Science | The Guardian

As roles and circumstances change, women in their 50s can look inwards and find a deep acceptance of themselvesIt happened to me the other day when I was on holiday on my own. I was sitting on a beach, sun hat on, book in hand, and I found myself watching the young families around me and realising I no longer fitted in. More than that, I didn't really know where I actually did fit in. I imagined them looking at me and thinking - if they thought anything at all - that I was some sort of remaindered woman, husband-less, child-less, sitting reading like a washed-up former heroine of a novel.It was a moment". But, then again, over the last six years since I turned 50, I've been experiencing so many moments" that it now feels pretty much like a constant buzz of dis-ease within me. I have, over the years, turned from someone who is generally prone to happiness and a sort of sustaining optimism, to someone who feels somewhat irrelevant. Continue reading...

We have a complicated relationship with mushrooms but, as scientists point out, they are a wonder weapon in our fight to help the environment so we need to make our peace with themThe scene couldn't be more British. There are picnic blankets, dogs and hungover-looking men shouting at their children. Thanks to recent rain, mushrooms shaped like huge white breasts have sprouted from the tussocks. Naturally, everyone ignores them, except for an inquisitive toddler, who reaches out a pudgy hand, before it is quickly snatched away. Don't touch," an adult hisses. Those things kill."In the UK, mushrooms are the vegetable we love to hate. But in recent years, they've been hard to avoid. They've sprouted from our bookshelves (Merlin Sheldrake's bestselling Entangled Life) and have popped from our screens (Fantastic Fungi; The Last of Us); it seems no hip restaurant is complete without an in-house mushroom lab (Fallow; The Pig); and in September they even had their very own festival, All Things Fungi, the first of its kind. Continue reading...

Men have biological clocks too. Fertility drops with age, and the likelihood of offspring having conditions such as autism, schizophrenia and leukaemia risesWhen we think of the effects of age on baby-making, we tend to focus on women. That withering supply of eggs. Those chromosomal problems. Infertility. But men are affected by age too. There is now a substantial - and growing - body of evidence that suggests delaying fatherhood may carry its own consequences. These are seldom talked about - how often, for example, are men told to pay more attention" to their biological clocks?Nor, generally, are fertility services discouraged for older men wanting to be fathers in the way some countries do for older women who want to be mothers. In England and Wales, for example, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends that the NHS does not offer IVF to women over 42, but no mention is made of paternal age in its guidance. Nor is there an agreed definition of old" when it comes to fathers. Continue reading...

Clues unearthed more than 100 years ago inspired archeologists to locate the 5,000-year-old siteThe ruins of a 5,000-year-old tomb in a construction that reflects the pinnacle of neolithic engineering in northern Britain has been unearthed in Orkney.Fourteen articulated skeletons of men, women and children - two positioned as if they were embracing - have been found inside one of six cells or side rooms. Continue reading...

My friend and colleague Valerie Cowie, who has died aged 99, was a pioneer in psychiatric genetics and the psychiatry of learning disability, and the only person I ever knew whose clinical and scientific training included both cytogenetics and psychoanalysis.As a junior doctor at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in the late 1940s, Valerie was one of the first to carry out dietary treatment of the genetic disorder phenylketonuria, showing that this could prevent the development of intellectual disability. She subsequently trained in psychiatry at the Maudsley hospital in London from 1952 until 1954, where she came under the mentorship of Eliot Slater, a pioneer in psychiatric genetics. Valerie herself studied babies with Down's syndrome, being the first to describe detailed measures of their early neurological and psychological development. Continue reading...

While Adrian Edmondson has thrown away his glasses, studies show other ways older generations mature like a fine wineOne benefit of ageing, according to the actor Adrian Edmondson, 66, is that he has been able to ditch the spectacles he has worn since the age of eight. Age, it seems, has compensated for a myopic youth.The short-sightedness I had can be seen, if you like, on an increasing graph over time. But as I got this ancient, the long-sightedness of old age has been creeping up from the opposite direction," he told the MailOnline on Wednesday. Continue reading...

How worried should we be about Covid these days, and what should we do if we develop symptoms?As we head into another winter, Covid numbers have been ticking up. But how worried should we be about Covid these days - can we treat it like a cold, or have we become blase about an illness that could still pose a threat to elderly and clinically vulnerable people? Continue reading...

Consistently short sleep duration more likely to precede symptoms than inverse, genetic data revealSleeping less than five hours a night could raise the risk of developing symptoms of depression, research suggests.The link between poor sleep and mental ill health is well known, but it has been unclear which problem tends to come first. Now scientists have found evidence that consistent short sleep at night can be a precursor to developing depressive symptoms. Continue reading...

Sprawling work at Victorian house features 4D climbing frame and is part of city's year of cultureIt is unlikely the children clambering over the world's first 4D climbing frame had any idea they were helping to explore higher dimensional geometry, irregular polytopes or string theoretical physics - but they unquestionably had fun.They loved it and my kids are coming tomorrow so I'm very excited," said Gemma Anderson-Tempini, an artist, after road testing her climbing frame with Leeds youngsters before school started on Thursday. Continue reading...

Experts claim latest research from Harvard University adds a greater level of certainty about the link

Madeleine Finlay meets neuroscientist and psychiatrist Matthew Nour, whose research looks at how artificial intelligence could help doctors and scientists bring precision to diagnosis of psychiatric conditions. He describes his latest study looking at patients with schizophrenia, and explains how he thinks large language models such as ChatGPT could one day be used in the clinic Continue reading...

Doreen and Mernda residents describe seeing flash of light followed by massive explosion' on Wednesday night

American theoretical physicist, philosopher and writer who viewed the history of science and gender through a feminist lensAs a graduate student at Harvard University in the late 1950s, one of three women among 100 students, Evelyn Fox Keller encountered nothing but scepticism among her fellow students and professors that she might make it" as a theoretical physicist. She later wrote about how painful and unsettling" it was to meet unmitigated provocation, insult and denial" as she pursued her PhD.These early experiences drove her to become a pioneer in studying the interplay of gender and science, and to challenge the very notion of science as a purely objective pursuit. Interviewed by the Boston Globe in 1986, she said: When there are more women in science, everybody will be free to do a different kind of science." Continue reading...

Amid a growing interest in spirituality, counselors who claim special abilities are offering medium readings in addition to traditional therapyFrom meditation and breath work to ketamine journeys led by self-described shamans in high-end Manhattan clinics, therapies once considered alternative are increasingly being incorporated by the western mainstream - sometimes with the language and rituals of spiritualism creeping in.A new generation of counselors is taking this further, fusing psychotherapeutic and psychic services. Mainstream psychologists are concerned that without clear boundaries between the two, clients could be taken advantage of. Continue reading...

Next hachiku bamboo flowering event was due in 2028 - but three years ago botanists made a shocking discoveryBamboos can take years or even decades to flower, but the hachiku bamboo pushes this habit to the extreme - it flowers once every 120 years, synchronised across masses of plants, and dies shortly afterwards.The last time the bamboo Phyllostachys nigra variety henonis flowered was in 1908, so the next event was expected in 2028 with great anticipation. But in 2020 botanists in Japan noticed that a few specimens began flowering early. However, they were shocked to discover that after flowering the bamboos failed to produce any viable seeds, or grow new shoots, and entire forests of bamboo collapsed and died in an act of mass self-destruction. Continue reading...

Permitted levels of PFAS should be lowered tenfold and national chemicals agency created, says Royal Society of ChemistryAcceptable levels of forever chemicals" in drinking water should be reduced tenfold and a new national chemicals agency created to protect public health, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has told the UK government.The chartered body wants to see a reduction in the cap on levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in tap water. PFAS are a family of about 10,000 widely used chemicals that do not break down easily in the environment. Some have been linked to cancers, liver and thyroid disease, immune and fertility problems, and developmental defects in unborn children. Continue reading...

Study finds people tend to pay less attention when working with robots, just like with respected human colleaguesPeople tend to pay less attention to tasks when working alongside a robot, according to research that found evidence of social loafing" - where team members work less hard if they think others will cover for them.Researchers at the Technical University of Berlin said people come to see robots as part of their team. Where they think a colleague - or the technology - performs particularly well, or where they think their own contribution would not be appreciated, people tend to take a more laid-back approach, the scientists suggested. Continue reading...

Study by University College London also says 5% of users are wrongly told they will develop major illnessOver the counter genetic tests in the UK that assess the risk of cancer or heart problems fail to identify 89% of those in danger of getting killer diseases, a new study has found.Polygenic risk scores are so unreliable that they also wrongly tell one in 20 people who receive them they will develop a major illness, even though they do not go on to do so. Continue reading...

Study does not establish cause and effect, and experts say it highlights need for further researchPeople who are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as adults could be at greater risk of developing dementia later in life, research suggests.While experts cautioned that the study did not establish whether the apparent link was cause and effect, they say it highlights the need to explore possible connections further and examine whether ADHD medications mitigate any potential dementia risk. Continue reading...

Prof Neil Ferguson says advisory committee did not know what was being planned or thought about by governmentPoor communication between ministers and scientists was such a barrier at the start of the Covid pandemic that academics privately asked officials if they realised the scale of what was coming, Prof Neil Ferguson has said.The Imperial College London epidemiologist, whose early modelling of the probable infection and death rate if counter-measures were not taken played a key role in the decision to impose a lockdown, told the official Covid inquiry he and other scientific advisers had no idea what the government wanted to achieve. Continue reading...

Novel experiences with new people can apparently slow the march of time. Great! If only there wasn't all that small talk to navigate ...It's the time of year when my WhatsApp starts pinging with group notifications about pre-festive social fixtures. Don't get me wrong, I love nothing more than a night out with old friends. It's just that it has recently dawned on me that while long-established social rituals are deeply comforting, particularly in uncertain times, if the characters in your life never change and the locations stay pretty much the same, socialising can sometimes feel like Groundhog Day, only with more wine.I realised this as I set up a Doodle poll for my college flatmates to try to find a Saturday night when we might by some miracle all be available before December. It's futile, because I know that this won't be possible and that we will end up having dinner at 10pm on the Monday before Christmas in some godforsaken bar near a train station we can all get to. One of us will arrive an hour late and he will always have an excuse so dazzling that we won't mind. Another can be relied upon to order an extra bottle seconds before last orders which we will all pretend to be cross about the next morning. We've been upholding this tradition since Margaret Thatcher was in power. Continue reading...

Study discovers telltale signs on human teeth from Spain to Lithuania, spanning period from 6400 BC to 12th century ADIt may be considered an unusual ingredient in western cuisine, cropping up in a fancy cookbook or local delicacy. But it turns out that seaweed was a common foodstuff among people in Europe for thousands of years.Researchers have found telltale signs of consumption on human teeth at sites from Spain to Lithuania, spanning a period from around 6400BC to the early middle ages. Continue reading...

Data supplied to UK Biobank is not for sale, it's not for trivial or suspect use, it's for the good of humankind - and yet I had to jump through hoops to offer itI delight in messages from UK Biobank, making me feel useful for minimal effort. Back in 2006, with half a million others aged between 40 and 69, I signed up to this magnificent project, the world's most advanced genetic database.They took blood, saliva and urine, measured bone density and made notes on exercise, alcohol and family history, with social class, ethnicity, education, employment and income included. They have sequenced my genome and stored samples in freezers at -80C for future researchers seeking causes and cures long after my death.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

One day, my hand stopped speaking to my brain. As a doctor and flute player, I had to try to understand this strange afflictionThe morning after performing the concert of my life, I could no longer play the flute. The pinky and ring fingers of my left hand failed to cooperate with what my mind wanted to do - I couldn't work the keys. The harder I tried, the more my fingers curled into a claw, stuck in spasm. Even stranger: no other activity was affected. I could type on a keyboard with the same facility as usual and play scales on the piano with unimpeded finger action.The concert, the capstone of my master's degree in historical performance at the same university where I'd worked as a palliative care physician until 2019, was in March 2020 - one of the last before the Covid-19 lockdowns. My weird finger problem seemed small compared with the unfolding pandemic. Continue reading...

Ian Sample meets the conservation biologist Liana Zanette, whose recently published research demonstrates that humans are now the super predator, inciting more fear in wild animals than even lions. She explains the ramifications of this knowledge for conservation techniques and the protection of endangered animalsRead more Guardian reporting on this story here. Continue reading...

Proposed law of nature says systems such as stars and hurricanes are made up in varying ways, with some succeeding and others failingDarwin's theory of evolution, with natural selection at its core, conjures up images of flourishing life. But now researchers have suggested a similar mechanism may apply to the realm of the nonliving too, underpinning what they have called nature's missing law".A team of scientists and philosophers say many systems - including minerals, changes within stars and even hurricanes - are made up of multiple components that can come together in myriad ways, some of which persist while others fall by the wayside. Continue reading...

Dr Bradley Hillier writes that the home secretary is capitalising on a psychological split' in her commentsAs a psychiatrist I recognise Suella Braverman's failure of multiculturalism" comments as capitalising on a split", particularly as she embodies the success of multiculturalism herself (In one vulgar swoop, Suella Braverman has humiliated every single migrant in the UK, 2 October).In psychiatry, splits" describe primarily unconscious ways that we reconcile being unable to believe two seemingly competing ideas as being possible at the same time, and have their origins in pre-verbal infant development. It is the idea that, for example, one can either be only good or bad and not have features of both goodness and badness, and so we opt for one narrative only, arguably the one that suits our other splits or prejudices. Continue reading...

Solutions to today's feline flummoxersEarlier today I set you the following three puzzles, loosely inspired by my new book, the Football School Encyclopedia. (To see why here's the original post.)1. Dogged delivery Continue reading...

Ability to reverse cancer's resistance to therapy opens possibility of treatment for late-diagnosed menScientists say a new way to treat prostate cancer may be on the horizon after finding it is possible to reverse its resistance to therapy.More than a million men worldwide are diagnosed with the disease each year. The chances of survival are generally good, particularly if it is diagnosed early. Many can live for decades without symptoms or needing treatment. Continue reading...

We wake up and look outside, practising cloud divinationClouds have so much to do with how the day feels, with what the day seems like. Clouds, more than any other weather that touches your skin - the snow, the cold, the rain, the sun, the wind - talk to your insides. As though somewhere in your chest (or is it your head?) vapour is forming, changing shape, dissipating and forming again. It's why people need water: to feed their interior cumulus.A cloud below the clear blue of your head, and above your gloomy heart. Thunder and lightning in your mind, and the rest of you soaked through. Something wispy and white happening in your stomach - delight, nervousness. Continue reading...

Is there an evolutionary explanation for the likes of Barbie and Hello Kitty?Saturated in pink and sparkles, the Barbie movie is full of ribbons and hearts, gingham and polka dots: a universe of cuteness. And yet, according to the internet at least, the most adorable thing in the film is not the eponymous heroine but her consort, Ken. Margot Robbie's Barbie may be glamorous, but Ryan Gosling's Ken is cute - quite an accomplishment for a man-baby intent on imposing patriarchy on Barbie Land.Scientists have been studying the nature of cuteness for decades. It's now widely accepted that we are hardwired to both look and act cute when we're very young and to respond to cuteness ourselves. When kids are cute, women and men alike pay attention to them and care for them, which not only helps children to survive but also to learn how to communicate and cooperate. Continue reading...

I moved to New York this year and am embroiled in a Kafkaesque ordeal trying to get my meds filledBack in 2019, I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 40, a process I described for the Guardian. The diagnosis came as a surprise to me, but not to anyone I knew: sure, I'd never been especially hyperactive (or even, y'know, active), but the chronic lateness, difficulty concentrating, lack of emotional self-regulation and decades-long struggle to locate my keys ... these were all classic symptoms.I was prescribed a medication called Vyvanse, which I've been taking daily since. It's proven immensely helpful, allowing me to settle into a reasonably steady routine of writing and working. The days when I just can't get anything done have been further and further separated by periods of unprecedented productivity. Continue reading...

Major investigation shows local governments are increasingly exploiting a loophole in the Clean Air Act, leaving more than 21 million Americans with air that's dirtier than they realize

The Stella Terra was designed by students at Eindhoven University of Technology and completed trip without rechargingA solar-powered car said to be the first in the world capable of driving off-road over long distances without recharging has completed a 620-mile (1,000km) test drive across Morocco and the Sahara.The two-seat Stella Terra, designed by students at the Eindhoven University of Technology, completed the journey across a variety of challenging landscapes as part of a final test of its lightweight frame and aerodynamic profile. Continue reading...

Or a fearsome feline of football?UPDATE: The solutions can be read hereWhen I'm not writing about maths and puzzles, I'm working on my children's book series, Football School, which uses the sport as a lens to the world. Researching the Football School Encyclopedia, the latest book in the series, I discovered the following geometrical curiosity. When painted pitch markings were introduced in 1891, the goal area was in the shape of a B".Goal posts are 8 yards (7.3m) apart. In 1891, goal kicks had to be taken from within 6 yards (5.5m) of either post, so each curved part of the B" is a segment of the locus of a point 6 yards from each post. Continue reading...

Firms with specially trained dogs that can detect infestations are increasingly in demandHotels and homeowners are calling in specially trained dogs to sniff out bedbugs that can lurk in cracks and crevices in bedrooms amid concerns that infestations are on the rise in the UK.The spread of bedbugs declined during the Covid crisis as hotels closed and travel ground to a halt but, since the world reopened, dormant populations have begun to bounce back, if not yet to the level reached before the pandemic. Continue reading...

Up to 20 meteors an hour may be visible as Earth passes through centre of dust cloud left by Halley's cometThe Orionid meteor shower reaches the peak of its activity this week. On the night of 21-22 October, Earth will plough through the central portions of a dust cloud that was once part of the tail of Halley's comet.During the peak of the Orionids up to 20 meteors an hour may be seen from a dark site. The Orionids are so named because they appear to be coming from the Orion constellation. Continue reading...

Our knees, shoulders, necks and hands make all sorts of pops and clicks. Sometimes we even encourage them. But is this the sound of damage being done?When Donald Unger was a child, his mother and several aunts - and later his mother-in-law - told him that cracking his knuckles would lead to arthritis. Rather than stop (or at least do it less obtrusively), Unger embarked on his own experimental programme: for 50 years, he cracked the knuckles of his left hand at least twice a day, leaving his right-hand knuckles to crack spontaneously, or not at all. After 36,500 cracks or so, the results were clear, at least for Unger, who had become a doctor and published his findings in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism. There was no arthritis in either hand, and no apparent differences between the two hands," he concluded. If you can't applaud Unger for his half-century of dedication, you have to at least respect him for not calling it a cracking" result.Still, voluntary knuckle-cracking is one thing - what about all the other clicks, crunches and crackles that seem to increase in tempo as you start to age? Generally, it's pretty good news. Lots of people have joints that click from time to time, and that's completely normal," says Claire Speer, a physiotherapist and musculoskeletal champion" for the charity Versus Arthritis. I myself often notice a sense of relief when my back or shoulder clicks after stretching or a massage, when everything just feels like it moves a little easier." Continue reading...

The great nature writer and outdoor swimmer has been a huge inspiration to many with his focus on ponds, lakes and riversIt is strange to come to know Roger Deakin so intimately and yet not know him at all. Like many others, I first met him in the pages of Waterlog when I read how he slipped into the spring-fed ditch beside his old farmhouse and swam during a summer thunderstorm.This classic of British nature writing has inspired many of us to swim outdoors and savour the wild world. Possessed of a naturalist's eye for detail and a comic's sense of the ridiculous, he was a warm, witty and welcoming guide as he breast-stroked through the ponds, lakes and rivers of Britain. Continue reading...

Amid varying levels of cloud cover, Americans gathered and donned special glasses for rare celestial show

Ring of fire' solar eclipse to be visible in California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico

Annular solar eclipse passed over eight states from Oregon to Texas and partial eclipse was visible in other continental statesAs the moment of annularity" was reached, photos were snapped, crowds cheered and the sky darkened - in the areas that the annular solar eclipse could be seen, at least.Annularity during a solar eclipse is the moment when the moon is fully in front of the sun, creating the ring of fire that is the visual highlight of today's eclipse. It lasts for only a few minutes. Continue reading...

Tumours reduce with treatment licensed for more common cancersLisa Park was 48 when she was admitted to A&E in 2019 with worsening bouts of abdominal pain. Her eventual diagnosis was unexpected. She was told she was suffering from gallbladder cancer, a rare but serious condition that usually only affects people in old age.Surgery and chemotherapy eradicated the tumours, but after a few months the cancer returned. I was given a year to live," said Park. It was a grim diagnosis, yet her prospects have recently taken an unexpected turn for the better. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Cancer Research UK says toll could be avoided if government tackled health inequalitiesHealth inequalities are causing 33,000 avoidable cases of cancer in the UK every year, a damning analysis suggests.Ministers have promised for years to tackle differences in health outcomes as part of their declared mission to level up the country. But their long-promised white paper on health inequalities has been ditched and the junk food advertising ban on TV and the web has been delayed until October 2025. Continue reading...

Tritylodonts, mid-sized mammal-related herbivores, roamed the area's deserts 200m years agoScientists have discovered an extremely rare" set of fossils at Lake Powell that the National Park Service (NPS) is calling one of the most important vertebrate discoveries in the US this year.The findings, revealed this week, include skulls and teeth from dozens of mid-sized, mammal-related herbivores called tritylodonts that once roamed the region's vast desert. The bones lay hidden in the sandstone walls of the reservoir for roughly 180m years before a lucky discovery in March. Continue reading...

Paul-Henri Nargeolet was onboard the ill-fated submersible that was likely crushed by the ocean earlier this year, killing all five crewThe company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck has cancelled plans to retrieve more artefacts from the site because the leader of the upcoming expedition died in the Titan submersible implosion, according to documents filed in a US district court this week.The decision could affect a looming court battle between the company and the US government, which has been trying to stop the 2024 mission. US attorneys have said the firm's original plans to enter the ship's hull would violate a federal law that treats the wreck as a gravesite. Continue reading...

Scientists believe asteroid may be remains of an early planet's core, and could shed light on inaccessible centers of rocky planetsNasa's Psyche spacecraft rocketed away on Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid.Most asteroids tend to be rocky or icy, and this is the first exploration of a metal one. Scientists believe it may be the battered remains of an early planet's core, and could shed light on the inaccessible centers of Earth and other rocky planets. Continue reading...

Some US states will have front-row seats to the celestial event on Saturday - here's what you need to knowSome US cities are over the moon as Saturday's annular solar, or ring of fire" eclipse draws closer, and are gearing up to welcome a rush of visitors. Continue reading...

University of Kentucky challenged computer scientists to reveal contents of carbonised papyrus, a potential treasure trove for historians'When the blast from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius reached Herculaneum in AD79, it burned hundreds of ancient scrolls to a crisp in the library of a luxury villa and buried the Roman town in ash and pumice.The disaster appeared to have destroyed the scrolls for good, but nearly 2,000 years later researchers have extracted the first word from one of the texts, using artificial intelligence to peer deep inside the delicate, charred remains. Continue reading...

Scientists say challenge of building moon base on dust could be overcome by heating it with giant lensThe moon has no air, no water and an extreme 250-degree temperature range, but among the most vexing challenges for space agencies hoping to set up camp is the dust. It erodes space suits, clogs machinery, interferes with scientific instruments and makes moving around difficult.Now scientists have come up with a potential solution, demonstrating that moon dust could be melted using a giant lens to create solid roads and landing areas. Continue reading...