Hannah Devlin looks at a genome study that may explain the spread of bell-shaped pottery beakers across Europe 4,500 years ago

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 “proud”, “win” or “best”. What effect that can have later in life? That is unknown, but is that why people use the phrase “daddy’s girl”? 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...

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

Herons in flight, an inquisitive marmot and a blue whale are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

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.

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.

From bovine valves to electrical motors and 3-D printed hearts, cardiologists are forging ahead with technologies once dismissed as “crazy ideas”On a cold, bright January morning I walked south across Westminster Bridge to St Thomas’ Hospital, an institution with a proud tradition of innovation: I was there to observe a procedure generally regarded as the greatest advance in cardiac surgery since the turn of the millennium – and one that can be performed without a surgeon.The patient was a man in his 80s with aortic stenosis, a narrowed valve which was restricting outflow from the left ventricle into the aorta. His heart struggled to pump sufficient blood through the reduced aperture, and the muscle of the affected ventricle had thickened as the organ tried to compensate. If left unchecked, this would eventually lead to heart failure. For a healthier patient the solution would be simple: an operation to remove the diseased valve and replace it with a prosthesis. But the man’s age and a long list of other medical conditions made open-heart surgery out of the question. Happily, for the last few years, another option has been available for such high-risk patients: transcatheter aortic valve implantation, known as TAVI for short. Continue reading...

Scientists say success of freeze-dried mouse sperm stored on international station could be significant for human reproduction when ‘space age’ arrivesReproduction may be possible in space, Japanese researchers have said, after freeze-dried sperm stored on the International Space Station for nine months produced healthy offspring.The scientists said their findings could have significant ramifications for human settlements in space, which they consider “likely”. Continue reading...

Dr Sheena Cruickshank on how ‘citizen sensors’ can help scientists to learn of how pollen, weather and pollution interact to trigger allergy symptomsSeasonal allergies, such as hay fever and allergic asthma, are on the rise in the UK as your article (First hay fever map of Britain offers some relief to sufferers, theguardian.com, 20 May) rightly points out, with up to one in four people now experiencing symptoms each year. However, these are complex conditions, and just mapping pollen levels does not tell the full story in allowing accurate prediction of allergy symptoms. Many people will react to multiple things, not just pollens, and increasingly we are aware that environmental conditions, in particular pollution and weather, play an important role in when and how people experience seasonal allergy, although we have yet to fully understand the intricacies of these interactions. Continue reading...

The answers to today’s three puzzlesEarlier today I set you the following three puzzles.1. In each of the four sectors of the outer circle, there is a two-digit number which is equal to the sum of the three numbers at the corners of its sector. The numbers in the individual circles can only be 1 to 9 and each number can be used only once. One number has been provided to get you started. Find the remaining four numbers Continue reading...

Study significantly adds to the tally of genes connected to intellect – but researchers caution genius isn’t all down to geneticsA major study into the genetics of human intelligence has given scientists their richest insight yet into the biology that underpins our cognitive skills.The research on 60,000 adults and 20,000 children uncovered 40 new genes that play a role in intelligence, a haul that brings the number of genes known to have a bearing on IQ to 52. Continue reading...

We all know the risks of not changing our passwords – yet somehow it is never a priority. Louise Chunn explains why few people botherYou know you should; you know you must! But for some reason you just don’t ever seem to get around to changing your passwords. You could simply start using a password manager, an easy-to-access programme that safely tracks and stores your passwords, assigning different ones to each account. But do you? Surely there’s not a part of you that actually wants to be hacked by fraudsters?Many of us struggle with tasks that need to be done, but do not appear to be urgent. “Of course I am a sucker for the urgent over the important. Everyone is,” says Margaret Heffernan, entrepreneur and author of business books Wilful Blindness and A Bigger Prize. “The important stuff is usually harder. I procrastinate too, where I feel guilty about something and prefer to ignore it.

The truth about the latest viral maths problem from Singapore - and another historic Oriental numbers puzzleUPDATE: To read the solutions click here.Happy birthday Monday Puzzle!It is now exactly two years since the birth of this column, which I started as a consequence of a Singapore maths problem that went viral. To celebrate this anniversary the internet has kindly provided me with a new Singapore maths problem. The web has been aflutter this past week about the following teaser reportedly given to Singaporean first year pupils, that’s five to seven-year-olds, that is so difficult no one can solve. Continue reading...

Whether it’s learning a new skill or responding to criticism, a growth mindset can help you succeed in businessWhen Bill Gates is mentioned you probably picture him as Microsoft’s philanthropic, billionaire co-founder. But there is another side to the story: before he became the world’s richest person Gates was a struggling entrepreneur.His first business, Traf-O-Data (a technology company aimed at minimising traffic congestion) failed to become a big success. But rather than giving up and getting a regular nine-to-five job, Gates and his partner Paul Allen went on to build Microsoft’s first product a couple of years later. Allen has said that Traf-O-Data’s relative failure proved to be a vital learning process – a reaction that reveals him and Gates to share a growth mindset. This means using challenges and setbacks as an opportunity to develop and erring on the side of positivity. But it’s more difficult to consistently take this attitude than it may seem. Continue reading...

IBS patient Linda Buonanno knew the pills she was given contained no active drugs, yet they had an immediate effect on her condition. So can placebos play a useful medical role?Linda Buonanno had suffered 15 years of intense cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and pain she describes as “worse than labour”. She was willing to try anything to get relief from her irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and leapt at the chance to take part in a trial of an experimental new therapy. Her hope turned to disappointment, however, when the researcher handed her a bottle of capsules he described as placebos containing no active ingredients.Nonetheless, she took the pills twice daily. Four days later, her symptoms all but vanished. “I know it sounds crazy,” says Buonanno, of Methuen, Massachusetts. “I felt fantastic. I knew they were just sugar pills, but I was able to go out dancing and see my friends again.” Continue reading...

Michael Faraday’s pioneering work on electricity made him a 19th-century superstar. Now his signature invention is being repurposed for surveillance–proof bags, wallpaper and underpants – not to mention plot points in TV shows such as Better Call SaulThere is not much room to build a box the size of a garage in the Royal Institution’s lecture theatre. Tiered seating surrounds the large central table and leaves little room for much else. It was the same in January 1836, but Michael Faraday had no choice. He left his cramped lab in the basement of the building in London’s Mayfair and set to work. He put a wooden frame, 12ft square, on four glass supports and added paper walls and wire mesh. He then stepped inside and electrified it.Faraday all but lived in the box for two full days. In that time, with electrometers, candles, and a large brass ball on a white silk thread, he explored the nature of charge. What he discovered transformed how scientists viewed electricity. But the cage itself was simply a means to an end, a way to insulate experiments from the outside world. It hardly screamed applications. Standing on the spot where the box was built, Frank James, the RI’s historian, gives the simple reason: “What was there to protect against electrical charge in 1836?” Continue reading...

Forrest and his wife Nicola are making one of the largest philanthropic donations in Australian history, to fund a variety of social and medical causesThe mining magnate Andrew Forrest has unveiled one of Australia’s largest philanthropic donations to fund a variety of social and scientific causes.Forrest and his wife Nicola confirmed they would give away $400m in a donation described by Malcolm Turnbull on Monday morning as a “game-changer in the Australian philanthropic community”. Continue reading...

Exposure to nitrogen dioxide and airborne particles affects sleep efficiency, says medical professorAir pollution might be linked to poor sleep, say researchers looking into the impact of toxic air on our slumbers.Related: Looking tired can harm your social life, say researchers Continue reading...

Nicola Davis investigates what makes graphene the ‘wonder material’ and whether it can bring commercial success to the UKSubscribe & Review on iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud & Acast, and join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast why not recommend it, or any other podcasts you’ve loved to podcasts@theguardian.com to be in with a chance of featuring in our Hear Here column.In this week’s show we look at the the wonder material graphene – what is it good for and is it all it is cracked up to be? We also explore the challenges and pitfalls of getting it out of the laboratory and into products and ask whether graphene, first isolated by researchers in Manchester, is likely to be a commercial success for the UK. Continue reading...

Intellectual humility is associated with curiosity, thoroughness and courageHow far are you prepared to accept that you are in the wrong? A new study shows there are a lot of benefits to humility, even though it’s a rarity in these times of Trump and Brexit. To measure your own, simply answer the following question:On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much), to what extent do you accept that your beliefs and attitudes may be wrong? Continue reading...

Writing down how you are feeling has immense mental and physical health benefits – and men need it most, says Ollie Aplin

An international group including scientists and lawyers aims to lay down the law for the military in spaceSpace, as Star Trek fans are reminded at the start of each episode, is the final frontier. But while it is a place that few will ever visit, that does not mean it should be allowed to become a wild west.An international coalition of lawyers, scientists, government representatives and academics has recently started to draft the first legal manual of space warfare. Establishing the legal parameters for the military uses of outer space, the manual will provide guidance on issues such as the legality of attacking satellites and firing lasers from space during war, and the future rules of engagement. Continue reading...