Science | The Guardian

Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire: Now is its time to shine, and having no leaves yet, it is purest black and white, spines and starsWhile the magnolia's decidedly middle-class flowering dominates everyone's attention, I prefer the hidden, grubbier events of spring, the kind I know we'll find down the muddy path that runs between the industrial units and the strip of boggy wetland on our old housing estate.It is a beautiful day. The sky is blue, the breeze fresh. There's litter here, sure - piles of it - and the loud whine of machinery, but my senses soon return me to the mouthy, joyful cascade of wren song. First we pass hawthorn holding its clean, new leaves in quiet readiness. But it isn't its turn just yet: right now it's the blackthorn's turn to take spring's stage. Continue reading...

Beyond simply feeling decrepit, perception of being older can affect health by encouraging unhealthy eating and reducing exerciseTwo nights of broken sleep are enough to make people feel years older, according to researchers, who said consistent, restful slumber was a key factor in helping to stave off feeling one's true age.Psychologists in Sweden found that, on average, volunteers felt more than four years older when they were restricted to only four hours of sleep for two consecutive nights, with some claiming the sleepiness made them feel decades older. Continue reading...

Researchers in Belgium use artificial intelligence to improve taste, but say the skill of the brewer remains vitalWhether you prefer a fruity lambic or a complex Trappist, Belgian beers have long been famed for their variety, quality and heritage. Now, researchers say they have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to make brews even better.Prof Kevin Verstrepen, of KU Leuven university, who led the research, said AI could help tease apart the complex relationships involved in human aroma perception. Continue reading...

Pharmacy to offer Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to those not eligible for NHS booster shot from next weekBoots is to offer Covid vaccinations for almost 100 a shot, making it the latest provider to sell the jabs to those not eligible for a booster through the NHS.The company has confirmed it will offer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to healthy customers in England aged 12 and over from next week, at a cost of 98.95 a jab. Continue reading...

The sun is currently ramping up to hit the peak of its 11-year activity cycle. In the past few days, powerful solar eruptions have sent a stream of particles towards Earth which are set to produce spectacular auroras in both hemispheres. But these kinds of geomagnetic storms can also have less appealing consequences. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Lisa Upton, a solar scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, about how the mysterious inner workings of the sun create space weather, how solar events can significantly disrupt Earth's infrastructure, and whether we are prepared for the worst-case scenarioRead more about the Northern lights here Continue reading...

Spectacular aurora borealis caused by geomagnetic storms on sun's surface may be visible in North America as far south as the midwest

The 100-day challenge, to be able to contain a virus while a vaccine is approved, manufactured and delivered, looks ever more remoteFour years on from the first Covid lockdown, life feels to be largely back to normal, although legacies of the pandemic remain. Collective amnesia seems to have set in. Politicians seem eager to move forward and not relive the decisions, delays and deaths that characterised public policy and press briefings. Yet we can't forget such a brutal event, when Covid is estimated to have killed nearly 16 million people worldwide in 2020 and 2021, and caused life expectancy to decline in 84% of countries, including Britain. Pandemics aren't a one-off event. There's still a risk of another happening within our lifetimes.Fortunately, what to do about the next pandemic is still very much at the top of the global health agenda. In 2021, I was asked to co-chair the US National Academy of Sciences' committee on advancing pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccine preparedness and response. This group was sponsored by the US government to provide recommendations on how to improve preparedness for influenza, which is seen as one of the most likely candidates for the next pandemic. I was also involved with the Lancet Covid-19 taskforce, which brought together global experts to look at how to improve on the Covid response, and what challenges there were going forward. These groups represent some of the world's best thinkers on global health and pandemic preparedness. Here's what I learned.Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh Continue reading...

Nodding syndrome is a distressing disease that stunts growth, harms brains and sparks convulsions. Though its cause is still unknown, there is now hope that epilepsy drugs can help afflicted childrenThe other children move away, frightened, when the convulsions start. Tabo takes a long, guttural breath before slumping on to the ground unconscious, her entire body shaking. The 17-year-old's mother, Penina Monyo Gulu Biro, gently holds the girl while the attack lasts.A minute or two later, Tabo (pictured above) sits up again, tears rolling down her cheeks. She cries because she's sad to be like this," says Biro.An aerial view of the Dombolo River, near Mvolo town, in South Sudan's Western Equatoria state Continue reading...

National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme aims to understand why population has declinedArtificial intelligence will be used for the first time to track hedgehog populations as part of a pioneering project aimed at understanding how many of them are left in the UK and why they have suffered a decline.Images of the prickly mammals snuffling around urban parks, private gardens, woodlands and farmland will be captured by cameras and filtered by AI trained to differentiate between wildlife and humans. Continue reading...

Southern lights may be visible in Tasmania, along Victoria's coastline and on Western Australia's south-west coast

Fears raised that prime lunar locations for universe-unravelling instruments are in danger from imminent wave of human activity Bases, experiments, mining: race to protect surface of moonAstronomers are calling for the urgent protection of sites on the moon that are rated the best spots in the solar system for advanced instruments designed to unveil the secrets of the universe.The prime locations are free from ground vibration, shielded from Earth's noisy broadcast signals or profoundly cold - making them uniquely well-suited for sensitive equipment that could make observations impossible from elsewhere. Continue reading...

Early diagnosis and better awareness mean tumours can be caught early - and when disease is found, under-45s can often tolerate chemotherapy betterProf Andrew Beggs of Birmingham University runs a special clinic for young people with cancer and has noted, as have other experts, that more and more people under the age of 45 are being diagnosed with some form of the condition.There are a number of reasons for this rise," he told the Observer. For one thing, we are simply getting better at spotting cancer at earlier and earlier stages. In addition, special awareness is involved. Young people are much more perceptive about their health than previous generations and so they are more willing to seek help at an early stage when their symptoms have first appeared." Continue reading...

Excavations of bronze age graves have found battle-scarred female archers, says the historian Bettany HughesIn Greek legends, the Amazons were feared and formidable women warriors who lived on the edge of the known world. Hercules had to obtain the magic girdle of the Amazonian queen Hippolyte in one of his 12labours, and Achilles killed another queen, Penthesilea, only to fall in love with her as her beautiful face emerged from her helmet.These horseback-riding, bow-wielding nomads, who fought and hunted just like men, have long been shrouded in myth, but archaeologists are discovering increasing evidence that they really did exist. Continue reading...

The benefits of drugs such as donanemab, aducanumab and lecanemab are proving harder to quantify than potential harms, experts sayIt was heralded in news articles as a breakthrough", a turning point" and a gamechanger" for Alzheimer's disease. Some experts went so far as to call the drug, donanemab, the beginning of the end" for the debilitating condition.Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly in May 2023 released data from a clinical trial they said showed donanemab slowed cognitive and functional decline in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease by 35% over 18 months. Continue reading...

New research findings are contrary to what had previously been thought about pandemic's effect on children's wellbeingTeenage boys were hit hardest by the Covid lockdowns, with their mental health failing to recover despite the return to normality, according to the most comprehensive academic study of its kind.Early research into how lockdown affected children indicated that girls had suffered more significant mental health problems than boys. Continue reading...

Museum's funding by Indian energy group sparks controversy - with activists calling for boycott of tainted' partnership but others in full supportIt is intended to be an exploration of humanity's past and future efforts to decarbonise the way we live. Historical objects mixed with interactive displays will show how environmentally friendly energy systems are shaped by imagination and innovation.But the new Science Museum gallery, Energy Revolution, the Adani Green Energy Gallery, has gone down badly - with environmentalists. Continue reading...

Anti-abortion researchers exaggerate' and obfuscate' in their scientific papers - but by the time they're published, it's too late

Heritage orchard at RHS Rosemoor to be sampled this spring as part of search for previously unrecorded survivor' cultivarsGardeners are searching for lost apple varieties by sequencing the genetics of trees in ancient orchards, in the hope they hold traits that can help the fruit survive climate breakdown.Heritage apple trees at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) garden Rosemoor will be sampled this spring with the aim of finding species of apple enjoyed by people hundreds of years ago. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Scientists say people with disease who drink two to four cups a day are less likely to see it returnPeople with bowel cancer who drink two to four cups of coffee a day are much less likely to see their disease come back, research has found.People with the illness who consume that amount are also much less likely to die from any cause, the study shows, which suggests coffee helps those diagnosed with the UK's second biggest cancer killer. Continue reading...

Study confirms our canine companions can grasp more than simple commands - or at least for items they care aboutDogs understand what certain words stand for, according to researchers who monitored the brain activity of willing pooches while they were shown balls, slippers, leashes and other highlights of the domestic canine world.The finding suggests that the dog brain can reach beyond commands such as sit" and fetch", and the frenzy-inducing walkies", to grasp the essence of nouns, or at least those that refer to items the animals care about. Continue reading...

Critics say it is a missed chance to recognise that the planet irrevocably left its natural state in the mid-20th centuryThe guardians of the world's official geological timescale have firmly rejected a proposal to declare an Anthropocene epoch, after an epic academic row.The proposal would have designated the period from 1952 as the Anthropocene to reflect the planet-changing impact of humanity. It would have ended the Holocene epoch, the 11,700 years of stable climate since the last ice age and during which human civilisation arose. Continue reading...

Research into children's body odours also found babies smell of flowers and soap, eliciting parental affectionPuberty makes teenagers' armpits smell of cheese, goat and even urine, scientists in Germany have discovered.The particular chemical compounds that make up pubescent body odour have been singled out, should anyone want to bottle eau du teenager". Continue reading...

We give things up when we believe we can change; we give up when we believe we can't. By Adam Phillips Continue reading...

Four in 10 UK patients do not find a match and those from non-white backgrounds find it more difficultPete McCleave first heard about stem cells during his sciences degree in the 1990s. I knew about them, I just didn't know what they could be used for," he says. It all sounded very pie in the sky." It wasn't until two decades later when McCleave was diagnosed with myeloma blood cancer that he came across stem cells again. This time, he needed them to save his life.I was told that really the only chance I have, the best chance I have in seeing beyond the seven years I was given [to live] was finding a stem cell donor match," he explains. His doctor reassured him that it would be easy to find a match because of his white-European background. But almost eight years later, he is still searching. Continue reading...

Kermitops gratus are thought to be among first true amphibians and a key step in transition of life from water to landAfter achieving worldwide fame through numerous hit films and TV shows, leading to a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, Kermit the Frog has another accolade: a 270m-year-old fossil named after him.Scientists have discovered a species of an ancient amphibian ancestor, which they have named Kermitops gratus because of its resemblance to the bright green star of The Muppet Show. Continue reading...

The mass deaths were puzzling scientists around the world - there were no signs of viruses or parasites. Then we looked closely at their skinIt was while we were sitting and talking in a hotel bar at the first global congress of herpetology that the world's amphibian experts realised there was a problem: frogs, toads, salamanders and newts were disappearing in their thousands around the world and nobody understood why.Not a single talk at the 1989 congress at the University of Kent had discussed the strange disappearance of the world's amphibians. But scientist after scientist had the same story: from Central America to Australia, they were vanishing. Continue reading...

In late 2016, US officials in Cuba's capital began experiencing a mysterious and often debilitating set of symptoms that came to be known as Havana syndrome. As two new studies into the condition are published, Ian Sample speaks to the Guardian's world affairs editor, Julian Borger, who has been following the story, and to the consultant neurologist Prof Jon Stone, about what could be behind the conditionFollow all of Julian Borger's reporting here Continue reading...

Trials in UK, France and the Netherlands indicate tool can predict if patient will experience problems from surgery and radiotherapyDoctors have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict which breast cancer patients are more at risk of side-effects after treatment.Worldwide, 2 million women are diagnosed every year with the disease, which is the most common cancer in females in most countries. Continue reading...

Fossil of giant river dolphin found in Peru, whose closest living relation is in South Asia, gives clues to future extinction threatsScientists have discovered the fossilised skull of a giant river dolphin, from a species thought to have fled the ocean and sought refuge in Peru's Amazonian rivers 16m years ago. The extinct species would have measured up to 3.5 metres long, making it the largest river dolphin ever found.The discovery of this new species, Pebanista yacuruna, highlights the looming risks to the world's remaining river dolphins, all of which face similar extinction threats in the next 20 to 40 years, according to the lead author of new research published in Science Advances today. Aldo Benites-Palomino said it belonged to the Platanistoidea family of dolphins commonly found in oceans between 24m and 16m years ago. Continue reading...

Incredibly tough plants can tolerate intense cold and prolonged darkness, but temperature has also been risingMosses are the plant superheroes of Antarctica, steadily colonising parts of the continent, building up into plump green cushions or even deep banks on bare ground, some of it newly exposed by melting ice and snow.These are incredibly tough plants that only grow slowly in the harsh Antarctic climate, tolerating intense cold, prolonged dryness, powerful ultraviolet light and prolonged winter darkness. They often survive for nine to 10 months dormant under winter snow, using their own antifreeze to prevent their cells icing up. In their brief growing season, the mosses thaw out, soak up water like sponges and spring back to life. They can even withstand being buried under glaciers for centuries. One moss was found to be 1,530 years old; trapped in ice, it resurrected itself after thawing out. Continue reading...

Settlement on stilts dropped into River Nene after a fire nearly 3,000 years ago and was preserved in siltA bronze age settlement built on stilts that dropped like a coffee plunger" into a river after a catastrophic fire has provided a window on our past lives, according to the archaeologist that led the investigation of the Cambridgeshire site.Must Farm, nicknamed the Pompeii of the Fens, offers exceptional clarity" because of a combination of charring and waterlogging, said Mark Knight, of Cambridge University's archaeological unit. Continue reading...

Pembrolizumab is used to treat triple-negative form of disease but researchers say it could be used more widelyThousands more women with breast cancer could benefit from a blockbuster immunotherapy drug than previously thought, research suggests.Pembrolizumab, sold under the brand name Keytruda, targets and blocks a specific protein on the surface of certain immune cells that then seek out and destroy the cancerous cells. Continue reading...

People with excessive flexibility 30% more likely to say they had not fully recovered from Covid, research findsPeople with excessively flexible joints may be at heightened risk of long Covid and persistent fatigue, research suggests.Hypermobility is where some or all of a person's joints have an unusually large range of movement due to differences in the structure of their connective tissues that support, protect and give structure to organs, joints and other tissues. Continue reading...

Engineers need to be sensitive to how exclusion occurs or they risk making health inequity worse, say Prof Steven Johnson and Prof Jonathan EnsorThe independent review on equity in medical devices once again highlights the multiple ways in which medical technology development can lead to solutions whereby the benefits are distributed inequitably across society, or can further exacerbate health inequalities (UK report reveals bias within medical tools and devices, 11 March). While the report is welcome, the challenge facing scientists and engineers is how to innovate medical devices differently to respond to longstanding societal biases and inequalities.This means doing two things. First, it is essential to move beyond a superficial engagement with patients. As the report emphasises, technology development cannot be based only on the expertise of engineers or the knowledge of healthcare professionals. It needs to respond to the different social, cultural and health experiences of diverse groups of people. To be effective, this means recognising differences and actively supporting marginalised groups to represent themselves. Continue reading...

Britain's biggest drugmaker's latest acquisition will help it to develop new radiotherapy treatments

A growing movement of ecologists, lawyers and artists is arguing that nature should have legal rights. By recognising the rights of ecosystems and other species, advocates hope that they can gain better protection. Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian's global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, about where this movement has come from and why the UK government has dismissed the concept, and hears from Cesar Rodriguez-Garavito of NYU School of Law about how he is finding creative ways to give rights to natureCould 2024 be the year nature rights enter the political mainstream?UK government can never accept idea nature has rights delegate tells UN Continue reading...

UN chief Antonio Guterres says risk of nuclear war has escalated and that humanity cannot survive a sequel to Oppenheimer'The US and Japan are sponsoring a UN security council resolution calling on all nations not to deploy or develop nuclear weapons in space, the US ambassador has announced.Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a UN security council meeting that any placement of nuclear weapons into orbit around the Earth would be unprecedented, dangerous, and unacceptable." Continue reading...

The answers to today's puzzlesEarlier today I set these puzzles by Lewis Carroll, who as well as writing books like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was also a prolific puzzle setter.1. The Chelsea Pensioners Continue reading...

Researchers are running trials on how hormone therapies affect trans people that will also benefit healthcare for the wider populationWhen Cameron Whitley was diagnosed with kidney failure seven years ago, the news came as a shock. But the situation was about to get worse. His doctor decided the diagnosis meant Whitley's hormone therapy had to stop.As a transgender man, now 42, who had taken testosterone for 10 years, the impact was brutal. Continue reading...

Some participants in Liverpool University survey said the travel mementoes were more important to them than photographsWhether holding up shopping lists or hastily scrawled messages, fridge magnets are highly functional holiday souvenirs. And a new study suggests these trinkets may also provide an important means of accessing happy - and not so happy - memories of past trips.Pervasive as souvenirs are, surprisingly little research has investigated what happens to them after people's holidays have ended, and even less has focused on fridge magnets, even though we interact with them almost every day. Continue reading...

Group employed by government divided for first time over best date for new year ritualsSri Lanka's government-backed traditional astrologers have failed to unanimously agree on the best date for new year rituals, with squabbling seers warning of disaster" and accusing rivals of misinterpreting the position of stars.Astrologers are hugely influential figures consulted by the island's Buddhist and Hindu communities, and their advice for auspicious dates guides everything from marriages to business deals - and even national elections. Continue reading...

The San Jose, sunk in 1708, has been at the center of a dispute over who has rights to the wreck, including $17bn in bootySince the Colombian navy discovered the final resting place of the Spanish galleon San Jose in 2015, its location has remained a state secret, the wreck - and its precious cargo - left deep under the waters of the Caribbean.Efforts to conserve the ship and recover its precious cargo have been caught up in a complicated string of international legal disputes, with Colombia, Spain, Bolivian Indigenous groups and a US salvage company laying claim to the wreck, and the gold, silver and emeralds onboard thought to be worth as much as $17bn. Continue reading...

It's not all about AliceUPDATE: Read the answers hereTodays puzzles are all penned by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and appear in a delightful miscellany of his non-Alice scribblings, Lewis Carroll's Guide for Insomniacs, curated by LC superfan Gyles Brandreth. They may be oldies, but they are goodies!1. The Chelsea Pensioners Continue reading...

Length of day and night roughly equal as longer summer days draw nearThe sun crosses the celestial equator this week, meaning that the March equinox is upon us.The celestial equator is the projection of the Earth's equator up into the sky. Because Earth rotates on a tilted axis, which always points in the same direction, our orientation to the sun changes throughout the year. When we are in the hemisphere tilted towards the sun, our parent star appears higher in the sky than the celestial equator and we experience summer with its longer days. Likewise, when the axis is pointed away, the sun never rises as high as the celestial equator and we experience winter with shorter days. Continue reading...

Researchers at Nottingham Trent University hope device used at home will improve tracking of tumoursScientists are developing a device that fits inside a bra and could monitor whether a breast cancer tumour is growing.Researchers hope the device will provide a new non-invasive method of detecting tumour growth that patients can use in the comfort of their own homes". Continue reading...

PET scans can examine entire bowel before and during treatment, avoiding risks associated with taking tissue samplesResearchers in Glasgow have identified a new means of diagnosing and treating bowel cancer with imaging technology, avoiding the need for biopsies.Biopsies require an invasive procedure with a number of health risks, such as infection, and are limited in what they can capture within a patient's bowel. Continue reading...

Mini missions are being launched amid the spires - a haven for dust particles that may contain clues about the cosmos and the early EarthOn the roof of Canterbury Cathedral, two planetary scientists are searching for cosmic dust. While the red brick parapet hides the streets, buildings and trees far below, only wispy clouds block the deep blue sky that extends into outer space.The roaring of a vacuum cleaner breaks the silence and researcher Dr Penny Wozniakiewicz, dressed in hazmat suit with a bulky vacuum backpack, carefully traces a gutter with the tube of the suction machine. Continue reading...

Along the way Corey Keyes developed concepts of languishing and flourishing which others have found helpfulWhen he was 16, Corey Keyes was finally doing well after a brutal childhood. He got high grades at school, played quarterback on the football team, and was living with his loving grandmother in Wisconsin, USA.But, the sociologist and professor emeritus of Emory University writes in his new book, Languishing: How To Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down, he was living on autopilot, throwing himself into every activity going. Whenever he slowed down, everything felt drained of colour". A feeling of restless emptiness" gnawed at his insides. Terrified this feeling might haunt him all his life, he determined to become a sociologist to find out if other people had this same sense of running on empty", eventually coining the terms languishing" and its antidote flourishing", or good mental health. Continue reading...

Fears over the effect of rapid weight loss on physical and mental wellbeing of young people said to be unjustifiedShort-term, very low-calorie diets for obese teenagers are safe as long as they are closely monitored by an experienced dietitian, according to researchers in Australia whose work will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice this spring..The study, by scientists based at Sydney University, also revealed that many adolescents involved in the investigation thought the diets were an acceptable way to lose weight - despite experiencing side-effects that included fatigue, headache, irritability, constipation and nausea. Continue reading...