Sir Humphry Davy's unpublished verse - including one published below for the first time - was found in notebooks alongside details of his groundbreaking experimentsHe is famous for discovering elements of the periodic table, for inventing a lamp in 1815 that would save the lives of hundreds of thousands of miners and as an electrochemical pioneer.But it is the unpublished poetry of the British chemist Sir Humphry Davy - and the intriguing connections between his poems and scientific breakthroughs - that is now electrifying academics. Continue reading...

Dozens of elections, Ukraine and Israel-Gaza, moon missions, the climate crisis and AI Support independent Guardian journalism in 20242024 will be a landmark year: dozens of elections across the world, unresolved conflicts in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza to address, and further milestones expected in everything from global temperatures to space exploration and artificial intelligence.Here are some of the major events scheduled for the year. Continue reading...

Extending the limit could help uncover causes of recurrent miscarriage and congenital conditions, experts sayScientists are calling for a review of the 14-day rule on embryo research, saying that extending the limit could help uncover the causes of recurrent miscarriage and congenital conditions.Until now, scientists studying the earliest stages of life have been restricted to cultivating embryos up to the equivalent of 14 days of development. They can then pick up the path of development several weeks later, on pregnancy scans and from material donated from terminations. Continue reading...

The Marches, Shropshire: Gales like this have a violent beauty as they rip through trees, bending trunks and pulling at the rootsOn solstice eve, a gale came thrashing trees, strewing sticks. Around each tree in the park, particularly the limes and ash, was a leeward shadow of branches and twigs, mostly dead brash winnowed from the living boughs, cast down to rot into the earth.Before decaying and recycling nutrients back to the tree roots through fungi, the fallen sticks had a more esoteric presence. They fell individually but made patterns or shapes together - shapes like the Chinese characters or the symbolism of Nordic runes used in spells, or Mimih spirit sticks in the ceremonies of the Kunwinjku people of Australia, or the stick divination of the Dagara people ofBurkina Faso. Continue reading...

Over the holidays, this column will explore next year's urgent issues. Today we look at the challenge to regulate science that seems to defy comprehensionIntelligent machines have been serving and enslaving people in the realm of the imagination for decades. The all-knowing computer - sometimes benign, usually malevolent - was a staple of the science fiction genre long before any such entity was feasible in the real world. That moment may now be approaching faster than societies can draft appropriate rules. In 2023, the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) came to the attention of a wide audience well beyond tech circles, thanks largely to ChatGPT (which launched in November 2022) and similar products.Given how rapidly progress in the field is advancing, that fascination is sure to accelerate in 2024, coupled with alarm at some of the more apocalyptic scenarios possible if the technology is not adequately regulated. The nearest historical parallel is humankind's acquisition of nuclear power. The challenge posed by AI is arguably greater. To get from a theoretical understanding of how to split the atom to the assembly of a reactor or bomb is hard and expensive. Malicious applications of code online can be transmitted and replicated with viral efficiency. Continue reading...

A new film on the doctor is weak on the facts. But it marks a year in which we've turned to his theories to comprehend suffering - and to get treatmentAgainst the background of the always-on sonic leak of the BBC and Hitler's promise to annihilate the Jewry of Europe, a new film, Freud's Last Session, hopes to capitalize on a year in which Freud - and psychoanalysis - were resurrected.The film opens with two pairings - the first, Freud and Freud: Anna (Liv Lisa Fries) teases her dying father, Sigmund (Anthony Hopkins), as he gets up from a nap on his couch. The doctor lives," jokes Anna, which, given the film's title, we know won't be true for long. Somewhere else in England, Janie Moore (Orla Brady), an older maternal figure, begs CS Lewis (Matthew Goode) to cancel his appointment and stay safely indoors. Both men push through their challenges - the jaw cancer that has made Freud's life nearly unbearable, and the threat of bombs over Lewis's train - to gather to debate the facticity of God. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Study published in 2019 used blood and saliva samples from 203 Uyghur and Kazakh people living in Xinjiang capitalConcerns have been raised that academic publishers may not be doing enough to vet the ethical standards of research they publish, after a paper based on genetic data from China's Uyghur population was retracted and questions were raised about several others including one that is currently published by Oxford University Press.In June, Elsevier, a Dutch academic publisher, retracted an article entitled Analysis of Uyghur and Kazakh populations using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel" that had been published in 2019. Continue reading...

A figurine from one of the world's oldest known human settlements reveals much about the history and potential of female powerAs a writer, my focus has been on one of the biggest mysteries in all of history: what are the origins of patriarchy in human society? I should have known that the journey to answer that question would for ever change the way I thought about myself.What I did know was that researching it would mean going back in time. The historical timescales involved here aren't centuries but millennia. That was how I landed in southern Anatolia, Turkey, at the site of one of the oldest known human settlements in the world. Catalhoyuk is beautifully preserved, its box-like homes a window into how people lived in this region thousands of years before Stonehenge was built or the first pyramids went up in Egypt.Angela Saini is a science journalist and the author of Superior: The Return of Race ScienceDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

The US military's X-37B robot spaceplane blasted off from Florida on its seventh mission, the first launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket capable of delivering it to a higher orbit than ever before. The launch of the plane, which will carry out classified experiments, marks another development in US-China space rivalry

Social media can amplify our own helplessness and guilt - perhaps it's time to return our focus from the global to the local, where we can truly make a changeI am a worrier. Long before I read about the stoics, I tended to begin my days with what they call a premeditatio malorum - a rumination on all the very worst things that could happen in the next 24 hours. These days, I achieve the same effect by logging on to Twitter (or X, as nobody but Elon Musk will ever call it).To exist in the age of globalised social media is to wake up to the news that the worst has happened somewhere and, somehow, it's your fault. Looking ahead to 2024, the thought of 365 more days of the worst possible happenings actually happening - and my being somehow complicit, if only as witness - doesn't exactly fill me with festive cheer. Continue reading...

Duolingo is pausing' its Welsh course despite high demand - we need robust forms of learning that aren't driven by profitEvery 14 days, a language dies. Within the next century, about half of the 7,000 languages spoken on Earth today will have disappeared, taking with them a unique lexicon, culture and way of seeing the world.I'm lucky enough to be one of just 0.01% of the world's population who speaks Welsh as their mother tongue. Its survival over 1,500 years is remarkable, living cheek by jowl with English, the most dominant language on Earth. The Welsh language faces a genuine threat; it is classed as vulnerable" by the Endangered Languages Project and potentially vulnerable" by Unesco. The latest census showed that despite huge expense and effort, in 2021 there were 24,000 fewer Welsh speakers in Wales than a decade earlier, with the proportion dropping to a record low of 17.8%. Continue reading...

Monitoring what comes out of an animal is a vital part of keeping an eye on its healthI thought convincing my husband of the merits of my returning to study just as he had retired would be a tricky sell. So his enthusiasm for the idea caught me by surprise.He helpfully suggested several interesting topics: sea turtles, dugongs and coral reefs. If it involved a boat in a warm climate, he was behind me 100%. Continue reading...

International research indicates giving infants nirsevimab would cause sharp drop in rates of respiratory syncytial virus infectionAn injection could reduce by 80% the numbers of babies and young children admitted to hospital with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a groundbreaking" study has found.The study, published in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine, involved 8,058 healthy babies aged up to 12 months from the UK, France and Germany, who were approaching their first RSV season. Continue reading...

My friend and colleague Tony Roth, who has died aged 70 from a brain tumour, was an academic in the field of clinical psychology.Tony's interest in what makes an effective therapist led to projects commissioned by the Department of Health & NHS England that resulted in the creation of new frameworks to summarise the skills and knowledge required to practise competently. These have helped to improve training, services commissioning and policy development across a range of therapies, as well as in other mental health areas such as self-harm prevention and children's inpatient services. Continue reading...

My father, Felix Munkonge, who has died aged 64 after a stroke, was a biochemist recognised for the key role he played in coordinating the clinical testing of gene therapy as a potential treatment for cystic fibrosis. He was also a contributor to the team at AstraZeneca that supported the manufacturing capability of the Covid-19 vaccine.Felix joined AstraZeneca as a project manager in November 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and was responsible for managing laboratory-scale collaborations with several chief medical officers around the world. That work made a significant contribution to ensuring the global availability of the vaccine. Continue reading...

Study that involved transplanting people's microbes into mice may show way to possible therapies, say scientistsWhile some people might relish the prospect of a new year party, for others socialising can trigger feelings of fear, anxiety and distress. Now researchers say microbes in the gut may play a role in causing social anxiety disorder, opening up fresh possibilities for therapies.Scientists have previously found the gut microbiome - the collection of bacteria and other organisms that live in the gastrointestinal system - differs for people who have social anxiety disorder (SAD) compared with healthy individuals, while a growing body of research has revealed that microbes in the gut can influence the brain - and vice versa. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Device with compartments replicating major organs could also speed up patients' access to new medicinesScientists have developed a pioneering 3D-printed device that could speed up patient access to new medicines and eliminate the need for animal testing.Thousands of animals are used in the early stages of developing medicines worldwide every year, yet many drugs tested on animals do not end up showing any clinical benefit. Continue reading...

In this special Age of Extinction mini-series from Science Weekly, which first aired in August 2023, the Guardian's biodiversity reporter, Phoebe Weston, explores the murky world of the illegal killing of birds of prey on grouse moors, and asks why it is so difficult to solve these crimes. In episode two, Phoebe speaks to the people trying to protect these rare birds but, as she digs deeper, she encounters a surprising silence around the killing of a hen harrier's chicks Continue reading...

Ground-breaking research identifies 15 factors that significantly raise chance of developing illnessAlcohol misuse, coming from a lower socioeconomic background, loneliness and having a hearing impairment are among 15 factors found to significantly increase the risk of early-onset dementia, according to a groundbreaking" study.Almost 4 million people worldwide experience dementia symptoms before they are 65, with 370,000 people newly diagnosed each year. Continue reading...

Gracell Biotechnologies acquisition marks China's growing importance to the Anglo-Swedish drugmakerAstraZeneca has struck a deal to buy a Chinese cancer therapy company for up to $1.2bn (950m), as Britain's biggest drugmaker expands its footprint in its second-largest market.The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm announced on Tuesday it would acquire Gracell Biotechnologies, which is focused on a type of cancer therapy known as CAR-T that modifies a patient's cells to fight the disease. Continue reading...

Satellite images showing plant health hold vital information on stratovolcanoes in forested areasGreener plants can be used to foretell when a volcano is about to erupt, potentially providing a warning long before more conventional methods of volcano monitoring.An increase in carbon dioxide emissions is often one of the earliest signs of volcanic unrest, but it is hard to detect against ordinary background levels of the gas and difficult to measure directly because so many volcanoes are in inaccessible and heavily vegetated areas. Continue reading...

In this special Age of Extinction mini-series from Science Weekly, which first aired in August 2023, the Guardian's biodiversity reporter, Phoebe Weston, explores the illegal killing of birds of prey on grouse moors and asks why it is so difficult to solve these crimes. In episode one, Phoebe hears about the case of Susie, a hen harrier whose chicks were killed while being monitored on camera. As she starts to investigate the case, she hears from conservationist Ruth Tingay about why hen harriers are targeted and finds out about the personal costs of campaigning on this issue Continue reading...

My friend Andy Kuczmierczyk, who has died aged 68 of cancer, was professor of clinical psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, and also a life coach and a poet.Starting out on his career in the late-1970s, he studied cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) at Middlesex hospital in central London, under Victor Meyer, a founding father of CBT. Andy deployed adventurous techniques including flooding", which involves people with phobias being exposed immediately and directly to the things they fear most. Continue reading...

The answers to today's questionsEarlier today I set you the following problems. Here they are again with solutions.Puzzle 1 Can you make 24 using only the digits from 1 to 9 and the basic arithmetical operations? Here's one way that places all the digits in the correct order. Continue reading...

Puzzles to mark the yearUPDATE: To read the solutions click hereFor the first time in eight years of posting puzzles on alternate Mondays, today's publication date coincides with Christmas Day. Festive greetings everyone!What numerical gifts has Santa brought this year? For North Americans, there's a delightful date next week: New Year's Eve is 123123. Continue reading...

When the virus shut down my nostrils, I presumed it was a temporary issue. But three years later my food still tastes like cardboardTo celebrate our anniversary, my partner and I dine in a trendy London restaurant in Hackney with a Michelin star - my first time in such a place. A crispy little bonbon is introduced to us simply as Pine, kvass lees and vin brule." I watch my partner light up, the flickering candle in her eyes, as the waiter sets the thing down. The impact of the aroma has already registered on her face. With her first bite she is transported to her childhood in Massachusetts. Gosh," she gasps, closing her eyes as a New England virgin pine forest explodes in her mind. When she blinks open, returning to the here and now, she looks at me guiltily. I take a bite and wince. No coniferous wonderland for me. Just unpleasant bitterness, confined very much to the tongue.I am pleased for her, truly. I'm a magnanimous guy. But from that moment on, the whole evening is a bit of a spectator sport and, by the end of it, I have a feeling that she is even playing her enjoyment down, muting her reactions, as if to say, You're not missing out." She finds some dishes prove more successful than others - the sweetness of cherry, an umami-rich mushroom - but I am missing out: on the nuances, the emotions, the memories. The smell. Continue reading...

After its first full calendar year of operation, astronomers are using the probe to look for life on thousands of newly discovered planetsThere is a distant world where quartz crystals float above a searing hot, puffy atmosphere. Vaporised sand grains, not water droplets, form the clouds that fill the sky on Wasp-107b, a planet 1,300 light years from Earth.Then there is GJ1214, the sauna planet. With a mass eight times that of Earth, it orbits its parent star at a distance that is one-seventieth of the gap between Earth and the sun and seems to be coated in a thick dense atmosphere containing vast amounts of steam. Continue reading...

Canadian scientists say evidence from cave art all over the world shows digits may have been ritually removed to appease deities or aid social cohesionMen and women might have had their fingers deliberately chopped off during religious rituals in prehistoric times, according to a new interpretation of palaeolithic cave art.In a paper presented at a recent meeting of the European Society for Human Evolution, researchers point to 25,000-year-old paintings in France and Spain that depict silhouettes of hands. On more than 200 of these prints, the hands lack at least one digit. In some cases, only a single upper segment is missing; in others, several fingers are gone. Continue reading...

Marina Hyde mulls over Lady Mone's PPE farrago, car crash interview and fight with the PM (1m26s); Victoria Mary Clarke on the excess, addiction and love that bound her and Shane MacGowan together (10m20s); and Anita Chaudhuri on being shut out by loved ones for 40 years (27m46s) Continue reading...

Research carried out on pigs showed they ate almost 40% less food after ingesting the capsuleDieters everywhere know that, no matter how inventive a chef you may be, nothing leaves you buzzing like sugary or fatty food.Now science might have the answer: a vibrating pill, swallowed before eating, that creates feelings of fullness. Continue reading...

The animals combine sleeping and digesting, researchers found after extracting reindeer brain dataIf your ceaseless feasting at Christmas leaves you exhausted, it may be worth taking inspiration from reindeer: research suggests the animals can sleep while chewing.During the summer months, reindeer spend most of their time munching foliage - an important activity given food can be scarce in the winter. However, a study suggests one way they balance their need to digest with the need to sleep is by multitasking. Continue reading...

Research found little ones typically begin to distinguish fantasy from reality during preschool years I cried for hours': the moments people realised truth about Father ChristmasFrom empty glasses of sherry on the mantelpiece to sooty footprints leading to the bedroom door, evidence of Santa's existence is clearly irrefutable. Yet most children will begin to question it at some point - and many parents anticipate this moment with dread. Now psychologists have identified the average age when Santa scepticism creeps in, and which children are at greatest risk of harbouring negative feelings when it does.While most adults have fallen for the myth that Santa doesn't exist, many children still believe - even if the idea of a single individual visiting the homes of billions of children in a single night is at odds with their wider reasoning skills. Continue reading...

There are now seven known species of soft-furred hedgehogs, which look like a cross between a mouse and a shrewScientists have identified five new species of soft-furred hedgehogs from south-east Asia.Two of the species discovered are entirely new to science, while three have been elevated from subspecies level by researchers, who carried out DNA analysis as well as detailed physical observations of the mammals. Continue reading...

Sniffing emotional tears from women can cut male aggression by more than 40% and cause changes in brainHuman tears carry a substance that dampens down aggression, according to researchers, who believe the drops may have evolved over time to protect wailing babies from harm.Sniffing emotional tears from women reduced male aggression by more than 40% in computerised tests, and prompted corresponding changes in the brain, though the scientists behind the study think all human tears would have a similar effect. Continue reading...

Darwin spent more than half of the five years of the Beagle expedition in the most southerly region of Argentina, where his legacy is still vividFar from the recognisable image of the white-bearded father of modern biology, when Charles Darwin embarked on his expedition into the unknown, he was a young man who had twice disappointed his family.A model of HMS Beagle, the navy ship on which Darwin sailed to South America in 1831 Continue reading...

What with Christmas parties and work drinks, this time of year can feel like one long hangover. But a new generation of alcohol-free alternatives is emerging which claim to offer the fun of alcohol without the painful morning-after. Madeleine Finlay and Ian Sample are joined by science correspondent Hannah Devlin to sample some of these drinks and interrogate the science behind them Continue reading...

Researchers suspect euphoria and intimacy of season may be behind spike in casesIt may be the season of loving and giving, but doctors have warned against embracing this spirit too enthusiastically - at least where sexual relations are concerned. They have discovered that the Christmas period is associated with a significantly increased risk of penile fractures - a medical emergency in which the erection-producing regions of the penis snap, usually as a result of forceful bending during over-enthusiastic sexual intercourse.This injury tends to occur during wild sex - particularly in positions where you're not in direct eye contact [with your partner], such as the reverse cowgirl," said Dr Nikolaos Pyrgides, a urologist at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, who led the research. Continue reading...

Dark eyes are more common in domesticated dogs, possibly because we consider this trait more friendlyHuman preferences for a friendly face may have steered the evolution of canine eye colour, researchers have suggested.Ever since canines were domesticated, some time between 15,000 and 50,000 years ago, humans have selected - whether consciously or not - particular traits in their dogs. Continue reading...

French wild pansies are producing smaller flowers and less nectar than 20 to 30 years ago in startling' act of evolution, study showsFlowers are giving up on" pollinators and evolving to be less attractive to them as insect numbers decline, researchers have said.A study has found the flowers of field pansies growing near Paris are 10% smaller and produce 20% less nectar than flowers growing in the same fields 20 to 30 years ago. They are also less frequently visited by insects. Continue reading...

About 12% of birds have died out as result of human activity in past 120,000 years, say scientistsAbout 12% of the world's bird species have been driven to extinction by human activity, new research has found - double previous estimates.The study, published in Nature Communications on Tuesday, estimates that about 1,430 bird species have died out since the Late Pleistocene period, which started about 120,000 years ago. Continue reading...

Simon Thomas knew the periodic table by heart at six. Now the Cambridge firm's co-founder is putting his scientific brain behind graphene's power to help us compete with ChinaThe first thing visitors to Paragraf's lab, in the Cambridgeshire village of Somersham, are shown is a thin disc made of synthetic sapphire with a piece of graphene taped on to it. This was the first graphene product the company made, and it quickly evolved to a small wafer of 64 tiny graphene devices arranged in a grid. These days, the company produces six-inch wafers that hold 9,000 chips.Graphene, a 2D form of carbon, with the atoms arranged in a hexagonal structure, is mainly used to strengthen concrete and paints, but is now being touted as a replacement for silicon in semiconductors. China has started using it to get ahead in the global microchip wars. Continue reading...

Cat chases laser pointer dot in 15-second video, designed to test possibility of sending streaming video through deep spaceHe may not be the first cat in space - that honour goes to a French feline named Felicette in 1963 - but on Monday an orange tabby named Taters took an arguably bigger prize: first cat video in space.Nasa sent a 15-second video of Taters in ultra-HD, which travelled almost 19m miles from a probe back to Earth. Continue reading...

Veoza reduces the severity of this common menopausal symptom. But at that high cost, only the wealthy will gain just nowAfter decades of neglect, menopause and the impact it has on women's life quality is becoming a major focus of pharmaceutical research. Hence the excitement this week about a new, potentially life-changing, drug.Part of this is the growing recognition of what a huge market it is: the NHS estimates that 13 million women are currently peri- or menopausal in the UK, which is roughly a third of the female population. The most common symptom is hot flushes, which, in addition to fatigue, mood swings and muscle weakness, can seriously impact women's wellbeing and productivity.Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh Continue reading...

The prevalence of sickle cell disease is changing how Nigerians date, marry and plan their lives. And as genetic testing becomes more common, prospective parents across the world will face similar questionsSubomi Mabogunje fell for Nkechi Egonu within hours of meeting her in 2004. They were working at a state-run TV station in Ijebu Ode, a trading hub in south-west Nigeria. While Subomi was thin and bespectacled, Nkechi was petite and voluptuous, with her hair in a ballerina bun, and coldly immune to the stares that trailed her across the office. Her swaggering personality was also the opposite of his reserved one, and she was quickly promoted to programme presenter. She was the most exciting person, Subomi felt, who had ever walked into his home town.He found the courage to speak to Nkechi one weekend when they were assigned to do community service, clearing overgrown grasses near a government building. Subomi went, despite his habitual avoidance of strenuous physical activity. You're too good for this kind of work, ehe?" Nkechi teased. With his hollow cheekbones, frail body and elongated fingers, Subomi was clearly what some uncharitable onlookers would call a sickler" -one of up to 6 million people in Nigeria with sickle cell disease (SCD), a group of inherited blood disorders that turn red blood cells from soft discs into rigid crescents, leading to blood clots, pain episodes called crises" and serious complications in most major organs. But Nkechi never shied away from him. Within a few weeks of their first conversation, they were inseparable. Continue reading...

Bonobos and chimps demonstrate longest long-term memory ever found in nonhuman animals, scientists sayWhether it is a sea of faces at a school reunion or distant family at a wedding, our ability to remember people we met years ago can come in handy. Now it seems our evolutionary cousins have a similar skill.Researchers have found bonobos and chimpanzees can recall peers they spent time with in the past, even if they have been separated for decades. What is more, this recognition appears to be influenced by whether they got on well with each other - or not. Continue reading...

A male contraceptive is almost here - and it'll be another test of whether heterosexual men are actually willing to share the responsibilities of adult lifeTrials are under way in Britain for the first-ever male contraceptive pill. It's a promising medication, one that puts more power in men's hands to prevent unwanted pregnancy with high reliability and, so far, few reported side-effects. The trials seek to answer a basic medical question: is this drug safe and effective? But the manufacturers are no doubt wondering about something else: will men take it?The overwhelming share of responsibility for preventing pregnancy has always fallen on women. Throughout human history, women have gone to great lengths to prevent pregnancies they didn't want, and end those they couldn't prevent. Safe and reliable contraceptive methods are, in the context of how long women have sought to interrupt conception, still incredibly new. Measured by the lifespan of anyone reading this article, though, they are well established, and have for many decades been a normal part of life for millions of women around the world.Jill Filipovic is the author of the The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness Continue reading...

Pair will be visible from northern and southern hemispheres just in time for the solsticeThe moon is rapidly approaching fullness, and this week it will make a passing encounter with Jupiter on 21 and 22 December.The chart shows the view looking due south from London at 9pm GMT on 22 December. The moon will be waxing gibbous (getting bigger) with 82% of its visible surface illuminated. Jupiter will be a bright object, shining at around a magnitude of -2.7 in the constellation of Aries, the ram. The pair will also be visible from the southern hemisphere, where they can be easily seen in the northern sky. Continue reading...

Veoza, also known as fezolinetant, is prescription-only and will be available privately from JanuaryA gamechanging" drug that prevents hot flushes and could benefit hundreds of thousands of women has been approved for use in the UK.The green light for Veoza, also known as fezolinetant, comes after the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, authorised it for use in America in May. Continue reading...

Readers on when it is justifiable to ostracise close family members, and the pain of being cut off by othersI read with interest your piece about the silent treatment" as a response to conflict and thought it worth offering an alternative view that sometimes this is the only option available (The silent treatment: One woman was ostracised by her husband for 40 years', 12 December). I'm not sure that framing all people who stop talking to blood relatives as sulkers" is necessarily accurate or helpful.I have not spoken with my biological brother for the last 15-odd years. The basis for this was his psychological and physical abuse that not only overshadowed my childhood, but continued into adulthood, long after he should have known better. It took years of therapy to realise that I did not need to include this person in my life and I made the decision to cut ties. Despite pleas from our mother for me to reconcile", I have made it clear that reconciliation can only follow after an apology and acknowledgment from his end for threats, physical assaults and making me a figurative and literal punchbag, even into our 20s. Until then, there can be no grounds for a meaningful adult relationship. Continue reading...

Unst's remote location makes it perfect place for SaxaVord site to launch rockets with greatest payloadsFor centuries, Unst has been famous for its richly varied wildlife, pristine beaches and unspoilt sea views. Now the remote Shetland island is leading Britain into space.A former RAF base on a remote peninsula of the island has become the UK's first licensed spaceport for vertical rocket launches. It will allow up to 30 satellites and other payloads to be launched into commercially valuable polar, sun-synchronous orbits, which are in high demand from satellite operators for communications and Earth observation. Continue reading...