Nasa researchers believe some ancient lakes could have lasted for up to 10,000 years, which was enough time for life forms to take holdAncient lakes that came and went over millions of years in the Gale crater basin on Mars may have persisted long enough for life to evolve in them, researchers have said.Nasa scientists analysed fresh images sent back from the Curiosity rover and found evidence of lakes in the basin that lasted for up to 10,000 years at a time – potentially long enough to support life.

New work is based on modification of genetic information in DNA but has brought sceptical response from some expertsResearchers claim they have come up with an algorithm that can predict the sexual orientation of males with up to 70% accuracy.The team behind the research, presented at the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting in Baltimore on Thursday, believes they have come up with the first example of a predictive model for sexual orientation based on a molecular marker. Continue reading...

Blue Brain Project supercomputer recreates part of rodent’s brain with 30,000 neurons connected by 40m synapses to show patterns of behaviour triggered, for example, when whiskers are touchedA piece of living brain has been reconstructed in a supercomputer in what amounts to one of the most sophisticated neural simulations ever created.The digital lump of rat brain, made from ones and zeroes, mimics the behaviour of about 30,000 neurons connected to one another by 40m synapses. Continue reading...

My friend Walter Friedrich, who has died aged 85, was an academic psychologist and political thinker who played an influential role in events leading up to the first democratic elections in East Germany in 1990.In 1994, in a long conversation with me, Egon Krenz, the former East German communist leader, revealed that it had been Walter who had convinced him that the developing dramatic situation in Leipzig, in October 1989 – when thousands of citizens demonstrated to demand greater democracy – could not be resolved by armed force. The Stasi chief, Gen Erich Mielke, was ready to use force, but Krenz overruled him. Had Mielke prevailed, events would have unfolded very differently. Continue reading...

Life-saving basic research is under threat. Tell George Osborne what you think of that.When Howard Florey, with his team in Oxford, developed penicillin, he had not set out to save countless lives around the world. He and the men and women who worked with him were scientists, interested in puzzling out how things work, how the universe is put together; thinking God’s thoughts after Him.Joshua and I have reasons to be grateful to the work of Florey’s team: I could well have died as an infant, and Joshua could be blind. Scarlet fever and periorbital cellulitis are, for the time being, readily curable. Continue reading...

The government’s plans for science will be announced in the comprehensive spending review in November, but the science budget is once again in the firing line. Science is Vital has launched a new campaign to fight off the threat of cuts of 25-40%. Even a flat cash settlement would be a backward step. As part of the campaign, we are asking everyone to send a postcard to Chancellor George Osborne with the message that the UK should be looking to invest in science, not cut it. We invited the Guardian science bloggers to kick things off. Here are their postcards.We will need many more postcards to make sure George gets the message – so please take inspiration from the bloggers and join in! Continue reading...

The aurora borealis, a relatively common occurrence within the Arctic circle, was seen in northern England, north Wales, Northern Ireland and ScotlandParts of Britain revelled in a celestial light show on Wednesday night as the northern lights were clearly visible in northern England, north Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.The aurora borealis – usually caused by solar particles colliding in the atmosphere – is a more common occurrence much further north around the Arctic circle. Continue reading...

Research has shown that city-living has been linked to depression and anxiety – but what is it, exactly, that makes urban life so stressful? And what can be done to make the world’s cities more habitable?“Sitting constantly in dilapidated cars wrecks their spines, and the ceaseless shouting that goes on in the streets of Cairo destroys their nervous systems,” Khaled Al Khamissi wrote in his 2007 book Taxi, a collection of conversations with 58 of Cairo’s 80,000 taxi drivers. “The endless heavy traffic drains them psychologically and the struggle to make a living … strains the sinews of their bodies.”

Report says there is a lack of good data on how well Tamiflu works in the community, after missed opportunity during swine flu outbreakNew trials are urgently needed to establish whether the anti-flu drug Tamiflu would help save lives in a pandemic, experts have said.

Simple procedure could potentially save NHS millions as it can dramatically reduce unnecessary emergency admissionsA simple blood test could rule out a heart attack in two-thirds of people arriving at A&E with chest pains, potentially saving the NHS millions of pounds, a new study shows.There are around 18,000 heart attacks each year in the UK, but around one million people come to A&E with chest pains. The test measures troponin, a protein released from the heart during a heart attack. Continue reading...

Both Mona Chalabi’s BBC3 programme on 5 October and her Guardian article (We’re all racist, but white racism is worse, 6 October) were fascinating and worrying. But what neither she nor anyone else mentioned was how most racism implies the surely fallacious assumption that biological and cultural characteristics are transmitted together.Until the work of Gregor Mendel was rediscovered in 1900 and the study of genetics began, it was difficult to begin to appreciate the difference. The word “race” had been used for a family (eg “a royal race of kings”), a nation, or almost any social or political unit – even “the human race”. But by now the implications of the difference in transmission surely ought to be more generally known than they seem to be, even among those more sophisticated people who use the word “ethnicity” (along with “ethnic” and “ethnogenesis) in a way that seems to reflect the same conflation of biology and culture. The confusion is reflected in many of the myths treasured in national histories. Of course sorting out the difference will not stop prejudice, but it might help to undermine it.

My father Joseph Lamb, who has died aged 87, was professor of physiology at the University of St Andrews, chairman of the Save British Science society (SBS) and the initiator of one of the first shareholder campaigns to tackle excessive executive pay.He was born in Brechin, near Aberdeen, the son of Joe, a tenant farmer, and Agnes (nee Fairweather), a schoolteacher. He contracted tuberculosis at an early age and spent a year reading encyclopedias during his recovery. He was a self-proclaimed “idle chap” at Brechin high school, although he went on to shine at physics. He won a place to study medicine and gained a PhD at the University of Edinburgh, after a brief spell maintaining radio masts for the RAF at Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire. Continue reading...

Scientists in Australia succeed in growing ‘organoids’ comparable to early stage of a baby’s kidneys that have collecting ducts and filtering units called nephons

Archaeozoologist whose body of work shines a light on the historical relationships between people and animalsJuliet Clutton-Brock, who has died aged 82, was a pioneer in the relatively new field of archaeozoology – the study of animal remains from archaeological sites – which aims to shed light on the relationships between people and animals in the distant past. The focus is particularly upon the where, when, how and why of the transformation of wild animals, hunted mainly for food, skins and fur, into tame, domesticated creatures, to be slaughtered as sources of meat and leather, or exploited when alive to provide milk and wool, carry loads, pull ploughs and be ridden, and as human companions.Juliet’s numerous books outlined the development of these relationships, encompassing not only her own seminal researches, but also drawing together information from a wide variety of sources and incorporating the results of radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis as they became available. They included Domesticated Animals from Early Times (1981), Horse Power: A History of the Horse and Donkey in Human Societies (1992), Two Hundred Years of British Farm Livestock (1989, in collaboration with Stephen Hall), and the Eyewitness Guides: Dog (1991), Cat (1991), Horse (1992) and Mammals (2002). She had a particular interest in dogs and was the author of at least 20 scientific papers on them and co-author of an 82-page paper, A Review of the Family Canidae, published by the Natural History Museum. Continue reading...

See how the action and reaction unfolded as Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar shared the Nobel chemistry prize for their work showing how cells safeguard genetic information

Show did not make clear climate sceptics are a minority voice, broadcaster admits, in ‘an unfortunate lapse’ of editorial policy, reports Climate HomeThe BBC has apologised for airing a half-hour radio show earlier this year in which a series of high-profile climate sceptics lined up to disparage the science behind global warming.

Ten out of 32 women who wanted to become pregnant and had transplant succeeded in having a baby, and none had cancer recurrence as a resultOvarian tissue transplants for women who want to have a baby after cancer treatment appear to be safe and are very successful, according to a team of experts in Denmark, where the procedure is routinely offered.One in three young women who had a transplant and wanted to become pregnant succeeded in having a baby, analysis of results over the last 10 years has shown. Half of the children were conceived naturally, without the help of IVF. Continue reading...

Much has been said about gun control in the wake of yet another mass shooting in the US, but the heated and divided nature of the debate means that a fundamental question is often overlooked; why is it people actively want guns in the first place? The answers are not as obvious as you may thinkOnce again, we’ve had yet another mass shooting in the US. That the previous sentence can even be written in a serious manner is a bleak summary of the situation. Even President Obama has clearly lost patience with the regularity of such horrific occurrences.As ever, the fallout includes endless scapegoating, political posturing and analysis. It all boils down to a large number of people not wanting to lose their guns under any circumstances.

Expert tells headteachers that pupils could go on to have 40 jobs and the education system must adapt to the changing worldChildren today could end up working to the age of 100 in as many as 40 different jobs, a futurologist has predicted.Rohit Talwar, who helps businesses look at what the world might look like in five to 50 years, told headteachers that the education system was behind with how fast the world was changing and that they must prepare students now for the world of the future. Continue reading...

In a vote Tuesday, Hoesung Lee was chosen to replace Rajendra Pachauri, who was forced to step down after being accused of sexual harassmentThe United Nations Nobel-winning climate science panel – the ultimate authority tracking the extent of global warming and its consequences for humanity – has a new leader after 13 years.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has provided stunning images of the planet’s surface, depicting landing sites from the film and volcano-like moundsBlockbuster movie The Martian has inspired Nasa to release photos showing real-life locations from the film on the Red Planet.Two landing sites for the Ares 3 and Ares 4 missions depicted in the movie can be seen in the images beamed to Earth by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Continue reading...

Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald win for discovery of neutrino oscillations, which show that neutrinos have massThe Nobel prize in physics has been awarded to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald for discovering that elusive subatomic particles called neutrinos weigh something more than nothing.

Bone analysis of newly discovered Homo naledi reveals curved fingers for arboreal living but feet of modern humans, indicating unique combined ability among genusAn extinct human relative found in a dark, cramped cave in South Africa was adept at both swinging in the trees and walking on two feet, making it unique among our known ancient forerunners, scientists say.A fresh analysis of hand and foot bones of Homo naledi, the latest addition to the human genus, shows that while the creature’s foot resembles that of modern humans, its fingers are curved, in an unmistakable sign of arboreal living.

Astronauts on board the International Space Station are filmed performing tricks in microgravity. One astronaut is cheered on by colleagues as he tries to walk a tightrope and another does repeated somersaults. The tricks which include throwing fruits and balls at each other were suggested by psychologists for humans spending long periods of time as they orbit Earth. The video was filmed in 2014 but has only just been released

The space agency will reveal latest data and photos of the planet and its moon from New Horizons spacecraft Thursday, adding to its unprecedented collectionThe newest images and data from Pluto continue to astound Nasa scientists, lead researcher Alan Stern said on Monday, telling a university hall that “2015 will be a year in textbooks forever” as the point when mankind unveiled the world on the edge of its solar system.“This world is alive,” Stern said of Pluto to a packed room at the University of Alberta. “It has weather, it has hazes in the atmosphere, active geology.” Continue reading...

Winner of the 2015 Nobel prize for physics Arthur McDonald says he had a eureka moment in his research. The physicist is interviewed here from his home in Canada during a press conference in Sweden announcing that he was to share the prize with Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita. The Nobel committee said their discovery changes our understanding of the innermost workings of matter Continue reading...

Over a week after blood moon doomsday forecasts were proven wrong, eBible Fellowship leader Chris McCann says ‘the world will pass away’ on 7 OctoberWhile our planet may have survived September’s “blood moon”, it will be permanently destroyed on Wednesday, 7 October, a Christian organization has warned.Related: Apocalypse now and again … your choice of dates for the end of the world Continue reading...

The release of Ridley Scott’s space hit coincided with the discovery of water on the red planet, which leads us to ask – how realistic is it, technically? A leading aerospace engineer offers his opinionOverall it’s a very good movie, and while there are mistakes in it, it is the first genuine Mars movie. It is the first movie that attempts to be realistic and that is actually about human beings grappling with the problems of exploring Mars, as opposed to various movies set on Mars that are essentially either shoot ’em ups or horror films. It does not engage in fantasy: no monsters, no magic, no Nazis. However, there are a number of technical mistakes.Related: The Martian review – Matt Damon shines as stranded astronaut Continue reading...

Results and reaction as it happened for second of this week’s three top science prizes. It went to the Japanese and Canadian scientists for their work to reveal how neutrinos – elusive subatomic particles – change identities or ‘flavours’, and expand our understanding of the innermost workings of matter and the universe

More than 10,000 photos taken by astronauts have been uploaded to Flickr from Nasa’s Project Apollo Archive, as Aisha Gani reports

Last week saw the publication of the latest world university rankings. But until the purveyors of these league tables address the uncertainties in their data, no-one knows where they really standThe Times Higher Education World University Rankings were announced last week to much fanfare, at least in certain corners of academia. They were “bigger, better and more comprehensive”, according to their editor, Phil Baty.Such ranking exercises are a big and growing industry. This year the Times Higher has assessed 800 institutions, double the number considered last year. And their ranking is now one only one of at least ten different schemes for grading the world’s universities. No institution wishing to compete globally – or even nationally – can afford to ignore them. Continue reading...

Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading...

The Syrian desert city known as the Venice of the Sands has suffered another act of vandalism by Islamic State (Isis), with the destruction of the triumphal arch. We look at what has been blown up in recent months by the Islamist militants described as ‘barbarians’ by Syria’s head of antiquities Continue reading...

Campbell and Ōmura win for their work on a therapy against roundworm, sharing the prize with Tu for her work on a therapy against malariaThree scientists from Ireland, Japan and China have won the Nobel prize in medicine for discoveries that helped doctors fight malaria and infections caused by roundworm parasites.Tu Youyou discovered one of the most effective treatments for malaria while working on a secret military project during China’s Cultural Revolution. Continue reading...

More than 10,000 high-resolution Nasa images taken on Apollo missions have been shared online, from first steps on the moon to mundane tasksFrom panoramic images of lunar surfaces to ethereal shots of Earth from space and Neil Armstrong taking mankind’s first steps on the moon: an archive of more than 10,000 Nasa photographs taken by Apollo astronauts has landed on Flickr.Every photograph taken on the moon by astronauts using Hasselblad cameras strapped to their chests is included in the collection in high resolution and unprocessed, as well as images of their journeys between Earth and lunar orbit. Continue reading...

Illegal trade is causing shocking decline in plants that are vital to desert ecosystems, most comprehensive global assessment yet revealsNearly a third of the world’s cacti are facing the threat of extinction, according to a shocking global assessment of the effects that illegal trade and other human activities are having on the species.

Sotheby’s offers a tour around Integral House, designed by maths megastar James Stewart. Stewart made a fortune with a calculus text book but was also an architect. ‘Integral’ refers to a concept within calculus, the maths of flowing change. The property is on the market with Trilogy Agents for £11.4mWatch the full video on Trilogy Agents’ YouTube channel Continue reading...

Tasked in 1969 with finding a cure for malaria, China’s first laureate in medicine looked to nature and traditional medicineIt was 21 January 1969 when Mao Zedong gave a 39-year-old scientist from Zhejiang province the challenge of her life.

As a National Maritime Museum exhibition on the 18th-century quest for longitude tours the US, curator Rebekah Higgitt looks at how it was made, moved and has mutated along the wayThe exhibition that I co-curated at the National Maritime Museum, Ships, Clocks and Stars: The Quest for Longitude, continues to live on even though it has long since ended its original Greenwich run. Earlier this year it was shown at the Folger Library in Washington DC and is now open at Mystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea based in Connecticut, until March 2016. Later that year it will travel to the Australian Maritime Museum.My connection with the exhibition ended when it closed at the NMM in January. Because I had moved jobs, the process of loaning objects and touring the exhibition has gone on without me. It was, then, a treat to see them again in this video from Mystic, like catching a glimpse of old friends. Continue reading...

The Nobel prize for medicine award is announced on Monday at the Nobel Assembly, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. The award has gone to William C Campbell, Satoshi ÅŒmura and Youyou Tu for their work on developing medicines that fight malaria and infections caused by roundworm parasites. Campbell and ÅŒmura share an award while Youyou Tu received his own

James Stewart’s calculus text books made him very rich. He spent his fortune on Integral House, an award-winning architectural marvel inspired by calculus, which is now on sale after he died last yearJames Stewart was an unlikely literary sensation.The Canadian mathematician made a multimillion-dollar fortune by writing calculus textbooks for universities and high schools. Last year alone he sold 500,000 books, accounting for about $26.6m (£17.5m) in sales, according to his estate. Continue reading...

The first of three prestigious science prizes on the first day of Nobel week are revealed: William Campbell and Satoshi Omura for their work on a therapy against roundworm, shared with Youyou Tu, for a therapy against malaria12.02pm BSTWe’re now bringing down the curtain on this blog. Read the latest story on today’s winners here. Tomorrow it’s the Nobel Prize for Physics – join us again.12.00pm BSTSarah Bosely has some details on avermectins, the drugs combating some parasites developed by Campbell and Ōmura.The avermectins are a group of naturally occurring compounds, which have strong insecticidal and anti-worm properties. One of the family, ivermectin, was a breakthrough discovery in 1987 in the treatment of river blindness (onchocerciasis), one of the neglected tropical diseases that wreck the lives of many millions of poor people in the developing world and are rarely a goal for drug developers because there is no market in wealthy countries.The earlier drugs for river blindness had serious side-effects and were not as effective as ivermectin, which kills the larval Onchocerca volvulus worms – microfilariae – that live in the subcutaneous tissue of an infected person. Continue reading...

Species new to science found in the Eastern Himalayas over the past five years include 133 plants, 26 species of fish, 10 new amphibians – and one mammalA monkey which sneezes in the rain and a “walking” fish are among more than 200 new species discovered in the Eastern Himalayas in recent years.

We are just starting to understand the effects that algorithms have on our lives. But their environmental impact may be even greater, demanding public scrutiny. Victor Galaz and colleagues present a new manifesto - the Biosphere Code.

Water has been found on Mars – but if the red planet can support life, what will it be like for any humans who go there? Six future crew members of a possible Nasa mission spend up to 12 months in confinement in a Mars-like landscape in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, to work out how humans would react to long-duration space travel