Scientists fear that neonicotinoid manufacturers are copying tobacco industry tactics in a bid to end the moratorium on this devastating chemicalHalfway through a video of a speech by the biologist Professor Dave Goulson there is an abrupt loss of sound. Goulson, who has devoted his working life to highlighting the catastrophic decline of bees, is giving a talk to hundreds gathered at the National Honey Show in 2015. Strangely, his words are silenced for 20 seconds of the video uploaded by the show to YouTube, precisely when he discusses the impact on bees of the most widely used insecticides in the world – neonicotinoids.Related: Leading insecticide cuts bee sperm by almost 40%, study shows Continue reading...
The results of today’s primary maths challengeEarlier today I set you ten questions from this year’s International Singapore Maths Competition. Here are the questions and the answers. On the whole you did very well - smarter than a 10-year-old Singaporean! (With the caveat that they didn’t have multiple choice answers to choose from, and they are only ten). The only questions where your most popular answer the wrong one were 6 and 8. (C in Q6, and B in Q8). Thanks for taking part - now look through your workings...For Year 5 pupils: Continue reading...
Soyuz TMA-M used by British astronaut on journey to and from International Space Station will be shown at London museumThe spacecraft used by Tim Peake on his journey to and from the International Space Station is to go on display at London’s Science Museum.The Soyuz TMA-M that launched the British astronaut into orbit in December 2015 and returned him to Earth in June will be put on show for the public from early next year. Continue reading...
Google’s new Timelapse project allows you to see how anywhere in the world has changed in the last 32 years; from evaporating lakes to exploding cities, it’s a document of recklessnessThe image of the Earth from space is so seared into human consciousness that it is hard to conceive what it was like to live without the picture of our planet as a blue sphere that we all now carry in our minds.The first photographs of the Earth’s surface seen from 100 miles were taken in 1947. By 1968, the famous Earthrise image photographed by the crew of Apollo 8 framed our planet as a beautiful oasis in black space. Today, stunning and intensely informative pictures of the Earth’s surface are being taken from space constantly: so comprehensively, for so long, that Google has now created timelapses that show three decades of change. Continue reading...
Much like the president-elect, Ramesses II knew that bombast can sometimes outweigh truth. His tale of triumph at the Battle of Kadesh is a perfect exampleIn 1274BCE, near the Levantine town of Kadesh, a miracle occurred: Ramesses II of Egypt, isolated from his forces due to faulty intelligence, single-handedly destroyed a Hittite army. Out of the 2,500 chariots attacking him, not one survived. The pharaoh subsequently threw countless enemies into the river Orontes, only sparing the Hittite king after he begged for mercy. It was a mighty victory – and a mighty mix of fact and fiction.This version of events is found in two texts commissioned by Ramesses: the so-called Official Record and the Poem of Pentaur (named after the scribe of Papyrus Sallier III). After the Kadesh campaign, the pharaoh used these texts to portray himself as the archetypal glorious commander: feared by the enemy and protected by the gods. These works appeared primarily on royal architecture, such as the monumental temples at Abu Simbel, Karnak, Luxor and Abydos. Carved in stone, the inscriptions were designed for eternity, and the detailed reliefs accompanying them meant that even the illiterate majority could understand. Meanwhile, the Poem was also circulated on papyrus, allowing the story to travel rather than being confined to immobile monuments. Thus, Ramesses did everything to spread the word to everyone – from humble peasants gazing at temple walls to nobles enjoying court poetry. Continue reading...
Carbon dating of remains unearthed in Beckery chapel near Glastonbury indicate monastic life dating back to fifth or early sixth centuriesSkeletons excavated at a site near Glastonbury are the oldest examples of monks ever found in the UK, carbon dating has proved.The remains, unearthed at the medieval Beckery chapel in Somerset, said to have been visited by legendary figures such as King Arthur and St Bridget, indicate a monastic cemetery dating back to the fifth or early sixth centuries AD, before Somerset was conquered by the Saxon kings of Wessex in the seventh century.
A new interactive light game for people with mid- to late-stage dementia is being trialled in UK care homesDoris, 90, is prodding at a colourful image of a beach ball projected on to the table in front of her. She sends it wheeling off towards Don, who sweeps at it, bouncing it back. William taps at the image while Cathy watches intently, occasionally reaching out a hand. Doris giggles, Don grins, Cathy smiles gently. William is concentrating hard.This is significant. All four are “difficult†or “withdrawn†residents with dementia at Care UK’s Oak House care home in Slough, Berkshire. They are playing with a Tovertafel (Magic Table), a series of interactive light games specifically designed for people with mid- to late-stage dementia, which has newly arrived in the UK. Continue reading...
The pick of this year’s science books put our health – and other obsessions – under the microscopeSeventy years ago, doctors began an experiment that would revolutionise our understanding of human development. For a week, in March 1946, they recorded the births of almost every baby born in the UK. Thousands were then tracked through later life, creating the world’s longest-running birth cohort study. Thanks to that study, and to four follow-ups, many inescapable truths have been learned: the grim impact on infants of poor health service provision, smoking during pregnancy and air pollution. We also know now that reading regularly to children has clear educational benefits; that babies are safe sleeping on their backs; and that breast-fed children tend to have better health. The influence on social services and daily lives has been immeasurable.Have we all gone nuts, asks Garfield. To judge by this hugely enjoyable romp, the answer is ‘almost but not quite’ Continue reading...
Up to half of us have problems sleeping – and some experts say online treatment may soon become the norm. But which tool should you use?Can’t get to sleep? Try online therapy. While a glowing screen is a counter-intuitive cure for insomnia, there is evidence that online cognitive behavourial therapy (CBT) can restore normal sleep patterns. In a study published in this month’s Jama Psychiatry, an online CBT programme cured 57% of those who used it, compared with 27% who had standard education about insomnia.Insomnia affects up to half of all people – with up to 20% having a serious problem with getting off to sleep (or falling asleep again if they wake up). Chronic insomnia can last for years – making people feel sleepy during the day and anxious at night. Standard advice includes promoting “sleep hygieneâ€: a cool, dark bedroom; going to bed and getting up at the same time every day; and not napping. After that, it’s face-to-face cognitive behavioural therapy – but there aren’t enough therapists to go round. This may be why people are still prescribed sleeping tablets that make them feel pleasantly dissociated and are very addictive. Continue reading...
Having a fear of buttons may sound hilarious, but in reality it can be debilitating. Patients need to be taken more seriously, by both the media and doctors, say experts
Take the test based on Singapore’s innovative primary maths syllabusHi guzzlers,On Tuesday we will again learn how much better Asian children are at maths, science and reading than we are with announcement of the OECD’s Pisa rankings, which compare the abilities of 15-year-olds from around the world. Continue reading...
Researchers in life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics share awards from prize founders Yuri Milner, Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey BrinIt is not often that a scientist walks the red carpet at a Silicon Valley party and has Morgan Freeman award them millions of dollars while Alicia Keys performs on stage and other A-listers rub shoulders with Nasa astronauts.
Rare European copy of key mathematics text is going under hammer at Christie’s in New York with record guide priceA first edition of Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica could become the most expensive print sold of the revolutionary text when it goes under the hammer with a guide price of at least $1m (£790,000) this month.The extremely rare continental copy being sold by auction house Christie’s in New York is one of a handful of texts thought to have been destined for Europe and has minor differences from those distributed in England by Newton and the book’s editor, Edmond Halley. Continue reading...
British scientists are limited to research on embryos under 14 days old – until recently no one was able keep an embryo alive that long. But now an ethical struggle loomsLater this week some of the world’s leading scientists will gather at University College London to debate a simple but highly controversial notion: that it is time to scrap the 14-day limit on embryo research.Thanks to recent scientific breakthroughs, researchers have reached a point where they can begin to think of experimenting on embryos up to 28 days in age. The benefits for medical science would be considerable. Continue reading...
The president-elect’s priorities for the US space agency are of crucial importance for Earth as well as for future space explorationIn Nasa language it’s called a pivot. It’s a policy change, a U-turn or a departure from a goal set by the previous US president. Until the election of Donald Trump, space insiders and even Nasa itself had a pretty good idea what, under a Hillary Clinton presidency, that pivot was going to be. It wasn’t going to be popular but it was necessary.People had been whispering it for more than a year. Even as the Nasa PR machine talked endlessly about “the journey to Marsâ€, those in the know understood that it was little more than a pipe dream. Following the election, a “transition team†would be sent to take stock at Nasa, and the agency’s goals would gradually pivot away from Mars and to the moon. Continue reading...
Several big problems with physics at the moment involve gravity. But because Einstein’s theory works so well, it’s very difficult to change it. Some recent ideas show a possible way forwardEinstein’s General Relativity provides an elegant description of how space, time and matter affect one another. It makes precise predictions of gravitational effects, which have been verified by many measurements.But if we use the theory to try to understand the motion of galaxies, we get the wrong answer, unless we invent a new form of so-called ‘dark’ matter. This is not a small correction – there needs to be much more of the Dark Matter than normal matter, and what is more, it doesn’t seem to be made up of quarks and electrons like all other matter. In fact it doesn’t seem to be made up of any of the particles in the Standard Model of particle physics.
by Robin McKie Observer science editor on (#23YWF)
Scientists say increasing limit from 14 days will give greater insight into congenital conditionsScientists will make a controversial call this week to extend the current 14-day limit for carrying out experiments on human embryos to 28 days. The move follows recent breakthroughs that have allowed researchers to double the time embryos can be kept alive in the laboratory.By extending the current research period, major insights into congenital conditions, heart disease and some cancers could be gained, they will argue at a conference in London on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Chemistry professor Saiful Islam on his plans to show ‘electricity in the raw’ during his Royal Institution Christmas Lectures – with the help of 1,000 lemonsSaiful Islam, 53, is professor of materials chemistry at the University of Bath. Later this month he is giving the 80th Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution, entitled Supercharged: Fuelling the Future.Your Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution are going to be all about energy. What’s the next energy revolution going to look like?
Find out what your choice of pen colour says about youChoose one of these five pens to discover what your selection says about your class. All of the pens write in black ink. Go ahead, pick one...If you identify as working class, then there is a 72% chance that you picked the green (majority) pen, and 28% chance you picked the orange. If you identify as middle class, then your pen choice is much harder to predict, but it’s slightly more likely that you picked the orange pen (58%) than the green (42%). These were the findings when this study was run under test conditions at Stanford University. Why? Well there’s nothing special about orange versus green. There is the same pattern of majority versus minority even if the colours are reversed. Continue reading...
A Republican-led panel promoted a misleading tabloid story alleging earth may not be warming, relying on data that leaves out important points of contextClimate scientists have denounced the House committee on science, space and technology after the Republican-held panel promoted a misleading story expressing skepticism that the earth is dangerously warming.On Thursday afternoon, the committee tweeted a Breitbart article alleging: “Global Temperatures Plunge. Icy Silence from Climate Alarmistsâ€. The story linked to a British tabloid, the Daily Mail, which claimed that global land temperatures were plummeting, and that humans were not responsible for years of steadily increasing heat. Continue reading...
Leys Castle, Inverness The carcass would not last long with so many scavengers around and I expected that night a fox would carry it off to eat at leisureDriving down the hill the other day, I spotted a casualty on the road ahead, and knew by its size that it was a brown hare. Of all the creatures I find dead or injured on the roads, the brown hares are the ones that upset me the most, not least because when they are hurt their hare scream is penetrating and eerie.This one was a crumpled heap of light and dark brown fur. Its elongated hind legs were broken, but the long, broad ears stuck out almost defiantly. The carcass would not last long with so many scavengers around and I expected that night a fox would carry it off to eat at leisure. Continue reading...
European Space Agency says proposals for permanent lunar outpost have generated international interestFuturistic plans for a moon village proposed by the European Space Agency are winning support around the world.Related: Is a moon village the next step for space exploration? ESA's chief thinks so Continue reading...
In 1970 US authorities said drugs like LSD had no medical use, but two tests may just have proven that wrongWhen Aldous Huxley was dying in 1963, he asked his wife to inject him with LSD, and he passed away, she wrote afterwards, without any of the pain and distress that cancer can cause in the final hours.“All five people in the room said that this was the most serene, the most beautiful death,†Laura Huxley, a psychotherapist, wrote to other members of his family.
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#23SAG)
Social changes unleashed by new technologies could undermine core human values unless we engage with science, warns authorImagine a two-tiered society with elite citizens, genetically engineered to be smarter, healthier and to live longer, and an underclass of biologically run-of-the-mill humans. It sounds like the plot of a dystopian novel, but the world could be sleepwalking towards this scenario, according to one of Britain’s most celebrated writers.Kazuo Ishiguro argues that the social changes unleashed by gene editing technologies, such as Crispr, could undermine core human values. Continue reading...
Why do we get a kick out of looking at animals? We’re asserting our dominion over nature – but also trying to understand and preserve itWe humans love to look at other species. The BBC series Planet Earth II is a huge hit. As well as the authority of David Attenborough’s voice, this is because it offers a series of incredible HD glimpses of the secret lives of animals. The latest sequence that had my family glued to the screen featured a pride of lions chasing a giraffe. Astounding.Or is it? Is watching nature documentaries an enlightened attempt to comprehend our fellow creatures, or just another example of human beings imposing a gaze of power and knowledge on animals – classifying, controlling and ultimately skinning and stuffing them in the name of science? Continue reading...
A pair of mummified knees are most likely those of the famously beautiful spouse of Pharoah Ramses II, who died around 1250BC, say scientistsA pair of mummified knees found in a tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Queens are most likely those of Queen Nefertari, the royal spouse of Pharaoh Ramses II, say archaeologists.Thought to have died around 1250 BC, Nefertari was the favourite consort of Ramses the Great, and was famed at the time for her beauty. Continue reading...
Jeremy Hunt has proposed a ban on sexting for under-18s. But there’s only one realistic option when it comes to curbing teen sex drives: don’t even try.Jeremy Hunt has proposed a ban on sexting for under 18s. As any reasonable person might have predicted, this has been met with a great deal of criticism. Most of the arguments appear to be based on the technical practicalities, given how Hunt never truly explained how tech companies are supposed to filter specific types of messages on countless platforms and devices based on date of birth. However, an even bigger hurdle would be the sex drive of teenagers themselves.One time when I was in school, we’d heard that someone had abandoned a pornographic magazine in a nearby field (for any teenagers reading this, this was a common phenomenon in the era when porn had to be printed). So, obviously, we set off to find it. Took a few hours but it was eventually spotted in a ditch. It ended with us just staring at it for a while, focussed on cheaply-printed images of naked breasts, spattered with mud, rainwater and animal effluent (I hope nobody developed any weird fetishes as a result of this, but you never know). Continue reading...
It’s a controversial idea, but a new paper this week describes for first time how scientists can test the controversial idea that the speed of light is not a constant. If the theory is proven, it would overturn Einstein’s century-old claim that the speed of light is a constant. It could change the way we view the cosmos, but until it’s proven (or not) we can content ourselves with what we do know - and for some of that we have the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft to thank. After nearly two decades, more than 300,000 incredible images and the discovery of no fewer than seven moons, Cassini is about to begin its swansong, which will end when the craft finally dives into Saturn itself on 15 September. If the noble end of this plucky little orbiter brings you down, why not cheer up with a little festive “neural karaoke� An AI project from the University of Toronto can take any digital photo and transform it into a computer-generated singalong - and we have their Christmas effort for you to enjoy. Other cheering news is that a single dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, can lift anxiety and depression experienced by people with advanced cancer for six months or even longer, according to two new studies. An even happier note sounded this week for women who are in danger of passing on devastating and often fatal mitochondiral disorders to their children - UK doctors are poised to seek permission this month to create Britain’s first baby from the DNA of three people if the government’s fertility regulator approves the treatment. Continue reading...
More than 60 spectacular specimens of monkeys, apes, lemurs, lorises and bushbabies will go on show at the National Museum of Scotland from 9 December. The taxidermy was specially commissioned for the exhibition and is the first to show primates behaving as if they were in the wild Continue reading...
The outgoing GlaxoSmithKline CEO discusses progress on access to medicines and the revolt against the establishmentWhen Andrew Witty became CEO of one of the biggest pharmaceutical firms in the world, GlaxoSmithKline, his industry was so unpopular that campaigners threw red paint at company stands during conferences to represent the blood of those who died because they could not afford medicines.Ten years on, as Witty, now Sir Andrew, prepares to retire from GSK, Big Pharma is increasingly being seen as part of the solution to global health issues and not the problem. Few would deny that a great deal of the credit goes to Witty. Continue reading...
Researchers 3D print model snout and fit it to machine programmed for dog-like quick sniffs instead of long breaths, discovering it is 16 times more sensitiveStruck by the legendary sniffing skills of man’s best friend, scientists in the United States fitted a dog-inspired plastic nose to an explosives detector and reported that it worked 16 times better.
The spacecraft was heading to the International Space Station when it disintegrated 190km up in the atmosphere over Siberia on Thursday due to an unspecified malfunction, the Russian space agency said. Most of the ship’s debris burnt up as it entered the atmosphere but some fell on uninhabited areas, the agency said Continue reading...
‘Pharma bro’ who hiked the price of Daraprim by 5,000% goes on defensive after year 11 students make same life-saving drug in their school laboratoryOne of the students who made the life-saving medicine Daraprim in a school laboratory has accused Martin Shkreli of being “an attention-seeking businessman†who forgets there are “people’s lives and livelihoods at stake†in the row over predatory drug pricing.Former hedge fund manager Shkreli last year bought Turing Pharmaceuticals and almost immediately increased the price of the drug – which has been off-patent since the 1970s – from US$13.50 to US$750 a tablet. Continue reading...
FDA could make drug legal by 2021 if phase three tests involving controlled dosage and talk therapy are shown to alleviate post-traumatic stress disorderThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the green light to phase three trials of MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, the final phase of validation required to turn the party drug into a legal medicine.Related: ‘My therapist gave me a pill’: can MDMA help cure trauma? Continue reading...
Intrepid trio were trying to find the cause of a thick fog that had descended on Victorian London. But then disaster struckEnglish meteorology may seem rather tame, but it can be hazardous, as shown by a balloon expedition by the Meteorological Council in December 1881.The expedition, in a balloon called Saladin, was to examine the conditions that had produced “a very peculiar fogâ€, thick enough to delay the trains in London. Continue reading...
Progress MS-04 cargo craft was en route to resupply International Space Station when it broke up in atmosphere and fell to EarthAn unmanned Russian cargo spaceship has broken up in the atmosphere and crashed over Siberia en route to the International Space Station, according to Russia’s space agency.
We can’t go on ignoring inequality, because we have the means to destroy our world but not to escape itAs a theoretical physicist based in Cambridge, I have lived my life in an extraordinarily privileged bubble. Cambridge is an unusual town, centred around one of the world’s great universities. Within that town, the scientific community that I became part of in my 20s is even more rarefied.And within that scientific community, the small group of international theoretical physicists with whom I have spent my working life might sometimes be tempted to regard themselves as the pinnacle. In addition to this, with the celebrity that has come with my books, and the isolation imposed by my illness, I feel as though my ivory tower is getting taller. Continue reading...
From an Arctic expedition to working in a studio in the school of biology and environmental science at University College Dublin, artist Siobhan McDonald collaborates with researchers to broach subjects at the edges of current scientific knowledge
The second man to walk on the moon is in a New Zealand hospital after being flown out of the south pole on an emergency medical evacuation flightBuzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is “recovering well†in New Zealand following his evacuation from the south pole on Thursday after he fell ill during a tourist visit.Related: Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon – then claimed $33.31 in travel expenses Continue reading...
America’s science community is getting organised as never before to hold the new administration and Congress to accountMore than 2300 scientists—including 22 Nobel laureates—this week issued an open letter, outlining how they want the Trump administration and 115th Congress to make use of scientific evidence and expert advice. It remains open for signatures here.The letter calls on the president-elect to appoint cabinet members with a track record of supporting science and promoting diversity; to protect the integrity and independence of government researchers; and to provide sufficient funding for scientific research and data collection. Continue reading...
A study debunked the idea that puffing yourself up physically to increase confidence works. Let’s stop prizing masculinity in power and leadershipGiven the election night coup of a certain blustering, overly confident egomaniac, it might seem like channeling a very masculine idea of success is a good way to get ahead. After all, Donald Trump lurked menacingly over Hillary Clinton on the debate stage, blustered and bragged, and he triumphed. It seems a smart strategy to emulate aggressive masculine behavior if planning a power grab.But writing in the journal Hormones and Behavior, two researchers undermined previous findings that standing in a “power pose†– that is “broad posture, hands on hips, shoulders high and pushed backâ€, or what I would describe as “in the manner of a blustering, bigoted kleptocrat†– has no measurable effect on feelings of emotional or physical strength. Continue reading...
Immediate reduction in depression and anxiety for up to eight months seen in patients with advanced cancer given a single dose of psilocybinA single dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, can lift the anxiety and depression experienced by people with advanced cancer for six months or even longer, two new studies show.Researchers involved in the two trials in the United States say the results are remarkable. The volunteers had “profoundly meaningful and spiritual experiences†which made most of them rethink life and death, ended their despair and brought about lasting improvement in the quality of their lives. Continue reading...
Artist Siobhan McDonald explains how seismology, climate change and a doomed Arctic expedition have shaped her latest exhibition, CrystallineWe live in an era in which humans have become the dominant force of change on the planet. First proclaimed at the turn of the millennium by the climate scientist Paul Crutzen, the Anthropocene asserts that since the Industrial Revolution, humans have altered the environment so extensively as to create a new geological epoch. Continue reading...
Sydney Grammar students create HIV and malaria drug Daraprim in their school laboratory, putting results onlineA group of Australian high school students have managed to recreate a life-saving drug that rose from US$13.50 to US$750 a tablet overnight after an unscrupulous price-hike by former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli.The Sydney Grammar students reproduced the drug, Daraprim, used to treat a rare but deadly parasitic infection, in their high school laboratory with support from the University of Sydney and global members of the Open Source Malaria consortium. Continue reading...
Snowflake graphic | Safe spaces | Nurses without degrees | French cake history | Tennis and risk of death | Fivers, ponies and monkeysWhen is a snowflake not a snowflake? Answer: when it has fourfold symmetry, like the graphic used with your article (Poor little snowflake, G2, 29 October). How could you make such a mistake? If you are determined to include a snowflake graphic, please get it right. Your snowflakes appear to be made of cubic ice, a metastable polymorph not seen in blizzards or snowballs. An interesting idea but sadly a fantasy. Regular bog-standard ice comprises a hexagonal array of water molecules, so snowflakes likewise have sixfold symmetry. You silly snowflakes!
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#23H64)
Public health official warns children’s risk of drug-resistant infections 12 times higher in months following course of antibioticsChildren are at substantially increased risk of contracting drug-resistant infections in the months after taking a course of antibiotics, a leading public health official has warned.Paul Cosford, medical director at Public Health England, told MPs on Wednesday that children are 12 times more likely to contract drug-resistant infections in the three months after being prescribed antibiotics, suggesting that their unnecessary use poses a direct risk to individual patients as well as a broader threat to society as a whole. Continue reading...
Specialists poised to offer mitochondrial replacement therapy if government’s fertility regulator approves the treatmentDoctors will seek permission this month to create Britain’s first baby from the DNA of three people if the government’s fertility regulator approves the treatment for carefully chosen patients.Specialists in Newcastle are ready to offer mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) to women who are in danger of passing on devastating and often fatal genetic disorders to their children. The conditions affect about one in 10,000 births.
