British billionaire alarms investors by stating space tourism company has enough cash to operate on its own'Shares in the space tourism group Virgin Galactic tumbled on Monday after its founder, Sir Richard Branson, ruled out further funding.The British billionaire alarmed investors by stating in an interview that the loss-making business has enough cash to operate on its own", weeks after it announced job cuts and a pause in commercial flights from next year in an effort to save cash. Continue reading...

We need you,' says Scientist Rebellion, which includes authors of IPCC reports on climate breakdown, as diplomats meet for Cop28

Modern medicine makes it seem as if drugs are the only way to deal with diabetes. But what if diet can be a solution?One gray Sunday in the middle of the Covid lockdown, I received an unwelcome call from my family doctor. Until then, for virtually my entire life, I had managed to stay out of a doctor's office, except for routine checkups. My luck had run out.I am sorry to disturb you on a weekend," she said. But your tests just came back and your blood sugar levels are alarming. I am pretty sure you have diabetes." Continue reading...

Scientist proposes framework for reconciling mathematically incompatible theories of quantum mechanics and Einstein's gravityAt the heart of modern physics is a gulf that scientists have spent more than a century trying to bridge. Quantum mechanics gives an apparently flawless description of the forces that dominate at the atomic scale. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity has never been proven wrong in its predictions of how gravity shapes cosmic events. But the two theories are fundamentally incompatible.Now, scientists have proposed a framework that they say could unify these two pillars of physics, through a radical rethink of the nature of spacetime. Instead of time ticking away predictably, under the postquantum theory of classical gravity", the rate at which time flows would wobble randomly, like the ebb and flow of a stream. Continue reading...

The morning star' will be joined by the brightest star of Virgo and a waning moon in both hemispheresThere is a beautiful triple meeting in the dawn sky this week. The brilliant morning star" of Venus is close to Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, the virgin. On the mornings of 8 and 9 December, the already pretty pairing will be joined by a thin waning crescent moon.On 8 December, the moon will be closest to Spica and will have 22% of its visible surface illuminated. A day later, the moon will be closer to Venus and its illuminated portion will have shrunk to just 14%. Continue reading...

Biochemist who transformed the treatment of diabetes and was an expert witness in two high-profile murder trialsVincent Marks, who has died aged 93, was a world expert in insulin and hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar). In 1985, his expert opinion helped to acquit Claus von Bulow of attempted murder, in a case that was dramatised in the film Reversal of Fortune (1990).On 21 December 1980, the American heiress Sunny von Bulow was discovered comatose in her bathroom, and she remained in a persistent vegetative state until her death in 2008. Her husband Claus, a Danish-born lawyer, was tried and found guilty of injecting her with insulin. On appeal in 1985, the defence showed there was no injection and, having scrutinised Sunny's medical notes, Marks said her collapse was likely to have been triggered by alcohol-induced fasting hypoglycaemia. Sunny," he said, was the victim of natural illness and her lifestyle." Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers' questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsWhat is the most unlikely event to have taken place? Eva Tilman, County DurhamSend new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Continue reading...

After being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, I stopped trying to please everyone else. Now I have better relationships and a healthy, joyful lifeI'm a recovering people pleaser. Suppressing and repressing my needs, desires, expectations, feelings and opinions used to be as natural to me as breathing. To me, it was normal to tell people what they wanted to hear (read: lie) to make them feel better. Yes, I'll be there for Christmas. Yes, I'll do that for you. Yes, I can fit that in. And then I'd seethe with resentment and feelings of self-loathing, even as the Good Person in me knew I had ticked off at least some of the requisite qualities - kind, loving, hardworking and eager to help - that people pleasers hold dear.Despite being a Good Person, I felt like, well, shit most of the time. It baffled me that while I devoted so much time, energy, effort and emotion to being a Good Girl, I did not feel good about myself. Which is why I never felt I had the right to say no. Continue reading...

At Quai 9 in Geneva, safe equipment and healthcare have cut overdoses and illnesses among addicts. But around the world, opinion is divided on whether such projects really workIn a lime-green room behind Geneva's main train station, a man is slumped over a chair, the heroin he has just injected taking effect. Around him, a handful of others are in the process of reaching that same state of bliss: administering bands to their arms to produce a vein, unpeeling plastic-clad syringes, exhaling as the needle goes in. Some will return later today - maybe a handful of times - to get their hit at one of the oldest supervised drug consumption rooms in the world, where users can take their own illicit substances without fear of prosecution.A state-provided supply of safe injecting equipment, along with tea, croissants and hot showers, may seem an unusual way to handle a citywide drug epidemic, but Geneva's Quai 9 facility - which turned 20 this year - may well provide a blueprint for Britain. In September, it was announced that the UK's first legal consumption room is to open in Glasgow, a city in a country with higher fatal overdose rates than anywhere in Europe; deaths caused by drug poisoning in Scotland are 2.7 times higher than the UK average. First proposed seven years ago, the site - five minutes from the city centre's main drag, by a Morrison's and a pram shop - will cost 7m to build. Continue reading...

A fascination that began in childhood led to the Apollo 13 star launching his spectacular immersive experience of the moon landings in LondonTom Hanks became obsessed with space travel at almost exactly the moment that he became obsessed with film. Listening to him talk, the two events - their ability to manufacture wonder - remain interchangeable in his mind.The first awakening came when he went to watch Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey. I can tell you the day," he says. It was a Sunday, it was kind of rainy and it was cold. It was the day the Oakland Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, November of 1968." He'd have been 12 years old. Continue reading...

The former prime minister will come under scrutiny and these are the pressing issuesIt is expected that Johnson will make an apology at the inquiry, conceding that the government was too slow in realising the severity of the virus, and blaming a lack of preparation. Continue reading...

Greener neighborhoods can slow ageing process of human cells but effects of environmental racism can erase any benefitsMany studies have shown that people living in greener neighborhoods have several health benefits, including lower levels of stress and cardiovascular disease. But new research indicates that exposure to parks, trees and other green spaces can slow the rates at which our cells age.The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, found that people who lived in neighborhoods with more green space had longer telomeres, which are associated with longer lives and slower ageing. Continue reading...

New invention, which can be set up at home, promises to transform the way we monitor our health, say scientistsScientists have developed a laser camera that can read a person's heartbeat at a distance and pinpoint signs that they might be suffering from cardiovascular illnesses.The system - which exploits AI and quantum technologies - could transform the way we monitor our health, say researchers at Glasgow University. Continue reading...

Discredited ex-PM faces a demolition job in one of the few policy areas to which he and his allies still clingEven at the height of his popularity, Boris Johnson routinely avoided close questioning - to the extent of once hiding in a fridge to dodge a TV inquisitor. The former UK prime minister is likely to be dreading next week's appearance at the Covid inquiry. And he probably should.It is no exaggeration to say that events on Wednesday and Thursday at the inquiry's repurposed office building in Paddington, west London, could help define the post-power image and legacy of Johnson, and very possibly not for the good. Continue reading...

Dr David Brown says erectile dysfunction drug, subject of a BBC drama, could have been scrapped if a miner hadn't spoken outIt was the ultimate serendipitous discovery: a failed heart medication that became a multibillion-dollar erectile dysfunction drug. But the blockbuster story of Viagra could have ended differently were it not for the frankness of the Welsh miners who took part in a clinical trial just before the drug was due to be scrapped, according to Viagra's co-inventor.Speaking before the screening of Men Up, a new BBC drama, executive produced by Russell T Davies, about the ordinary middle-aged Welsh men who took part in early trials, Dr David Brown said the drug's unexpected side-effect was almost overlooked. Continue reading...

Seoul's satellite was launched into orbit on one of Elon Musk's SpaceX rocketsA SpaceX rocket has launched South Korea's first military spy satellite, intensifying a space race on the peninsula after Pyongyang launched its own first surveillance satellite last week.Seoul's reconnaissance satellite, carried by one of Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, lifted off from the Vandenberg US Space Force Base in California at 10.19am local time on Friday. Continue reading...

Readers respond to a piece about Harvard's Avi Loeb and his explorations into extraterrestrial lifeAvi Loeb's scientific approach, including Times Square billboards, would fit perfectly into a story by Arthur C Clarke (The alien hunter: has Harvard's Avi Loeb found proof of extraterrestrial life?, 29 November). Clarke, who predicted the use of satellites for communication and co-created Stanley Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey, had an affection for quirky scientists who found the money for their interplanetary exploits beyond theconfines of the ivory tower.The unpredictable 2020s have so far provided us with plenty of plot points that we are familiar with from hard science fiction stories by the likes of Clarke or Greg Bear. Wars, artificial intelligence, tensions between power blocs, ultra-rich people investing in immortality while building their own starships - it's all there. In Clarke's 1973 book Rendezvous with Rama, an 'Oumuamua-like object is discovered zipping through the solar system. Humanity is able to send a ship to the interstellar visitor, and first contact is made with an alien spacecraft. The people of Earth in 2023 could use afriendly partner in the universe, as Loeb suggests. Continue reading...

Study finds infants first understand language via rhythm and tone rather than individual soundsA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P ... How many would read this to that tune?According to scientists from the University of Cambridge, there's more to the earworm than infuriating parents across the English-speaking world - they have found that singsong speech is crucial to helping babies learn language. Continue reading...

Examination of remains in hospital grounds uses DNA analysis and other disciplines to build biographies'Archaeologists at Cambridge University have reconstructed the biographies" of hundreds of the city's ordinary medieval residents by examining their skeletons in detail, using a wealth of scientific data to fill out the life stories of poor or disadvantaged people whose names were never recorded.By examining the bones of more than 400 adults and children who were buried in the grounds of a medieval hospital between AD1200 and 1500, the researchers have built up a detailed picture of the lives, health and even appearance of those who lived and died in Cambridge in the period. Continue reading...

Fact that planet 13 times bigger than Earth is orbiting star nine times smaller than sun shows how little we know about the universe'Astronomers have spotted an overweight" planet that appears to be far too massive for its petite host star.The planet, which is 13 times bigger than Earth, is orbiting a star called LHS 3154, which is nine times smaller than the sun. The planet's heft is unremarkable in its own right, but its pairing with an ultracool dwarf star, the smallest and coldest stars in the universe, has puzzled scientists. Continue reading...

Scientists studying the birds in Antarctica have found they snooze for 11 hours a day without falling deeply asleepSpending your nights sleeping for just four seconds at a time might sound like a form of torture, but not for chinstrap penguins, which fall asleep thousands of times a day, new research finds.Scientists studying the birds on King George Island in Antarctica found they nod off more than 10,000 times a day, allowing them to keep a constant eye on their nests, protecting eggs and chicks from predators. In total, the birds manage 11 hours of snoozing a day - without ever slipping into uninterrupted sleep. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereHancock is now deploying the defence previewed in the Observer on Sunday. (See 9.58am.)He says from the middle of January the DHSC was trying to effectively raise the alarm". He says:We were trying to wake up Whitehall to the scale of the problem and this wasn't a problem that couldn't be addressed only from the health department. Non-pharmaceutical interventions cannot be put in place by a health department. A health department can't shut schools. It should have been grasped and led from the centre of government earlier. And you've seen evidence that repeatedly the department and I tried to make this happen.And we were on occasions blocked, and at other times our concerns were not taken as seriously as they should have been until the very end of February. Continue reading...

From the seemingly inexorable increase in atmospheric CO2 to the rapid growth in green energy, we explore the data as Cop28 beginsThe level of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, has been rising since the Industrial Revolution and is at its highest in about 4m years. The rate of the rise is even more striking, the fastest for 66m years, with scientists saying the world is in uncharted territory". Continue reading...

Four groups claim no legal basis exists for setting up the Federated Data Platform which facilitates information sharingThe NHS has been accused of breaking the law" by creating a massive data platform that will share information about patients.Four organisations are bringing a lawsuit against NHS England claiming that there is no legal basis for its setting up of the Federated Data Platform (FDP). They plan to seek a judicial review of its decision. Continue reading...

Every year the world's leaders gather for the UN climate change conference, and after a year of record temperatures, this year's summit has been called the most vital yet. As Cop28 begins in Dubai, Ian Sample hears from Guardian environment editor and resident Cop expert Fiona Harvey. She explains why this summit proved controversial before it even began, what the main talking points will be, and how countries can still collaborate to meet the goals set out in 2015's Paris agreementClips: BBC, Cop28, SkyKeep up to date with all the Guardian's Cop28 coverage here Continue reading...

UK Biobank offers up biggest ever cache of whole-genome sequences for medical researchA new era of medical discoveries, treatments and cures is on the horizon, researchers say, following the announcement that an unprecedented trove of genetic information is to be made available to scientists.Health researchers from around the world can now apply to study the whole genomes of half a million people enrolled in UK Biobank, a biomedical research project that has compiled detailed health and lifestyle records on individuals since it began 20 years ago. Continue reading...

The resource, which is on the move to Manchester, now ranks as the world's most important health databaseThe origins of the UK Biobank can be traced back to a pilot study in a building in Stockport bordered by the Cheadle Heath police station on one side and the local recreation ground on the other. It was the early 2000s and scientists had realised the potential for genomics and big data to transform health research.With diabetes, cancer, dementia and other ailments on the rise, scientists pushed for a database devoted to genetics, health and lifestyle to help them tease apart who was most at risk and how diseases could be prevented. Continue reading...

People from less privileged background at greater risk of developing condition under age of 65, study findsPeople from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more than three times as likely to experience early-onset dementia, a study has found.The study, published in the Lancet Healthy Longevity journal and conducted by researchers at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, used UK BioBank data of more than 440,000 participants aged between 37 and 73. Continue reading...

Findings could help explain how planets in our own solar system move around the sunSix planets that orbit their star in a coordinated dance have been discovered by scientists, who say the finding could help shed light on why planets in our own solar system move to their own beat.The newly discovered planets orbit a star that sits about 100 light years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, with a mass about 20% smaller than our Sun. Continue reading...

Lead author says study led by University of Sydney is longest ever to have looked at relationship between the two drugs

The astrophysicist and professor likes to ruffle feathers - and says his critics are merely jealous. He discusses UFOs, interstellar objects and the risks of his all-consuming searchAvi Loeb has a chip on his shoulder. For years, the Harvard astrophysicist has been trying to find aliens. He's in the middle of trying to record the entire sky with an international network of telescopes and recently travelled to Papua New Guinea to find out if a meteor detected in 2014 was actually part of an interstellar spaceship. Meanwhile, academics and pundits snipe at him in the media, and he's sick of it.I hear that the scientists say: Why would you go to the Pacific Ocean? It's a waste of time, waste of energy.' And I say: I'm not taking any of your research money; I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm doing the heavy lifting.' Why would they be negative about it?" Loeb complains as he shows me around his mansion in Lexington, Massachusetts, one of the richest boroughs in the US. He's busy rehearsing for a one-man show about his life and work, which he'll perform in his attic tomorrow. Apparently, I'm the only journalist to be invited", apart from the camera crew filming a documentary. Continue reading...

The climate crisis, invasive species, overexploitation of resources and pollution could break down crucial ecosystems. We asked experts to lay out the risks and offer some solutionsThe continued destruction of nature across the planet will result in major shocks to food supplies and safe water, the disappearance of unique species and the loss of landscapes central to human culture and leisure by the middle of this century, experts have warned.By 2050, if humanity does not follow through on commitments to tackle the five main drivers of nature loss critical natural systems could break down just as the human population is projected to peak. Continue reading...

The natural world is caught in a vicious cycle - extreme weather is destroying natural habitats and wildlife, yet these are crucial to fighting the climate crisisNature loss and the climate crisis are locked in a vicious cycle. These two issues are separate yet inextricably linked. As the climate crisis escalates, natural habitats are being destroyed. This in turn exacerbates the climate crisis and loss of wildlife. Here are 10 ways the two issues are connected: Continue reading...

Until now it was unclear what walking speed was needed to reduce risk of type 2 diabetesWalking faster is linked to a significantly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to the first global study of its kind.Type 2 diabetes is one of the world's major health threats, with its prevalence rising sharply in the last three decades, according to the World Health Organization. Continue reading...

Psychologist who pioneered the treatment of children after such disasters as the Zeebrugge ferry sinking and the King's Cross fireOn 6 March 1987, the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry set sail from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge heading for Dover. The bow doors were not shut and within seconds it flooded with seawater. It capsized and 193 passengers and crew died.Bill (William) Yule, who has died aged 83, was a child psychologist at the Institute of Psychiatry (now the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience) in London and head of clinical psychology at what was then the Bethlem Royal and Maudsley hospital. He was asked to help the surviving children and speaking about it he said: It totally changed my career and my life. I'd never come across such raw emotion." Continue reading...

Science Weekly brings you episode one of a new mini-series from Full Story.Pioneering Australian scientists Graeme Pearman, Lesley Hughes and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg saw the climate crisis coming. Pearman predicted the increase of carbon dioxide levels, Hughes foresaw the alarming number of species extinctions and Hoegh-Guldberg forecast the mass coral bleaching events we're seeing today. All three went on to become some of the country's most respected experts in their fields, travelling the globe, briefing leaders, and assuming the world would take action having heard their alarming findings.In part one of this three-part series, these climate scientists reveal the moment they realised the planet was heading for catastrophe. What did they do when they found out? How did they think the world would respond? And how do they feel today, looking back on that moment of cognisance? Continue reading...

Cancer Research says Britain is lagging behind other comparable countries in terms of survival ratesThousands of people are dying needlessly from cancer because the UK lags behind comparable countries when it comes to survival rates, a damning report says.Big strides forward have been made in treating the disease over the past 50 years, according to the study by Cancer Research UK, but slow and late diagnosis coupled with treatment delays mean the progress is at risk of stalling". Continue reading...

Natural History Museum prepares to study pristine material gathered in Nasa's Osiris-Rex missionA teaspoon's worth of dark dust and granules scooped from an asteroid 200m miles from Earth has arrived at the Natural History Museum in London, where scientists are preparing to unlock its secrets.Researchers at the museum received 100mg of the pristine material, which at 4.6bn years old dates back to the dawn of the solar system, after Nasa's Osiris-Rex mission stopped at asteroid Bennu in 2020 and returned samples to Earth in September. Continue reading...

Injecting stem cells into patients' brains found to be safe and could stop further damage from the diseaseDoctors are cautiously hopeful about a new multiple sclerosis therapy after finding that injecting stem cells into patients' brains was safe and potentially protective against further damage from the disease.The small, early stage trial was only able to assess whether injecting cells directly into the brain was well tolerated by patients, but in tests carried out in the year after treatment, researchers found hints that the cells may have a long-lasting, beneficial impact. Continue reading...

The answers to today's power-hungry philosophers' puzzleEarlier today I set you this puzzle by one of the world's leading logicians about a group of five power-hungry philosophers. Here it is again with the solution.The philosopher's ruling council1 philosopher:proposed council 12: proposal rejected3: 3 24: 2 4 15: 5 1 3 Continue reading...

One person found to be infected with H1N2 strain, of which 50 cases have been reported globally since 2005

Health officials scramble to trace contacts of person infected with H1N2 strain

The idea of a friend who helps you commit to your goals is growing in popularity - whether you want to get fit, write a novel or build your businessWhen news emerged that new US Speaker Mike Johnson and his teenage son monitored each other's pornography intake, the concept of an accountability partner" was probably unfamiliar to many people. Certainly, the Republican politician hasn't done much to sell the idea. Rolling Stone magazine, revelling in the creepy Big Brother-ness" of it all, detailed how the faith-obsessed" politician used an app called Covenant Eyes. Deployed by churches and missionary groups, it sends out weekly reports flagging up all the potentially nefarious online content consumed by an individual and their appointed sin monitor.My accountability partner right now is Jack, my son. He is 17," Johnson said in a resurfaced news clip from last year. If anything objectionable comes up, your accountability partner gets an immediate notice." The mind boggles. For a start, define objectionable? One person's harmless rap video might be another's NSFW (not safe for work) nightmare. And where does this level of micro-monitoring end? Today OnlyFans, the mostly pornographic subscriber platform, tomorrow fried chicken Deliveroos and unwise athleisure purchases? Continue reading...

Reflections on the pioneering astronomer find an unexpected contemporary relevanceLosing GalileoI like to imagine Galileo,

The ruthless pursuit of powerUPDATE: Read the solution hereToday's puzzle concerns a group of five power-hungry schemers who are all desperate to become the top boss. Your task will be to work out how the person of lowest status can triumph above all the others.The puzzle is a new variant of what are often called pirate-division" problems, and was written by Joel David Hamkins, who is currently the O'Hara Professor of Logic at the University of Notre Dame and was previously Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford. Continue reading...

Make a note of Aldebaran, the brightest star of Taurus, which means eye of the bull' in ArabicSearch out one of the very oldest recognised constellations this week. Taurus - the bull of heaven - was first recorded by the Babylonians in about 1000BC but other cultures may have associated this grouping of stars with a bull much earlier. At the Lascaux network of caves, in France, 17,000-year-old cave art shows what appears to be similar patterns to the stars of Taurus surrounded by a magnificent rendition of a bull.Taurus is a zodiacal constellation, meaning that the sun's path through the sky passes through its boundaries. Preceding Taurus on the zodiac is Aries, the ram, and following it is Gemini, the twins. Continue reading...

Results challenge assumption we eat highly processed foods because they are more desirable, says study's authorUltra-processed foods are viewed as no more appealing than less processed foods, research has found.A University of Bristol study compared the taste perception of different food types to test the theory that calories and level of processing are key factors influencing how much we like and desire food. Continue reading...

A23a split from the Antarctic's Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986, but it became stuck to the ocean floor and had remained for many years in the Weddell SeaOne of the world's largest icebergs is drifting beyond Antarctic waters, after being grounded for more than three decades, according to the British Antarctic Survey.The iceberg, known as A23a, split from the Antarctic's Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986. But it became stuck to the ocean floor and had remained for many years in the Weddell Sea. Continue reading...

I stood out as different in Llandudno but by learning about its past and mine, it became the home I loveLooking back, a good deal of my younger years seemed to be perched somewhere between if only and my fate. If only my hair was straight, if only my bum was flatter, if only our house was ordinary, if only mum didn't speak Welsh, if only dad could settle in Wales, if only I lived somewhere else, anywhere, anywhere but here. I often felt just too big for my world, out of place. Suspended on a faultline of creative adaptation, I invented Tessa. Tessa was blonde and white and lovely, and she lived somewhere in my dreamscape. She provided me with a lot of comfort in my small girl days, an escape from an odd reality. This may be a known story by now, the story of rural assimilation, mixed-race psychic angst and adaptation, but in fact the story was never about me, or my escape from being me. It is really a story about Wales.I grew up in the 1960s in Llandudno in North Wales, a small seaside town that everyone from the northwest has either been to, or will come to, for a day out at least once. A pastel arc of holiday hotels hugs the shoreline in the bay between two slumbering headlands. A town that once attracted the Victorian and Edwardian monied classes and, later, in droves, factory workers from the northern towns with their newfound leisure time, stepping off the steamers on to the longest pier in Wales. The town offered them, among many pleasures, N-word minstrels and other curiosities in en-plein-air concerts in Happy Valley and in its various indoor theatre halls. Continue reading...

The European Space Agency's plan to build a cargo vessel that can convert to a crew ship is one giant step in its ambitions to compete with rival lunar exploration programmesAs space exploration announcements go, a recent speech at a European Space Agency (Esa) summit could hardly rival President John F Kennedy's oration at Rice University in Houston, Texas, in 1962, when he emphatically announced: We choose to go to the moon." Those words set the US on the path to landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon on 20 July 1969, effectively ending the space race with the Soviet Union.However, when Esa's director general, Josef Aschbacher, spoke to the press in November, after the Esa space summit in Seville, Spain, what his speech lacked in hyperbole was made up for by its importance to Europe's space programme. Continue reading...