Space agency said potential finding of dimethyl sulfide on K2-18 b, produced only by life on Earth, is yet to be confirmedScientists at Nasa have announced the existence of a possible rare water ocean on a giant exoplanet scores of light years away and also a chemical hint of a sign of potential life.The intriguing" discovery was made by the space agency's James Webb telescope, peering 120 light years from Earth in the constellation Leo, building on earlier studies of the region using Webb's predecessors, Hubble and Kepler. Continue reading...
Titan of the scientific world' led team that cloned first mammal from an adult cell at Edinburgh in 1996Sir Ian Wilmut, the man who led the team that created Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, has died, aged 79.Prof Wilmut headed a group of scientists at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh to create the sheep, which was born on 5 July 1996. Continue reading...
Pioneering embryologist who led the team that created Dolly the cloned sheepNot many people would be willing to say that their lives had been transformed by a sheep. But the embryologist Ian Wilmut, who has died aged 79, was happy to acknowledge the impact of a Finn-Dorset cross called Dolly on his subsequent reputation and career.Dolly, born on 5 July 1996, was the first mammal in the world to be cloned from an adult cell. She was one of a succession of cloned lambs born as a result of Wilmut's research programme at the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh, into ways of genetically engineering farm animals so that they would produce medically useful products in their milk. This comparatively prosaic ambition was almost entirely eclipsed in the public imagination after Dolly's birth. Her arrival overturned the biological dogma that once a cell had adopted its specialised identity in an adult, it could not be induced to form a new individual. Continue reading...
Truth and illusion are woven together as we tell ourselves into beingOne of my earliest memories is of being teased on my first day of school for speaking with a Dutch accent. I blamed my mother for this humiliation and returned home furious. It's three, not tree. Th-ree!" I told her. The strange thing about this memory is that it is probably false. My mother swears it was my brother who did this.This kind of confusion is common in families. As stories are told and retold, they take on a life of their own. Details fade and change. It becomes easy to swap one child for another, or to confuse a familiar tale with a personal memory. My recollection feels vivid, but the details become blurrier on closer examination: where was my mother standing when I spoke to her? What was she wearing? I couldn't say. Continue reading...
A study found that 76% of people dating have either ghosted or been ghosted. Why is this considered acceptable?When The Banshees of Inisherin became such a hit last year, I couldn't help wondering if one of the reasons it was resonating so powerfully was that - despite being set on a fictional island off the coast of Ireland in the 1920s - it was essentially about ghosting. A man stops talking to his friend without explanation, and the emotional fallout is devastating.In the 1920s, ghosting a close friend would indeed have been shocking. Ghosting as a social move was pretty much unheard of into the 2000s. Remember that 2003 episode of Sex and the City where Carrie is outraged that Jack Berger breaks up with her via Post-it note? I'm sorry. I can't. Don't hate me," says the offending scrap of paper.Nancy Jo Sales is the author, most recently, of Nothing Personal: My Secret Life in the Dating App Inferno Continue reading...
Researchers in Cornwall find birds stick with offspring, siblings and mating partners even at risk of going hungryBlood may be thicker than water when it comes to humans relationships - and it appears that the same is true of jackdaws after scientists found they readily switch friends to gain food but stick with family even at the risk of going hungry.A study of jackdaw colonies in west Cornwall established that the small crows ditch old friends and make new ones if it helps them get rewards but stick with family through thick and thin. Continue reading...
Constellation named after mythical daughter of an overly proud parent gets to boast its own galaxyThe constellation of Andromeda is now well placed in the eastern sky, from where it will rise to oversee the entire winter observing season in the north. The chart shows the view looking east from London at about 22.00 BST this week. If you have a good eastern horizon, you will also see Jupiter rising into the night.Andromeda is one of the 48 constellations listed in the 2nd century by the astronomer Ptolemy. It comes from one of the quintessential Greek myths, where Andromeda was the daughter of Cassiopeia, a vain and boastful woman. Bragging that her daughter (or herself depending on the version of the tale) was more beautiful than the godly sea nymphs, she brought down the wrath of Poseidon on her people. Continue reading...
Geoff Renshaw has realised that the chatbot can't say I don't know', Tom Brown thinks it has been reading too much KafkaFrom Elif Batuman's experience with ChatGPT, it seems that artificial intelligence possesses one very human characteristic: a deep reluctance to confess to ignorance (Proust, ChatGPT and the case of the forgotten quote, 5 September).Many, many times I have found that instead of simply and candidly replying I don't know" to my question, my human respondent will answer a nominally similar but significantly different question, often at great length.
My husband, Dr Geoff Durbin, who has died aged 78, was a consultant neonatologist whose early research was one of the crucial steps in improving the treatment of babies with breathing difficulties.In 1973 he became a research fellow in Osmund Reynolds's team at University College London (UCL), one of the early pioneers of intensive care for babies. Geoff was at the heart of this work from the very start, undertaking research into continuous positive airway pressure (Cpap) therapy, and on identifying the risk factors associated with bleeding into the brain. Continue reading...
Explorer Ludovic Slimak has dedicated decades to unearthing the mystery of our prehistoric ancestors. Now he has found a missing piece that radically reshapes our understanding - not just of the Neanderthals but of humanity itselfThere's no confusing Ludovic Slimak for just another hotel guest. It's a sweltering Sunday afternoon in late August and we've arranged to meet in the car park of a guesthouse on the outskirts of Montelimar, southeastern France. The lawn sprinklers are in full swing; a couple of kids play in the fenced-off poolside area. Hiding from the heat in my rental car, I'd been concerned we'd struggle to find each other: Slimak's email and WhatsApp communication until now have been at best irregular; the phone signal is patchy in this rural French corner. As soon as he pulls up in a dust-covered Volkswagen minivan, however, I realise there'd been no need to worry. Amid the trickle of blissed-out holidaymakers, Slimak seriously sticks out: he has wild, long hair and an overgrown, grey-flecked beard; there's dirt deep beneath his fingernails. It's 43C, according to the screen on my dashboard. In shorts and a T-shirt, I'm sweating. Meanwhile, the man now waving in my direction is dressed in a herringbone waistcoat, stained linen trousers, denim shirt and Indiana Jones panama hat. There's no need for introductions to confirm he's the man I'm here to visit. Ludovic Slimak looks a picture-perfect archeological adventurer; a self-described Neanderthal hunter.He suggests we drive in convoy to our final destination, the Grotte Mandrin, a hillside cave hidden deep in Rhone Valley woodland. It's almost impossible to find the place unless you've been there many times," Slimak explains in fluent English with a French accent. And it's better that way: we don't want any random people to - accidentally or otherwise - come across all the treasures we're finding." One of the world's leading experts on Neanderthals, Slimak has spent decades travelling across continents in search of insights into this mysterious, extinct prehistoric species. Just a short drive away, he assures me, is one the most significant archaeological sites he's ever spent time working at. I started digging there 33 years ago," he says, and for the past 20 years I've spent a lot of time in this cave, trying to understand Neanderthals better. It's here we're making discoveries that are radically reshaping our understanding of the history of both Neanderthals and humans, too." His book, The Naked Neanderthal, is the result of this research. In 2022, it was published in France to great acclaim. Now, it's been translated into English. That's why I'm here. Continue reading...
Decades after the senseless killing of his friend, the author and journalist finally feels a sense of peaceDays after Ken was murdered, in the summer of 1998, the then-21-year-old Hua Hsu went out into the California sunshine and bought a journal. Everything is wrong, he scrawled in permanent black marker across the first page - because everything was. Laughter distressed him. Pop harmonies were unlistenable. He even shaved off his hair with clippers. For some time after his friend's savage killing, Hsu's relationship to most things, including writing itself, changed beyond all recognition.I think for a long time I was searching for a language," the author and journalist says of his evolving grief. In the 25 years since his friend's senseless killing - Ken's body was found in an alleyway after he was abducted by three strangers as he left his own housewarming party - its sensory traces are still fresh in Hsu's mind as he speaks to me from his tidy office in Brooklyn, during the early hours of Monday morning. The past still permeates the present. So much so that that summery day in 1998 still lingers. His college bond with Ken may well be a three-year period of a life that's now more than 30 years on", but it still has much to say about the devotional pull that's kept the writer revisiting their friendship, again and again, over the past decades. Continue reading...
Patients must be given better access to the latest drugs, technology and clinical trialsCancer has been hitting the front pages again, and it can be difficult from the headlines to judge whether it is good news or bad.We seem to lurch from a game-changing new treatment one day to reports of rising rates the next - most recently, alarming news about the increase in global incidence of cancer among the under-50s. Continue reading...
This bold and forensic history of the pandemic, drawing on previously unpublished diaries, underlines the sheer scale of suffering, with the poor and isolated particularly badly hitCovid-19 is the best documented pandemic in history. From the moment it became clear that the coronavirus would trigger a series of global lockdowns, every twist and turn in the pandemic has been chronicled in blogs, diaries and by print and digital media.The desire to historicise the event has been just as urgent. As early as March 2020, the Pulitzer prize-winning writer Thomas Friedman declared that Covid-19 was our new historical divide" and predicted that henceforth there would be BC", the time Before Corona, and AC", the time After Corona. Continue reading...
19th-century trailblazers Annie Maunder and Alice Everett finally earn due recognition for decades of largely unattributed workThey charted the stars for pitiful wages, knowing their observations about the universe would be attributed to male colleagues, and died in relative obscurity, their scientific achievements unrecognised and overlooked.Now, in a tribute to trailblazing British female astronomers, two asteroids have been named for Annie Maunder and Alice Everett, among the first women in the world to earn a living in astronomy. Continue reading...
Where science leads, British industry must speak with one voice to force politicians to re-establish vital links with the European UnionIt was a moment when it became clear that the high-water mark of Brexit had been reached and the tide was going out fast on what is now a disgraced and palpable failure. The universal and enthusiastic welcome to Thursday's news that Britain was to rejoin the 81bn EU Horizon programme for scientific collaboration, albeit as an associate member, was a surprise - not least to the prime minister, who had dragged his feet for months in fear of the reaction of his Europhobic right.But there was no Brexiter fury that Britain should stick to the plan B, the go-it-alone 14bn Pioneer programme, as part of a vision for Britain becoming a scientific global superpower". It was obvious that any such argument would have been drowned out by the entire scientific community saying the proposition was nonsense. To have any scientific heft, leave aside Brexit hyperbole about superpower ambitions, Britain needed to work with the world's biggest programme of scientific, collaborative research. Just ask the president of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith; Nobel prize-winner and chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute Sir Paul Nurse; the Academy of Medical Sciences; the Wellcome Trust and a plethora of others. Pioneer might have had a chance in the first flush of victory amid excitement over an oven-ready" Brexit deal and the vast opportunities of global Britain" that awaited. Now the claim would have been greeted with a loud raspberry. Time to beat a retreat. Continue reading...
Monkeys and dogs were usually used to test whether humans could survive outside Earth's atmosphere - but 60 years ago the French tried something a little differentIn a few weeks, space scientists will celebrate a remarkable event - the 60th anniversary of the launch of the first cat into space, an astronautical feat that has never been repeated.A small black-and-white Parisian stray, Felicette, flew on a French rocket on a sub-orbital mission in October 1963 that reached an altitude of 154km, taking her to a place where no feline had gone before - or since. Continue reading...
Democrats say deaths will follow false claim by Dr Joseph Ladapo that new boosters were not tested on humansCovid-19 deaths are inevitable in Florida, Democrats are warning, after rightwing Republican governor Ron DeSantis joined the state's controversial surgeon general in urging residents to ignore public health advice and avoid new vaccines targeting a resurgence of the virus.The extraordinary advice came at a feisty press conference in Jacksonville this week that was also marred by an unseemly shouting match between DeSantis, a candidate for his party's presidential nomination, and a Black Air Force veteran. Continue reading...
Relief at rejoining flagship research scheme tempered by anger over loss of top academics since BrexitBritain may have rescued its scientific fortunes with a last-minute decision to rejoin the EU's Horizon research programme - but the move should not be treated as a cause for jubilation, scientists have warned.The sluggish pace at which the agreement was reached has had too severe an impact on UK research for widespread elation, say many British researchers, who believe that science in this country suffered a major blow after being locked out of the 82bn programme for almost three years since Brexit. Putting it right has taken far too long, they argue. Continue reading...
New genetic research has reignited the controversy over which type of creature was the first to branch off the evolutionary tree from the common ancestor of all animalsWhile life on Earth has flourished for billions of years, much of it has been single-celled and microscopic. None of the first organisms had brains, or even neurons (nerve cells). None of them could think". The first animals to evolve were also brainless: harnessing hormones or other chemicals, rather than neurons, to coordinate their bodies. But some soon evolved central nervous systems - and the first thoughts" were pulsed.For decades, biologists have assumed that this only happened once and was a one-way process. Once animals had evolved brains, why would they lose them? But in the past 15 years, evidence has accumulated that this may be wrong; that sponges and other brainless animals that exist today may be descended from brainy ancestors that lost their minds. Continue reading...
Billions were sunk into the Human Genome Project and the promise of precision treatments personalised to the individual. Now many believe the money might have been better spent on public health interventionsAfter spending 13 years and $2.7bn, the Human Genome Project announced in 2003 that it had successfully mapped our DNA, paving the way for a new era of medicine that would deliver the right treatment, for the right patient, at the right time".The UK's then health secretary, John Reid, welcomed the news by echoing a popular belief at the time. Genetics promises a more personalised approach to healthcare," he said. With interventions tailored to each person's own genetic profile." Continue reading...
Josh Green, the state governor, approved $25m for business recovery and said Maui will reopen for tourism on 8 OctoberOne month after the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century leveled the historic town of Lahaina, the governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, said Friday that the number of missing has dropped to 66, the confirmed death toll remains at 115 and authorities will soon escort residents on visits to their property.Tens of millions of dollars in aid will make its way to families and businesses as they recover, Green said, and beginning 8 October, travel restrictions will end and West Maui will reopen to visitors. Continue reading...
Regulators insist on 63 corrective steps after world's largest and most powerful rocket blew up on debut in AprilSpaceX's Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, must stay grounded until the company takes dozens of corrective actions after the rocket's April debut ended in an explosion, federal regulators said on Friday.The Federal Aviation Administration said it closed its investigation into SpaceX's failed debut of Starship. The agency is requiring SpaceX to take 63 corrective steps and to apply for a modified FAA license before launching again. Continue reading...
Research suggests a sharper decrease in the number of women reporting recent sexual partners after 70 compared with menA study has shed light on how the number of sexual partners British people have changes as they age, and new findings have surprised researchers.While the frequency of sexual partners among heterosexual people declines steadily from age 40, the study found stark gender disparities within some age groups. Continue reading...
Lack of awareness blamed for many patients being sent for psychological therapy instead of screeningsGPs are ignoring cancer warning signs in young people, with too many referred for psychological therapy instead of screening, a leading oncology expert has warned.The symptoms of young people repeatedly presenting with pain are too often ignored because there is still a lack of awareness among patients and GPs of how early onset cancer has increased, according to Dr Bhawna Sirohi, the president of oncology at the Royal Medical Society. This means that when symptoms are finally picked up, cases are more likely to be terminal, she added. Continue reading...
The factors suspected to be causing the rise, the most common types arising, and how to reduce your riskA global study published in BMJ Oncology this week reported a surge in the number of people under the age of 50 being diagnosed with cancer. Here are nine things everyone needs to know. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6EJQ5)
BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola, causing concern among scientists because of fear it could be more transmissibleThe latest Covid-19 variant, BA.2.86, appears to be spreading in the UK, health surveillance data suggests.The variant, nicknamed Pirola, has prompted concern among scientists because of the high number of mutations it carries, which raises the possibility that it could evade the immune system more easily or be more transmissible. Continue reading...
An MP, a standup comic, a barrister, a divorce expert and a debating coach give tips on the art of debate - and why you need to listen, not just argueWhether or not history will determine that we are living in an ever more divided culture, it certainly feels that way. Perhaps there is just more to argue about when facing a never-ending Ninja Warrior course of crises. The culture wars, meanwhile, strip words of their meaning and debates of their nuance, further pitting communities, generations, families and friends against each other.Among the many casualties of this 21st-century slanging match is - arguably - the art of debate itself. So how do you win an argument in such fractious times without fuelling division? And if arguing is indeed an art, what can we learn from its masters? Continue reading...
The UK's limited vaccine offer ignores the serious threat of long Covid - and the knock-on effects on the economyRecent headlines have been flagging that Covid may be coming back, but, as weary as we all may be of this pesky virus, the truth is that it never really went away. Unlike viruses such as flu, there is no evidence that Covid has settled into a seasonal pattern. Its constant presence means that it has plenty of opportunity to gather new mutations that continue to make it worrisome.While we can limit the likelihood of exposure by enhancing ventilation or wearing masks, vaccination remains an important cornerstone of protection. As such, the plans to offer autumn vaccine boosters are really important. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has the tricky task of making decisions about the UK's booster plans. Factors such as population susceptibility and infection severity are typically considered, but this autumn, the JCVI has begun to include cost-effectiveness considerations in the development of its advice". Continue reading...
Analysis of thousands of species finds some invertebrates and plants also getting smaller, while others are increasing in body sizeA global analysis of thousands of animal and plant sizes has found that species are shrinking, an effect most clearly found by researchers in changes to the body size of fish, which are getting smaller.Species such as the thorny skate, a north Atlantic fish that can grow up to a metre in length, have become smaller, while smaller-bodied species such as mackerel are growing in abundance, according to the researchers, changing the composition and functioning of ecosystems. Continue reading...
UK's return to science programme raises hope of more deals, including suspension of planned EV tariffsA dramatic thaw in relations between Britain and the EU has raised hopes that the Horizon science deal could be the first of many breakthroughs, diplomats in Brussels have said.They claimed the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, had a close relationship that was in stark contrast to the hostility EU officials faced from Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6EHXT)
Hybrid organs raise prospect of fully human body parts being grown inside animals for transplantsScientists have grown humanised kidneys in pigs, raising the prospect of human organs being grown inside animals.The research involved creating human-pig chimeric embryos containing a combination of human and pig cells. When transferred into surrogate pig mothers, the developing embryos were shown to have kidneys that contained mostly human cells, marking the first time that scientists have grown a solid humanised organ inside another animal. Continue reading...
This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereIn the Commons Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, is making a statement to MPs about the escape of Daniel Abed Khalife from Wandsorth prison. Mabel Banfield-Nwachi is covering this on our separate live blog about this story.Rishi Sunak has been speaking to journalists about the government's decision to rejoin the EU's Horizon science research programme on a visit to the University of Warwick. Here are the main points he made.Sunak defended the length of time it took to rejoin Horizon, saying the government had to negotiate the right deal. Labour says the delay has been damaging. (See 9.52am.) But Sunak said:We are associated to Horizon, which is the world's largest international research partnership including countries not just from the EU but also Norway, Israel, New Zealand, with hopefully Canada and South Korea to join soon too.We've taken the time to negotiate the right deal for the UK, a bespoke deal which works in our interests.You would have seen today just overwhelming support for what the Government has agreed.I listened to the science and research community here. They said that association to Horizon was a priority. That's what I've delivered.He sidestepped a question about whether the Horizon agreement would lead to the UK collaborating more closely with the EU in other areas. Asked about this, he said collaboration was important - but that it did not have to be with the EU. He said:When it comes to the research world, collaboration is really important. The best research is often done across borders, but it's not just about with EU countries. It's actually much more global than that. And that's why this programme is important. It includes EU countries but also Norway, Israel, New Zealand with hopefully Canada and South Korea as well. But that's not the extent of our international collaboration. Continue reading...
Gill Coombs and Ben Whitmore respond to Zoe Williams' article on Carl Jung and how much her father loathed himCarl Jung, who was hated by Zoe Williams' father (My late father hated Carl Jung. Should I shun him for ever too?, 4 September), is famous for his work on dreams. It's perhaps less well known that from his long experience of treating others and observing themes and patterns, he developed a personality type theory as well. Isabel Myers and Katharine Briggs turned this into the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a personality test widely used for half a century in educational and business settings.I've seen the MBTI evoke reactions similar to Zoe's father's distaste for Jung. It's not scientifically validated, some people complain; and (less heard these days) a mother and daughter came up with it, round a kitchen table. Continue reading...
Event generated regular outbursts of light about every 25 daysAstronomers have observed a star like the sun being repeatedly shredded and consumed" by a black hole about 500m light years away.The dramatic event generated regular outbursts of light about every 25 days, which was detected by scientists at the University of Leicester. Continue reading...
From sexist objections to the challenges faced by female crew on Earth and in space, this is a vital record of a giant leap for womenIn 1973, four years after Neil Armstrong's space boot hit moon dust in the most celebrated step ever taken by a man, a Nasa report observed that: There have been three females sent into space by Nasa. Two are Arabella and Anita - both spiders. The other is Miss Baker - a monkey." The report's co-author Ruth Bates Harris, who the space agency had originally hired to run its equal opportunities office, was described as a disruptive force" and fired a month later.The prospect of women in space was hardly outlandish. Ten years earlier, 26-year-old Soviet parachutist Valentina Tereshkova had orbited Earth 48 times - a feat not greeted with delight by US officials, who swapped rumours (which Tereshkova denied) that she had suffered some kind of emotional breakdown" during the flight. At Nasa itself, Jerrie Cobb had already passed the same gruelling physical and psychological tests the agency set for its all-male Mercury crews by 1960. (This milestone achievement was marked by the headline: No 1 Space Gal Seems a Little Astronaughty".) In 1962, Cobb appeared before a House subcommittee to argue for women's place in the US astronaut cadre. Her evidence was promptly dismissed by the Mercury hero John Glenn, who remarked flatly: The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order." Continue reading...
Mark Dickey developed gastrointestinal bleeding while down in Morca cave with other explorersTurkish rescue teams are racing to save an American who developed internal bleeding while exploring a cave more than 1,000 metres (3,300ft) below ground level.Turkey's caving federation said on Thursday that 150 rescuers were trying to reach Mark Dickey, 40, who developed gastrointestinal bleeding while deep inside the Morca cave, near Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Continue reading...
Polls suggest a majority of Britons regret our exit. Rejoining the scientific programme could be the start of something biggerIs this the dawn? Have we reached the glimmer of a new beginning? Rishi Sunak's about-turn on joining the European Union's Horizon programme is a first note of sanity in the two and a half tortured years since Britain formally left the EU. Let it not be the last.The story itself is miserable. Horizon is an 81bn continent-wide programme to give Europe's scientific research community a critical mass to compare with that of the US or China. It acknowledges the obvious truth that advanced scientific research needs collaboration rather than competition. Britain's universities had been leaders of the pack, and they were among Horizon's principal beneficiaries. If anything made sense of a united Europe, it was Horizon. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6EHJK)
Scientists analysing DNA of object that could be an egg from an unknown sea creature or a marine spongeA mysterious golden orb that may be an egg laid by an unknown sea creature has been discovered on the ocean floor off the Pacific coast of Alaska.The smooth object with an intriguing hole at the centre was found at a depth of about two miles by a remote-controlled submarine explorer. Continue reading...
The Duchess of Sussex is among fans of stickers from brands like NuCalm, which claim to have a calming effectThis month, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was photographed wearing a biosignal processing disc" affixed on her left wrist. The product, sold by a company called NuCalm, promises to transmit signals to the brain that makes the wearer feel peaceful and relaxed. NuCalm has reportedly been used by sports coaches and active military members to combat the high-stress lifestyle that comes with their jobs.The brand's website is filled with so much jargon that it should be studied in every marketing class: allegedly, NuCalm's neuroacoustic technology" harnesses oscillations, frequencies and vibrations to change a person's brain waves. The NuCalm experience" is reportedly fast-acting, deep, and long-lasting". Continue reading...
Tweet viewed millions of times claimed ground temperature was being confused with air temperatureAs thermometers creep upwards, it has become harder and harder to deny the reality of the climate crisis. Some, however, are questioning whether temperatures are being measured properly in the first place.In a tweet seen millions of times, the influencer Robin Monotti said in July that media outlets were repeating a report from the European Space Agency (ESA) that confused air temperature with ground temperature, which is generally higher. Continue reading...
Japan has launched a rocket carrying a small lunar lander and an X-ray telescope that will explore the origins of the universe.The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or XRISM, will measure the speed and makeup of what lies between galaxies in an effort to discover how the universe was created. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon is expected to attempt a lunar landing early next year.Japan's launch comes after recent lunar missions from India and Russia and plans announced by the US and China
Smart Lander for Investigating Moon will aim to touch down within an unprecedented 100 metres of its targetJapan's Moon Sniper" mission has blasted off on its mission to make Japan the fifth country to touch down safely on the lunar surface, and the first to do it with unusual precision.The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) got its Sniper nickname because it is designed to land within 100 metres of a specific target on the surface - much less than the usual range of several kilometres. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay, with C on (#6EH8K)
Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian's east Africa global development correspondent, Caroline Kimeu, about the challenges and tensions at play at the inaugural climate summitRead more reporting from Caroline Kimeu here Continue reading...
Stargazers in the northern hemisphere get a once-in-437-year chance to observe the comet as it reaches peak visibility just weeks after being identifiedA comet called Nishimura discovered just a month ago could be visible to the naked eye this weekend, offering stargazers a once-in-a-437-year chance to observe the celestial visitor.The ball of rock and ice, whose exact size remains unknown, is named after the Japanese amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura who first spotted it on 11 August. Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll, Kiran Stacey and Ian Sample on (#6EGNA)
Post-Brexit return to 85bn scheme discussed this week, say sources, and is set to be announced on ThursdayBritain is to rejoin the EU's flagship 85bn science research programme, Horizon Europe, in a long-anticipated deal welcomed by scientists.Britain's membership of Horizon, which funds research projects tackling crucial issues from the climate crisis to terminal diseases and improving food and energy security, was agreed as part of the post-Brexit trade deal in 2020. But it was never ratified in a tit-for-tat row between the EU and the UK over Northern Ireland Brexit arrangements. Continue reading...
Sunak screwed across the board | Animal behaviour | Spot the ball | Fresher ingredients | Raac in Ancient RomeAnother German word for Rishi Sunak's situation (Letters, 3 September) is zugzwang, a term in chess for a poor position, where any move would make the current bad situation even worse.
Sphericalness is likely to have been produced intentionally' - but why it was done remains a mysteryEarly ancestors of humans 1.4m years ago deliberately made stones into spheres, according to a study - though what the prehistoric people used the balls for remains a mystery.Archaeologists have long debated exactly how the tennis ball-sized spheroids" were created. Did early hominins intentionally chip away at them with the aim of crafting a perfect sphere, or were they merely the accidental byproduct of repeatedly smashing the stones like ancient hammers? Continue reading...
Science | The Guardian