. In size, they varied from tiny planktonic forms a millimetre long to the mighty Isotelus rex, more than 70 cm long. Some swam and ate plankton, others were scavengers or predators which roamed the sea-floor.There are thousands of species of this group of extinct arthropods (invertebrates with an exoskeleton and jointed limbs), but they all conform to a strict body plan. From front to back, they have a head (cephalon), a body (thorax) made up of segments, and a tail (pygidium). The three longitudinal lobes along their body, one down the middle and one on each side, are what give them their name. When exceptionally-preserved specimens are found, the details of their limbs, underneath their body, are revealed: they have a pair of antennae, followed by many two-branched limbs down the rest of their body. If your love of palaeontology stems, in part, from the alien aesthetic qualities of life from the deep past, then trilobites have all the wonderfully Giger-esque features you could hope for. In fact, one of the xenomorphs in Prometheus is known as the Trilobite, despite ending up looking much more like a cephalopod. Continue reading...
Humans have always had a special relationship with bees. And while the archaeological evidence is sparse, what does exist shows the richness of ancient human activitiesEarlier this month I received my first package of bees. A package refers to a box containing 3 pounds of bees, or roughly 12 thousand Apis Melliforia. And while introducing a new species of animal to your home seems like a hugely cathartic event, there was no ceremonious exchange of insect between myself and the store from which I ordered them, which was a bit of a let down. I accepted the humming box, placed it in the hatchback of the family car, and drove home. After donning my bee suit and gathering all my tools, it took me about 12 minutes to physically place the bees into the brood box, the part of the hive where the queen will lay her eggs and rear new drones and workers. And with that our family joined an ancient fraternity of bee keepers.Humans have intricately intertwined their existence with bees for millennia. Interestingly, bee keeping and honey hunting have been largely ignored in the archaeological or ethnographic records, and we have to be satisfied with minor glimpses into such activities. One of the earliest recorded instances of humans interacting with bee products comes from a modest spear point found in a Spanish cave, which was attached to its shaft with the aid of bee’s wax 40,000 years ago. Ancient rock art from such diverse places as southern Africa, Turkey, Bhutan, and Australia depict various aspects of bee hive life cycles, often with human figures attempting to access the hives. Most of this was created by nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples who hunted wild honey sources. Some of these depictions, such as red and white paintings from Zimbabwe, depict not only honey and comb, but also depict brood, the reproductive portions of the hive where the queen lays the eggs and the larval bees grow to maturity each in their own cells. Understanding brood and when hives are the most (re)productive would have aided hunter-gatherers in collecting wild honey. Such cultures also ate the brood, which is rich in fat and protein. Continue reading...
People taking mushrooms in 2016 needed medical treatment less than for MDMA, LSD and cocaine, while one of the riskiest drugs was synthetic cannabisMushrooms are the safest of all the drugs people take recreationally, according to this year’s Global Drug Survey.Of the more than 12,000 people who reported taking psilocybin hallucinogenic mushrooms in 2016, just 0.2% of them said they needed emergency medical treatment – a rate at least five times lower than that for MDMA, LSD and cocaine. Continue reading...
Biotechnology and the rise of AI may split humankind into a small class of ‘superhumans’ and a huge underclass of ‘useless’ people. Once the masses lose their economic and political power, inequality levels could spiral alarminglyInequality goes back to the Stone Age. Thirty thousand years ago, bands of hunter-gatherers in Russia buried some members in sumptuous graves replete with thousands of ivory beads, bracelets, jewels and art objects, while other members had to settle for a bare hole in the ground.Nevertheless, ancient hunter-gatherer groups were still more egalitarian than any subsequent human society, because they had very little property. Property is a pre-requisite for long-term inequality.
Preliminary findings suggest that a mysterious series of earthquakes in the Pacific could be down to previously undetected platesScientists say they have found a possible layer of tectonic plates within the Earth’s mantle which could explain a mysterious series of earthquakes in the Pacific.For more than half a century scientists have known that continents drift over the surface of our planet, and that the ocean floor tears apart in their wake, with magma from the mantle filling the gap. At the other end of the process, where tectonic plates converge, oceanic plates plunge into the deeper mantle in a process called subduction. Continue reading...
Study finds men with over 40in waist and women with over 35in waist are more at risk of cancer as waist size is as good at predicting cancer risk as BMIAn expanding waistline could be a warning sign that a man or woman is running an increased risk of certain cancers, according to international experts.Scientists at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is an arm of the World Health Organisation, have shown that waist measurement is as good at predicting cancer risk as body mass index (BMI), which is a ratio of weight to height. Continue reading...
Former Ethiopian health minister Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to lead World Health Organisation after a long and fraught campaignVote for WHO top job held after weeks of mud-slingingThe World Health Organisation has its first ever director-general from Africa, after the election of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the former Ethiopian health minister.Dr Tedros, as he is known, beat the British candidate, Dr David Nabarro, after three tense rounds of voting on Tuesday. Third was Pakistan’s Dr Sania Nishtar. The decision by member states came at the World Health Assembly in Geneva after a fraught campaign. Continue reading...
There’s a temptation to react to the Manchester attacks with calls for vengeance. Here are some better alternativesThe Manchester bomber was not just trying to kill those at the pop concert, but he was also targeting you and me. He wanted to make us nervous about going to a shopping centre today or attending events such the FA Cup at Wembley this Saturday. His weapon of choice was the emotional responses that we carry within us and which he was trying to trigger.Emotions such as horror: at the lives snuffed out, the injuries sustained, the families devastated. Or fear: that on another occasion it might be us who is involved and who is carried away in bodybags. Or anger: that a person could do such a thing and be “inspired†by a political or religious ideology. Continue reading...
Chris Gard and Connie Yates want appeal court judges to overrule earlier decision for hospital to withdraw Charlie’s life supportA couple who want to take their sick baby son abroad for treatment have asked three court of appeal judges not to take away their “only remaining hope†for his survival.Chris Gard and Connie Yates want permission to take nine-month-old Charlie, who has a form of mitochondrial disease that causes brain damage and muscle problems, to the US for a therapy trial. Continue reading...
Despite the recent announcement of a new haul of Homo naledi fossils, recovering ancient DNA is still proving as difficult as everDespite what many people believe, paradigm-shifting moments in science - where our understanding of a particular explanation is challenged by a single finding - are actually quite rare. But one happened in paleoanthropology on 9 May with the publication of three linked papers describing new fossils belonging to the enigmatic hominin Homo naledi.
Common blood tests could help diagnose cancer early even in patients that show no other symptoms, study findsA common blood test could help diagnose cancer earlier, according to research suggesting a high platelet count is strongly associated with the disease.