After Virgin Orbit’s failed mission, Commons committee hears complaints about regulatorBritain’s failed attempt to send satellites into orbit was a “disaster” and MPs are being urged to redirect funding to hospitals, with the country now seen as “toxic” for future launches.Senior figures at the Welsh company Space Forge, which lost a satellite when Virgin Orbit’s Start Me Up mission failed to reach orbit, said a “seismic change” was needed for the UK to be appealing for space missions. Continue reading...
Once-abundant giant lacewing was believed extinct in eastern US but mislabelled specimen hints at surviving populationsA giant Jurassic-era insect missing from eastern North America for at least half a century has been spotted clinging to the side of a Walmart big box in Arkansas.The identification of the giant lacewing – Polystoechotes punctata – in an urban area of Fayetteville, Arkansas, sent scientists into raptures. The discovery of a species that was abundant in the age of the dinosaurs but which was thought to have disappeared from large swaths of North America has stoked speculation that there may be entire populations tucked away in remote parts of the Ozark mountains. Continue reading...
After losing his beloved father when he was 10, Ronald Mallett read HG Wells and Einstein. They inspired his eminent career as a theoretical physicist – and his lifelong ambition to build a time machineProf Ronald Mallett thinks he has cracked time travel. The secret, he says, is in twisting the fabric of space-time with a ring of rotating lasers to make a loop of time that would allow you to travel backwards. It will take a lot more explaining and experiments, but after a half century of work, the 77-year-old astrophysicist has got that down pat.His claim is not as ridiculous as it might seem. Entire academic departments, such as the Centre for Time at the University of Sydney, are dedicated to studying the possibility of time travel. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is working on a “time-reversal machine” to detect dark matter. Of course there are still lots of physicists who believe time travel, or at least travelling to the past, is impossible, but it is not quite the sci-fi pipe dream it once was. Continue reading...
Researchers have secured £1m to refine method of scoring potential organs by comparing imagesArtificial intelligence could help NHS surgeons perform 300 more transplant operations every year, according to British researchers who have designed a new tool to boost the quality of donor organs.Currently, medical staff must rely on their own assessments of whether an organ may be suitable for transplanting into a patient. It means some organs are picked that ultimately do not prove successful, while others that might be useful can be disregarded. Continue reading...
Remains of earwig-like insects discovered near village of Chekarda, Russia, covered in pollenNearly 200m years before the mosquito in Jurassic Park became trapped in amber, hundreds of ancient insects were encased in sediment along the bank of the Sylva river that flows through the Urals.Now, scientists inspecting the flattened creatures have found a handful that appear to mark a moment in history: they are the oldest known insects to be covered in pollen, and perhaps some of the world’s first plant pollinators. Continue reading...
An unusual whale feeding technique first documented by scientists in the 2010s may have actually been described in ancient texts two millennia ago, researchers say. Researchers from Flinders University identified striking parallels between the behaviour of tread-water feeding and a sea creature named hafgufa from 13th century Old Norse texts. It is thought hafgufa can be traced back to the aspidochelone, a sea monster that first appeared in the ancient Greek text Physiologus. 'Definitive proof for the origins of myths is exceedingly rare and often impossible, but the parallels here are far more striking and persistent than any previous suggestions,' the researchers noted.
Seeing the aurora borealis so far south is highly unusual, and was thanks to very clear skiesThe northern lights are usually most visible near the Earth’s magnetic north and south poles, but thanks to clear skies across the UK over the past two nights, the light spectacle has reached as far south as Cornwall and Hertfordshire. Here, readers in Scotland and England share their recent sightings. Continue reading...
UK researchers received little funding from EU programme because of Brexit trade deal negotiationsScientists in the UK have breathed a “sigh of relief” amid hopes that they will now benefit from the €100bn (£88.6bn) Horizon Europe programme after Rishi Sunak’s breakthrough deal with the EU over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol.For more than two years, researchers in the UK have received little, if any, funding from the flagship EU programme because of the tangle over Brexit trade deal negotiations. Continue reading...
New report supporting theory the coronavirus leaked from a Chinese lab has sparked the latest eruption in a long fight over how the virus started, clouding efforts to pursue a neutral, fact-based inquiryWhite House official John Kirby, standing at the podium where Donald Trump once railed against the “China virus” and praised the healing powers of bleach, faced questions on Monday about the origins of Covid-19. He had no choice but humility. “There is not a consensus right now in the US government about exactly how Covid started,” Kirby admitted. “There is just not an intelligence community consensus.”The renewed interest in a genuine scientific mystery followed a report in the Wall Street Journal that the US Department of Energy had determined the coronavirus most likely leaked by accident from a Chinese laboratory. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay with Ra on (#699RT)
Madeleine Finlay speaks to environmental journalist Rachel Salvidge about PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’, which have been found at high levels at thousands of sites across the UK and Europe. Rachel explains what they are, how harmful they can be, and what can be done to mitigate their effectsClip: Roll CallYou can find Rachel’s reporting, and the map of PFAS levels in the UK and Europe here Continue reading...
Existing UK fertility law should be updated to regulate modern treatments, says HFEAChildren born via sperm or egg donation would not need to wait until adulthood to find out more about their biological parents, under proposed changes to the law in the UK.At present, donor-conceived children cannot obtain information about their biological parents until they are 18. But the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said the law should be updated so this information can be made available after the birth of a child, should the donor choose. Continue reading...
Researchers present initial findings from study that followed thousands of US women for about 20 yearsSeven healthy habits and lifestyle factors may play a role in reducing the risk of dementia, according to a two decade-long study.Being active, eating a better diet, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, keeping normal blood pressure, controlling cholesterol and having low blood sugar in middle age may all lower the chances of developing conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease later in life, research suggests. Continue reading...
Department of Energy’s updated report on origins of coronavirus pandemic jars with most scientists’ assessmentsAccording to the Wall Street Journal, an updated and classified 2021 US energy department report has concluded that the coronavirus behind the recent pandemic most likely emerged from a laboratory leak but not as part of a weapons programme. Continue reading...
Social media has brought sky-watchers together to view an event that may be seen as far south as the home countiesCompare the bucket lists of your friends and the chances are that seeing the northern lights will be on many of them. So the news that, instead of trekking northwards to Norway or Iceland, you can just step out of your back door to see them sounds like a dream come true. In the past couple of nights many people in the UK have done just that, and in some cases as far south as the home counties.But is it as easy as that, and what are the chances of seeing something tonight? Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#69903)
UK falls from fourth to 10th place in phase III trials amid ‘ossified’ bureaucracy and stretched health serviceThe state of clinical trials in the NHS is “much worse than it has been in years” with patients losing access to cutting-edge cancer and dementia treatments, one of the UK’s most senior clinicians has warned.Sir John Bell, the regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford and a government life sciences adviser, said the UK’s approach needed “a full overhaul, top to bottom” to prevent a collapse in the number of clinical trials being conducted in the NHS. Continue reading...
Exclusive: MPs say research system unfit for purpose as mother of boy who died calls for answers on ‘missing millions’Ministers have spent only £15m in five years on research into tackling brain tumours, the biggest killer of adults and children under 40, while boasting about delivering £40m, MPs have found.The revelation emerged in a damning report seen by the Guardian that is due to be published this week by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on brain tumours after a two-year inquiry. Continue reading...
Two jewel-like planets will reach a close conjunction on 2 March before beginning to separateAs promised last week, the two brightest planets in the night sky, Jupiter and Venus, have been closing in on each another. This week, the two jewel-like planets will meet in a close conjunction on 2 March.The chart shows the view looking west-south-west from London at 6pm GMT on 2 March. Venus will be the brighter of the two, becoming visible first as the sunlight drains from the sky. Jupiter’s light will cut through the twilight next, gradually rising in brightness as the night gathers and the pair dip inexorably towards the horizon. Continue reading...
Focus on fungi | Not Robinson Crusoe but The Coral Island | Sleep | Lettuce play with words | Crypto fools and their moneyOne valuable benefit of purchasing cultivated mushrooms (The world is your oyster mushroom! The expert guide to cooking delicious fungi, 21 February) is that it avoids the worry of poisoning yourself from an incorrectly identified wild sample while reducing excess wild forage collection. Home cultivation is another option, with further benefits of using food byproducts. Fungal spawn is available online and grows well on a mix of cereals and sawdust. Try a local microbrewery for spent grains or a cafe for used coffee to develop your own fungi farm.
Updated finding comes with ‘low confidence’ and is a departure from previous studies on how virus emerged, Wall Street Journal reportsThe virus that drove the Covid-19 pandemic most likely emerged from a laboratory leak but not as part of a weapons program, according to an updated and classified 2021 US energy department study provided to the White House and senior American lawmakers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.The department’s finding – a departure from previous studies on how the virus emerged – came in an update to a document from the office of national intelligence director, Avril Haines, the WSJ reported. It follows a finding reportedly issued with “moderate confidence” by the FBI that the virus spread after leaking out of a Chinese laboratory. Continue reading...
The former PM’s high earnings have been partly attributed to the way he speaks. But I’ll take Bill Paterson or Maya Angelou’s sonorous tones over the voice of privilege any dayWhy does Boris Johnson command stupid money for public speaking? In February he reported a £2.5m advance; that seems awfully steep for 20 minutes of “Caecilius est in Peppa Pig World”. It’s a fair, indeed pressing, question posed by the Financial Times recently. I would happily pay a significant sum – all the money I spend on takeaways in a year, say, with the attendant sacrifice that involves for a reluctant cook – never to see or hear him again.The journalist Janan Ganesh concluded that it’s partly Johnson’s voice: “Beautiful … deep and textured, raspy without crossing into sibilance”. I forced myself to listen to a little of it, and, OK, it’s deeper than I remembered, but he sounds slightly congested to me, like he needs to lay off the Daylesford cheese. I understand the point, however. It’s a voice redolent both of a more lighthearted, Wodehousian time and, if you’re truly deluded, the Churchillian doggedness to which he aspires.Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading...
Sensory perception is a many-splendoured thing, and without it we’d have nothingIt’s a glorious spring morning in Sydney and I’m full of nervous anticipation as I cross the university campus, heading toward the lecture theatre where I’m going to be talking to the latest group of students about the senses. I love to watch their faces when I describe the wonders of sensory biology. I want to do it justice; I’m not just relaying information, I’m giving a performance in the hope that my enthusiasm might kindle theirs.On my way, I cut through a Sydney landmark known as the Quadrangle – the centrepiece of the campus. The architects added a finishing touch, a subtropical tree in one corner, and, each year, as the southern hemisphere spring takes hold, this jacaranda tree erupts into bloom, its fragrant lilac flowers calling time on the academic year. Jacarandas across Sydney join in, transforming the city. For a month, the parks and pavements are blanketed with petals. For me, it’s the sensory highlight of the year. Continue reading...
The rise in global antibiotic resistance means huge sums are being invested in ground-breaking treatments. But some scientists are turning back the clock in the hunt for effective alternativesFor several long months in the 1990s, Ronald Sherman travelled all over southern California catching flies. As a qualified doctor pursuing an infectious diseases fellowship, Sherman was curious about a potential new – and also very old – way to clean wounds. At medical school, he’d written a paper on the history of maggot therapy, tracing how the creepy crawlies helped heal soldiers in the Napoleonic wars, the American civil war and the First World War. Now Sherman wanted to test maggots in a modern setting. The problem? No one farmed and sold the species of flies that the doctor needed – so he went out and caught them himself.Once the specimens were collected and “as soon as everyone stopped laughing”, Sherman got to work. After treating his first patients with maggots, he was impressed by the results, but nonetheless he struggled to get his initial research papers published. A rejection letter from one journal read: “Publishing the manuscript might be interpreted as an endorsement for a therapy that is ancient.” Yet today, Sherman says, “that same journal probably has two or three articles about maggot therapy every year!” Continue reading...
As our summers get warmer and wetter even the hardy English rose is vulnerable to fungal disease, but researchers are on the caseThe velvety petals and sweet scent of a rose make it a classic of the traditional English garden.But growers and gardeners have long cursed a disease that has ravaged the delicate beauty of their favourite flowers: black spot. Now scientists at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) are trying to find an answer to the problem. Continue reading...
Artefacts, video and 3D model tell tragic story of the Gloucester, which ran aground carrying future kingThe remains of a 17th-century royal shipwreck will go on display in Norwich as part of an exhibition exploring its last voyage.The Gloucester sank off the Norfolk coast in 1682 while carrying the future king of England, Scotland and Ireland, James Stuart, then the Duke of York. Continue reading...
Tanya Frank’s son Zach has lived with mental illness since he was a teenager. But after years journeying through the traditional healthcare system, could radical alternatives save him from an endless cycle of hospital stays and drugs?There are nights when I wake up and, in the disorientation of those first conscious moments, I am right back there. Los Angeles, 2009. Winter. Zach has entered my room, perched on the edge of my bed, and begged: “Mum. What is going to happen to me? You must know.”I see him in all his anguish – my younger son in his last teenage year. He has just been discharged from hospital after having what the doctors had called a psychotic break, when he thought that his friends weren’t his friends but were out to harm him, that our house was bugged and that helicopters were instruments of surveillance, trained on him. Years before, it would have been called a nervous breakdown. I don’t like either term much, but I think the connotations of a nervous breakdown feel more apt. It was this sense of nervousness that I witnessed on the night I first took my boy to the psychiatric hospital. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#696GX)
Scientists studying the Permian-Triassic mass extinction find ecosystems can suddenly tip overThe steady destruction of wildlife can suddenly tip over into total ecosystem collapse, scientists studying the greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history have found.Many scientists think the huge current losses of biodiversity are the start of a new mass extinction. But the new research shows total ecosystem collapse is “inevitable”, if the losses are not reversed, the scientists said. Continue reading...
From chatbots to deepfakes, here is the lowdown on the current state of artificial intelligenceBarely a day goes by without some new story about AI, or artificial intelligence. The excitement about it is palpable – the possibilities, some say, are endless. Fears about it are spreading fast, too.There can be much assumed knowledge and understanding about AI, which can be bewildering for people who have not followed every twist and turn of the debate.Reinforcement learning
My longtime colleague Luis Cuevas, who has died aged 66 of pancreatic cancer, was an academic who specialised in paediatrics, epidemiology and tropical medicine. For most of his career he did his research and teaching at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), which he joined in 1985 after fleeing to the UK from political violence in his native Guatemala. He was still working at the LSTM at his death.Luis’s work focused mainly on the diagnosis and management of diseases of poverty, and one of his most notable achievements was the development of a same-day diagnosis approach for tuberculosis, which was adopted by the World Health Organization in 2011. He was also involved in working out ways to diagnose people with the tropical disease Chikungunya and was at the forefront of LSTM’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading...
Stalky plant is not approved as a livestock feed, holding back a sustainable industry that could invigorate agricultureKen Elliott runs a hemp oilseed and fiber processing facility in Fort Benton, Montana. His company, IND Hemp, grinds up the stalky plant so that it can be used for a variety of purposes, such as snacks, grain, insulation and paper. About 20 truckloads of spent biomass lie in heaps on his property.Elliott estimates he could make a couple million dollars if he sold this leftover stuff as livestock feed. Hemp seedcake would make a great substitute for alfalfa – rich in fatty acids, proteins and fiber. His cattle rancher buddies are hit hard by the soaring costs of hay and would love to get their hands on this alternative. One buffalo herder wanted to buy the whole lot. Continue reading...
Researchers say findings indicate quantity of sleep alone is not enough to benefit; quality is keyIt is no mystery that a good night’s sleep and a lie-in can improve your day. But researchers are suggesting that, far from just being enjoyable, quality sleep may even add years to people’s lives.Men who regularly sleep well could live almost five years longer than those who do not, while women could benefit by two years, research suggests. And they could also enjoy better health during their lives. Continue reading...
Conclusions from long-term survey in Sweden come days after 10th anniversary of Ella Kissi-Debrah’s death in LondonReducing air pollution could improve lung function development in children and cut the numbers of young people with significant pulmonary impairments, research suggests.The impact of air pollution on health has become a topic of intense concern in recent years, with research suggesting it can affect every organ in the body and the World Health Orgazisation noting children’s developing organs and nervous systems are more susceptible to long-term damage. Continue reading...
Events to mark 300 years since birth of Richard Price, a radical who ‘helped build the modern world’His achievements include helping shape the US constitution, championing women’s rights, furthering the cause of the anti-slavery movement – and he also found time to hone the maths used by the insurance industry. In short Richard Price, an 18th-century moral philosopher, nonconformist preacher and scientist, was – those in the know agree – Wales’s greatest thinker.The problem is that not so many people in the UK, Wales or even his home county of Bridgend, know much about him, and lots have never heard of him. Continue reading...
Laser technology called lidar is helping archaeologists complete years of fieldwork sometimes in the span of a single afternoonArchaeology is facing a time crunch. Thousands of years of human history risk imminent erasure, from tiny hamlets to entire cities - temples, walls and roads under grave threat of destruction. Urban sprawl and industrial agriculture are but two culprits, smothering ancient settlements beneath car parks and cattle pastures. International conflict and climate change are also damaging vulnerable sites, with warfare and water shortages destroying pockets of history across the world.The endless excavations of yesteryear are no longer the best solution. Big digs aren’t the big idea they once were: mapping the human archaeological record is now moving upward, into the sky. Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Oliver Wainwrig on (#694NH)
Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s architecture and design critic, Oliver Wainwright, about why the relatively obscure concept of the 15-minute city has become a magnet for conspiracy theories in recent weeks. And hears from Dr Richard Dunning about how the theory can be implemented in a way that’s fair to all residentsClips: GB News, Rebel News UK Continue reading...
Bioimpedance sensing technologies as used in smartwatches could affect implanted devices like pacemakersWearable fitness and wellness trackers could interfere with some implanted cardiac devices such as pacemakers, according to a study.Devices such as smartwatches, smart rings and smart scales used to monitor fitness-related activities could interfere with the functioning of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) devices, the study published in the Heart Rhythm journal found. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#69449)
Huge systems appear to be far larger than was presumed possible so early after big bang, say scientistsThe James Webb space telescope has detected what appear to be six massive ancient galaxies, which astronomers are calling “universe breakers” because their existence could upend current theories of cosmology.The objects date to a time when the universe was just 3% of its current age and are far larger than was presumed possible for galaxies so early after the big bang. If confirmed, the findings would call into question scientists’ understanding of how the earliest galaxies formed. Continue reading...
AI experts say state needs to help create British version or risk national security and declining competitivenessThe UK needs to support the creation of a British version of ChatGPT, MPs were told on Wednesday, or the country would further lose the ability to determine its own fate.Speaking to the Commons science and technology committee, Adrian Joseph, BT’s chief data and artificial intelligence officer, said the government needed to have a national investment in “large language models”, the AI that underpins services such as ChatGPT, Bing Chat and Google’s Bard. Continue reading...
Researchers say impact on attainment is small but medical teams should think carefully before artificially kickstarting labourChildren born after induced labour may score lower in school tests at age 12, research suggests. Although the impact on individual attainment is small, researchers said it should prompt medical teams to “think twice” before artificially kickstarting labour in otherwise healthy pregnancies.Most pregnancies come to a natural end after 37 to 42 weeks with the spontaneous onset of labour, but approximately one in five births in the UK are artificially induced. Sometimes there are strong medical grounds for doing so, such as the mother or baby’s health being at risk, but in other cases women may be offered an induction because their baby is apparently healthy but overdue. Continue reading...
Analysis says hundreds of animals are contaminated with dangerous compounds linked to cancer and other health problemsHundreds of animal species across the globe from ticks to whales have blood contaminated with toxic PFAS, a new analysis of previous peer-reviewed research shows.Though the analysis does not aim to reveal how the exposure to PFAS affects wildlife, anecdotal evidence in some of the previous studies show the chemicals are likely sickening animals. Continue reading...
Local media report inquiry launched over application by Chinese scientist He Jiankui, whose work sparked ethics stormHong Kong has reportedly revoked a visa for the controversial gene therapy scientist He Jiankui less than a day after it was revealed he’d been granted one, despite having a criminal record in China for illegal medical practices.Hong Kong immigration officials said his visa was rescinded and a criminal investigation launched into allegations He had lied on his application form, the South China Morning Post reported. Continue reading...
The solid inner core is contained within the liquid outer core, enabling it to rotate differently from the Earth itselfEarth’s inner core appears to have stopped spinning faster than its mantle. New measurements suggest that the rotation of the inner core has slowed in recent decades and is now about to reverse direction, spinning more slowly than the mantle. The finding helps to explain recent changes in Earth’s magnetic field and the length of day.The Earth’s solid inner core is contained within the liquid outer core, enabling it to rotate differently from the Earth itself. Its spin is driven by the magnetic field generated in the outer core, and balanced by gravitational effects within Earth’s mantle. Continue reading...
New research finds strong social networks and physical activity in mid life can help prevent long-term health conditionsEnjoying satisfying relationships with partners, family, friends and work colleagues and exercising at least once every month could boost your physical and mental health in old age, two studies suggest.Globally, people are living longer and every country in the world is experiencing growth in the size and proportion of older people in their population. The number of those aged 80 or older is set to triple between 2020 and 2050, to reach 426 million. Continue reading...
Form of virus, formerly known as monkeypox, fatal in about 15% of cases among immunosuppressed peopleA severe and “horrific” form of mpox has been identified in immunosuppressed people living with HIV, which appears to be deadly in about 15% of cases.Solid organ transplant recipients, and those with blood cancers, may also be at risk, although no cases have yet been detected in such individuals. Continue reading...
A life-changing encounter with the secretive creature led Arnaud Desbiez to dedicate his work to saving it from extinctionArnaud Desbiez, a French-born conservationist, lived in the Brazilian Pantanal for years before a chance encounter changed his life – and he wasn’t even there for it. His wife, tapir conservationist Patrícia Medici, came upon a giant armadillo one night in 2009 while working in the field. Hearing the story lit a fire in Desbiez.“This was my dream species, the holy grail of all mammals,” he says. “I said, ‘You know what? If I could just see it.’” Continue reading...
Director Marion Neumann not only pays tribute to the magic of mushrooms but claims they could save humanity from the coming climate apocalypseAt once earthy and magical, fungi not only link us to the origins of life itself but also open doors to alternate realms of consciousness. In Marion Neumann’s loose-limbed documentary, just the latest in a string of films that opine on its enigma, the mushroom can even save the world.Compared with the surreal time-lapse photography of Louie Schwartzberg’s Fantastic Fungi (2019) or the rustic charm of Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s The Truffle Hunters (2020), Neumann’s approach is more free-wheeling and eccentric. Interviews with a wide host of fungi lovers – who include scientists, culinary specialists and devoted enthusiasts – delve into the generative power of mushrooms with vigour and optimism. Considering that the cultivation of fungal cultures has allowed us to ease our physical ailments as well as repair damaged ecosystems, the film posits that, beyond a transactional relationship, humans can also model our behaviours after the virtues of the mushroom. Mycelium, the word that describes the thread-like structure of fungal colonies, is often brought up, suggesting that humanity should aspire to such interconnectedness in the face of increasing ecological disasters. Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample with Nicola Davis, sound d on (#6926Y)
Ian Sample speaks to Guardian science correspondent Nicola Davis about the news that Wegovy, an appetite suppressant popular with celebrities in the US, will soon be sold at UK pharmacies. It’s a prescription drug aimed at helping people with obesity lose weight, but some argue it doesn’t tackle the root cause of the diseaseClips: BBC, abc7NY Continue reading...
Professor of mathematical biology to succeed Sir Patrick Vallance after advising MoD and working with Sage during pandemicDame Angela McLean has been appointed as the UK’s chief scientific adviser – the first woman to hold the post.McLean will take over the role of providing independent scientific advice to the prime minister and members of the cabinet on 1 April, after the end of Sir Patrick Vallance’s five-year term. She will also advise on aspects of science and technology policy, and work to improve the quality and use of scientific evidence and advice in government. Continue reading...
The answers to today’s word and number puzzlesEarlier today I set you these four lexical-numerical puzzles, inspired by Tom Lehrer’s song That’s Mathematics. Here they are again with solutions. You will also discover the highly-anticipated winning entry to the competition for most brilliant self-referential fraction.1. Pair and share Continue reading...
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