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Teasers for top tweensToday's problems come from Axiom Maths, a charity that that takes high-attaining primary school children and provides them with maths enrichment during secondary school.One of Axiom's main activities is to organise maths circles', in which small groups of pupils get together to tackle fun problems. Such as the ones below, which are aimed at children aged 11/12, and form the basis for further explorations.Agent 001 gives a present to the agent who gives a present to agent 002Agent 002 gives a present to the agent who gives a present to agent 003Agent 003 gives a present to the agent who gives a present to agent 004and so on, untilAgent 009 gives a present to the agent who gives a present to agent 001 Continue reading...

It's bright in the morning sky now, but the planet will be lost to the dawn light by early MarchVenus is beautifully bright in the morning sky at the moment. The chart shows the view looking south-south-east from London at 7am GMT early in the week (and the view is easily visible from the southern hemisphere too).The waning crescent moon will be fast approaching the horizon, and its phase will be shrinking. On successive mornings, it will pass by the red supergiant star Antares in Scorpius, the scorpion, before heading for a close encounter with Venus just 24 hours later. Continue reading...

Charities say deaths will be prevented if sponge on a string' test is widely adoptedA test that can detect oesophageal cancer at an earlier stage than current methods should be made more widely available to prevent deaths, charities have said.The capsule sponge test, previously known as Cytosponge, involves a patient swallowing a dissolvable pill on a string. The pill then releases a sponge which collects cells from the oesophagus as it is retrieved. Continue reading...

Russian surpasses compatriot Gennady Padalka after logging more than 878 days at the international space stationA Russian cosmonaut has set a world record for the most time spent in space on Sunday, after logging more than 878 days or nearly two-and-a-half years.As of 0830 GMT, Oleg Kononenko overtook the record set by his compatriot Gennady Padalka, according to Russia's space corporation Roscosmos. Padalka logged 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds during five space flights before retiring in 2017. Continue reading...

Janet Dube, Hazel Davies and Peter Emerson respond to a piece by George Monbiot on the psychology of voters' supportGeorge Monbiot suggests we can see human values as clustering around two poles, extrinsic and intrinsic (To beat Trump, we need to know why Americans keep voting for him. Psychologists may have the answer, 29 January). There might be something more at play.In 1980, physicist David Bohm wrote about explicate and implicate orders in reality. Before the advent of quantum theory, said Bohm's colleague and biographer, David Peat, science dealt with the order of space and time, separation and distance, mechanical force and effective cause, which Bohm called the explicate order. He posited a deeper order, more congruent with quantum theory and closer to our unconditioned thought. He called it the implicate or enfolded order. Continue reading...

Switching off at home, mastering hobbies and greater control over workload can all help improve self-doubt at work

You can't fight death, sickness, ageing and life's various indignities, but you can play very loud rock'n'rollEvery morning my older daughter calls from London. What you doing today?" Erm... she's most solicitous. She's really checking in to check that I'm not checking out - that I haven't woken up dead or had a stroke or a dizzy spell or plunged down some stairs or otherwise conked out. That I'm still above ground and that the manifold pills I'm compelled to take to prevent extinction, continue to kick in. So what are you up to today?"Erm... doing? Up to? That's a little too chirpy. Active. Aspirational. I'm 79. I've been fortunate: I'm still here, a lucky boomer with privilege and a triple-lock pension. A war baby with free orange juice, free milk and a free education for life. They paid me. I even passed the 11-plus. It's been all right. It's been more than all right. Then it wasn't. My wife, Jill, died. Cancer in a time of plague. Continue reading...

The British clinical trial of the revolutionary new mRNA treatment will test its effectiveness in combating a range of cancersA revolutionary new cancer treatment known as mRNA therapy has been administered to patients at Hammersmith hospital in west London. The trial has been set up to evaluate the therapy's safety and effectiveness in treating melanoma, lung cancer and other solid tumours.The new treatment uses genetic material known as messenger RNA - or mRNA - and works by presenting common markers from tumours to the patient's immune system. Continue reading...

If tests are successful, Windracers Ultra UAV will be used for research such as surveying marine ecosystems and studying glaciersPilotless drones are being tested in Antarctica with the aim of using them to carry out scientific research.A test crew has arrived at the largest British science facility on the continent, the Rothera Research Station. Continue reading...

Last year, 10,000 sham papers had to be retracted by academic journals, but experts think this is just the tip of the icebergTens of thousands of bogus research papers are being published in journals in an international scandal that is worsening every year, scientists have warned. Medical research is being compromised, drug development hindered and promising academic research jeopardised thanks to a global wave of sham science that is sweeping laboratories anduniversities.Last year the annual number of papers retracted by research journals topped 10,000 for the first time. Most analysts believe the figure is only the tip of an iceberg of scientific fraud. Continue reading...

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Psychiatrist whose insights into bereavement were shaped by events such as the Aberfan disaster, the Rwanda genocide and 9/11The much-quoted phrase Grief is the price we pay for love" reached a global audience in 2001 when Queen Elizabeth II used it in her message of condolence to those affected by the 9/11 attacks in the US.But it was the psychiatrist Colin Murray Parkes, who has died aged 95, who first came up with the words that have given solace to so many. In his 1972 book Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life, he wrote: The pain of grief is just as much a part of life as the joy of love; it is, perhaps, the price we pay for love." Continue reading...

Flowers used in the microbiome garden' can enhance gut health by being eaten or just walked pastAn edible meadow" designed to improve gut health is to be displayed at the Chelsea flower show this year.The two gardeners behind the microbiome garden" say it will be filled with flowers that can enhance gut health by being eaten or just walked past. Continue reading...

Researchers say they have found how anemonefish identify unwelcome guests of their own kind, by counting white markingsUnlike the star of Disney's Finding Nemo, real-life common clownfish are not keen on sharing their home with members of their own species.Researchers say they have discovered how they kick unwelcome guests out, by counting the stranger's vertical white markings. Continue reading...

Nasa says it will be a harmless flyby by the giant rock, one of several near-Earth objects slated to swing by the planet this weekAn asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7m miles (2.7mkm) of Earth on Friday.Don't worry: there's no chance of it hitting us since it will miss our planet by seven times the distance from the Earth to the moon. Continue reading...

Female dogs from that category have biggest lifespan among pure breeds, but flat-faced canines more at risk of early deathEvery dog has its day - but some clock up more years than others. Now research has revealed that when it comes to longevity, small, long-nosed breeds are top dog, while flat-faced ones are more at risk of an early death.Once size, face shape and sex were taken into account researchers found that overall small, long-nosed female dogs tended to have the longest lifespans among pure breeds, notching up a median of 13.3 years. Continue reading...

Perceptions of dishonesty can end careers - but Australia's leaders are pretty good at dancing around the actual questions'

A psychologist offers practical advice for dealing with life's ups and downsIt is refreshing to read a psychology book intended for mainstream audiences that isn't trying to push you towards a particular goal; to achieve more, to work harder. Thanks to the rapid societal and technological changes of the past century, self-actualisation is now possible for more of us than ever before. As welcome as this might seem, self-actualising is hard work, and possibilities can quickly become standards that we fail to live up to. Consciously or unconsciously, our unlived potential can haunt us and provoke us to strive until we burn out.In this book, the second in a planned trilogy, and a follow-up to 2015's How We Are, health psychologist Deary delivers a much-needed message: we have a finite capacity to meet the unpredictable challenges life throws at us. The concept of allostatic load (the wear and tear of chronic stress) crops up repeatedly. In chapter four we are introduced to Anne, a single mother struggling to look after her son and father while working as a probation officer (Deary's case studies are composites of patients he has treated in a fatigue clinic). Anne looksafter everyone except herself. Asher life becomes more difficult and complex, her ability to function is gradually eroded until she collapses into a state of chronic fatigue. During acourse of psychotherapy she comes to understand the vulnerability that results from doing too much for too long, to the point that a few ordinary difficulties can tip you over the edge. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Pet owners risk contaminating their hands with neurotoxins for at least 28 days after application, scientists findVets should limit the use of flea treatments containing pesticides on dogs and cats, scientists have said, after a study revealed the vast amount of toxic substances in them that end up in rivers.Pet owners using these flea treatments risk contaminating their hands with fipronil and imidacloprid, two insecticides, for at least 28 days after the treatment has been applied, according to research by the University of Sussex and Imperial College London. Continue reading...

Ian Sample and science correspondent Hannah Devlin discuss the big science stories of the week - from news that Elon Musk's Neuralink has implanted its first chip into a human, to research suggesting Alzheimer's can pass between humans in rare medical accidents, and the revelation that Rishi Sunak begins each week with a 36-hour fastClips: BBC Continue reading...

With insurance companies using genetic information to set prices and policies, advocates say the need for protection against genetic discrimination is urgent'

Single-dose treatment transformed lives of patients with potentially deadly condition in first human trialA groundbreaking gene therapy has been hailed as a medical magic wand" after the treatment transformed the lives of patients with a hereditary disorder that causes painful and potentially fatal swelling.Patients who took part in the first human trial of the therapy experienced a dramatic improvement in their symptoms, and many were able to come off long-term medication and return to life as normal. Continue reading...

Mark Samuels on why accessing medicines, from routine to life-changing, is getting harder; Philip Clayton wonders why we don't manufacture our own drugsNews that European countries are working together to safeguard drug supplies with a stockpile of 200 critical products comes at a time when the UK is facing the increasingly bleak prospect of more regular shortages (EU plan for medicine stockpile could worsen UK's record shortages, 25 January).Generic medicines - exact copies of original patented products - fulfil 80% of all prescriptions used by NHS patients. They also save the taxpayer 15bn annually via a competitive market, which has meant we have enjoyed the lowest medicine prices in Europe. However, a range of threats are undermining the resilience of the UK's generic medicine supply chain, meaning shortages are becoming much more common. Continue reading...

Delay to rules on setting aside land to encourage biodiversity offered as concession amid continuing protestsFarmers protesting across Europe have won their first concession from Brussels, with the EU announcing a delay in rules that would have forced them to set aside land to encourage biodiversity and soil health.About 10,000 French farmers stepped up their protests on Wednesday, with at least 100 blockades on major roads across France, as 18 farmers were arrested for blocking traffic as they tried to reach the wholesale food market at Rungis, south-east of Paris and 79 others were detained after they managed to get inside. Continue reading...

Christopher Rufo recommends a newsletter to his readers that has published several supporters of discredited genetics theoryThe rightwing activist Christopher Rufo has links to a self-styled sociobiology magazine" that is focused on the supposed relationships between race, intelligence and criminality, and which experts have characterized as an outlet for scientific racism.At the time of reporting, Aporia was one of 19 Substack newsletters Rufo links to in the recommended" section on his own newsletter, which according to Substack has more than 50,000 subscribers. Rufo also appeared on Aporia's podcast, which has published flattering interviews with proponents of scientific racism and eugenics. Continue reading...

Increase in cardiorespiratory levels of 3% annually found to be beneficial, Swedish research suggestsMen can reduce their risk of prostate cancer by as much as 35% by doing a little more jogging, cycling or swimming, a study suggests.Boosting cardiorespiratory fitness by only 3% over the course of a year was linked to a much lower chance of developing the disease. The findings prompted the researchers to encourage men to boost their fitness levels to help cut their prostate cancer risk. Continue reading...

California scientist and film-maker spot apparent pup - never before seen in the wild - in drone picturesResearchers in California may have gotten the first ever look at a newborn great white shark, which they captured in drone images taken last summer.The newborn animal has never before been spotted in the wild. But in July, the wildlife film-maker Carlos Gauna and Phillip Sternes, a biology doctoral student at the University of California, Riverside, glimpsed something unexpected in the waters near Santa Barbara on California's central coast. Continue reading...

Dashboard allows people to explore data including egg and sperm donors from 1991 onwardsPeople turning to fertility treatments such as IVF can now access an online tool to compare NHS funding in their area with the rest of the UK.The dashboard, launched by the regulator Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA), is thought to be a world first, and allows those looking to undergo processes such as IVF and ICSI, as well as researchers, to explore data from 1991 onwards, covering 665,690 patients. Continue reading...

Insect flight paths were filmed at night using hi-res and infrared technology with surprising resultsFrom the Bhagavad Gita to the Merchant of Venice, storytellers have warned of the unappealing fate awaiting those who are drawn like a moth to a flame.Despite the rich history of the baffling behaviour, the science of why insects gather around lights at night has never been nailed down. Popular theories propose that moths navigate by the moon and mistake lamps for moonlight, or that the insects fly towards light to escape imminent danger. Continue reading...

Incidentalomas' - purely incidental findings - arise in up to a third of all tests. Patients can end up with unnecessary and harmful interventions

Patient recovering well with signs of promising neuron spike detection', says startup's founderElon Musk, the billionaire founder of the neurotechnology company Neuralink, has said the first human received an implant from the brain-chip startup and is recovering well.The surgery is not a surprise: the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had given the company clearance in September to carry out the first trial of its implant on humans. Continue reading...

The trillions of microbes living on and inside the human body are an important part of who we are, from mediating all of our interactions with the environment to determining our cancer risk and influencing who we fall for. And scientists are only just beginning to decipher the species of bugs we share our lives with, and how they shape us.In the final part of this Science Weekly mini-series, Ian Sample meets Julie Thornton, academic director of the Centre for Skin Sciences and professor in cutaneous biology at the university of Bradford. Julie tells Ian how the skin microbiome varies across our bodies, how it helps with everything from wound healing to immunity, and how we can protect it from the disruptive impact of modern life. Continue reading...

Handful of patients who received human growth hormone from deceased donors in now-banned practice went on to develop signsAlzheimer's can be spread from human to human through rare medical accidents, research suggests, although experts stress there is no evidence the disease can be passed between people through everyday activities or routine care.Researchers say a handful of people who received human growth hormone from the pituitary glands of deceased donors have gone on to develop early onset Alzheimer's - likely because the hormones used were contaminated with proteins that seeded the disease in their brains. Continue reading...

Health and science journalist Catherine Price investigates the science behind our relationships with our devices, and what we know about how to break the cycle. Prof Barbara Sahakian of Cambridge University explains why many of us are drawn to looking at bad news on our phones, and what it's doing to us

Sholto David has flagged thousands of papers, most because of concerns over potential image manipulationWhen Sholto David quit his job last autumn he could have looked for another post, taken time out to travel, or grabbed his tent and hopped on his bike. But David, a biologist living in Pontypridd, Wales, threw his efforts into a somewhat obscure hobby: finding flaws in scientific papers and doing his best to have them rectified.The work, David says, is largely thankless. Academics often got defensive about their studies or refused to respond to his criticisms. Journal editors took a similar tack, ignoring his letters, rejecting them, or investigating on timescales bordering on the glacial. Continue reading...

US culture is an incubator of extrinsic values'. Nobody embodies them like the Republican frontrunnerMany explanations are proposed for the continued rise of Donald Trump, and the steadfastness of his support, even as the outrages and criminal charges pile up. Some of these explanations are powerful. But there is one I have seen mentioned nowhere, which could, I believe, be the most important: Trump is king of the extrinsics.Some psychologists believe our values tend to cluster around certain poles, described as intrinsic" and extrinsic". People with a strong set of intrinsic values are inclined towards empathy, intimacy and self-acceptance. They tend to be open to challenge and change, interested in universal rights and equality, and protective of other people and the living world. Continue reading...

Six stars from separate constellations form a prominent asterism' in the cold January skiesNot all star patterns are called constellations. Strictly speaking, constellations are the areas of the sky that contain familiar patterns - such as Taurus, the bull, or Orion, the hunter.The patterns themselves are called asterisms but not all asterisms are related to constellations. In the northern hemisphere winter, a particularly prominent asterism is known as the Winter Hexagon or Winter Circle. It contains bright stars from six separate constellations, marked on the chart in yellow. Continue reading...

Experts say alarming projections for 2024 stem from surge in obesity, poor diets and physical inactivityThe rate at which people under the age of 50 in the UK are dying from bowel cancer is on course to rise by a third this year, according to projections that experts say are alarming and stem from a surge in obesity, poor diets and physical inactivity.Death rates among those aged 25 to 49 are predicted to increase by 39% among women and 26% among men in 2024, compared with the average between 2015 and 2019, the last five-year period for which data was studied. The findings were published in the journal Annals of Oncology. Continue reading...

Moon probe starts taking pictures of lunar surface after bumpy landing left its solar cells pointing in the wrong directionJapan's Moon lander has resumed operations, the country's space agency said on Monday, indicating that power had been restored after it was left upside down during a slightly haphazard landing.The probe, nicknamed the moon sniper", had tumbled down a crater slope during its landing on 20 January, leaving its solar batteries facing in the wrong direction and unable to generate electricity. Continue reading...

An unreliable narrator gives a locked-room mystery a fresh spin; a fascinating look at our relationship with all things lunar; and ranging far and wide culturally in the company of wolvesAlex Michaelides

How leaving Beijing for Dali, home of China's urban escapees, was a step on my route to finding serenityNine months after I moved to Dali, in the autumn of 2020, I finally set off to climb Cangshan, the high mountain which towers over this valley in southwest China. Each morning, I had looked up at the top of its imposing ridge line, 2,000m above the village of Silver Bridge, north of Dali's historic old town, that for a while I called home. Eighteen glacial gorges separated the 19 peaks, each carved by a running stream. Ever since moving there, I had fantasised about standing on top of that mountain. Reaching its summit had become an objective I fixated on. Scaling it would be healing, I had convinced myself.I wasn't alone in that outlook. It's the quest for personal change that draws so many escapees from China's cities to this rural valley. Cangshan (the verdant mountain") is a spectacular, 44km-long massif, carpeted by lush, evergreen forest, hugging the western shore of a crystalline lake and looming over a valley in the foothills of the eastern Himalaya, near the border with Myanmar. Each evening, I'd sit and watch the sun setting over them from my farmhouse, casting rays of pink, yellow and ochre through the clouds that rolled off the ridge line. Continue reading...

Archaeologists have been wowed by the early dates and the evidence, including the size of the tuyereAn iron age workshop, where blacksmiths were forging metal about 2,700 years ago, has been discovered in Oxfordshire, complete with everything from bellows protectors to the tiny bits of metal that flew off as the red hot iron was hammered into shape.Radiocarbon tests date it between 770BC and 515BC, during the earliest days of ironworking in Britain. From about 800BC, the art of forging iron became widespread in the British Isles for tools and weapons and the iron age takes its name from the mastery of this metal. Continue reading...

Early risers know only too well the smug satisfaction of getting up and getting going. But what if you're more of an owl than a lark? Here's how to change your body clock and seize the dayI can't actually remember when I first started thinking of myself as a morning person". When I was in my 20s, the only time I saw a sunrise was if I stayed up all night - I had a series of jobs that let me stroll from bed to work in about 15 minutes. If I ever did overtime it was until one or two in the morning, trying to string together words on a combination of tea, beer and deadline adrenaline. Fast forward a couple of decades and I don't think I've slept past 7.30 in the last six months.This wasn't exactly a lifestyle change I made by choice. First, I got a job with actual responsibilities and a commute, then a life-partner who worked as a personal trainer, and finally a small child with zero respect for the concept of a lie-in. But, although I'm frequently up before the birds and the binmen, I've never felt better. I've become one of those people who reads self-improvement books and grinds out kettlebell swings while most people are blearily thumbing the snooze button. It might even be helping me stay in shape - there's some evidence from a study published last year in the journal Obesity that moderate-to-vigorous exercise earlier in the day is more beneficial for weight management than hitting the gym in your lunch break or after work. Continue reading...

Long live the Tory Fringe! John Crace reviews last week's conservative comedy hour' (1m22s); Johannes Radebe on how he fought the bullies - and became a Strictly superstar (9m22s); and Zoe Williams reveals how to spot a liar in ten easy steps (26m14s) Continue reading...

The odd memory lapse is no big deal - so when should we start to worry? Experts explain, and share the best ways to stay sharpIsn't it Sod's Law? Just at the point in ourlives when we start seriously considering our long-term health and mortality - perhaps after witnessing older loved ones getting an illness such as dementia - our responsibilities are piled so high that we can feel as if we're losing our mental capacities already. The names of our favourite animals and humans become an interchangeable word soup. Our keys become increasingly elusive. Alerts must be set on all calendar entries.But how can we tell whether this frustrating flakiness is a reflection of age-related cognitive decline; the early signs of our own impending dementia; or merely an overly taxing phase from which we will recover? Could it even just be normal forgetfulness? We're not robots, after all. Continue reading...

Frontline staff are having to make compromises to treat patients appropriately. It's scandalous nothing is being doneMedicine shortages in the UK have been a regular feature on newspaper front pages in recent years. As a doctor on the frontline, I see how this instability in our medicine supply chain is playing out on the ground.I work in a large city hospital and am used to meeting disgruntled patients who have had to wait hours in clinic to receive treatment. But just imagine their concern when I have to explain to them that the medication we would usually treat them with is not available, and that they will have to take an alternative instead or stay in hospital for even longer as a result.Ammad Butt is a freelance writer and foundation doctor at University Hospitals Birmingham Continue reading...

Slim probe landed metres rather than kilometres from its target, but a rocket malfunction has left it in an undignified positionA Japanese spacecraft made a historic pinpoint" landing on the surface of the moon at the weekend, the country's space agency has said, but there is a slight snag: the images being sent back suggest the probe is lying upside-down.Japan became only the fifth country to put a craft on the lunar surface - after the US, the Soviet Union, China and India - when its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) touched down in the early hours of Saturday. Continue reading...

Former tech demo ended up serving as scout for rover and proved powered flight was possible in thin Martian atmosphereNasa's little Mars helicopter has flown its last flight.The space agency announced on Thursday that the 4lb (1.8kg) chopper named Ingenuity can no longer fly because of rotor blade damage. While it remains upright and in contact with flight controllers, its $85m (67m) mission is officially over, officials said. Continue reading...

Stars sat fading quietly for years before suddenly puffing out vast clouds of smokeAstronomers have discovered a mysterious group of giant elderly stars at the heart of the Milky Way that are emitting solar system-sized clouds of dust and gas.The stars, which have been named old smokers", sat quietly for many years, fading almost to invisibility, before suddenly puffing out vast clouds of smoke. The discovery was made during the monitoring of almost a billion stars in infrared light during a 10-year survey of the night sky. Continue reading...

Inexpensive test can help diagnose even inaccessible' tumours earlier, speeding up treatment and improving outcomesSurgeons and scientists have developed a world-first blood test for brain cancer that experts say could revolutionise diagnosis, speed up treatment and boost survival rates.For years, brain tumours have remained notoriously difficult to diagnose. They affect hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year, and kill more children and adults under the age of 40 in the UK than any other cancer. Continue reading...