Royal College of Surgeons explores 3D hologram headsets and other hi-tech devices to replace cadaver-based tuitionSurgeons are embracing technology’s cutting edge, using the latest in augmented, virtual and mixed reality to transform medical training.Related: How virtual reality is changing the game in healthcare Continue reading...

Trial shows GM techniques can be used to increase efficiency of photosynthesis, a finding which could help meet the global demand for foodGenetically modified (GM) plants designed to use light more efficiently produced a 20% greater yield in a study that could have significant implications for global food supplies.The field trial, which used tobacco plants, is the first to show that GM techniques can be used to boost the basic efficiency of photosynthesis, potentially offering substantial gains across almost all food crops in the future. Until now many scientists had doubted this would be possible. Continue reading...

Psychologist whose work on human memory exposed her to death threats, lawsuits and a campaign to have her sacked, wins prize for her courageA leading psychologist whose research on human memory exposed her to death threats, lawsuits, personal abuse and a campaign to have her sacked has won a prestigious prize for her courage in standing up for science.Professor Elizabeth Loftus endured a torrent of abuse from critics who objected to her work on the unreliable nature of eyewitness testimonies, and her defining research on how people can develop rich memories for events that never happened.

A team of researchers has spent four years studying the meanings and origins of almost 50,000 surnames of British and Irish records back to 11th century, from the most common to the highly obscure. Some names have been around for many centuries while other more recent arrivals are explained for the first time in the work, the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, which is published on Thursday

95%-complete composite skeleton of extinct bird is first such item to go on public sale for 100 yearsThe first near-complete skeleton of a dodo to go on public sale for 100 years is anticipated to fetch up to £500,000 when it goes under the hammer next week.The 95%-complete composite skeleton, put together over a period of two decades by a private collector, will be auctioned in Billingshurst, West Sussex, on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Early signs from the Trump transition team suggest a worrying assault on the role of science in policymaking. How should the scientific community respond?

Hypocrisy seems to be everywhere lately. How do people reconcile themselves to saying one thing and doing another? And are there benefits?Thriller: why do our brains allow us to enjoy being scared?In these times of political turmoil, aggressive online discourse, “post-truth” society and lord knows what else, one thing is hard to deny: there’s a lot of hypocrisy flying around. People regularly and angrily lambast others for doing something, while doing pretty much the exact same thing themselves.Pundits condemning young people for being “special snowflakes” for wanting to be sheltered from controversial views in “safe spaces”, then having an apparent meltdown whenever they see anything even vaguely inconsistent with their opinions. Angry online types who condemn the BBC for “bias” while enthusiastically linking to sites that make no effort at all at neutrality. People who preach tolerance and respect but get outraged whenever anyone disputes their methods. The list goes on. Continue reading...

Astronauts on the International Space Station took these images of cities at night. Note that up doesn’t necessarily mean north. All images: ESA/NASASan FranciscoVancouverMilanLondonMoscowTokyoAthensNicosiaNaplesTehranKuwait CityHavanaIstanbulCairoHelsinkiTorontoMexico CityNew YorkMadridRomeHelsinkiSydneyMelbourneWellingtonBarcelonaLisbonNiceChicagoDetroitDallasKuala LumpurJakartaHong KongDubaiAbu DhabiDohaBrusselsParisBerlinLas VegasBlackpoolRiyadh Continue reading...

China points out to global warming denier and president-elect that Republicans under Reagan and Bush actually put global warming on international agendaChina has rejected Donald Trump’s claims that climate change is a Chinese hoax, urging the US president-elect to take a “smart decision” over his country’s commitment to the fight against global warming.

The most influential psychiatric handbook prohibited a joint diagnosis of autism and ADHD until 2013. But the link could be significantUntil as late as 2013 a joint (or comorbid) diagnosis of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was not permitted by the most influential psychiatric handbook, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM is an essential tool in psychiatry as it allows clinicians and researchers to use a standard framework for classifying mental disorders. Health insurance companies and drug regulation agencies also use the DSM, so its definition of what does or doesn’t constitute a particular disorder can have far-reaching consequences.One of the reasons for the prohibition of a comorbid diagnosis of autism and ADHD was that the severity of autism placed it above ADHD in the diagnostic hierarchy, so the inattention that is normally present in autism did not seem to merit an additional diagnosis. Nevertheless, that was an odd state of affairs, as any clinician working in the field would be able to quote studies that point to anything from 30% to 80% of patients with autism also having ADHD. More problematic still is the fact that patients with both sets of symptoms may respond poorly to standard ADHD treatments or have increased side effects. Continue reading...

Conservation programme sees numbers of the endangered cirl bunting reach 1,078 pairs – up from just 118 in 1989One of Britain’s most threatened farmland birds has reached a major milestone in its recovery from the brink of extinction, figures show.A nationwide survey by the RSPB shows the UK population of the cirl bunting – a small, finch-like bird – has reached 1,078 pairs after numbering just 118 in 1989. Continue reading...

Kukulkan pyramid built like ‘Russian nesting doll’ – a second structure had already been found under its exterior and now a third has been revealedExperts have discovered a third structure within the Kukulkan pyramid in eastern Mexico, revealing that it was built like a “Russian nesting doll”, experts said on Wednesday.

Perjeta can help shrink breast cancer tumours before patients undergo surgery to remove themA drug that can help shrink breast cancer tumours before patients undergo surgery to remove them has been approved for use in the NHS, after the manufacturer agreed a substantial discount on the list price.Perjeta, the brand name of pertuzumab, could be helpful in the treatment of 1,400 women a year who develop a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, but it was initially turned down by Nice, the National Institute for Healthcare Excellence, because of the high price set by the manufacturer, Roche. Continue reading...

Four-year study by linguists and historians of British and Irish records back to 11th century analyses family names“What’s in a name?” Juliet asked as she and Romeo tried to puzzle their way around the troubling problem of their warring families. Well, plenty, the most detailed investigation into surnames in the UK and Ireland has found.A team of researchers has spent four years studying the meanings and origins of almost 50,000 surnames, from the most common to the highly obscure. Continue reading...

Two reports place the country near the bottom of the league for emissions level, use of renewables and action to combat global warmingAustralia has been singled out again as a climate laggard, being ranked fifth-worst for emissions and policies among developed countries and among the six worst countries in the G20 when it comes to climate action.In the climate change performance index, released overnight at the UN climate talks in Marrakech, Australia comes ahead of only Kazakhstan, South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Continue reading...

Pioneering slow-release pill could end repeat doses and help Alzheimer’s patients and mass treatment campaignsA pill that releases its medicine for two weeks after being swallowed is being hailed as a potential game-changer in drug treatment.In future, similar forms of longterm oral drug delivery could put an end to regimens requiring numerous repeat doses, which may be missed or found too inconvenient. Continue reading...

Implantable medical technology and the data it collects will revolutionise the healthcare industry – but will we get round the privacy and the ‘ick’ factors?Every day tens of thousands of Australians have to take a syringe, prick their skin with a needle and then inject themselves with insulin. Imagine if every one of those diabetes sufferers had a device fitted inside their body that measured their sugar levels and automatically released insulin as and when required.That’s one of several projects on the go in a research partnership between the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science and Dublin City University in Ireland. Other initiatives include a Sweatch watch that measures levels of sodium ion in your sweat and a “smart tattoo” that tracks the status of dermatological diseases. Continue reading...

The position of the dwarf planet’s heart has long been a puzzle. Now two research teams suggest Pluto tipped over - potentially aided by a huge oceanPluto may have a vast ocean beneath its frozen crust, according to researchers studying a heart-shaped feature on the dwarf planet’s surface.Captured in high resolution by the New Horizon’s spacecraft in 2015, the bright, heart-shaped expanse is known as Tombaugh Regio, the left lobe of which is formed by the 1,000-kilometre-wide Sputnik Planitia. This plain is thought to have arisen after a meteorite slammed into Pluto’s surface billions of years ago, producing a crater that later filled with nitrogen ice. Continue reading...

Study first to show gene-editing tool Crispr can replace faulty genes within adult cells - and in future could be applied to range of devastating genetic diseasesBlind animals have had their vision partially restored using a revolutionary DNA editing technique that scientists say could in future be applied to a range of devastating genetic diseases.The study is the first to demonstrate that a gene editing tool, called Crispr, can be used to replace faulty genes with working versions in the cells of adults - in this case adult rats. Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsDaughter Regan says about her father, King Lear: “He hath ever but slenderly known himself.” What should be known about “self”?William Emigh, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Continue reading...

The identification of a bone fragment from around 17 million years ago offers clues to both parrot evolution and a very different Siberian ecosystemIn vertebrate paleontology, complete bones are a luxury. More often than not, what ends up in front of paleontologists, are bits and pieces. The shaft of a long bone, a chunk of bone of something bigger, or a bone crushed under the weight of earth and time but held together by its rocky matrix. Those specimens are difficult, if not impossible, to identify, and many disheartening hours can be spent cataloging tiny bits of fossilized bone as nothing more than “bone indet.”However, paleontologists are trained to notice the smallest details, and every now and then, a certain bony bump or a barely discernible curvature of the bone surface catches your eye and makes you spin your mental bone Rolodex frantically thinking where you have seen that particular feature before. Continue reading...

Petition supports nations such as Ecuador and Venezuela that tried to initiate a conflict of interests policyA petition calling for fossil fuel lobbyists to be excluded from the UN climate change negotiations has been forced into the hands of the US delegation in Morocco, where almost 200 nations are meeting to work out ways to implement the 2015 Paris agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions.The US delegation initially said it could not formally receive the petition signed by more than 500,000 people but later contacted Corporate Accountability International, agreeing to receive it on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Psychotherapist who developed cognitive analytic therapy as an alternative approach to complex mental health disordersIn recent years the National Health Service has made much greater use of talking therapies for people with mental health problems. However, first-line approaches to more complex disorders, based crudely around diagnostic labels, are frequently ineffective. An alternative approach to such disorders is cognitive analytic therapy (CAT), developed by Anthony Ryle, who has died aged 89. For these, it is recognised as an effective and user-friendly treatment.CAT looks beyond the initially identified problems to the whole person, and to that person’s coping patterns, which will in turn have arisen from earlier formative relational experiences with care-givers and significant others (“reciprocal roles”). Though he acknowledged biological factors, Tony also noted that arguably our most important biological predisposition is to be socially formed. He based CAT around a concept of a predominantly relationally and socially formed self, with a style of therapy to match. CAT depends on an active collaboration between the patient and an overtly compassionate therapist to enable change, and makes use of “psychological tools” – narrative summary letters and descriptive maps of these reciprocal roles and their consequences, often counterproductive. Continue reading...

Research has already shown this test does not help beyond normal care. The NHS must stop wasting money on inadequately tested but popular political policiesAre GPs to throw away the traditional box of wooden tongue depressors? People with sore throats are soon to be offered a new service – at the pharmacy. The NHS Innovation Accelerator, an organisation responsible for helping “with the adoption of promising new treatments and technologies”, has approved a new Sore Throat Test and Treat service that NHS England says is “evidence based and cost saving”.My head is in my hands. This is neither evidence based nor shown to be cost effective, and may actually make pressure on the NHS worse. Continue reading...

From Berkeley to Brisbane, our readers share their photos of the largest so-called supermoon in 68 years

Free will has been debated by philosophers and theologians for centuries. Neuroscientists and psychologists have now entered the fray - but what new light can they shed? And just how free are we when it comes to “free” will?Subscribe & Review on iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud & AcastArguably one of the oldest conundrums in the book, the paradox of free will has haunted scientists and philosophers alike for centuries. It would appear that we, as conscious agents, are able to make choices that change the world around us, despite many of the known laws of nature being deterministic. But is this freedom of choice all an illusion created by the conscious mind? And ultimately, is it even possible to act outside the bounds of our environment, our upbringing, and our genetic makeup? Continue reading...

Confectionery company says initiative will help breed more drought-tolerant seeds, but critics fear that small-scale farmers will lose outA multi-million dollar research group co-founded by the confectionery company Mars is set to publish the genetic maps to five traditional African crops as part of an ambitious project that it says could help end malnutrition on the continent.The project is applying modern biotechnology to African “orphan crops” – including finger millet and the “superfood” moringa – with the goal of breeding new versions that are more productive or more tolerant to drought or disease. Continue reading...

Not one of the lucky few who managed to capture the perfect shot of the supermoon? Console yourself with this parade of rubbish picturesFor many people gazing skywards in the hope of seeing the supermoon on Monday night, there was some disappointment.Clouds obscured the view or, due to user error, mobile phone cameras failed to capture the majesty of the moment. Continue reading...

From a community centre to a cathedral, the Natural History Museum’s iconic dinosaur will visit eight venues across the UK over three yearsDippy the diplodocus, star of the Natural History Museum since 1905, host of dinner parties and films, terrifier of small children, is leaving his post as guardian of the huge entrance hall and embarking on Britain’s first dinosaur tour.

A supermoon rises over the Brisbane skyline. The event occurs when a full or new moon passes closer to Earth in its monthly orbit, with this particular one being the closest full moon to date in the 21st century, according to Nasa. Skygazers took to high-rise buildings, observatories and beaches to get a glimpse of the spectacle, which won’t appear again until 2034. Despite the excitement, some astronomers said the event was overhyped• What is the supermoon? The science behind the lunar wonder Continue reading...

Election of climate science denier Donald Trump could speed up talks to preserve elements of the Paris agreement“People were walking around looking pretty shellshocked,” says Dr Bill Hare, perched on a chair in the cavernous media tent at the United Nations climate talks in Morocco. “If you hugged an American there was a good chance they’d burst into tears.”Donald Trump’s triumph in the US elections cast a shadow over the first week of the 22nd round of talks here in Marrakech. The president-elect has pledged to pull the US out of the global climate agreement – signed by all countries in Paris last year to keep global warming “well below 2C”. Continue reading...

Natural phenomenon, largest of its kind in 68 years, will be visible after sunset on Monday wherever you are in the world

Molecular “signature” showing everything from grooming products used to drugs taken could help police and medical professionals to build profiles of individualsIf worries about personal data held inside your phone keeps you up at night, you might want to give the outside of your phone a scrub.Scientists say they can deduce the lifestyle of an individual, down to the kind of grooming products they use, food they eat and medications they take, from chemicals found on the surface of their mobile phone. Continue reading...

Moral Foundations Theory shows that deep divides between Liberal and Conservative voters may rest on differences in how they prioritise moral issuesHow do we know the difference between right and wrong? Are we born with an innate sense of morality or do we learn it from those around us? Which moral issues do we believe should be legislated and which left down to individuals to decide?Jonathan Haidt and colleagues have reviewed literature from a diverse range of disciplines and cultures and done a great deal of field-work to try and answer these questions. Their conclusion is that the content of moral thinking is probably learned but that we are born already primed to think about morality along five channels (taken from http://moralfoundations.org): Continue reading...

It was once seen as sinful, and used to encode social class. Kassia St Clair reflects on colour’s colourful pastA distaste for colour runs through western culture like a ladder in a stocking. Many classical writers were dismissive. Colour was a distraction from the true glories of art: line and form. It was seen as self-indulgent and, later, sinful – a sign of dissimulation and dishonesty.The bluntest expression of this comes from the 19th-century American writer Herman Melville, who wrote that colours “are but subtle deceits, not actually inherent in substances, but only laid on from without; so that all deified nature absolutely paints like a harlot”. Continue reading...

Super or otherwise, we’d love to see your moon photos o

Skygazers are heading to high-rise buildings, ancient forts and beaches to witness the largest supermoon since 1948. Astronomy enthusiasts can see Earth’s satellite loom large anywhere in the world shortly after sunset – weather permitting• Share your pictures of the supermoon Continue reading...

A little puzzle for runners from Alex Bellos’s new book. Can you work out the answer?Related: Use your wits! Can you solve these fiendishly difficult puzzles? Continue reading...

Company heads list compiled by Access to Medicine, which monitors pharmaceutical industry’s efforts to spread healthcareGlaxoSmithKline has come top of a league table that monitors the availability of medicine in developing countries, with fellow UK drugmaker AstraZeneca making it into the top 10.The non-profit Access to Medicine foundation, which compiles the biennial index of drug companies, warned that while the availability of medicines is improving, the industry needs to do more on affordable pricing and the fight against corruption. Jayasree Iyer, executive director of the foundation, said: “Now is the time to step up those efforts.” Continue reading...

People with health anxiety are more likely to develop heart disease, says a study – news that will only make them more stressed. Psychological therapy is the best treatment …Most people are happy if their medical test results come back negative – but for at least 5% of us such news brings no relief. If you have health anxiety, there is no test on earth to reassure you. You may pore over the internet picking the most serious diagnosis for your symptoms. And last week brought evidence that health anxiety can make you physically ill. A study of more than 7,000 Norwegians found that people with such anxiety had a 73% greater chance of developing heart disease over 10 years, compared with those who weren’t anxious. Continue reading...

All aboard the Number line!Mathematics is the most popular A-level in the UK. But it’s not turning out the right kind of mathematician.“There is a frustration in maths faculties that students are arriving with top marks and yet they can’t bring together different ideas. They are so very fluent but cannot problem-solve off-piste,” says Lynne McClure of Cambridge University. Continue reading...

Impact of dams on climate change has been underestimated, researchers warn, as rotting vegetation creates 25% more methane than previously thoughtHydroelectric dams contribute more to global warming than previously estimated, according to a study published in BioScience.It appears that the current and planned boom of hydroelectric projects would double the current cover of dams in the world and will aggravate the problem. Continue reading...

Claims that the Moon appears around 14% wider and 30% brighter than usual are false. The Moon appears only this large and bright when compared with a full moon near apogeeAs we pay homage on Monday 14 November to the closest supermoon since 1948, it is time to inject a note of realism into the hype that has developed around supermoons of late. Continue reading...

Delegates have gathered in Marrakech to celebrate ratification of the Paris deal on climate change. But the US elections risk turning it into a wakeReaching a global agreement on climate change took more than 20 years of tortuous negotiations. Signed just under a year ago, the insufficient but workable Paris agreement at last constructed a legally binding framework for the principle of cutting carbon emissions. It was to be the foundation of a sustained ratcheting up of ambition that would hold global warming below 2C. Last Tuesday night, as one by one from east coast to west the United States went Republican red, that progress was wiped out.Donald Trump is the first self-declared climate denier to lead of one of the world’s biggest emitters. Even President George W Bush, though he surrounded himself with sceptics, did not publicly disavow climate science. He even managed a few helpful moves. But Mr Trump has pledged to unpick the Paris agreement. In Marrakech, where delegates are meeting for the first time since Paris, they are putting a brave face on proceedings. But they know the outlook is bleaker than it has been since the collapse of the Copenhagen talks in 2009. Continue reading...

More than 500 graves discovered at North Yorkshire abbey, each with multiple burials in ‘bunk bed’ formationMore than 500 graves of Cistercian monks and lay brothers have been discovered at one of the largest monastic ruins in the country.

Stronger fertility drugs could be linked to last year’s increase in cases of potentially life-threatening ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, warn doctorsIncreased numbers of women suffered from a serious complication of IVF last year, according to official figures that raise concerns about the use of powerful fertility drugs.In 2015, 60 women were admitted to hospital with severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a 40% increase on the previous year. The condition, which is triggered when the ovaries swell up and leak fluid, is potentially life-threatening. Symptoms include abdominal swelling and pain, nausea, dehydration and blood clots in the legs. Continue reading...

Susan Greenfield’s attempt to explain the latest research into consciousness has an interesting framing device, but that’s where the clarity endsYou are a male office worker. Your day begins with the buzz of the alarm, and ends uneventfully back in bed. During the day, you interact with characters in your life, including your son Jack, and Bobo the border collie, who is so insistent on a walk first thing in the morning, that – heaven forfend – you skip coffee. The day progresses, and you experience it in the only place that subjectivity occurs, which is in your brain. It’s this device that neuroscientist Susan Greenfield has chosen to frame her latest wade into brains and consciousness. Each chapter begins with a flourish of sorts, a short portrait of the key moments in this nameless drone’s day. It’s a joyless grind – Fight Club without the fighting. Your avatar’s wife Jane is distant and miserable, perpetually tired, probably clinically depressed. Jack is 14, distant and smells of fags, perpetually lost in a two-dimensional online world. On page 150, it is revealed that your mother-in-law Daisy is living with you and has dementia. Basically, your life sucks.If this is your actual experience, I’m sorry for your troubles. My expression of sympathy is sincere but of course platitudinous: experience is personal and I can never truly know what it feels like to have such a dreary existence. Our sense of how a newspaper feels in your hands, or what the coffee tastes like, occurs in our neural circuitry. Continue reading...

There are as many expressions of religious faith as there are of gender and sexuality

Clear skies permitting, sky-gazers will be treated to a rare astronomical phenomenonIf you’re below retirement age, you’ll never have seen it so big or so bright. Amid all the political seismic shocks, the universe is throwing in a stunning natural phenomenon this week, with the appearance of the largest “supermoon” to grace our skies in 68 years.The moon is coming closer to Earth than is usual on its orbit on Monday, and the side facing us will be fully illuminated by the sun. The combination produces what is known as a “super perigee full moon”, and we will witness one of the most impressive examples as it passes closer to Earth on Monday than at any point since 1948. Continue reading...

We all dream of being something grander than we seem, making the lure of home DNA kits irresistible. But for the most part, you’re in for disappointmentAt first glance the DNA ancestry “craze” may seem like yet another navel-gazing fad cleverly monetized by the tech industry. But personal genetic testing is much more than a kind of Snapchat filter for your family album.By combining the complex science of DNA testing and the data riches uncovered by the Human Genome Project into an accessible, relatively inexpensive self-testing kit, the genetic heritage industry has created an ingenious product: a consumer must-have that tickles one of the deepest, most ancient and potent of human wishes. This wish is not, as it happens, to have scientific proof of your genetic heritage. The beguiling promise that these ancestry kits offer is the possibility that you just might be someone else. Continue reading...