Research suggests expanded frontostriatal salience network could be risk factor for developing conditionResearchers have gained new insight into how and why some people experience depression after finding a particular brain network is far bigger in people living with the condition.The surface of the brain is a communication junction box at which different areas talk to each other to carry out particular processes. But there is a finite amount of space for these networks to share. Continue reading...

Nuclear is costly, risky and slow, Ramana says. Why then, he asks in his new book, do governments still champion it?You would be forgiven for thinking that the debate on nuclear power is pretty much settled. Sure, there are still some naysayers, but most reasonable people have come to realise that in an age of climate crisis, we need low-carbon nuclear energy - alongside wind and solar power - to help us transition away from fossil fuels. In 2016, 400 reactors were operating across 31 countries, with one estimate suggesting roughly the same number in operation in mid-2023, accounting for 9.2% of global commercial gross electricity generation. But what if this optimism were in fact wrong, and nuclear power can never live up to its promise? That is the argument the physicist MV Ramana makes in his new book. He says nuclear is costly, dangerous and takes too long to scale up. Nuclear, the work's title reads, is not the solution.This wasn't the book Ramana, a professor at the University of British Columbia, planned to write. The problems with nuclear are so obvious", he wagered, they do not need to be spelled out. But with the guidance of his editor, he realised his mistake. Even in the contemporary environmental movement, which emerged alongside the anti-war and anti-nuclear movements, there are converts. Prominent environmentalists, understandably desperate about the climate crisis, believe it is rational and reasonable to support nuclear power as part of our energy mix.Nuclear is Not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change by MV Ramana is out now Continue reading...

Research into canine cognition suggests some pets store object names in long-term memoryDog owners may have trouble remembering which toy is Mr Squeaky, but such names can be seared into the memory of their pets, researchers have found.Scientists previously discovered some dogs have a remarkable ability to learn the names of toys, with a border collie known as Chaser having learned the labels of more than 1,000 objects. Continue reading...

Pathologising young people is less effective than tackling the social causes of their worries, suggest clinical psychologists Dr Lucy Johnstone and Dr Helen Care. Plus, letters from a concerned grandparent and Linda KarlsenThe staggering" rise in anxiety among children (NHS referrals for anxiety in children more than double pre-Covid levels, 27 August) deserves a more sophisticated response than installing counsellors in every school, useful though that may be in some cases, and I say this as a mental health professional - a consultant clinical psychologist.Well-meaning awareness campaigns that encourage us to translate every feeling into a mental health issue" convey the message that children have an individual deficit, while obscuring the reasons for their distress. And yet research consistently shows that their feelings are understandable in context. Continue reading...

Some 63 studies from 1994 to 2022 have been analysed by Australian researchers commissioned by the World Health OrganizationMobile phones are not linked to brain and head cancers, a comprehensive review of the highest quality evidence available commissioned by the World Health Organization has found.Led by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (Arpansa), the systematic review examined more than 5,000 studies from which the most scientifically rigorous were identified and weak studies were excluded. Continue reading...

Impact may have caused largest moon in solar system to swing on its axis, say scientistsThe largest moon in the solar system was struck by an ancient asteroid 20 times bigger than the rock that clattered into Earth and ended the reign of the dinosaurs 66m years ago, research suggests.The devastating impact took place 4bn years ago and caused Ganymede, one of nearly 100 known moons of Jupiter, to spin around such that the impact crater faces almost directly away from the gas giant. Continue reading...

The arrest of Telegram's founder and CEO in Paris last month has thrown the spotlight on the messaging app and its approach to content moderation. Madeleine Finlay hears from Russian affairs reporter Pjotr Sauer and technology journalist Alex Hern about how the case could influence how social media companies approach problematic content on their platformsClips: Global News, NBC NewsInternet prophet': arrest of Telegram CEO could strengthen heroic image Continue reading...

The Nasa astronaut Butch Wilmore reported a 'strange noise' coming from the stricken Boeing Starliner space capsule whose problems have left him and colleague Suni Williams stuck in orbit for six months longer than they anticipated when they blasted off from Earth in June. Wilmore radioed mission control in Houston on Saturday to report a pulsing sound from a speaker inside the capsule. The source of the pulsing noise is believed to have come from a speaker feedback loop between the space station and Starliner

The answer to today's puzzleEarlier today I set you the following counterintuitive puzzle, about a curious object that fits through a small hole, but not through a big one. Here it is again with solutions. Continue reading...

Forces unleashed by quakes squeeze quartz enough to generate electric fields, driving formation of depositsChunky gold nuggets tend to form far underground along fracture lines that run through quartz, but the reason why has never been nailed down.Now, scientists have proposed an explanation for the effect: the immense forces unleashed by earthquakes squeeze quartz enough to generate electric fields, which in turn drive the formation of the precious deposits. Continue reading...

Butch Wilmore reports pulsing sounds from capsule dogged with issues and set to return without astronautsThe Nasa astronaut Butch Wilmore has reported a strange noise" coming from the stricken Boeing Starliner space capsule whose problems have left him and his colleague Suni Williams stuck in orbit for six months longer than they anticipated when they blasted off from earth in June.Wilmore radioed mission control in Houston on Saturday to report a pulsing sound from a speaker inside the capsule. I've got a question about Starliner," Wilmore said. There's a strange noise coming through the speaker ... I don't know what's making it." Continue reading...

Window painUPDATE: Read the answer hereToday's puzzle is about defenestration. Now there's a word I've never used in this column before. Continue reading...

Scientists who examined Eddie Hall say findings suggest set of muscles in the legs are more important than we thought'Gym-goers who want to pump the heaviest weights might figure that bulging thighs and bulky buttocks are the path to greater power. But a study involving one of the world's strongest men found that a set of slender, rope-like muscles that typically get far less attention could be more important than previously thought.Scientists at Loughborough University's school of sport, exercise and health sciences examined the rippling sinews of Eddie Hall, a Staffordshire truck mechanic nicknamed the Beast" who became the world's strongest man in 2017. Continue reading...

Early risers will get a prime opportunity to glimpse the planet as it moves to its furthest point west from the sunThis week, on 5 September, Mercury will reach the astronomical configuration known as greatest western elongation. This is the point at which Mercury will be at its furthest point west from the sun, as viewed from Earth. It offers a prime opportunity to catch a glimpse of the elusive planet.A greatest western elongation event means that the planet will be visible in the sky before sunrise. The chart shows the view looking east-north-east at 05.30 BST on the morning of 5 September. This is about 50 minutes before sunrise. Find a spot with a clear view of the horizon, and as far away from any street lights as you can. Continue reading...

My uncle David Ish-Horowicz, who has died aged 75 from a brain tumour, was a molecular biologist at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF), now Cancer Research UK (CRUK), from the late 1970s.He was one of the pioneers in the application of molecular biology to developmental genetics. His research career focused on unravelling the intricate mechanisms that govern how embryos turn into complex organisms. He utilised both drosophila (fruit fly) and vertebrate models to identify and analyse the molecular and genetic pathways that establish and regulate spatial organisation within embryos. Continue reading...

When my father died my grief was deep - for him and the dad I wished he'd beenGrief is a thing with wings. It swoops in when and how it wants, often uninvited. When I think of my father, I think of sound. His laughter: a deep rumble from his slightly distended gut, ending with a sigh, as if he were reluctant to let it go. The gentle push of his windscreen-shaped glasses up the bridge of his nose. I think of 5am wake-up calls - me at five or six, my brother five years older, both of us trudging drowsily to the dining table for maths lessons. I think of his short afro, often patted into a near perfect square.An ex-military man, his life was ruled by discipline. He both scared and fascinated me. I was in awe of his mind: brilliant with numbers yet complex, shielded by an impenetrable layer. I admired his style: beige and unremarkable, distinctly his. His personality was uninhibited, exuberant, vivacious. He loved entertaining, clinking champagne glasses at our home on Victoria Island in Lagos, discussing Nigeria's woes. Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers' questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsWhat is the evolutionary purpose of blushing? Peter Walls, LiverpoolSend new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Continue reading...

The academic and author draws on quantum mechanics, English romantic philosophy and mysticism to explore a new theory of mind that embraces the paranormalJeffrey J Kripal is a professor of philosophy and religious thought at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He is the author of 10 books on the history of mysticism, psychology and the paranormal. His latest, How to Think Impossibly, draws on a range of sources including gnosticism, quantum physics and English romantic philosophy, to attempt a new theory of mind and the imagination.At the root of some of your understanding of imagination, and your argument that current theories of mind leave too much off the table", seems to be an experience that happened to you in Kolkata in November 1989. Can you describe what that involved?

As a new play examines the work of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, we celebrate the women whose crucial discoveries were ignored or suppressedEighty-five years ago, several dozen eminent astronomers posed for a photograph outside the newly constructed McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis in Texas. All were men - with one exception. Half-concealed by a man in front of her, the face of a solitary woman can just be made out in the grainy black and white image.This is Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, whose impact on our understanding of the cosmos was profound. She showed stars were primarily made of hydrogen and helium, contradicting the scientific orthodoxy of the 1920s, which held that they were made of an array of elements. Her claims were suppressed and her work obscured, like her image on the McDonald Observatory photograph. Continue reading...

Maria Sibylla Merian's beautiful and disturbing illustrations, which shaped how we look at the natural world, will be on show at Amsterdam's RijksmuseumMore than three centuries after she made a perilous transatlantic voyage to study butterflies, a rare copy of the hand-coloured masterwork by the great naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian is returning to Amsterdam.The Rijksmuseum, which holds more than half-a-million books on art and history, last week announced it had acquired a rare first-edition copy of Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname (Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium), described as a high point of 18th-century book production when the Dutch Republic was the bookshop of the world". Continue reading...

With a biologically significant birthday looming, it's time to take stock - and get ready to embrace whatever comes nextRecently I've been going through old photographs. My parents are clearing out their loft and I've been forced, finally, to confront the boxes of A-level sketchbooks and towers of 90s magazines, and let it all go. The photographs, though, are interesting. It's a cliche, I know, to look back at images of youth and tut at how lovely you were, and how blind to that loveliness you were at the time. But it still shocks me to look at a photo from my teens, covered in black eyeliner at a family seder night, or awkwardly leaning against the stairs in a 50s dress and 80s shoes, and feel that maternal tug towards my old self, and the memory of just how foolish and monstrous I believed myself to be.This autumn I will turn 44, an age (new research suggests) of dramatic change". The study tracked thousands of molecules in people aged 25 to 75, and detected two major waves of age-related changes, first at 44 and then again at 60. When I read this, I got up from my seat and stood for a little while in front of the mirror. I looked at my jawline and thought about ageing. Continue reading...

Last week's planned rollout of doses faces further delays as campaigners complain of greed and inequalityNone of the African countries affected by the outbreak of a new variant of mpox have received any of the promised vaccine, pushing back a rollout that had been planned for last week.The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been at the centre of an outbreak of the new clade 1b variant, with 18,000 suspected cases and 629 deaths this year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading...

Lidded vessel is star object in rich Galloway Hoard and came from silver mine in what is now IranIt is a star object of the Galloway Hoard, the richest collection of Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland, buried in AD900 and unearthed in a field in Scotland. Now a lidded silver vessel has been identified as being of west Asian origin, transported halfway around the world more than 1,000 years ago.When it emerged from the ground a decade ago, the vessel was still wrapped in its ancient textiles, whose survival is extremely rare. Its surface could be seen only through X-ray scans. Since then, the textiles have been partially removed and preserved and the vessel has had laser cleaning to remove green corrosion over much of its silver surface. It has also undergone scientific analysis. Continue reading...

Just interrupt and say, Sorry, I can't bear film plots'The question I am a woman in my 30s and I notice I can find conversation unfulfilling. When I am with new people, I find myself either having a bit of commentary in my head or doing lots of listening to their problems, as they might overshare things and I feel as if they are dumping on me. Such conversation feels unsatisfactory. This is not a feeling I get with older friends, where sharing and turn-taking is mostly natural and comfortable.I notice that on dates someone might tell me anecdotes and I feel they aren't connecting with me - sometimes a man will describe to me the plot of a film and I might be feeling desperately bored and be longing to be asked a question about myself or have a bit of back and forth about what is happening in the present moment. Do I have to push through that bit until I get to the comfortable conversation and parity stage? Continue reading...

Semaglutide - contained in Ozempic and Wegovy - has far-reaching benefits', with people dying at lower rate from all causesWeight-loss drugs are poised to revolutionise healthcare by slowing down the ageing process and by allowing people to live for longer and in better health. That is the dramatic message from leading scientists after studies were presented last week at the European Society of Cardiology Conference in London.Research has already found that semaglutide - also known by the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic - reduced the risk of death in people who were obese or overweight and had cardiovascular disease. Continue reading...

Programme that monitored thousands of women leads to findings that could lead to better health outcomes for decades to comeScientists say they are moving towards earlier indentification and prevention of heart disease. The development is the result of a programme that monitored thousands of women for three decades while assessing their susceptibilities to cardiac illness.The scientists presented the work as late-breaking research at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in London and published it in the New England Journal of Medicine. We hope these findings move the field closer to identifying even earlier ways to detect and prevent heart disease," said Paul Ridker, study author and director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. Continue reading...

Australian scientists hail finding as a step in unlocking secrets of planet's protective magnetic fieldBy travelling to the centre of the Earth via seismic waves scientists have discovered a ring-like structure within the swirling pool of molten metal known as the outer core.Research published in the journal Science Advances has identified a doughnut-shaped region within the outer core, parallel to the equator. Continue reading...

Two astronauts at International Space Station will board SpaceX rocket in September instead of Boeing StarlinerNasa on Friday cut two astronauts from the next crew to make room on the return trip for the two stuck on the International Space Station.Nasa's Nick Hague and the Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch in September onboard a SpaceX rocket for the orbiting laboratory. The duo will return with Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore in February. Nasa decided it was too risky for Williams and Wilmore to fly home in their Boeing Starliner capsule, marred by thruster troubles and helium leaks. Continue reading...

Physicist whose work on nuclear refrigeration has aided understanding of the big bang and the early universeAlthough absolute zero will for ever remain beyond our reach, we have achieved probably the next best thing." These were the words of George Pickett, who has died aged 85, discussing his work on nuclear refrigeration at Lancaster University, the purpose of which was to produce the lowest possible laboratory temperatures, a necessity for numerous scientific studies.At such low temperatures - close to -273.15C, or what is known as absolute zero, the point at which an object has no heat at all - the motion of atoms and subatomic particles ceases almost completely. The rules of classical physics break down, allowing scientists to study the enigmatic world of quantum mechanics, determining how elementary particles move and interact. Continue reading...

Researchers say males can see other mosquitoes flying around, but give chase only when they hear female buzzingWhile dulcet tones might sway humans looking for a partner, it seems they are also important for male mosquitoes: researchers have found the insects chase others only when they hear the buzz of a female.Male mosquitoes form swarms involving thousands of individuals to attract potential partners, but must avoid bumping into each other while pursuing the females that turn up. Continue reading...

Public health experts warn overinflated view of abilities' and restrictive laws could make next outbreak more lethalThe US is making the same mistakes with the H5N1 bird flu virus as with Covid, even as the highly pathogenic avian influenza continues spreading on American farms and raising alarms that it could mutate to become a pandemic, public health experts argue in the New England Journal of Medicine.We're closing our eyes to both the Covid pandemic and to a potential nascent bird flu [pandemic] on the horizon," said Gregg Gonsalves, associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health and co-author of the article. Our ability to react swiftly and decisively is the big problem." Continue reading...

People with most compensatory sleep 19% less likely to develop heart disease than those with the leastPeople who catch up" on missed sleep at the weekend may have up to a 20% lower risk of heart disease compared with those who do not, according to a study.The findings, presented at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, looked at data from 90,903 adults taking part in the UK Biobank project, a database that holds medical and lifestyle records of 500,000 people in the UK. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Former chief scientific adviser makes remark as DSIT announces reopening of recruitment for key roleThe Labour minister Patrick Vallance, who helped spearhead the country's response to the Covid pandemic, has said he would not have served as a minister in a Conservative government.The former UK government chief scientific adviser was made a peer and appointed science minister this year after Keir Starmer's party swept to victory in the general election. And he made clear on Thursday that, if he had been asked by Rishi Sunak to consider serving in a Tory government: I wouldn't have done, no." Continue reading...

Hopes that device may improve diagnosis and monitoring of conditions such as lung and kidney diseaseScientists say they have created a smart mask" that can analyse the wearer's breath and detect tell-tale signs of disease.Researchers hope the device - which can beam its data to an app over Bluetooth - will offer an affordable and convenient way to capture and immediately analyse breath biomarkers related to respiratory and metabolic processes. Continue reading...

Researchers say behaviour, identified for first time in non-human primates, aids social cohesionWhether referring to a politician, cheering on an athlete, or recounting what friends and family have been up to, names often crop up in everyday human communication. Now researchers say marmoset monkeys use similar labels.Besides humans, only dolphins and elephants were previously known to use vocal labels for other members of their species. Continue reading...

Survey of 95 labs in Australia and New Zealand finds 71% use antimicrobial drugs and in ways that a lot of the time' could be avoided

As multinationals and researchers harvest rare organisms around the world, anger is rising in the global south over the unpaid use of lucrative genetic codes found on their landEven in the warm summer sun, the stagnant puddles and harsh rock faces of Ribblehead quarry in North Yorkshire feel like an unlikely frontier of the AI industrial revolution. Standing next to a waterfall that bursts out from the fractured rock, Bupe Mwambingu reaches into the green sludge behind the cascade and emerges with fistful of algae.Balancing precariously on the rocks, the researcher passes the dripping mass to her colleague Emma Bolton, who notes their GPS coordinates and the acidity, temperature and light exposure on a phone app. Continue reading...

The psychologist Chris French has spent decades studying paranormal claims and mysterious experiences, from seemingly impossible coincidences to paintings that purportedly predict the future. In this episode from April 2024, Ian Sample sits down with French to explore why so many of us believe in what he terms weird shit', and what we can learn from understanding why we are drawn to mysterious and mystic phenomena Continue reading...

Revisited: Guardian journalist Michael Safi delves into the world of artificial intelligence, exploring the dangers and promises it holds for societyThis week we are revisiting the Black Box series. This episode was first broadcast on 14 March 2024.

Imperial College London study also found that a third of people at risk of a severe reaction do not carry an EpiPenThe number of people diagnosed with food allergies in England has more than doubled in a decade and a third of those with life-threatening reactions are not carrying adrenaline pens, research has revealed.Experts at Imperial College London analysed GP records for 7 million people. The number of new food allergy cases increased from 76 per 100,000 people in 2008 to 160 per 100,000 people in 2018, they found. Total prevalence grew over the 10-year period from 0.4% to 1.1%. Continue reading...

Study described as necessary first step' in discovering whether dogs and humans can use push-button devices to communicateIt has become a hot-button topic among dog lovers: can humans and canines communicate with each other using a soundboard? Now researchers say they have taken the first steps towards finding out, revealing that dogs trained to use such devices respond to the pre-recorded words just as they do to spoken words.Here we show that actually [dogs] do pay attention to the [soundboard] words and they produce appropriate behaviours independently of environmental cues and who produces the word," said Prof Federico Rossano, of the University of California San Diego, who led the research. Continue reading...

I didn't think I would ever break the law to try alternative medicine. But as Australia finds itself at the forefront of the therapy, I'm in a unique positionTo quote Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady, I'm a good girl, I am.I am scrupulous with my tax return, obey speed limits and send thank you cards after I've been invited to someone's place for dinner.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

Fewer that 1.5% of drugs trials between 1960 and 2013 included expectant women. Now, campaigners and doctors are aiming to change thatWhen she was pregnant with her second child, Busisiwe Beko was living with HIV, but that didn't worry her. She had been taking antiretrovirals for years and as an experienced Aids activist in South Africa she knew that as long as she continued to take her pills every day, her second baby would be born free of infection, just like her first.But another illness was lurking in Beko's lungs: tuberculosis (TB) had been hiding behind the common signs of pregnancy. The illness turned her pregnancy into a nightmare. Continue reading...

Focus on potential harms from staying unvaccinated found to be more effective than messaging on jab's benefitsPolicymakers who want to encourage the uptake of Covid vaccines should focus on communicating the risks of not having such jabs, research suggests.Researchers in China say they have found the approach, known as a loss frame strategy, is more persuasive in boosting people's willingness to get vaccinated than focusing on the benefits either to the individual themselves or to others. Continue reading...

It's been quite a revelation to discover that my version of reminiscing is nothing like other people'sHave you ever had the experience where a smell or a taste pulls you into a world of memory? One bite of a cookie of a similar kind to those in your old school cafeteria, and suddenly you can practically see the linoleum floors and hear the squeak of plastic chairs. Most people can have these sudden reveries - I can't.When I have come across descriptions of this phenomenon - Proust's madeleine scene, for instance, or the memory bubbles in the movie Inside Out - I've always assumed that it was some kind of metaphorical device. I had no idea that most people actually re-experience moments from their pasts in some sensory detail, even if it's a bit shaky or faint. Continue reading...

With talk of an Oasis reunion, experts explain how sibling relationships can be particularly intense and problematic and rewarding'For most of the 1990s and 2000s, the Gallagher brothers clashed on stage and traded high-profile insults in newspaper interviews and on social media. So rumours of an Oasis reunion tour in 2025 have prompted furious speculation about how the pair repaired a rift that for decades appeared intractable.Family therapists told the Guardian that although sibling rifts are common and often reparable, reunions like the Gallaghers' only succeed if both warring parties are ready to bury the hatchet. Continue reading...

Labradors are known for being greedy dogs, and now scientists have come up with a theory about the genetic factors that may be behind their behaviour.In this episode from April 2024, the Guardian's science correspondent and flat-coated retriever owner Nicola Davis visits the University of Cambridge to meet Dr Eleanor Raffan and Prof Giles Yeo to find out how understanding this pathway could help treat the obesity crisis in humansMuch more fixated on the sausage': study sheds light on obesity in labradors Continue reading...

Whether it's your partner that's getting on your nerves, or your friends, or even your pet, sometimes you just want to burn everything to the ground and start over. But will you feel the same way tomorrow?A friend of mine has a useful phrase to describe an experience I think many of us can relate to: she calls it getting divorcey". She isn't actually married, but you don't have to be, to recognise what she's talking about.Getting divorcey is what happens to her when her partner sneezes into his hand and then rubs it on his jeans, or when he chews his food very loudly, and when they disagree on how to raise their daughters and have arguments about money. Continue reading...

It's time to ditch the stereotypes about only children. The same goes for the cliches about conscientious and controlling eldest siblingsAre only children selfish, spoiled and lonely? Duh, no, a piece in the New Scientist recently concluded, unpicking all these stereotypes.There are many more only children now: in 2022, 44% of UK families with dependent children had just one child. According to researchers at University College London's Faculty of Education and Society, they are doing just fine. Rejecting the outdated preconceptions and stereotypes about only children", they found an overall reassuring picture of UK only children's lives and outcomes". Continue reading...