Tests exploring how birds navigate gaps smaller than their wingspan shed new light on their amazing abilities'When it comes to mind-bending aerial manoeuvres, it turns out hummingbirds can give Top Gun's Maverick a run for his money.Researchers have discovered that the diminutive creatures have two different strategies they can deploy to squeeze through gaps that are smaller than their wingspan. Continue reading...

US researchers suggest that better work-life balance particular beneficial for those over 45 or at higher riskFlexible working can reduce someone's risk of having a heart attack or stroke, new American research has found.Having a better work-life balance is so beneficial to health that some employees who work flexibly end up with heart health equivalent to what they had 10 years earlier. Continue reading...

Method could be used to stop people from unlocking cars or to support bartenders serving alcoholWhether it is the story of Peter Piper and his pickled peppers or a woman selling sea shells on the seashore, tongue-twisters tackled when sober can sound rather different after a drink.Now researchers believe such changes, in particular those relating to pitch and frequency, could be used to alert people to their level of intoxication. Continue reading...

5m project launched with aim of having reliable tests within five years to provide quick diagnosisScientists are to begin piloting simple blood tests for dementia that could revolutionise detection of the disease and within five years lead to people being diagnosed in seconds by the NHS.Currently, getting a formal diagnosis in the UK relies on mental ability tests, brain scans or invasive and painful lumbar punctures, where a sample of cerebrospinal fluid is drawn from the lower back. Continue reading...

Ian Sample talks to Guardian global environment editor Jon Watts about the withering drought currently devastating the Amazon rainforest. Jon explains the complex mix of factors that are driving the drought, and considers whether it might be a catalyst for more concerted climate action in Brazil and beyondClips: Freesounds archive Continue reading...

Japan has gained another island after an undersea volcanic eruption 1,200 km south of Tokyo created a new landmass. The tiny island emerged following a series of eruptions that began last month near Iwoto island, part of the Ogasawara island chain in the western Pacific, according to experts

New research on insects - without which the planet would not survive - shows a higher proportion are at risk of disappearingRead more: How the extinction of insects would transform our planetTwo million species are at risk of extinction, a figure that is double previous UN estimates, new analysis has found.While scientists have long documented the decline of species of plants and vertebrates, there has always been significant uncertainty over insects, with the UN making a tentative estimate" of 10% threatened with extinction in 2019. Continue reading...

When I felt lonely growing up, my grandmother's company and cuisine were a soothing balmMy grandmother collected me from school every day and invariably brought me along to pick up any missing ingredients for dinner. I was a dark-skinned child with thick, curly hair, and she could have passed for white. People often didn't know what to make of us, but rarely questioned our relationship aloud.Once, at Schwegmann's, our local grocery store, the cashier looked from me to my grandmother several times, a quizzical expression on her face. How you come to be together?" she finally asked. My grandmother beamed at her, tousled my hair. That's my granddaughter," she said, as if I was a hard-earned prize she had won. That's my granddaughter," she repeated, accepting her change, retrieving her shopping bag and walking me to the car. Continue reading...

Thousands of specimens from the 1500s show huge changes to Bologna's flora due to climate crisis and migration, say researchersA collection of pressed flowers taken from the hillsides of Bologna 500 years ago is unlocking knowledge about how the climate crisis and human migration is changing landscapes in northern Italy.Picked between 1551 and 1586 by the Renaissance naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, the 5,000 delicately cut and dried plants form one of the richest collections of its time. Continue reading...

Last month was hottest October since records began, with average global temperature thought to be 1.7C above late-1800s levelsThe world is set to have been hotter in 2023 than in any other year on record, scientists have declared, before a landmark climate summit this month.We can say with near certainty that 2023 will be the warmest year on record, and is currently 1.43C above the pre-industrial average," said Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The sense of urgency for ambitious climate action going into Cop28 has never been higher." Continue reading...

Scientists find average levels of nitrogen dioxide almost twice as high in homes cooking with gas as in those cooking withoutGas cookers are pumping pollutants linked to childhood asthma into kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms across Europe, a report has found.Dutch scientists measured the air quality in 247 homes and found average levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO) were almost twice as high in those cooking with gas as in those cooking without. One in four homes with gas cookers breached hourly pollution levels set by the World Health Organization, while none of the homes in the control group, which used electric cookers, broke the limits. Continue reading...

Just as frogs and crickets alter calls to attract mates, study shows male singers boost vocals in front of female onlookersBehind the rousing song of an all-male choir lies an evolutionary force that is better known for shaping the sex lives of hopeful frogs and crickets, research suggests.Recordings of an elite boys' choir once directed by Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig, Germany, reveal that the more physically mature boys in the group boosted their vocals with an appealing ring when girls were in the audience. Continue reading...

Findings may enable earlier treatment before severe damage happens requiring life-changing surgerySigns of the debilitating bowel condition Crohn's disease can be detected in routine blood tests up to eight years before the onset of symptoms, and up to three years before a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. The discovery suggests that early stages of inflammatory bowel diseases may begin far earlier than previously assumed, and may eventually enable doctors to intervene before severe damage occurs.Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that affect more than 500,000 people in the UK alone. They are caused by the immune system mistakenly attacking the gut, resulting in painful sores, inflammation and symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Continue reading...

Move to make more than half of those living with condition in England and Wales eligible for device hailed as gamechangerMore than 150,000 adults and children with type 1 diabetes in England and Wales are to be offered an artificial pancreas on the NHS, which experts are hailing as a gamechanger" that will save lives and heartbreak".The groundbreaking device, also called a hybrid closed-loop system, uses a hi-tech algorithm to determine the amount of insulin that should be administered and reads blood sugar levels to keep them steady. A world-first trial on the NHS showed it was more effective at managing diabetes than current devices and required far less input from patients. Continue reading...

Perseus cluster and Horsehead nebula captured in dazzling detail as part of effort to create cosmic 3D mapThe Euclid space telescope has beamed back its first images in a mission that promises to lift a veil on the dark universe".The 1bn (850m) European Space Agency (Esa) mission is focused on dark matter and dark energy, which together make up 95% of the universe but their natures are almost entirely mysterious. The first images show the Perseus galaxy cluster and Horsehead nebula in dazzling detail and capture approximately 100,000 galaxies in a single snapshot, showcasing the telescope's unmatched ability to make razor-sharp observations across a vast expanse of space. Continue reading...

Anastrozole to be made available to women who have been through the menopause and have family history of breast cancerAlmost 300,000 women at higher risk of developing breast cancer are being given access to a drug that can halve their risk in a major step forward" in the fight against the disease.An estimated 289,000 women in England who are at moderate or high risk of breast cancer will from Tuesday be able to take the tablet to try to prevent it from developing, NHS bosses said. Continue reading...

After Matthew Perry's death was announced, a clip of the actor debating the science of addiction on the BBC's Newsnight programme went viral. To find out where we've got to in our understanding of addiction, Ian Sample talks to Dr Nora Volkow, director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse. She explains how brain imaging has advanced our understanding of this chronic diseaseClips: NBC, BBC Continue reading...

Former president takes stand in New York Trump Organization trial as judge asks lawyer to control your client'

The first patient to receive a spinal implant to treat advanced Parkinson's disease has described experiencing 'a rebirth' after the treatment allowed him to walk again without falling over. Marc, 63, from Bordeaux, France, was diagnosed with the degenerative disease more than 20 years ago and had developed severe mobility problems, including balance impairments and freezing of gait. After receiving the implant, which aims to restore normal signalling to the leg muscles from the spine, he has been able to walk more normally and regained his independence.

Marc, 63, had freezing of gait before becoming first with advanced Parkinson's to be fitted with device restoring normal signallingThe first patient to receive a spinal implant to treat advanced Parkinson's disease has described experiencing a rebirth" after the treatment allowed him to walk again without falling over.Marc, 63, from Bordeaux, France, was diagnosed with the degenerative disease more than 20 years ago and had developed severe mobility problems, including balance impairments and freezing of gait. After receiving the implant, which aims to restore normal signalling to the leg muscles from the spine, he has been able to walk more normally and regained his independence. Continue reading...

Bronze coins dating from fourth century are in exceptional state of preservation, Italy's culture ministry saysAn Italian diver's sighting of something metallic near the coast of Sardinia has led to the discovery of tens of thousands of Roman bronze coins, Italy's culture ministry has said.After the man alerted the authorities, divers from an art protection squad and the ministry's undersea archaeology department were sent to investigate. The coins, which date back to the first half of the fourth century, were found among sea grass not far from the north-east shore of the Mediterranean island. Continue reading...

The sun is expected to reach solar maximum' between January and October 2024, bringing spectacular aurora displaysThis winter is likely to be a blockbuster year for seeing the Northern Lights as scientists predict the best displays in 20 years, which have already been seen in southern England.The sun is predicted to reach the peak of its approximately 11-year activity cycle - known as solar maximum" - between January and October 2024, bringing with it spectacular aurora displays both in lower polar regions and further south in Europe. Continue reading...

We focus on friendships, but encounters with those we hardly know are vital tooThe stranger struck up conversation on a delayed flight between Florida and New York. We were both struggling to entertain our toddlers, and we commiserated awhile. After the children fell asleep, he told me he'd recently left the Mormon church. He said he missed the community and the certainty he once felt. He was still figuring out how to raise a child without faith: for example, would I say there was a heaven if my daughter asked, even if I didn't fully believe it?Maybe it feels more natural to speak intimately with a stranger on a flight, when you are both uprooted and disoriented, not quite sure if it's night or day or where the sun should hang in the sky. Maybe it's more natural for your mind to turn to existential questions when you're hurtling through the atmosphere at great speed, held up by forces you can't fully understand. For a few hours we talked about fear and loss, and I later thought that while this kind of intensity is discouraged, maybe such subjects are actually best explored with someone completely unfamiliar to you, who sees the world quite differently. Continue reading...

Measures including healthy sleep and regular exercise may slow pace of body's biological ageingScientists have named eight health measures that can slow the body's ageing process by six years.Keeping body weight, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure in check while maintaining healthy sleep and eating regimes, doing regular physical activity and not smoking may slow the ageing process by around six years, US experts say.Eat a healthy dietBe more activeQuit smokingGet healthy sleepMaintain a healthy weightControl cholesterolWatch blood sugarManage blood pressure Continue reading...

Daye's product doubles as PCR test for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and other common infectionsA tampon is being repurposed to screen for sexually transmitted infections, with the at-home test aiming to encourage more women to seek treatment.The gynaecological health startup Daye has launched an STI diagnostic tampon, which uses a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to check for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomonas, mycoplasma and ureaplasma, with the tampon used in place of a swab or speculum. Continue reading...

Researchers designing lateral flow test that patients could use at home and avoid six-month wait for MRI scanScientists are developing the world's first finger-prick test to spot brain tumours. More than 300,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with brain cancer each year, and while treatments have improved over the last few decades, recurrence remains a risk.The unpredictable timing of tumours coming back makes them difficult to detect early. Researchers are designing a lateral flow test to pick up signs of recurrence that could be used by patients at home. Continue reading...

The UK excels at longevity research'. Could it become part of an industry that fascinates the wealthiest people in the world?About a decade ago, 125 amateur cyclists from all over the UK filed into the laboratories at King's College London. Aged between 55 and 79, they were there to participate in a long-term study examining how regular physical activity affects the ageing process.Janet Lord, professor of immune cell biology at Birmingham University, who conducted the study in collaboration with King's professor Steve Harridge, said the team were surprised by some findings when they examined the cyclists' bodies and took blood samples over several years. Continue reading...

Some scientists say the rules must be changed so plants and animals are not tagged with objectionable' namesIn 1937, a brown, eyeless beetle was found in a few caves in Slovenia. The new species was unexceptional apart from one feature. Its discoverer decided to name it after Adolf Hitler.Anophthalmus hitleri has an objectionable sound to modern ears. Nor is it alone. Many species' names recall individuals or ideas that offend: the butterfly Hypopta mussolinii, for example, while several hundred plant species carry names based on the word caffra which is derived from a racial slur once used in Africa. Similarly Hibbertia, a genus of flowering plants, honours George Hibbert, an English slave owner. Continue reading...

Women form just 16% of the nominees for next year's award, but Nobel laureate Prof Frances Arnold says gender balance will come through girls working in science from a young ageAs a Nobel laureate, Prof Frances Arnold is not short of accolades. Yet being the only woman to so far win the Millennium Technology Prize - the Nobel equivalent for engineers - is one of the least appealing.Nominations for the 1m 2024 prize closed last week, and the organisers have revealed that women formed just 16.3% of nominees, the highest of any year since the biennial award's launch in 2004, apart from the 28.1% put forward in 2022. Continue reading...

In the NSW southern highlands, Horse Aid is working to un-soldier' former defence personnel and un-race' thoroughbreds

An imaginary starship trip beyond the solar system to the edge of the Milky Way offers new perspectives on the wonders of spaceAstronomy and cosmology can feel detached from everyday reality. But what if we could take a 23rd-century starship tour through the Milky Way and experience the cosmos like an Earth-bound tourist visiting exotic destinations? What would we see from our window?Although physicists enjoy speculating about warp drives, or using wormholes to jump between locations, there is no way to travel faster than light at present. So we're assuming a fictional ability to do this - but beyond that, everything we will encounter on our voyage is based on best current theories. Continue reading...

Helen MacNamara painted a picture of a homogenous, unpleasant top table. Experts says this lack of diversity can matter beyond the workplace itselfHelen MacNamara, the UK's second-most senior official at the height of the Covid pandemic, lifted a lid this week on a toxic environment" at the heart of Downing Street, in which female civil servants became invisible overnight" and were routinely spoken over or ignored. A picture emerges of an unpleasant and unequal workplace, but experts say that the apparent exclusion of women from decision-making is also likely to have impaired the UK's response to the pandemic.At the most basic level, a lack of representation at the table excludes gender-related insights and expertise. MacNamara highlighted specific issues that were overlooked including the lack of provision for domestic abuse victims during the first lockdown, concerns about oversized PPE not fitting and endangering female frontline staff and unnecessarily restrictive rules around pregnancy care and childbirth. She said the WhatsApp group for her children's school - typically the domain of mothers - provided a barometer of public sentiment from which leadership appeared disconnected. Continue reading...

Dinkinesh - Amharic for you are marvelous' - lies beyond orbit of Mars and has its own dinky sidekick barely 220 metres acrossYou could call it a mini moon".In one of the smallest, but still exciting, discoveries by Nasa in recent years, a spacecraft visiting a minor asteroid way out in the solar system has discovered that the chunk of space rock has its own tiny sidekick. Continue reading...

I told Chris Whitty at the time that scientists were providing cover for weak leaders taking harmful decisions

Reanalysis of skeletal remains in Spain suggests conflicts took place about 5,000 years ago in neolithic period, say researchersThe earliest period of warfare in Europe might have occurred more than 1,000 years before what was previously thought to be the first large-scale conflict in the region, researchers have suggested.Reanalysis of more than 300 sets of skeletal remains uncovered in Spain - radiocarbon dated to between 5,400 and 5,000 years ago - indicates that conflicts took place long before powerful states formed in the region. Continue reading...

Scientists say that like humans the rodents can navigate through a space using only their thoughtsWhether dreaming of a white Christmas or simply pondering how best to rearrange the furniture, humans are able to conjure up myriad situations that are not in front of us. Now it seems rats may be able to do something similar.Researchers have found that rats can navigate their way through a space they have previously explored using their thoughts alone, suggesting the rodents have some sort of imagination. Continue reading...

Discovery of hidden transmission of disease formerly know as monkeypox leads to calls for improved surveillanceThe disease formerly known as monkeypox, which spread around the world in an unprecedented outbreak in 2022, was circulating in humans for more than five years before the explosion of cases triggered a global public health emergency, researchers say.The discovery of longstanding, hidden transmission between humans has led to calls for improved global surveillance of the MPXV virus to eliminate the disease, renamed mpox last year, from humans and prevent it from re-emerging. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak sought to reassure workers on Thursday during a speech at an AI safety summit at Bletchley Park in which he said AI would be a 'co-pilot' and not something that would 'replace someone's job'. Sunak said the labour market and available jobs would change, but that the government would invest in helping people retrain

Research finds primates seek high ground to ascertain size and proximity of other groups before advancing or retreatingThe tactic is so effective when the enemy is near that Sun Tzu recommends it in The Art of War: He who occupies the high ground," the Chinese general declared in the ancient military treatise, will fight to advantage".But soldiers are not alone in having hit on the idea. Troops of chimpanzees in Ivory Coast have taken up the same strategy, researchers say, scaling hilltops for recce missions and advancing if the enemy is distant or outnumbered. Continue reading...

Besides the swearing, toxic workplace culture and misogyny, what have we learned from the Covid inquiry? Gaby Hinsliff talks to the Guardian's political editor, Pippa Crerar. And our political correspondent Kiran Stacey tells us how significant the government's first artificial intelligence summit will bePlease note, strong language used throughout. Continue reading...

As the UK hosts the first global AI safety summit, Guardian science editor Ian Sample joins Madeleine Finlay to look on the bright side and consider some of the huge benefits AI could bring to science. Madeleine also hears from Prof Mihaela van der Schaar, an expert in machine learning in medicine, about how she predicts AI will transform patient careClips: BBC Radio 4, the Telegraph, Channel 4 Continue reading...

Study delivers dire warning although rate of increase is debated by some scientists amid a record-breaking year of heatGlobal heating is accelerating faster than is currently understood and will result in a key temperature threshold being breached as soon as this decade, according to research led by James Hansen, the US scientist who first alerted the world to the greenhouse effect.The Earth's climate is more sensitive to human-caused changes than scientists have realized until now, meaning that a dangerous" burst of heating will be unleashed that will push the world to be 1.5C hotter than it was, on average, in pre-industrial times within the 2020s and 2C hotter by 2050, the paper published on Thursday predicts. Continue reading...

Rapid rollout of anticoagulant drugs to people with atrial fibrillation saved 4,000 lives since January 2022, says NHS chiefThousands of lives have been saved by giving blood-thinning drugs to people with a heart condition that puts them at risk of a stroke, according to the head of the NHS.Since January 2022, about 460,000 people in England who suffer from atrial fibrillation (AF) - a dangerously irregular heart rate - have begun taking one of four anticoagulant drugs that are proven to reduce stroke risk. Continue reading...

UK study finds cognitive function and working memory in older adults declined even if they were not infected with virus

Everything you need to know about cognitive decline and how to maintain a healthy brain

Move signals US government slowly opening up about what it knows, or doesn't, about unidentified anomalous phenomenaThe Pentagon has launched an online reporting tool for certain encounters with unidentified anomalous phenomena, formerly known as UFOs, in an expansion of its effort to be more transparent about its exploration of the unknown.Only current or former federal employees, or those with direct knowledge of US government programs or activities related to UAP dating back to 1945" are so far eligible to use the secure form, which went live on Tuesday on the website of the defense department's somewhat blandly named All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Aaro). Continue reading...

Shropshire county council narrowly approves road handing death sentence to tree Darwin may have climbed as a boyAs an eight-year-old, Charles Darwin may have sat in the shade beneath its boughs and climbed its branches. Two hundred years later, Darwin's oak" has been handed a death sentence to make way for a new road to bypass Shrewsbury.Along with eight other veteran trees, the 550-year-old, open-grown oak tree, which has a girth of 7 metres (23ft), stands in the path of the planned Shrewsbury North West Relief Road (NWRR), an 80m bypass linking the northern and western parts of the town. Continue reading...

Lawrence Faucette, who had terminal heart disease, received a pig heart genetically altered to be compatible with humansThe world's second recipient of a pig heart transplant died this week, nearly six weeks after the procedure.Lawrence Faucette, 58, was suffering from terminal heart disease and received a heart transplant from a genetically altered pig on 20 September. He died on 30 October. Continue reading...

US vice-president Kamala Harris rejected what she called the 'false choice' between advancing AI innovation and stopping its progress for public safety on Wednesday, calling for AI safety and reaffirming the US's commitment to work with partners to promote better AI safety frameworks globally. In a speech in London at the Global Summit on AI Safety, Harris acknowledged existential threats posed by AI but added that it was a moment of 'profound opportunity' and this was a chance to 'seize the moment'

New research proposes that impact melted most of both worlds and led to the formation of the moonMysterious blobs that lurk more than 1,000 miles underground may be remnants of a Mars-sized planet which slammed into Earth in the early solar system and produced a shower of debris that formed the moon, researchers say.According to scientists' leading theory, the moon was created about 4.5bn years ago when an ancient protoplanet named Theia thumped into the fledgling Earth. At the time, our home planet was still an infant and only about 85% of its size today. Continue reading...