Accessible screening tool piloted by NHS England includes braille instructions and a better guide for stool sampleThousands of blind or partly sighted people could find it easier to participate in bowel cancer screening from home owing to a new NHS tool aiding accessibility.The standard test used to screen for bowel cancer requires an at-home stool sample in a tube, which is sent off and examined for any possible cancer signs. Continue reading...

Harvard researchers teamed up with Google to analyse the makeup of the brain, much of which is not yet understoodScientists have reconstructed a wiring diagram for a piece of human brain in unprecedented detail, revealing fresh quirks and complexities in what many regard as the most sophisticated object in the known universe.Harvard researchers teamed up with experts in machine learning at Google to map out the neural circuitry, connections, supporting cells and blood supply in a speck of healthy tissue removed from the cortex of a 45-year-old woman who had had surgery for epilepsy. Continue reading...

Fighting spirit helped us achieve the Paris accords in 2015 - and we need it now the world is on course to overshoot 1.5C Hopeless and broken': why the world's top climate scientists are in despair Christiana Figueres was the head of the UN climate change convention from 2010 to 2016Hopeless and broken": that is how a top scientist interviewed by the Guardian described feeling as she and hundreds of other climate experts shared harrowing predictions of the future of the planet this week.I resonate with her feelings of despair. Even as the former head of the UN climate change convention that achieved the Paris agreement in 2015, I, like many, can succumb to believing in the worst possible outcome. Just after I assumed the role of UN climate chief in 2010, I said to a room full of reporters that I didn't believe a global agreement on climate would be possible in my lifetime. Continue reading...

Joy is all around us, according to the bestselling South Korean author. Here's what he has learned from a long and often hard lifeIn nearly 90 years, Rhee Kun Hoo has learned a lot about surviving and thriving. The South Korean psychiatrist turned writer lived through typhoid, war, family bankruptcy and poverty before he was into his teens. In his 20s he was jailed for his role in pro-democracy protests. Throughout his medical career, he helped transform South Korea's treatment of mental health, while raising four children. He and his wife now live among their children and grandchildren in a communal building in Seoul.He is at home there when we talk over Zoom, with the help of a translator and an aide who repeats every question to him because his hearing is not what it was. Every so often a cat walks past the window in the garden behind him. Continue reading...

Researchers say reducing emissions and biodiversity loss and preventing invasive species could control diseaseBiodiversity loss is the biggest environmental driver of infectious disease outbreaks, making them more dangerous and widespread, a study has found.New infectious diseases are on the rise and they often originate in wildlife. In meta-analysis published in the journal Nature, researchers found that of all the global change drivers" that are destroying ecosystems, loss of species was the greatest in increasing the risk of outbreaks. Biodiversity loss was followed by climate change and introduction of non-native species. Continue reading...

Orangutan diplomacy' strategy aims to ease concern over environmental impact of palm oil production, says ministerMalaysia plans to give orangutans as gifts to countries that buy its palm oil as part of an orangutan diplomacy" strategy to ease concerns over the environmental impact of the commodity.The south-east Asian country is the world's second biggest producer of palm oil, which is found in more than half of supermarket packaged goods - from pizza and biscuits, to lipstick and shampoos. Global demand for palm oil has been blamed for driving deforestation in Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia. Continue reading...

Sales of cottage cheese are booming thanks to a boost from protein-hungry social media influencers. But do we really need all this extra protein? Madeleine Finlay speaks to Joanne Slavin, a professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota, to find out what exactly protein is doing in our bodies, and what happens to it when we consume it in excessRead more from the Guardian about proteinRead more about the cottage cheese trend Continue reading...

Opal Sandy can hear almost perfectly after groundbreaking surgery that took just 16 minutesA British toddler has had her hearing restored after becoming the first person in the world to take part in a pioneering gene therapy trial, in a development that doctors say marks a new era in treating deafness.Opal Sandy was born unable to hear anything due to auditory neuropathy, a condition that disrupts nerve impulses travelling from the inner ear to the brain and can be caused by a faulty gene. Continue reading...

Earth's greatest living structure is dying. But the humanity of reef scientists is as beautiful as any coral I've ever seenFrom the dry lab on One Tree Island research station - about 100km off the coast from Gladstone and in the southern region of the Great Barrier Reef - I watch a steady procession of scientists walk to their next encounter with what has become the biggest palliative care unit on the planet.These scientists head out to the reef like doctors heading to a hospital with no control over saving their patients. They head to a hospital where there is no medicine they can administer to alleviate the pain or to make death easier. Continue reading...

Paul Marshall's claim on thousands of WW2 silver bars successfully challenged by South African governmentThe joint owner of GB News has lost a legal battle with the South African government over 34m of silver secretly salvaged from a second world war shipwreck.Paul Marshall, who is lining up a bid for the Daily Telegraph, had claimed ownership of 2,364 silver bars his company had recovered from the bottom of the Indian Ocean. Continue reading...

AlphaFold breakthrough may bolster work in fields from antibiotics and cancer therapy to resilient cropsResearchers have hailed another leap forward" for artificial intelligence after Google DeepMind unveiled the latest version of its AlphaFold program, which can predict how proteins behave in the complex symphony of life.The breakthrough promises to shed fresh light on the biological machinery that underpins living organisms and drive breakthroughs in fields from antibiotics and cancer therapy to new materials and resilient crops. Continue reading...

Ordnance Survey's Vernacular Names Tool contains unofficial names - many created by local people - of 9,000 locationsFrom Stinky Bay to Sausage Island, local nicknames for UK landmarks have long been a source of amusement. But in an emergency, the last thing rescuers need to grapple with is how to find Crazy Mary's Hole.Fortunately Ordnance Survey (OS) has added thousands of these unofficial names for cliffs, caves, sandbanks, coastal car parks and buildings to a database for the emergency services. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sandstone rock featuring language markings created 1,600 years ago to go on display at museumA geography teacher was tidying his overgrown garden at his home in Coventry when he stumbled across a rock with mysterious incisions. Intrigued, he sent photographs to a local archaeologist and was taken aback to learn that the markings were created more than 1,600 years ago and that the artefact was worthy of a museum.The rectangular sandstone rock that Graham Senior had discovered was inscribed in ogham, an alphabet used in the early medieval period primarily for writing in the Irish language. Continue reading...

AI analysis of 180 vape flavours finds that products contain 127 acutely toxic' chemicals, 153 health hazards' and 225 irritants'Chemicals used to produce vapes could be acutely toxic when heated and inhaled, according to research.Vaping devices heat the liquid flavouring to high temperatures to form an aerosol that is then inhaled. They contain chemicals including vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, nicotine and flavourings, blended in various amounts. Continue reading...

Life-transforming' trial giving children and young people with milk or peanut allergy small doses to train their bodies to tolerate itChildren have been able to enjoy foods that previously would have triggered potentially life-threatening allergic reactions after they took part in a life-transforming" NHS clinical trial, doctors have reported.A pioneering 2.5m study is using daily doses of everyday food products, taken under strict medical supervision, rather than drugs to train the bodies of children as young as two to tolerate an allergen. Continue reading...

Pharmaceutical company says newer shots led to decline in demand for AstraZeneca vaccine, which is no longer being manufactured or suppliedAstraZeneca has begun the worldwide withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine due to a surplus of available updated vaccines" that target new variants of the virus.The announcement follows the pharmaceutical company in March voluntarily withdrawing its European Union marketing authorisation, which is the approval to market a medicine in member states. Continue reading...

Fish welfare campaigners say Defra decision facilitates greenwashing and will mislead consumersAnimal welfare campaigners are challenging the decision to allow producers of Scottish salmon to drop the word farmed" from labelling.An application by the industry body claimed changing the protected name wording on the front of packaging from Scottish farmed salmon" to Scottish salmon" made sense because wild salmon was no longer sold in supermarkets, which consumers were aware of. Continue reading...

A study has found that more than two dozen US coastal cities are sinking by more than 2mm a year. It's a similar picture across the world. Nearly half of China's major cities, as well as places such as Tehran and Jakarta, are facing similar problems. These issues are compounded by sea level rises caused by global heating. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Prof Manoochehr Shirzaei of Virginia Tech University and Prof Robert Nicholls of the University of East Anglia to find out what's making our cities sink and whether anything can be done to rescue them from the seaClips: Global News, CNBC, WRDW Continue reading...

Countdown halted hours before liftoff in latest delay for long-planned flight, with no word on next attemptBoeing called off its first astronaut launch because of a valve problem on its rocket on Monday night.Two Nasa test pilots had just strapped into Boeing's Starliner capsule when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the planned liftoff. A United Launch Alliance engineer, Dillon Rice, said the issue involved an oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the company's Atlas rocket. Continue reading...

When researching space objects and a far-flung message made for aliens, I was drawn to the question: what do we choose to memorialise - or forget?

Study suggests almost everyone with two copies of genetic variant ApoE4 goes on to develop diseaseHaving two copies of a gene variant known to predispose people to Alzheimer's could in fact represent a distinct genetic form of the disease, researchers have said.The variant, known as ApoE4, has long been known to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's, with two copies conferring greater risk than one. Continue reading...

Company, which has been plagued by safety issues in its avionics wing, will send two astronauts to the ISS in its new spacecraftBoeing has an opportunity on Monday night to restore some luster to its tarnished name, with the scheduled first crewed launch from Florida of Starliner, a pioneering new capsule designed to transform human exploration of space.Although the company's space operations are entirely independent of its aviation wing, which has been plagued by a recent series of safety and quality issues, the spacecraft's pathway to the Cape Canaveral launchpad, and planned 10.34pm ET liftoff, has been similarly bumpy. Continue reading...

Researchers say experimental shot is step towards goal of creating vaccines before a pandemic has startedScientists have created a vaccine that has the potential to protect against a broad range of coronaviruses, including varieties that are not yet even known about.The experimental shot, which has been tested in mice, marks a change in strategy towards proactive vaccinology", where vaccines are designed and readied for manufacture before a potentially pandemic virus emerges. Continue reading...

Trauma, vulnerability, dependency ... like it or not, we can't just wish them away

Three stars with vastly different surface temperatures make up the grouping known as an asterismToday we'll look at a pattern of stars, a grouping known as an asterism, that heralds the season of spring.In the northern hemisphere, this asterism is known as the Spring Triangle, but for those in the southern hemisphere, Autumn Triangle would be more appropriate. It is formed by three bright stars in three constellations that are prominent at this time of year. Continue reading...

I attended the same senior school as Marion Ecob-Prince. She and her brother were born in the same week as me, in the same nursing home and we were all involved in a baby mix-up.At feeding time my mother was presented with a handsome, lusty baby - who turned out to be Marion. Marion's mother, Anne, was tending to her twin brother, so was unaware that she had been given a rather less prepossessing specimen. Maternal instincts overrode my mother's admiration for Marion, and she handed her to the nearest nurse and rushed to see to whom I had been given. Continue reading...

Throughout her life, Danyah Miller developed coping mechanisms to help deal with certain challenges. Would she have thrived if she had known about dyslexia, or would a label have limited her?Discovering that I have dyslexia, and most probably dyscalculia, later in my life has raised many questions for me, not least whether a childhood diagnosis would have changed the trajectory of my life, both personally and professionally.Over the years I'd suspected that I might be dyslexic. I also thought that I was making excuses for myself when met with certain challenges. It wasn't until last year that I decided to seek an assessment to confirm either way. I was relieved to read, in the first paragraph of my diagnostic report, that my literacy difficulties are consistent with the specific learning difficulty dyslexia. Continue reading...

Water detective Dr Leon Barron studies London's wastewater, analysing it in all its chemical, narcotic, polluted glory, before and after treatment. Amazingly, he still drinks the stuff from the tapIf you live in London, Dr Leon Barron knows what you're up to. He knows what prescribed drugs you're on - painkillers, antidepressants, antipsychotics or beta blockers - and what illicit ones you're taking for fun. He knows if you've been drinking and when (Friday and Saturday are the main ones"); perhaps even if you're worried about your dog getting fleas.Of course, I only mean the collective you", the city. Barron, who leads the Emerging Chemical Contaminants team at Imperial College London, has no idea what any individual is taking or doing; he explains that very clearly and carefully. He has a research scientist's precision plus the slight wariness of someone whose research has grabbed headlines, with the inaccuracies and misinterpretations that brings (I wonder what he thought about Prawn to be wild", reporting his research on cocaine residue in wild river shrimps.) But he's also infectiously enthusiastic and generous with his time, spending a whole morning taking me round his lab and through his groundbreaking work. Continue reading...

Legacy can be found in the lives you touch and your impact on othersThe question I am a 54-year-old woman with a good career and a stable marriage. I live across the globe from my parents, my siblings and their kids and I am child-free. I have reduced contact with them to brief and polite birthday and Christmas messages, which they respond to, but we have no relationship or ongoing contact as such. It is close to estrangement, and I have no desire to try to repair this. I am child-free because I always feared repeating my family's parenting style and had no sense of my childhood as a positive experience.I have become preoccupied with the idea of a legacy of a life well lived. I have always placed high value on social contribution and working hard. But, as I increasingly ponder the likelihood of dying alone and without children, I have started to become quite critical about the point of striving in my career, and how and what I should be doing with my time. I feel being forgotten" is a realistic proposition - and it leads me to wonder whether this is liberating, and I can stop striving, do as I please, or should I strive harder and find a way of leaving my mark, ensuring I have a life that will mean something? Is this just an indulgent existential crisis? Do I need to just get over myself? Continue reading...

The writer of a new book about life on Earth seen through the prism of the egg says the age-old paradox actually leads us back a billion years - to the bottom of the oceanThe chicken or the egg? Sometimes, as a zoology author, I am asked this question by the kid at the front with the raised hand and large questioning eyes. Sometimes it's the older guy at the back with a glint in his eye. Sometimes it's a student who approaches the lectern at the end of a lecture while everyone else files out. The same mischievous eyes, the same wry smile. So which came first?" they ask, beaming, unaware that this is not the first time I have been asked.I hadn't foreseen, years ago, when I began exploring the evolution of the animal egg and the role it has played in the long history of life on this planet, that it would become pretty much the only question I would be asked. I spent years reframing the evolution of life on Earth as a story told from the egg's perspective, tracing this strange vessel's adaptation to land, its movement across continents, the evolution of the umbilical cord, the evolution of the placenta, menstruation, menopause... but even now, having finally turned this journey into a book, I expect that a great deal of my dialogue with readers will be chicken-based. Continue reading...

As China launches its Chang'e-6 mission to the far side of the moon, US officials have expressed alarm at the pace of its advancements

Asked 10 random questions, the philosopher and author shares the strangest thing he's done for love, his famous hair and his fears for the future of the moonYour latest book is called Who Owns the Moon. Who owns the moon?Well, nobody does and that's part of the problem. Billions are being invested in exploiting the moon, because there are some very valuable resources there that are in short supply back on this planet. There will be great technological spin offs when there's settlement on the moon. But I wrote the book because I feel that the regulatory framework that exists for activity out in space is very, very weak.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

UK medicines regulator says information on boxes of montelukast will alert users to risk of mood and behaviour changesMore than 500 adverse neuropsychiatric reactions have been reported in children under the age of nine involving an asthma drug which is to get new warnings over its risks.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced last week that more prominent warnings would be added to the information provided on boxes of the asthma drug montelukast, sold under the brand name Singulair. Continue reading...

I get advice about my age on social media (not all of it friendly), but I'm sanguine about life without youthful anxietiesHow old is old? That depends on how old you are, for as you age you will nudge that number upwards. A recent German study asked people over the age of 40 that same question eight times over a period of 25 years, and it found old" gets older as we age. Of course it does. Would Paul McCartney, fit at 813/4, choose 64 now as the time he'd need feeding? Jumpin' Jack Flash at 80 is as lithe and frisky as ever, but only a halfway Dorian Grey, young in limb, but a face as raddled as that portrait: is Mick Jagger old yet?I am 77: I and my friends contemplate our age all the time. How old are we, exactly? I can feel like Methuselah, mentioning to some bright young spark that the first election I covered as an Observer reporter was 1970, or that I remember the old king's funeral, or that I had a doll's ration book (sweet rationing lasted until 1953), or how the great smog of London of 1952 that killed 4,000 knocked me down with bronchitis, inhaling Friars' Balsam under a towel. That's old, isn't it?Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Sofie Hagen loves sex - so why has it been 3,089 days since she's had any? (1m27s); A flat white can now set you back up to 5.19 - but should we swallow it? (25m13s); and psychotherapist and Observer columnist Philippa Perry addresses a reader's personal problem (43m51s). Continue reading...

Ethereal scenes of flowing super-heated material may help explain why atmosphere is hotter than surfaceThe sun's otherworldly landscape, including coronal moss, solar rain and 6,000-mile-tall spires of gas, is revealed in footage from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft.The observations, beamed back by the European Space Agency probe, reveal feathery, hair-like structures made of plasma and also capture eruptions and showers of relatively cooler material falling to the surface. Continue reading...

Genetic analysis of Winchester samples shows similar strains of disease and supports theory that fur trade played role in spreadLeprosy passed between humans and red squirrels in medieval England, research suggests, supporting the theory that the fur trade could have played a role in the spread of the disease.Leprosy is one of the oldest infectious diseases recorded in humans and is typically caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. Continue reading...

China has launched a probe to collect samples from the far side of the moon in a world first, part of its goal to land a human on the lunar surface by 2030. A rocket carrying the Chang'e-6 lunar probe blasted off from the Wenchang space launch centre in Hainan province. The mission has drawn concern from China's major rival, the US, over Beijing's geopolitical intentions amid what the head of Nasa has called a new 'space race'

The launch of the uncrewed Chang'e-6 is part of China's effort to put a human on the lunar surface by 2030China has launched a probe to collect samples from the far side of the moon - in a world first - as part of its goal to land a human on the lunar surface by 2030.A rocket carrying the Chang'e-6 lunar probe blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province just before 5.30 pm (0930 GMT). Continue reading...

As humans enter what has been termed the third space age', it's private companies - not governments - leading the chargeIf the 20th-century space race was about political power, this century's will be about money. But for those who dream of sending humans back to the moon and possibly Mars, it's an exciting time to be alive whether it's presidents or billionaires paying the fare.Space flight is having a renaissance moment, bringing a fresh energy not seen since the days of the Apollo programme and, for the first time, with private companies rather than governments leading the charge. Continue reading...

Sumatran ape applied sap and leaves to open cut after suspected fight with another male, say scientistsThe high intelligence levels of orangutans have long been recognised, partly due to their practical skills such as using tools to retrieve seeds and forage for insects. But new research suggests the primate has another handy skill in its repertoire: applying medicinal herbs.Researchers say they have observed a male Sumatran orangutan treating an open facial wound with sap and chewed leaves from a plant known to have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties. Continue reading...

Glioblastomas are an extremely aggressive type of brain tumour, which is why the news this week of a vaccine that has shown promise in fighting them is so exciting. And this comes right off the back of the announcement of another trial of the world's first personalised mRNA vaccine for melanoma, a kind of skin cancer. Ian Sample talks to Prof Alan Melcher of the Institute of Cancer Research about how these vaccines work and whether they could one day be used to target cancer before it is even detectable on scansClips: BBCRead more about the personalised cancer vaccine for melanoma Continue reading...

US astrophysicist whose discovery of the cosmic microwave radiation resulting from the big bang brought him the Nobel prizeThe American astrophysicist and Nobel laureate Arno Penzias, who has died aged 90, was responsible for one of the biggest cosmological revelations of the 20th century - the discovery of cosmic microwave background, the leftover radiation from the big bang.He first demonstrated its existence in 1965 with his collaborator Robert Wilson, and then, five years later - with Wilson and another astrophysicist, Keith Jefferts - went on to detect the presence of interstellar carbon monoxide, launching the field of molecular line astronomy. Continue reading...

MP says trade in remains is gross violation of human dignity', as skulls from Pitt Rivers collection removedAn auction house has withdrawn 18 ancient Egyptian human skulls from sale after an MP said selling them would perpetuate the atrocities of colonialism.Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Afrikan reparations, believes the sale of human remains for any purposes should be outlawed, adding that the trade was a gross violation of human dignity". Continue reading...

Omg it is an almost complete fossil specimen of a juvenile sthenurine!

While some cyanobacteria are among the deadliest organisms in the world, others help us flourishBlue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, come in many forms and have generally got a bad press, mainly because five of the 2,000 identified species can produce some of the deadliest toxins known to science.At the same time, they are among the oldest organisms in the world, dating back 2.1bn years, and we owe them a debt of gratitude. Continue reading...

Researchers suggest cylinder to prevent astronauts losing muscle mass in low gravity environmentAs humans prepare to return to the moon after an absence of more than half a century, researchers have hit on a radical approach to keeping astronauts fit as they potter around the ball of rock.To prevent lunar explorers from becoming weak and feeble in the low gravity environment, scientists suggest astronauts go for a run. But, this being space, it's not just any kind of run - researchers have advised astronauts run several times a day around a lunar Wall of Death". Continue reading...

Transform project has potential to reduce deaths from the disease by 40%, savings thousands of lives a year in UKMethods of screening men for prostate cancer will be trialled in an attempt to save thousands of lives in the UK each year, in what has been hailed as a pivotal moment" by experts.The 42m project, known as Transform, will compare various screening methods to current NHS diagnostic processes, which can include blood tests, physical examinations and biopsies. Continue reading...

Zhang Yongzhen stages sit-in protest, as government attempts to avoid scrutiny over handling of outbreakThe first Chinese scientist to publish a genomic sequence of the Covid-19 virus, in defiance of government orders, staged a sit-in protest after claiming he was locked out of his laboratory over the weekend.Zhang Yongzhen, a virologist, said in an online post on Monday that he and his team had been given a sudden eviction notice from their lab, and guards had barred him from entering it over the weekend. The post, published on Weibo, was later deleted, Associated Press (AP) reported. Continue reading...

Guardian Seascapes reporter Karen McVeigh tells Madeleine Finlay about a recent trip to the Galapagos Islands, where mounds of plastic waste are washing up and causing problems for endemic species. Tackling this kind of waste and the overproduction of plastic were the topics on the table in Ottawa this week, as countries met to negotiate a global plastics treaty. But is progress too slow to address this pervasive problem?Read more about Karen McVeigh's trip to the Galapagos IslandsFollow all the reporting from the Guardian's Seascapes team Continue reading...