by Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Sam Jones in Madrid on (#6GNJC)
Patients' group says reactions to metamizole can cause sepsis and organ failure - and British and Irish people are at higher riskA patients group representing several British victims has launched legal action against the Spanish government over claims it failed to safeguard people against the potentially fatal side effects of one of the country's most popular painkillers, involved in a series of serious illnesses and deaths.The drug metamizole, commonly sold in Spain under the brand name Nolotil, is banned in several countries, including Britain, the US, India and Australia. It can cause a condition known as agranulocytosis, which reduces white blood cells, increasing the risk of potentially fatal infection. Continue reading...
With Covid-19 facilities being dismantled and an inquiry starting late, the nation's ability to react quickly to future health threats has been lost, experts sayThe UK is now worse prepared for a pandemic than it was when Covid-19 first swept the country, a former government health minister has warned.Lord Bethell, an under-secretary of state at the department of health in 2020, told the Observer that in terms of identifying future threats, and handling any new outbreak, he believes Britain's overstretched health system is now less able to respond to another major viral outbreak. Continue reading...
Ingestion of particulate matter may shorten distance between anus and genitals in the womb, a sign of lower testosterone activityIn-utero exposure to common air pollutants may lower semen quality and increase the risk of reproductive system disease in men, new research finds.The peer-reviewed Rutgers University study looked at whether exposure to particulate matter called 2.5 (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxide may shorten the distance between the anus and genitals, or the anogenital distance, in developing fetuses and newborns. Continue reading...
Scientific specimens and research facilities set to be rehoused in Reading University science park, alongside British Museum archiveIt is intended to be a world-leading research facility that will house some of the UK's greatest collections of historical, botanical and zoological samples. Millions of ancient mosaics and pieces of sculpture, rare plant specimens and fossil remnants will be taken from the British Museum, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London and rehoused at Reading University's Thames Valley Science Park in Shinfield, Berkshire.London's ageing buildings, crumbling storage space, and soaring land prices mean a move beyond the M25 is the only realistic way to protect the capital's swelling backroom collections of scientific and cultural treasures while improving researchers' access to them, say senior museum staff. The total price-tag for the venture could top half a billion pounds. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6GMAC)
Amaterasu particle, one of highest-energy cosmic rays ever detected, is coming from an apparently empty region of spaceAstronomers have detected a rare and extremely high-energy particle falling to Earth that is causing bafflement because it is coming from an apparently empty region of space.The particle, named Amaterasu after the sun goddess in Japanese mythology, is one of the highest-energy cosmic rays ever detected. Continue reading...
England's chief medical officer owned up to experts' ignorance of psychology. If only others had been so candid in admitting their errorsIn 2002, Iain Duncan Smith notoriously declared: Do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man." It might have been a rather poor self-description, but it serves as a perfect representation of the chief medical officer for England, Chris Whitty.For nearly two days he quietly answered questions put to him at the Covid inquiry; his tone uniformly reasonable, his demeanour consistently mild. Whitty's former deputy Jonathan Van-Tam, who followed his erstwhile boss at the inquiry, summed him up perfectly at the inquiry. I'm the one who chases the ball," he said. Chris is the one to look at the ball first and makes a more qualified and thoughtful decision about whether it was worth chasing." So if ever Whitty should even amble ballwards, you know to take it very seriously indeed. Continue reading...
Project aims to release hundreds into lochs and streams after centuries of habitat loss and exploitationThe medicinal leech is one of nature's least loved hunters. Armed with three strong interlocking jaws and with a taste for blood, they will swim hungrily towards humans, deer or cattle that wander into their ponds to bathe, fish or drink.Yet this small predator is the focus of an unlikely reintroduction programme by conservationists working in a small laboratory deep in the Scottish Highlands, at a wildlife park best known for its polar bears, wildcats and wolves. Continue reading...
Dictator seen with daughter at celebration for scientists and technicians who finally put Malligyong-1 into space after two failed attemptsThe North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, has celebrated a new era of a space power" with his family including daughter Ju Ae and the scientists who put the North's first spy satellite into orbit.Pyongyang's launch of the Malligyong-1 on Tuesday was its third attempt after failures in May and August. Continue reading...
by Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent on (#6GKKM)
Epidemiologists say wave in north, particularly among children, may be partly caused by immunity debt'Chinese health authorities have provided the requested data on an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children, and have not detected any unusual or novel pathogens, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.The WHO had asked China for more information on Wednesday after groups including the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in north China. Continue reading...
by Nina Lakhani climate justice reporter on (#6GKY3)
Pollution caused twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, with updated understanding of dangers of PM2.5Coal-fired power plants killed at least 460,000 Americans during the past two decades, causing twice as many premature deaths as previously thought, new research has found.Cars, factories, fire smoke and electricity plants emit tiny toxic air pollutants known as fine particulate matter or PM2.5, which elevate the risk of an array of life-shortening medical conditions including asthma, heart disease, low birth weight and some cancers. Continue reading...
Reports say new model Q* fuelled safety fears, with workers airing their concerns to the board before CEO Sam Altman's sackingOpenAI was reportedly working on an advanced system before Sam Altman's sacking that was so powerful it caused safety concerns among staff at the company.The artificial intelligence model triggered such alarm with some OpenAI researchers that they wrote to the board of directors before Altman's dismissal warning it could threaten humanity, Reuters reported. Continue reading...
After a lifetime cursed with awkward social interactions, learning to take myself less seriously has been a wonderful giftI've gotten to know my postman. Being home during the day means I'm there to answer the door and exchange chit-chat. Sometimes about the weather, sometimes about my dogs who greet him with unfortunate stereotypical anger. Occasionally, I'll pass him in the street and we wave or smile. How nice ... in theory. Somehow, in every instance there is an awkwardness, a palpably tense energy of a high school play where someone is doing their best but keeps flubbing a line, standing off-mark or having their wig fall off.Postman Pat (not his real name) visited my house once not to deliver mail but to borrow a doggy bag to clean up a large deposit left beside a nearby postbox. We stumbled through a mixture of disgusted remarks and jokes about how large the dog must have been before I slipped over running to the cupboard and shoved three bags into his hand. I really only need one, Miss," he said politely, so I reached out and our hands clumsily smooshed into a plasticky high-five. Another time, he delivered a lightweight package. What is this?" I wondered aloud. It feels like an empty wine bottle!" he replied, and we stood there chuckling at nothing. I then remembered the curse. Continue reading...
Momentous' breakthrough as trial finds treatment for nail infections to be highly effective for neglected tropical diseaseA cheap and easily taken drug used to treat fungal nail infections has been found to work against a devastating flesh and bone-eating disease found across Africa, Asia and the Americas.Researchers say the breakthrough offers hope to thousands of patients who have suffered decades of neglect and can face amputations if the disease is left untreated. Continue reading...
23 November 1953: Scientists pronounce the jaw and eyetooth found in 1912 and supposedly evidence of an early human species to be deliberate fakes'The skull which was found at Piltdown in Sussex 40 years ago has lost some of its importance as a relic of primitive man, but it can still cause a considerable flutter among scientists and laymen who take a natural interest in their own ancestors. Three scientists, after careful investigation, now pronounce its jaw and eyetooth to be deliberate fakes"; but this, though the strongest, is only the latest blow to Piltdown Man's pre-eminence. New discoveries and new methods had already brought him down a peg. A few years ago it was found possible by means untried till then to get a rough estimate of the age of fossil skulls: this showed that the Piltdown skull was by no means as old as some others, notably the one found at Swanscombe. The discoverer of the Swanscombe skull, Mr AT Marston, has, by the way, steadfastly maintained that the Piltdown skull and jaw could not possibly belong to the same individual. He was much criticised but is now vindicated; and his Swanscombe skull now takes the place which (as it turns out) Piltdown Man had usurped. But the general view of human evolution may not be much affected, since palaeontologists have all along been troubled by the contradictions in the Piltdown find and have mostly considered it an aberrant form. Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Hannah Devlin; on (#6GKFF)
Madeleine Finlay sits down with science correspondent Hannah Devlin to discuss the amazing discoveries the James Webb space telescope has made in the year since it became operational. From planets that rain sand, to distant galaxies, Hannah explains how some of these discoveries could fundamentally change our understanding of the universeClips: BBC, NASA, CBSThis episode was amended on Thursday 23rd November 2023 to remove an incorrect reference to astrological" time. Continue reading...
Researchers say they have discovered a common type of bacteria can trigger irritationWhether it's a tickle of the nose, or an irritation in one's hair, itches can be excruciating. Now scientists say they have found a common type of skin bacteria can trigger the sensation.Crucially, as such bacteria are commonly found on the skin of patients with eczema - or atopic dermatitis - the work helps explain why such conditions can be accompanied by the urge to scratch. Continue reading...
It tops a UK list of 25 detested expressions, closely followed by holibobs, according to a new survey. Nom nom nom isn't coolio eitherName: Amazeballs.Age: The earliest known use is from 2008. Continue reading...
Now, a law change to remove anonymity from donors at birth raises complex questions for donor families like mineI've always known I was donor-conceived. As an adult, it is something I take joy in - knowing the unique way I came to be born. Long gone are the days of being afraid that a schoolboy would tease me that the sperm donor my parents used only wanted a couple of quid in his pocket and a glance at some risque magazines.Now, you can catch me boring old friends, strangers I meet in the smoking area, or even first dates about it; sharing with pride a vegan recipe my donor-sibling (dibling) has texted me or the holiday photos I've just received from my sperm donor.Freya Stuart-Hopkins is a recent political science and international relations graduate and soon to be education worker Continue reading...
Galactic cosmic rays can impair function of erectile tissues, research in rats showsAs if homesickness, wasting muscles, thinner bones, an elevated cancer risk, the inescapable company of overachievers and the prospect of death in the endless vacuum of space were not enough to contend with, male astronauts may return from deep space prone to erectile dysfunction, scientists say.In what is claimed to be the first study to assess the impact of galactic radiation and weightlessness on male sexual health, Nasa-funded researchers found that galactic cosmic rays, and to a lesser extent microgravity, can impair the function of erectile tissues, with effects lasting potentially for decades. Continue reading...
Following government guidance by using disinfectant to tackle C diff bacteria proved ineffective in experimentsLiquid bleach does not kill off a hospital superbug that can cause fatal infections, researchers have found.The researchers say new approaches are needed towards disinfection in care settings. Continue reading...
Recognising aftershocks is an important part of assessing a region's disaster riskLarge earthquakes are always followed by aftershocks - a series of smaller but still potentially damaging quakes produced as the ground readjusts. But how long does it take for the aftershocks to die out? A new study suggests some areas can experience aftershocks decades or even centuries after the original earthquake.In earthquake-prone areas it is hard to tell the difference between aftershocks and ordinary background seismicity. But recognising aftershocks is an important part of assessing a region's disaster risk. To understand how long aftershocks can persist, researchers turned to the stable continental interior of North America, where earthquakes are uncommon. Using statistical analysis they assessed the timing and clustering of quakes that followed three large magnitude 6.5 to 8 historical earthquakes: one near south-east Quebec in Canada in 1663; a trio of quakes around the Missouri-Kentucky border from 1811 to 1812; and an earthquake in Charleston in South Carolina in 1886. Continue reading...
Treasury confirms the national living wage will increase by over a pound an hour from AprilQ: Was there no aspect on the pandemic on which you did not advise?Whitty says he would not put it like that. He says he felt it important to advise on issues where advice from a scientist or doctor would be useful. Continue reading...
Historian of science whose books, including a biography of Galileo, helped to debunk several mythsJohn Heilbron, who has died aged 89, established the history of science as a professional discipline. By getting the history right, he sought to slay enduring myths created by his predecessors, some of which had become embedded in popular culture.His book The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories (1999) helped dispel the falsehood that science and religion exist in a state of perpetual warfare. A desire to fix the date of Easter was one of the things that led the Roman Catholic church to give more financial and social support to the science of astronomy than any other institution, for more than six centuries. Continue reading...
The argument for holding an inquiry is sound, but the really depressing thing is that none of those elected have learned a thingAnother day, a fresh chapter in the Covid inquiry - and another public servant having their diary read back to them in a public forum that looks like the world's most under-embellished anxiety dream. Sir Patrick Vallance's contemporaneous notes reveal a man deeply worried about everything: public health, prime ministerial flip-flopping"; scientists being used as human shields"; bonkers" cabinet WhatsApp messages in which Boris Johnson is obsessed with older people accepting their fate". He seems to keep a relatively cool head and his brain-dump" doesn't sound self-serving or hysterical, so he's got off relatively lightly compared with others who've had their noses rubbed in their WhatsApp ignominy. But you nevertheless can't help but mourn the road not taken. The only really sensible response to that grim period - particularly for scientists who are all over cause and effect, facts, evidence and whatnot, and faced with a prime minister who floated whisky and a revolver" as a plausible public health solution - would have been to stage a coup. And none of them did. So, sure, that is a shame, but beyond it, none but those elected have anything to be ashamed of.The really depressing thing about this inquiry is the absolute certainty that, if a fresh pandemic arrived tomorrow, nothing would be any better, and many things would be worse. The inequality and poverty that Michael Marmot and Clare Bambra highlighted as contributory factors would be, respectively, worse and deeper. The NHS would be in more desperate straits, the pandemic preparedness that the austerians wound down would not have been restored, and Downing Street would still be full of petty, inadequate, callous politicians. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6GHN0)
Trauma of pandemic having lasting impact on people's mental health three years on, research revealsPeople who stuck by Covid lockdown rules the most strictly have the worst mental health today, research has found.Those who followed the restrictions most closely when the pandemic hit are the most likely to be suffering from stress, anxiety and depression, academics at Bangor University have found. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay with Aj on (#6GHM1)
A new report from Oxfam has found that the extravagant carbon footprint of the 0.1% - from superyachts, private jets and mansions to space flights and doomsday bunkers - is 77 times higher than the upper level needed for global warming to peak at 1.5C. Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian's Europe environment correspondent Ajit Niranjan, and from wealth correspondent Rupert Neate, about the highly polluting transport habits of the ultra-wealthy Continue reading...
The pathfinder craft, co-funded by 3m from the UK Space Agency, will provide data to help detect and monitor natural disastersThe UK will help fund and build a new spacecraft that will help scientists monitor the climate crisis and natural disasters.The new pathfinder satellite will be funded with 3m from the UK Space Agency, joining Spain and Portugal in the 80m (70m) Atlantic Constellation project. Co-funding will be provided by Open Cosmos, based on the Harwell campus in Oxfordshire. Continue reading...
Experts studying remains of victims buried in 14th century say bubonic plague was not an indiscriminate killerWhen the Black Death hit London in autumn 1348, it caused a wave of devastation, with more than half the city's population thought to have been killed. But a study has now found women with Black African ancestry could have had a greater risk of death than others.Research has previously demonstrated that, far from being a homogeneous white society, medieval England - and its capital - had considerable diversity. As well as residents hailing from the far reaches of Europe, documentary and archaeological evidence has revealed people of Black African ancestry and dual heritage lived in London. Continue reading...
Experts say video provides first evidence of a mammal mating without penetrationIt was the surveillance cameras trained on the dark corners of St Matthias church in the village of Castenray in the Netherlands that caught the creatures in the act.The video footage is in black and white, the animals are entwined and upside down, and the events that unfold against a metal grill are more frantic than romantic. Continue reading...
Expanding on his startling diary entries, Sir Patrick Vallance gave crucial evidence from a unique perspectiveThe relationship between the government and scientists is under the microscope as never before. The former chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, gave evidence to the Covid inquiry on Monday, and Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, is due to take the witness stand next. Some of Sir Patrick's views are in the public domain already, due to the release of sections of his diaries. Blunt descriptions of politicians including Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Matt Hancock echo those of other recent witnesses, who described Mr Johnson as incapable of leading and confused by science, Mr Sunak (then chancellor) as overly focused on the economy at the expense of health, and Mr Hancock (who was health secretary) as dishonest.Shocking details included the fact that the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which Sir Patrick chaired, did not hear anything about Mr Sunak's Eat out to help out" scheme until it was announced. On another occasion, Mr Hancock asked for evidence contained in official advice to be changed (the request was refused). Continue reading...
Veterinary care is expensive to provide and vets are under more pressure than ever before, says Kate Platt in response to an article by Adrian ChilesIt was with some dismay that my husband and I (both vets) read Adrian Chiles's article (What have I learned after three years of dog ownership? Beware of the vet bills, 15 November). As a practising vet for 25 years, I have never encountered a colleague who does not have the best interests of their patient first and foremost. We are trained to offer a variety of treatments at varying costs. Sadly, we do not have a crystal ball to know which dog will respond to the most basic remedies and which will require more extensive investigations and treatment.We ensure clients are fully aware of the options available and are able to make an informed decision as to which course of treatment they would like to pursue. Continue reading...
Fifty years ago, Australian researcher Graeme Pearman travelled the world with six flasks of air to help prove CO2 in the atmosphere was risingI often wonder: where did I go wrong?" Graeme Pearman says. Why didn't people respond? Is that my responsibility?"When Guardian Australia meets him at his home on the outskirts of Melbourne, the veteran climate scientist is frustrated. Continue reading...
With White House initiative, Jill Biden aims to change thatWomen are twice as likely as men to die from heart attacks.When a nonsmoker dies of lung cancer, it's twice as likely to be a woman as a man. Continue reading...
Researchers home in on phenolic flavonoids as culprit for headaches that come on soon after a glass or twoFor the Greek philosopher Celsus, wine was the answer to endless ailments, from fatigue and fever to coughs and constipation. But despite its convenient healing powers, the grape, he conceded to his faithful readers, could bring about the odd headache.Now, researchers believe they have hit on the reason why wine - red wine, in particular - causes such swift and undeserved headaches. When the liver breaks down a particular ingredient, it produces a substance that has the same effects as a drug used to make alcoholics feel dreadful if they drink. Continue reading...
Leading property firms also call for more tax breaks and improved transport links to hubs ahead of autumn statementThe UK needs to build more laboratory space, improve transport links and offer more tax breaks to achieve Rishi Sunak's ambition of becoming a science superpower, two leading property firms have argued ahead of the autumn statement.Demand for laboratories in the UK is growing fast, with lab vacancy rates of just 1% in Cambridge and London, and 7% in Oxford, according to a report by British Land, one of Britain's biggest property developers, and the upmarket estate agency and advisory firm Savills. Continue reading...
AI has given us hallucination as word of the year. We should quarrel with this humanising definition while recognising that it evokes unprecedented timesWhen the Cambridge dictionary announced hallucinate" as its word of the year this week, it was not referring to its existing definition as a human condition of seeing, hearing, feeling or smelling something that does not exist", but to the phenomenon of AI developing the capacity to make - or fake - things up. This is itself a somewhat hallucinatory concept, as Naomi Klein has pointed out. Why call the errors hallucinations' at all? Why not algorithmic junk? Or glitches?" she asked. By appropriating the language of psychology, psychedelics and mysticism, she argued, the architects of generative AI had declared themselves midwives at the birth of an animate intelligence that they wanted us to believe would be an evolutionary leap for humanity.The word of the year is a strange fixture - a parlour game crossed with a marketing opportunity that is enthusiastically played by lexicographers around the world. Anyone who remembers the Oxford dictionary's choice for 2022 will know how outlandish the offspring can be: invited to make their own choice, 318,956 people - 93% of the overall vote - opted for goblin mode". Though this term (basically, slobbing out) has been around for more than a decade, its first appearance in a British newspaper, according to the research engine Factiva, was in the Observer in February last year. Continue reading...
Huge rent increases threaten the biological society and other cherished scientific organisations based in Burlington House, writes Philip BarberThe Linnean Society of London was founded in 1788 in honour of Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, the system of biological classification still in use today. It is the oldest biological society still in existence, and remains a national and global flagship for natural history research. Since 1857 it has been located at Burlington House, where Charles Darwin first presented his theory of natural selection on 1 July 1858, published in the following year as The Origin of Species. The society contributes more than 8m in public value to the nation annually, but is threatened with eviction by its landlord, the housing ministry, if it fails to pay an extortionate rent which has risen by more than 3,000% in six years. Other important scientific societies at Burlington House are similarly threatened.It seems that the philistinism and cultural vandalism of a fast-fading administration are jeopardising the existence of the very institutions it should be cherishing and protecting, and we are threatened with the dismantling of a critical mass of scientific and biological expertise that can never be replaced. A new basis for tenure of one of our most valuable and durable assets needs to be urgently identified. Enough national family silver has surely now been sold off, and enough seed corn eaten, by Margaret Thatcher, George Osborne and their current political and spiritual heirs: we need to hold the line at Burlington House.
I was just his little sister, now I'm trying to free him from an Egyptian prisonThe drive north out of Cairo from my family home is one I know well. It's the route up to the coastal city of Alexandria, a joy-filled trip I often used to make to Egypt's north-coast beaches. On the morning of 17 November 2022, however, almost exactly a year ago today, the journey could not have felt more different. We might have been travelling in that same direction, but our destination this time was the prison where my older brother, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, is locked away. He's one of Egypt's most high-profile pro-democracy activists. A political prisoner, he's been in various jails for much of the past nine years. On the day of our visit, Alaa had spent the last six days refusing all food and water - the culmination of a 200-day partial hunger strike we'd all hoped might help secure his release. We had no idea what state we'd find him in.At 9am, my mother, aunt and I piled into a car and headed out towards the modern prison complex deep in the desert. We sat in silence - there was nothing to say. Pulling up to the compound, we all knew the drill: jump out, show officials our documents and then sit around for hours and hours. The wait that day felt especially anxious. Days previously, our family had received two short handwritten notes from Alaa, which proved he was alive. The first letter stated he was drinking water again. The second that he was eating, too, and that on our visit we should bring a birthday cake. A few days later, he'd be turning 41. Continue reading...
Around the world, highly secure chambers are being built to preserve everything we need to withstand any number of worst-case scenariosAre we allowed to go in?" I surprise myself with this question, given that I'm staring through the small window of a door into one of six underground vaults, each one essentially a walk-in freezer. The temperature inside is -20C. It is a grey winter day at the Millennium Seed Bank in Wakehurst, Sussex and the maze of featureless corridors and reinforced concrete adds to the 1984-ish austerity of the setting. These vaults are designed to withstand the worst apocalypse we can imagine - be it caused by bombs, radiation, floods or disease.Dr Elinor Breman, a senior researcher, and my guide for today, briefly hesitates before responding: yes, I can, but only if I sign a waiver and don't have any heart conditions. This seems fair enough. I sign a declaration, having read the warnings of frostbite and hypothermia, and Breman hands me a protective blue coat. She flicks a switch before we go in. When I look at her quizzically, she casually explains that this is so an alarm goes off if we're not out in five minutes. Continue reading...
Another space launch failed, but it's the loss of major advertisers on X that has enraged the tycoonIt has been an explosive weekend for Elon Musk. The American billionaire has had to witness not only the public rapid unscheduled disassembly" of another of his rockets, but also watch while a group of well-known global companies, including Apple, Disney and IBM, pulled advertising from X, his social media platform.The businesses, all of them household names, made the decision to stop spending on the site, formerly known as Twitter, after the American billionaire's public support for an antisemitic conspiracy theory. Last Wednesday, Musk replied to a conspiracy post which accused Jews of promoting hatred of white people, noting that it was the actual truth". He has since argued that his intended criticism was of specific campaign groups, such as the campaign group the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and was not aimed at the wider Jewish community. Continue reading...
The eat out to help out scheme will face scrutiny when Patrick Vallance, Chris Whitty and Angela McLean appear this weekExplosive evidence about the tensions and disagreements between the then prime minister Boris Johnson, his ministers and the country's top scientific advisers at key moments during the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to be made public this week at the official inquiry into the crisis. On Monday, Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's former chief scientific adviser - whose incendiary private diary entries are being quoted selectively at the inquiry - will give evidence at an all-day session on Monday that looks certain to cast new light on the chaos in government as the virus swept across the globe.Vallance will be followed in the witness box by the other top scientists who flanked ministers at the televised daily Covid press conferences. Continue reading...
Could a computer ever rival their astonishing feats? The idea seemed preposterousYour memory could fill the Albert Hall,' proclaimed the Observer on 21 March 1971, explaining that a computer to perform even the simpler functions of the human brain would need to be at least as big as the Albert Hall.' Now we outsource much of our memory to devices that slip in our back pockets, what can an exploration of extraordinary memory athletes' still tell us about how we remember?Clare' (a pseudonym) discovered her abilities were exceptional while eavesdropping on a Harvard researcher exploring the power of eidetic' imagery - perfect visual recall. I think I can do that,' she said. She was right: Dr Charles Stromeyer's research showed she could scan a card with 10,000 dots for one minute and recall it a few minutes later in full detail.' Her ability to recall abstract visual patterns contrasted with the celebrated Russian mnemonist' Solomon Shereshevskii. Shereshevskii's spectacularly intense synaesthesia both helped and hindered him in constructing the elaborate mental stories he used to remember almost anything for almost any time', from Dante's Inferno to lengthy strings of random numbers. Continue reading...