How new technology is enabling monuments and sites to be recorded in incredible detailAs some of the world's key historical sites continue to face attack, we look at the attempts to safeguard our greatest archaeological treasures from theft and destruction.We find out how new technology is enabling monuments and sites to be recorded in incredible detail, and how vulnerable objects can be tracked globally. Continue reading...

Peer review is often claimed to be the guarantor of the trustworthiness of scientific papers, but it is a troubled process. Preprints offer a way outA few weeks ago my collaborators and I submitted our latest paper to a scientific journal. We have been investigating how noroviruses subvert the molecular machinery of infected cells and have some interesting results. If it passes peer review, our paper could be published in three or four months’ time. If it’s rejected, we may have to re-work the manuscript before trying our luck with another journal. That will delay publication even further – it’s not unheard of for papers to take a year or more to get out of the lab and into the world, even in the digital age.But you can read our paper today, for free, because we have uploaded it as a preprint to the bioRxiv (pronounced ‘bio-archive’). This was an unusual thing for us to do. Preprints are a relatively new thing for life scientists, though the arXiv (‘archive’) preprint server has been in use in many fields of physics, mathematics and computer science for over 20 years. To be honest, it felt odd to be publishing without the comfort blanket of peer review. We went ahead anyway because preprints are part of the solution to the troubled state of research publication and we want to see more scientists publishing by this route. Continue reading...

Dashcam footage appears to show a fireball over the Thai capital Bangkok. Video from Porjai Jaturongkhakun, Mesapong Poojeenapun and Raweewat Tuntisavee shows the fireball’s speedy descent before it increases in size and burns out. Despite the apparent size of the fireball, which was visible 200km from the capital, meteorologists say the event is not a major incident Continue reading...

Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme on Radio 4, the University of Bradford’s professor Vincent Gaffney, the leading archeologist on the discovery, explains the significance and scale of Durrington Walls, near Stonehenge. Archeologists have discovered the remnants of a huge stone monument two miles from the standing stones. The new discovery covers about 1.5km in circumference, dwarfing its famous neighbour

Studies show that brighter people live longer – and the basis is largely genetic. Does this mean that DNA trumps factors such as smoking, diet and exercise?How long will I live? It’s more than just an existential question – think how useful the knowledge would be: we could decide whether to save, stick or blow our savings in one mad rampage. It’s only once we go into noticeable decline that can doctors help with predictions of how long we have left, and even then it’s a notoriously inexact science as they try to apply population data to an individual case.So what do we actually know about longevity? Who will live and who will die at a given age? Is it all in the genes or do the life choices we make trump any genetic advantage? And how do we make sense of a new study that confirms that bright people live longer and that the difference in intelligence is genetic and not related to upbringing? Continue reading...

Technique developed by comparing gene activity from healthy 65-year-olds with youngsters could also be used for other age-related conditionsA test that can track how well a person is ageing could help doctors identify patients who are most at risk of dementia and other age-related conditions.Those picked out as ageing fast could be referred onto clinical trials for treatments that try to prevent neurodegenerative diseases or slow the ageing process itself. Continue reading...

Distillery toasts ‘space whisky’ experiment as malt returns to Earth after four-year journey tasting out of this worldWhisky fired into space almost four years ago as part of an experiment has returned to Earth with enhanced flavour and character, according to its creator.A vial of unmatured malt from the Ardbeg distillery on Islay, Scotland, was sent to the International Space Station in a cargo spacecraft in October 2011, along with particles of charred oak. Another vial of the same whisky was kept at the distillery for comparison. Continue reading...

Researchers find hidden remains of massive Neolithic stone monument, thought to have been hauled into position more than 4,500 years agoArchaeologists have discovered the remains of a massive stone monument buried under a thick, grassy bank only two miles from Stonehenge.The hidden arrangement of up to 90 huge standing stones formed part of a C-shaped Neolithic arena that bordered a dry valley and faced directly towards the river Avon.

Leading doctors call on medical bodies such as Nice to do more to promote healthy lifestyles rather than relying on cardiovascular drugsPeople at risk of a stroke or heart attack should reduce that risk by adopting the Mediterranean diet rather than necessarily taking statins, leading doctors are urging.

Thousands of satellites orbit the Earth adding to the growing problem of space junk. What can be done?When astronauts describe looking down on earth from space, they sound like the ultimate hippies. Gazing down on their fragile yet beautiful home they generally experience an eco-epiphany, fully appreciating how we are all children of the Earth. Fair enough. It must be quite a trip.But what’s the plan for ensuring a sustainable space when mars-one.com aims to send a crewed mission to the Red Planet by 2026 while, elsewhere, there are plans to mine some of the 12,000 space rocks orbiting earth? There are big questions to answer. Who makes sure that this happens ethically and equitably, in a way that doesn’t trash space for future exploration? I’m taken with the New Scientist’s idea of a Martian Magna Carta. Continue reading...

The director of the Progress Educational Trust says that only continued research will tell us what we can – or cannot – do with this powerful new technologyHistory is dotted with a long line of milestone discoveries that are widely recognised as turning points in science. The advent of a powerful technique for editing the genome – called CRISPR-Cas9 – is certain to go down as one of those defining moments.Even though the technique was developed only three years ago, progress has been rapid. This has led to much excitement, in the scientific community and beyond, about its potential to transform the research landscape, our understanding of disease and even how we treat it. But there have also been concerns about the future applications of this technology – even before the revelation this year that Chinese researchers had used the technique for the first time to edit the DNA of non-viable human embryos. Continue reading...

Star will fulfil vow to her father when she plays Rosalind Franklin, whose work was vital to cracking the genetic codeIt is rated by some as one of the greatest injustices in scientific history. For others, it is a storm in an academic teacup, a distraction from the real story of the uncovering of the structure of DNA, the stuff from which our genes are made.However, for Nicole Kidman the opportunity to play one of the search’s chief protagonists, Rosalind Franklin, in Anna Ziegler’s play Photograph 51 – which opens in London’s West End next week – provides her with a special challenge: a chance to fulfil a pledge to her late father, Antony Kidman. Continue reading...

The queen of crime is known for her obscure plots and fiendish clues, but her expertise with poisons often goes unnoticedIn the drawing room of an English country house a little old lady sits knitting and discussing the dangers of prescription drugs. Upstairs, a blue poison bottle containing several lethal doses of strychnine is hidden in a drawer. Outside in the kitchen garden some unusual plants are growing among the herbs. On the hall table sits a bag full of pills left behind by the visiting nurse. In the kitchen what looks like sugar has been spilt on a tea tray, or are the small white crystals something else? At the front door a man in a pair of immaculate patent-leather shoes pauses to brush an invisible speck of dust from his lapel before ringing the bell. We are, in all likelihood, in Agatha Christie-land.Related: Ten of the best poisonings in literature Continue reading...

CST-100 Starliner spaceships will be used to fly crews to the International Space Station, with a test flight targeted for 2017Boeing Co took the wraps off an assembly plant on Friday for its first line of commercial spaceships, which Nasa plans to use to fly crews to the International Space Station, officials said.

The death of Oliver Sacks this week made headlines, some of them surprising. Three writers pay tribute to an ardent observer, whose literary portraits of his patients are rich in compassion, insight and humourHaving met the late Oliver Sacks, neurologist and writer, only twice in my life, the occasions separated by some 36 years, I certainly cannot pretend to any friendship or even acquaintance. Nonetheless, I think I can speak for hundreds, if not thousands, who, while not especially close, nevertheless felt physically touched by the life of this extraordinary man. And touched is surely the right word: on the second occasion I met Oliver, in April of this year, he spoke of what a dreadful anatomy student he had been, barely able to conceive of all the convolutions within – yet, and he laughed at this, he’d always been a whizz at doing lumbar punctures, which can be notoriously difficult and excruciatingly painful. “How did you manage it?” I asked, and he said: “Touch, I could just feel where the needle should go.” Continue reading...

YouTuber gasturbine101 flies in a 54-rotor homemade vehicleStop the search: the greatest Briton in history has been found – sitting astride a makeshift helicopter comprised of 54 drone rotors dressed like one of Monty Python’s Gumbies.YouTuber gasturbine101 built the world’s first pentacontakaitetracopter (that’s a vehicle with 54 blades), and flew it almost three meters above the ground, alarming his cameraman in the process.

Leading physicist Dame Athene Donald says toys aimed at girls emphasise passivity, and that early influences affect academic choicesToys aimed at young girls are steering them away from science and engineering before they even reach school age, according to a leading British researcher.Dame Athene Donald, professor of experimental physics at Cambridge University, said that toys marketed at girls often lead to passive play, instead of stoking the imagination and encouraging the children to develop more creative skills.

Cambridge University study suggests that 14-year-olds who spend even an hour a day watching TV or online fall behind peers

Wild wolves to whippets, fleet foxes to patient pointers, fluffy, ferocious or faithful, give your canon of canine songs a walk - it’s time they had their dayWoof! Their eyes roll, they wag and wriggle, they have expressive eyebrows and massive mouths. They run, jump, lie down, roll and sniff everything in sight. Their primary aim is to make us feel wanted and good about ourselves. What’s not to like? Well, they can be, messy, dribbly, a bit barking and smell like an old rug when wet. But that’s enough about the owners …

The number of pupils taking home economics GCSE has dropped by 20% since 2004, so star chef has been brought in to stir things upIt is just after 5am and pupils at St Michael’s Catholic College in Bermondsey, south London, are starting to arrive at school for an early morning cooking lesson.Their teacher is the award-winning chef Heston Blumenthal, famed for dishes like snail porridge and Sound of the Sea, a seafood medley accompanied by a soundtrack of crashing waves. Continue reading...

Nicole Kidman is returning to London’s West End to star in Photograph 51, a new play by Anna Ziegler about Rosalind Franklin, whose contribution to the discovery of DNA was overlooked by a sexist academic fraternity. She discusses the relevance of the story today, her attraction to the stage, and how she grew up around science

It’s the time of year for academic conferences, but for seasoned attendees and freshers alike, potential pitfalls aboundDavid Lodge is an author well known for his campus novels; his dissection of the people who populate our universities, and the vagaries of academic life. These include that September regular, the academic conference (e.g. Small World), with associated out-of-hours hijinks.

Hollingside Wood, Durham: New life is erupting from the humus – the toadstool season has begun early this yearPapery seed capsules are the only sign of the bluebells which carpeted this woodland floor in the spring. Now, in the humid aftermath of torrential rain, among deep green shadows and sun flecks flickering through the tree-leaf canopy, new life is erupting from fallen branches and humus: the toadstool season has begun early this year.The outer ranks of a troop of several hundred fairy inkcaps, Coprinellus disseminatus, encircling a coppiced hazel stool, are already deliquescing into gooey black spore-laden ink that will soon be carried away on the feet of beetles and flies. Continue reading...

German researchers find computers can use algorithm to copy famous painting styles, including Picasso’sComputers: they make everything so easy these days. They check our spelling for us and help with maths, and now machines have added painting to the list of things they are better than us at.Researchers in Germany have found that an algorithm can accurately copy the painting style of artists as disparate as Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh – and in just 60 minutes. Continue reading...

State media says the name honours the country’s contributions to space study, but critics have dismissed the award as a PR stunt

Toymaker, whose products are accompanying the first Danish man in space, says profits rose by 27% in the first six months of the yearAs Lego toys were blasted into the cosmos to accompany Denmark’s first man in space, the plastic bricks maker reported a surge in its first-half profits.The Danish company said operating profit for the six months to the end of June rose 27% from a year earlier to 4.6bn kroner (£455m). Excluding currency movements, revenue rose 18% to 14.1bn kroner. Continue reading...

Irreversible changes to trichodesmium microorganisms could effect species from plankton to whales that depend on products it consumes or produces, say scientists

Archaeologists shed new light on 365-year-old mystery by identifiying remains of one of bloodiest battles of English civil warSkeletons found in two mass graves next to Durham cathedral have been revealed to be the remains of Scottish soldiers taken prisoner on the orders of Oliver Cromwell in one of the bloodiest battles of the 17th-century civil wars.

The suggestion that the UK’s donor shortage could be met by urging men to ‘prove themselves’ introduces unhelpful ideas of shame and failureThis week Britain’s national sperm bank revealed that it currently has only nine registered donors. Laura Witjens, the chief executive of the bank, suggested that they will seek to boost numbers by urging potential donors to prove themselves to be a man. Apparently, this is how it’s done in Denmark. “If I advertised saying ‘Men, prove your worth, show me how good you are’, then I would get hundreds of donors,” said Witjens.Related: UK sperm bank has just nine registered donors, boss reveals Continue reading...

Three top scientists who lead the government’s research on badger control join experts condemning cullThree senior scientists who collectively produced two decades of government research on controlling badgers to reduce bovine TB are among a group of eminent experts to call for an immediate halt to the badger cull. The intervention comes as figures reveal the government has spent nearly £7,000 killing each badger so far.Professor Lord Krebs, Professor John Bourne and Professor Ranald Munro write of their disappointment that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has extended the controversial cull to Dorset and called on it to immediately reconsider its decision to continue culling badgers. Continue reading...

Every day, millions of internet users ask Google life’s most difficult questions, big and small. Our writers answer some of the commonest queries

Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council and others call for debate on potential of altering DNA to prevent diseases – and risk of ‘designer babies’Leading UK research funders are calling for an urgent national debate on the ethics of genetically modifying human embryos and other tissues to prevent serious diseases.The plea has been prompted by scientists’ rapid progress in developing a powerful tool called genome editing, which has the potential to transform the treatment of genetic conditions by rewriting the DNA code of affected cells. Continue reading...

Is it time for a debate on whether there are any circumstances where there is an ethical case for ‘editing’ human embryos?The biggest funders of scientific research in the UK have called for a renewed debate on the ethics of genetically modifying human embryos and other tissues, in an effort to prevent serious diseases. There has been rapid progress in developing a powerful tool called genome editing, which has the potential to transform the treatment of genetic conditions by rewriting the DNA code of affected cells. Scientists believe that a debate should be had about the ethics of modifying human embryos, before the science gets ahead of public opinion. Here’s the background to the story. Continue reading...

Andreas Mogensen will take 26 specially designed toys on his mission to the International Space StationDenmark is sending its first man into space – along with 26 Lego toys to keep him company on the journey.Andreas Mogensen, a 38-year-old aerospace engineer from Copenhagen, will leave for the International Space Station on 2 September. The specially designed plastic toys joining him will bear the official logo of his mission for the European Space Agency (ESA) and will be given to schoolchildren as a competition prize once the mission is complete. Continue reading...

Research has found a Brazilian wasp’s venom could destroy tumours of leukaemia, prostate and bladder cancer without harming healthy tissueThe venom of the Brazilian wasp Polybia paulista contains a powerful “smart” drug that selectively targets and destroys tumour cells without harming normal cells, a study has shown.In laboratory tests, the poison has been shown to suppress the growth of prostate and bladder cancer cells, as well as leukaemia cells resistant to a range of drugs. Continue reading...

The temple was a treasure of incalculable value that stood as a monument to religious accommodation. No wonder Isis hated itSomething incalculably precious has been wiped off the face of the Earth. Satellite photos have confirmed that the temple of Bel, a monument that for almost 2,000 years had stood resplendent amid the ruins of Palmyra, is no more. Scholars had been dreading the worst since the fighters of Islamic State annexed the ancient city back in May.Few had put much faith in the initial assurances of the conquerors that they would spare the archaeological site: too much ruin had already been visited on the antiquities of the territory under their control for that. And sure enough, at the end of June, the militants demolished the iconic statue of a lion sacred to Allat – a goddess who had suffered the signal misfortune of being condemned by name in the Qur’an. Then last month they destroyed a temple dedicated to Baal Shamin, a deity often paired with Allat. That was tragedy enough. Continue reading...

When something bad happens, our pattern-seeking tendencies sometimes make us look for answers where there probably aren’t any. This time around, it’s given me an irrational annoyance about Friday nightsI was having a conversation with my wife yesterday, about which word is more heartbreaking: ‘dead’ or ‘died’. She suggested ‘dead’, given its sense of finality. For me, ‘died’ seems much worse, as it evokes a sense of recency; of immediate, raw pain that hasn’t had a chance to kick in yet, let alone subside.We were travelling back from seeing my aunt and my nana, and we were having the conversation because my uncle has just died, of an unknown liver complication. It was unexpected and sudden. He was only 66. Continue reading...