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Around the world, highly secure chambers are being built to preserve everything we need to withstand any number of worst-case scenariosAre we allowed to go in?" I surprise myself with this question, given that I'm staring through the small window of a door into one of six underground vaults, each one essentially a walk-in freezer. The temperature inside is -20C. It is a grey winter day at the Millennium Seed Bank in Wakehurst, Sussex and the maze of featureless corridors and reinforced concrete adds to the 1984-ish austerity of the setting. These vaults are designed to withstand the worst apocalypse we can imagine - be it caused by bombs, radiation, floods or disease.Dr Elinor Breman, a senior researcher, and my guide for today, briefly hesitates before responding: yes, I can, but only if I sign a waiver and don't have any heart conditions. This seems fair enough. I sign a declaration, having read the warnings of frostbite and hypothermia, and Breman hands me a protective blue coat. She flicks a switch before we go in. When I look at her quizzically, she casually explains that this is so an alarm goes off if we're not out in five minutes. Continue reading...

Another space launch failed, but it's the loss of major advertisers on X that has enraged the tycoonIt has been an explosive weekend for Elon Musk. The American billionaire has had to witness not only the public rapid unscheduled disassembly" of another of his rockets, but also watch while a group of well-known global companies, including Apple, Disney and IBM, pulled advertising from X, his social media platform.The businesses, all of them household names, made the decision to stop spending on the site, formerly known as Twitter, after the American billionaire's public support for an antisemitic conspiracy theory. Last Wednesday, Musk replied to a conspiracy post which accused Jews of promoting hatred of white people, noting that it was the actual truth". He has since argued that his intended criticism was of specific campaign groups, such as the campaign group the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and was not aimed at the wider Jewish community. Continue reading...

The eat out to help out scheme will face scrutiny when Patrick Vallance, Chris Whitty and Angela McLean appear this weekExplosive evidence about the tensions and disagreements between the then prime minister Boris Johnson, his ministers and the country's top scientific advisers at key moments during the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to be made public this week at the official inquiry into the crisis. On Monday, Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's former chief scientific adviser - whose incendiary private diary entries are being quoted selectively at the inquiry - will give evidence at an all-day session on Monday that looks certain to cast new light on the chaos in government as the virus swept across the globe.Vallance will be followed in the witness box by the other top scientists who flanked ministers at the televised daily Covid press conferences. Continue reading...

Could a computer ever rival their astonishing feats? The idea seemed preposterousYour memory could fill the Albert Hall,' proclaimed the Observer on 21 March 1971, explaining that a computer to perform even the simpler functions of the human brain would need to be at least as big as the Albert Hall.' Now we outsource much of our memory to devices that slip in our back pockets, what can an exploration of extraordinary memory athletes' still tell us about how we remember?Clare' (a pseudonym) discovered her abilities were exceptional while eavesdropping on a Harvard researcher exploring the power of eidetic' imagery - perfect visual recall. I think I can do that,' she said. She was right: Dr Charles Stromeyer's research showed she could scan a card with 10,000 dots for one minute and recall it a few minutes later in full detail.' Her ability to recall abstract visual patterns contrasted with the celebrated Russian mnemonist' Solomon Shereshevskii. Shereshevskii's spectacularly intense synaesthesia both helped and hindered him in constructing the elaborate mental stories he used to remember almost anything for almost any time', from Dante's Inferno to lengthy strings of random numbers. Continue reading...

SpaceX's spacecraft Starship, developed to carry astronauts to the moon and beyond, reached space for the first time on Saturday but was seen in footage experiencing a 'rapid unscheduled disassembly'. The two-stage rocket ship blasted off from the Elon Musk-owned company's Starbase launch site near Boca Chica in Texas on a planned 90-minute uncrewed flight into space. The 120-metre Starship rocket system, the most powerful ever built, failed a first flight test in April, when the spacecraft pulverised the launchpad during lift-off and then exploded at altitude

The psychologist, 40, talks about childhood memories, the shortness of life, always being honest and the answer to most of your problems: beansI was a bookish, quiet and nerdy child. I felt like an outsider, although I wonder if most kids feel that. I was rarely wild - being a black kid in east London, I was always aware of assumptions being made and of what others might get away with, but I might not.My earliest memory is having a picnic on the UK coast: sandwiches, chicken drumsticks in tinfoil and a windy car park. It's a happy one, for sure. Continue reading...

At least nine hominin species once roamed the Earth, so what became of our vanished ancestors?Just 300,000 years ago - a blink in evolutionary time - at least nine species of humans wandered the planet. Today, only our own, Homo sapiens, remains. And this raises one of the biggest questions in the story of human evolution: where did everyone else go?It's not a coincidence that several of them disappeared around the time that Homo sapiens started to spread out of Africa and around the rest of the world," says Prof Chris Stringer, head of human origins at the Natural History Museum in London. What we don't know is if that was a direct connection." Continue reading...

Elon Musk's next-generation craft reaches space but then explodes, similar to first flight in AprilSpaceX's uncrewed spacecraft Starship, developed to carry astronauts to the moon and beyond, reached space for the first time on Saturday but was presumed to have failed minutes later.It was Starship's second test after its first attempt to reach space ended in an explosion earlier this year. Continue reading...

The Starship rocket system is expected to launch from Texas after the spacecraft exploded in air during a first test flight in April Continue reading...

Starship now scheduled to launch from Texas on Saturday instead of Friday as component needs replacingSpaceX will attempt a second test flight of the world's largest rocket on Saturday, with expectations high for a big show after April's launch, when the spacecraft pulverised the launchpad during lift-off and then exploded at altitude.The 120-metre Starship rocket system, the most powerful ever built, was due to launch from Texas on Friday but that has been delayed until the weekend after teams found that a component needed replacing. Continue reading...

Astronaut who orbited the moon on Apollo 16 and was instrumental in saving the stricken Apollo 13The astronaut Ken Mattingly, who has died aged 87, was probably more famous for his role in the saga of Apollo 13 - the ill-fated 1970 lunar mission, from which he was removed three days before launch - than he was for Apollo 16, on which he made a successful trip to the moon two years later.Mattingly lost his place as command module pilot on Apollo 13 because he had been exposed to rubella. As a consequence he had to settle for a role within the Houston ground control team, where he helped to power up the stricken Apollo 13 spacecraft after it had broken down. Continue reading...

Flinders University palaeontologists use new details about ancient raptors to paint a more complete picture of Pleistocene-era Australia

MHRA authorises uses of Casgevy as a potential cure for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemiaBritain's drugs regulator has approved a groundbreaking treatment for two painful and debilitating lifelong blood disorders, which works by editing" the gene that causes them.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has given the green light for Casgevy to be used to treat sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. Continue reading...

As Iceland braces for a volcanic eruption, Madeleine Finlay hears from volcanologist Helga Torfadottir about how the country is preparing, and why this is happening now. She also speaks to Cambridge professor of volcanology Clive Oppenheimer about how scientists predict volcanic activity, and what it feels like to stare into a smouldering volcanic craterFind more Guardian reporting on this story hereClive Oppenheimer's book, Mountains of Fire, is available at the Guardian Bookshop Continue reading...

Planet Wasp-107b also has scorching temperatures, raging winds and the burnt-matches scent of sulphur dioxideNasa's James Webb space telescope has revealed a planet where specks of sand fall as rain, in groundbreaking observations.The planet, Wasp-107b, lies 200 light years away in the Virgo constellation and had already caught the attention of astronomers because it is very large but very light, earning it the nickname the candy floss" planet. The latest observations give an unprecedented glimpse of a strange and exotic world beyond our solar system that features silicate sand clouds and rain, scorching temperatures, raging winds and the distinct burnt-matches scent of sulphur dioxide. Continue reading...

As a UN summit in Nairobi debates a treaty on plastic pollution, Richard Thompson, the biologist who first identified microplastics 30 years ago, explains why ocean cleanups and biodegradables will not solve a global crisisIn September 1993, during a beach clean on the Isle of Man, Richard Thompson noticed thousands of multicoloured fragments at his feet, looking like sand. While his colleagues filled sacks with crisp packets, fishing rope, plastic bags and bottles, Thompson became transfixed by the particles.They were so tiny that they did not fit any category in the spreadsheet where volunteers recorded their findings. Yet it was pretty clear to me that the most abundant item on the beach was the smallest stuff," Thompson says. Continue reading...

Discoveries suggest St Pancras workhouse that may have inspired work of Charles Dickens was intended to be place of comfortOver its 200-year history, its premises were cramped and overcrowded, bleak and bug-ridden. However, when the St Pancras workhouse opened in 1809, it was meant to bring comfort to those who had fallen on hard times, site excavations have revealed.Archaeologists from Mola (Museum of London Archaeology) have been astonished to uncover a significant portion of these original buildings" and incredible new details about the lives of the residents and masters". Continue reading...

Seeds preserved for decades can be revived and the plants thrive again along with aquatic animalsPonds were once widespread on farms and rich in aquatic plants and wildlife, but long ago many were drained, filled in for intensive farming and became lost and forgotten. But these ghost ponds can be restored and the seeds of plants buried in old pond sediment can be revived after lying dormant for decades or even a century buried under fields of crops.Clues to these ghost ponds can sometimes be revealed as damp depressions on the ground, poor crop growth or from old maps. Work by University College London (UCL) showed the ponds can be resurrected by excavating them to reveal the original pond bed, then allowing rainwater or groundwater to refill them. Once exposed to light and oxygen, seeds preserved in old sediments can germinate, and in less than a year the plant life thrives again, along with aquatic animals. Continue reading...

Aberystwyth University study first to show a creative group with lower scores on psychotic traits than general populationCreative types - musicians, painters, writers - are often regarded as a tormented and difficult bunch but a study has revealed that at least one subsection of the artistic community may have grasped the trick of staying well balanced.A study of magicians around the world, led by Aberystwyth University's psychology department, suggests that illusionists may be less prone to mental health difficulties than other creatives and the general population. Continue reading...

Amanda Pritchard will say combination of vaccination and screening means goal within two decades is realistic ambitionCervical cancer can be eliminated in England by 2040, saving thousands of women's lives, the head of NHS England will say on Wednesday.A combination of HPV vaccination and screening for the disease means that elimination of it is a realistic ambition, Amanda Pritchard, NHS England's chief executive, will say. Continue reading...

Including jab as part of routine immunisations would have really positive impact on health of young children', says JCVIExplainer: Why is the UK proposing chickenpox vaccines and do we really need them?A vaccine to protect against chickenpox should become a routine childhood jab in the UK, government advisers have said, adding that the move would not only reduce the number of children who become sick from the virus, but also cut the number of serious cases that can become fatal.At present, the jab, known as the varicella vaccination after the varicella zoster virus that causes the disease, is only available on the NHS to children and adults who are in regular or close contact with people who could become very ill from a chickenpox infection or have a weakened immune system. Continue reading...

Last month the UK's Food Standards Authority slashed the recommended safe daily intake of cannabidiol (CBD) from 70mg to 10mg. An estimated one in 10 people in the UK have used products containing CBD, and many users believe it can help with ailments such as insomnia, anxiety and pain. But is there any evidence for the supposed benefits, and what's behind the FSA's decision? Ian Sample talks to Dr Will Lawn of Kings College University, who has studied the health effects of CBD, to find outClips: @jakequickenden, @bigliamofficial Continue reading...

Researchers say more accurate analysis of cardiac CT scans could save thousands of lives and improve treatmentsArtificial intelligence could be used to predict if a person is at risk of having a heart attack up to 10 years in the future, a study has found.The technology could save thousands of lives while improving treatment for almost half of patients, researchers at the University of Oxford said. Continue reading...

The answers to today's puzzlesEarlier today I set you these problems from the book Lateral Solutions to Mathematical Problems by Des MacHale. Here they are again with answers.1. Three cloves on an orange Continue reading...

Finding creative solutionsUPDATE: To read the solutions click hereSometimes it pays to approach a problem sideways. Each of today's puzzles requires some lateral thinking, in that the first step of the solution is perhaps not the obvious one.1. Three cloves on an orange Continue reading...

The stories people tell me about their lives can be funny, surprising, tragic or shocking - and some stay with me for yearsI can distinctly remember being in the back seat of the family car on a long journey (to Devon probably - that drive felt interminable), looking at all the other cars full of people and thinking, Where on earth are they all going and why?" As my eyes went funny trying to keep up with the traffic flicking past, it blew my mind to imagine everyone as the main character in the dramas of their own lives, with a busy morning behind them and a plan for the afternoon ahead. It's a thought which has never really left me. As a middle-aged woman, one of my ideas of top entertainment is to people-watch. You'll find me at it in cafes, bars, on trains. I'm completely contented when I'm losing myself in the passing tide of main characters, imagining the scenes of their lives unfurling around them. The only thing that can beat it is to take the extra step and strike up a conversation. Not the drinks party kind with all that, Did you come on the B359 or via Porchester?" The conversation with strangers I like is the bigger sort, with feelings and explanations of passions, maybe with a bit of childhood thrown in.Early on in my career as a radio reporter, this preference for the personal over the professional was obvious. I didn't make the greatest of newshounds, as I was often completely diverted by the lives which surrounded the headline. On one occasion, I was sent to interview an elderly couple on the outskirts of Peterborough. I remember their welcoming bungalow with ornaments carefully arranged on a mantel and a calendar of cat photos hanging in the kitchen. After switching off the recorder, instead of hurrying back to file my piece, I ended up chatting some more and the conversation meandered around to how the couple first met... It is a story I have never forgotten. Continue reading...

Research is growing into computational models that will move medicine beyond what works on the average patientImagine having a digital twin that gets ill, and can be experimented on to identify the best possible treatment, without you having to go near a pill or a surgeon's knife. Scientists believe that within five to 10 years, in silico" trials - in which hundreds of virtual organs are used to assess the safety and efficacy of drugs - could become routine, while patient-specific organ models could be used to personalise treatment and avoid medical complications.Digital twins are computational models of physical objects or processes, updated using data from their real-world counterparts. Within medicine, this means combining vast amounts of data about the workings of genes, proteins, cells and whole-body systems with patients' personal data to create virtual models of their organs - and eventually, potentially their entire body. Continue reading...

Indigenous peoples already had their own names for the galaxies named after the 16th-century Portuguese explorerFor centuries Ferdinand Magellan has been accorded a rare privilege. The explorer's name has been written in the stars. Two satellite galaxies of our own Milky Way, which sparkle conspicuously over the southern hemisphere, are labelled the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.Now astronomers want to erase this celestial distinction. They say that Magellan, the 16th century Portuguese sailor, was a murderer who enslaved and burned down the homes of Indigenous peoples during his leadership of the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe. They insist his name should no longer be honoured by being associated with the clouds. Continue reading...

Cambridge University scientists develop a device to defossilise' the economy using sunlight, water and carbon dioxideAutomated floating factories that manufacture green versions of petrol or diesel could soon be in operation thanks to pioneering work at the University of Cambridge. The revolutionary system would produce a net-zero fuel that would burn without creating fossil-derived emissions of carbon dioxide, say researchers.The Cambridge project is based on a floating artificial leaf which has been developed at the university and which can turn sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into synthetic fuel. The group believe these thin, flexible devices could one day be exploited on a industrial scale. Continue reading...

The soaring price-tag of a plan to fly rock samples back to Earth is jeopardising other space projects, say criticsIt is one of the most complex space missions ever contemplated. A flotilla of unmanned probes and robot rovers will be flown to Mars to gather rock samples which will then be blasted back to Earth for study for signs of life.This is Nasa's Mars Sample Return and it would involve the first-ever space launch from another planet, as well as the first-ever rendezvous in orbit around another planet. Continue reading...

Association of Clinical Psychologists must pay 20,000 after intervening in family justice case where it mounted critique of expert'A professional body ordered to pay costs of 20,000 by the president of the family division after intervening in an appeal regarding the qualifications of a court-appointed expert has said the ruling was unfair" and could have a chilling effect".The Association of Clinical Psychologists UK (ACP-UK) said it had acted in good faith on a matter of public protection", after being criticised for conducting itself in a wholly exceptional manner" during an appeal before the most senior family judge in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Toolbag not the first item to float into the abyss, after a spatula and multiple other toolbagsSkywatchers have a new space object to train their sights on: a toolbag that is now floating through space around Earth.Nasa astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara were conducting a rare all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on 1 November when their toolbag gave them the slip, according to Nasa. Continue reading...

The condition affects up to 6% of all pregnancies yet understanding of its causes and how to treat it remains basicHaving had one normal pregnancy, Emma Bailey assumed that her second experience of childbirth would progress relatively smoothly. But, at 34 weeks, she began to suffer sudden bursts of stabbing pain just underneath her ribcage.It was really excruciating pain," she remembers. I was admitted to hospital, but they sent me home, saying it was probably just anxiety. I then had to be readmitted the very next day because I was in agony." Continue reading...

Exclusive: Researchers looking at the environment, plastics and pollution as factors as they try to fill big gaps' in their knowledge of the disease

Boundary-pushing 21-hour surgery follows series of extraordinary advances including pig heart transplantsUS surgeons have announced the world's first whole-eye transplant after a boundary-pushing 21-hour surgery. While the 46-year-old patient, Aaron James, cannot yet - and may never - see through his new eye, the organ is showing signs of health and even this partial success takes transplantation into entirely new territory.It marks the latest in a series of extraordinary advances in the field. Last year, the first genetically modified pig heart transplant was performed, with a second patient treated. Modified pig kidneys have been observed to function successfully in a human body. Womb transplants have become more widely available, with the first UK procedure announced in August, as have hand and arm transplants and intestine transplants. And scientists have developed new techniques to recondition donated organs that previously would have been discarded. Continue reading...

Astronaut who led the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, and the first person to spot an Earthrise'On Christmas Eve 1968, as commander of Apollo 8 - the first manned lunar orbital mission - Frank Borman, who has died aged 95, came out with words that, alongside Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind", from Apollo 11 in 1969, and Jack Swigert and Jim Lovell's OK, Houston, we've had a problem", from Apollo 13 in 1970, defined an era.In that moment before the moon programme became mundane, when astronauts were prime time, Apollo 8's broadcast ended with the crew - Bill Anders, Lovell and Borman - reading the story of Earth's creation as written in the book of Genesis. Continue reading...

Astronaut and his crew were the first people to see Earth as a distant sphere in spaceFrank Borman, the astronaut who commanded Apollo 8's historic Christmas 1968 flight that circled the moon 10 times and paved the way for the lunar landing the following year, has died aged 95.Borman died on Tuesday in Billings, Montana, according to Nasa. He also led the troubled Eastern Airlines in the 1970s and early 80s after leaving the astronaut corps. Continue reading...

Tests exploring how birds navigate gaps smaller than their wingspan shed new light on their amazing abilities'When it comes to mind-bending aerial manoeuvres, it turns out hummingbirds can give Top Gun's Maverick a run for his money.Researchers have discovered that the diminutive creatures have two different strategies they can deploy to squeeze through gaps that are smaller than their wingspan. Continue reading...

US researchers suggest that better work-life balance particular beneficial for those over 45 or at higher riskFlexible working can reduce someone's risk of having a heart attack or stroke, new American research has found.Having a better work-life balance is so beneficial to health that some employees who work flexibly end up with heart health equivalent to what they had 10 years earlier. Continue reading...

Method could be used to stop people from unlocking cars or to support bartenders serving alcoholWhether it is the story of Peter Piper and his pickled peppers or a woman selling sea shells on the seashore, tongue-twisters tackled when sober can sound rather different after a drink.Now researchers believe such changes, in particular those relating to pitch and frequency, could be used to alert people to their level of intoxication. Continue reading...

5m project launched with aim of having reliable tests within five years to provide quick diagnosisScientists are to begin piloting simple blood tests for dementia that could revolutionise detection of the disease and within five years lead to people being diagnosed in seconds by the NHS.Currently, getting a formal diagnosis in the UK relies on mental ability tests, brain scans or invasive and painful lumbar punctures, where a sample of cerebrospinal fluid is drawn from the lower back. Continue reading...

Ian Sample talks to Guardian global environment editor Jon Watts about the withering drought currently devastating the Amazon rainforest. Jon explains the complex mix of factors that are driving the drought, and considers whether it might be a catalyst for more concerted climate action in Brazil and beyondClips: Freesounds archive Continue reading...

Japan has gained another island after an undersea volcanic eruption 1,200 km south of Tokyo created a new landmass. The tiny island emerged following a series of eruptions that began last month near Iwoto island, part of the Ogasawara island chain in the western Pacific, according to experts

New research on insects - without which the planet would not survive - shows a higher proportion are at risk of disappearingRead more: How the extinction of insects would transform our planetTwo million species are at risk of extinction, a figure that is double previous UN estimates, new analysis has found.While scientists have long documented the decline of species of plants and vertebrates, there has always been significant uncertainty over insects, with the UN making a tentative estimate" of 10% threatened with extinction in 2019. Continue reading...

When I felt lonely growing up, my grandmother's company and cuisine were a soothing balmMy grandmother collected me from school every day and invariably brought me along to pick up any missing ingredients for dinner. I was a dark-skinned child with thick, curly hair, and she could have passed for white. People often didn't know what to make of us, but rarely questioned our relationship aloud.Once, at Schwegmann's, our local grocery store, the cashier looked from me to my grandmother several times, a quizzical expression on her face. How you come to be together?" she finally asked. My grandmother beamed at her, tousled my hair. That's my granddaughter," she said, as if I was a hard-earned prize she had won. That's my granddaughter," she repeated, accepting her change, retrieving her shopping bag and walking me to the car. Continue reading...

Thousands of specimens from the 1500s show huge changes to Bologna's flora due to climate crisis and migration, say researchersA collection of pressed flowers taken from the hillsides of Bologna 500 years ago is unlocking knowledge about how the climate crisis and human migration is changing landscapes in northern Italy.Picked between 1551 and 1586 by the Renaissance naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, the 5,000 delicately cut and dried plants form one of the richest collections of its time. Continue reading...

Last month was hottest October since records began, with average global temperature thought to be 1.7C above late-1800s levelsThe world is set to have been hotter in 2023 than in any other year on record, scientists have declared, before a landmark climate summit this month.We can say with near certainty that 2023 will be the warmest year on record, and is currently 1.43C above the pre-industrial average," said Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The sense of urgency for ambitious climate action going into Cop28 has never been higher." Continue reading...

Scientists find average levels of nitrogen dioxide almost twice as high in homes cooking with gas as in those cooking withoutGas cookers are pumping pollutants linked to childhood asthma into kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms across Europe, a report has found.Dutch scientists measured the air quality in 247 homes and found average levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO) were almost twice as high in those cooking with gas as in those cooking without. One in four homes with gas cookers breached hourly pollution levels set by the World Health Organization, while none of the homes in the control group, which used electric cookers, broke the limits. Continue reading...

Just as frogs and crickets alter calls to attract mates, study shows male singers boost vocals in front of female onlookersBehind the rousing song of an all-male choir lies an evolutionary force that is better known for shaping the sex lives of hopeful frogs and crickets, research suggests.Recordings of an elite boys' choir once directed by Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig, Germany, reveal that the more physically mature boys in the group boosted their vocals with an appealing ring when girls were in the audience. Continue reading...

Findings may enable earlier treatment before severe damage happens requiring life-changing surgerySigns of the debilitating bowel condition Crohn's disease can be detected in routine blood tests up to eight years before the onset of symptoms, and up to three years before a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. The discovery suggests that early stages of inflammatory bowel diseases may begin far earlier than previously assumed, and may eventually enable doctors to intervene before severe damage occurs.Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that affect more than 500,000 people in the UK alone. They are caused by the immune system mistakenly attacking the gut, resulting in painful sores, inflammation and symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Continue reading...