Researchers reveal that, under certain circumstances, the process of evolution can be highly predictable, especially when there are limited solutions to a particular problem, such as resistance to dangerous toxinsA research paper that was published a few days ago in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reports that evolution can follow predictable pathways when available solutions to a particular problem are severely limited. This new study found that resistance to heart-stopping cardiac glycoside toxins produced by some plants and animals for defensive purposes has independently converged across several lineages of insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, after following a highly predictable evolutionary pathway. Continue reading...

A radical demonstration of quantum theory could see a bacterium suspended in an uncertain state similar to that famously endured by Schrödinger’s catPhysicists have drawn up plans to put a living organism in two places at once in a radical demonstration of quantum theory.The scientists aim to suspend a common microbe in an uncertain state similar to that endured by Schrödinger’s cat, which is portrayed in the Nobel laureate’s famous thought experiment as dead and alive at the same time. Continue reading...

We, the undersigned, believe that global warming can be addressed without adding significant economic costs or burdening taxpayers with more debt. A sensible approach to tackling climate change will not only pay for itself but provide economic benefits to the nations of the world.The aspiration of the Global Apollo Programme is to make renewable energy cheaper than coal within 10 years. We urge the leading nations of the world to commit to this positive, practical initiative by the Paris climate conference in December. Continue reading...

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, former-astronaut Buzz Aldrin says the world should start pursuing polices to make a Mars landing, and even settlement, possible. He suggests July 2019 to be the ideal time for a landing and explains the need for international co-operation for this to be fully realisedListen to the full interview on the BBC’s website hereWatch the full clip on the BBC’s website hereRead more about Buzz Aldrin’s plans for Mars on the Guardian Continue reading...

A new website from the founder of Digital Science aims to make it easier for a range of school stakeholders to sift through the huge amount of data about education performance across EnglandThe problem with big data is that it’s not always that easy to wade your way through it. The UK Department for Education, for example, provides a mammoth amount of information about schools – average class sizes, absence levels, details on how many pupils are eligible for free school meals (and how many are actually having them), and a wealth of measures that aim to assess how well children are performing across the school years. But trying to make sense of a sea of numbers in spreadsheets and tables doesn’t always help you to get a sense of what’s actually going on in schools around the country.This is where Timo Hannay comes in. “About 18 months ago some local schools where I live in East Finchley asked for help in data analysis. Being the slightly obsessive geek I am, I ended up downloading reams of data from the DfE website and building a huge database covering every school in the country”, he says. Hannay has an eye for data. He has a PhD in neuroplasticity, and for a number of years was the director of web publishing for Nature Publishing Group. He then went on to found Digital Science, a startup company focusing on software and services aimed at scientists and research administrators. Now, he can add educational cartographer to the list. Continue reading...

As new data continue to be collected at CERN, another look at some of the straws in the wind, otherwise known as “hints of new physics”, that might develop into exciting breakthroughs

In 2013, Bryan Chan and a group of fellow university students in Arizona launched a weather balloon near the Grand Canyon. In a Reddit post, Chan explains their onboard GPS tracker lost its signal as it came in to land. It took two years for the team to recover the footage, after a woman spotted the balloon and its payload while out on a hike in the desertWatch the full video here

Report by Kirby Institute says a quarter of people who test positive for the virus have had it for at least four years without realisingThe number of Australians contracting HIV has stabilised but about a thousand people a year are still returning positive tests, and about a quarter of those people have had the virus for at least four years without realising it.The latest report card on the nation’s sexual health, by the University of New South Wales’s Kirby Institute, is a mixed bag.

US had its 12-hottest summer but seven of the warmer seasons were in last 15 years. With ocean temperatures rising, scientists warn: ‘It’s definitely not good’New data showing that the US had its 12th-hottest summer on record may not, at first glance, appear particularly significant or alarming.