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Modernisation of People’s Liberation Army continues with focus on cyberwarfare while retirees are now allowed to re-enlist

Research shows that people recently exposed to awe are kinder, more environmentally friendly, and better connected to othersAwe is the feeling we experience when we encounter vast mysteries we cannot understand. We find awe, I report in my new book Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life, in “eight wonders of life”: the moral beauty of others, nature, collective movement, music, visual design, spirituality and religion, big ideas, and the cycle of life and death.Empirical research by me and other psychologists has found that the cultivation of awe can be done, as with mindfulness practices, anywhere, and only takes a minute or two. You don’t need a lot of money, nor to travel to exotic locales, to find awe; it literally is always around you, if you just take a moment to pause and open your mind to what is vast and mysterious nearby. Still other studies suggest that awe is up to the task of responding to the crises of individualism, of excessive self-focus, loneliness, and the cynicism of our times, and even to some extent to rising problems of physical health.Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life Continue reading...

Since being laid low with the virus more than a year ago, Catherine Heymans can only operate in half-hour bursts. But her work could still change the way we understand the universeLast September, Catherine Heymans, one of the world’s leading cosmologists, was supposed to board a ferry for the northernmost island in the Orkney archipelago. The island, North Ronaldsay, is among the darkest inhabited places on earth. On a clear winter’s night, it is easy to be awed by the thousands upon thousands of stars visible to the naked eye, which spill their unpolluted light upon the Earth. Heymans, who is the first woman appointed astronomer royal for Scotland, was planning to explain to the island’s 60 or so residents that those stars, and the rest of the perceptible universe, represent a mere fraction of the stuff that makes up our cosmos. What she studies is everything we cannot see: the darkness.Over the past two decades, Heymans, who is 45, has advanced our understanding of a vast, invisible cosmos that scientists are only beginning to comprehend. That “dark universe” is thought to constitute more than 95% of everything that exists. It is made up of entities more mysterious than the ordinary matter and energy – the light, atoms, molecules, lifeforms, stars, galaxies – that have been the subject of scientific inquiry throughout history. In the past 10 years, Heymans has learned that the dark universe shapes the visible cosmos in unexpected ways, and may not follow all the standard rules of physics. Her discoveries are unsettling a broad consensus on how our world works on its grandest scales. “I believe that, to truly understand the dark universe, we will need to invoke some new physics that will for ever change our cosmic view,” she has written. Continue reading...

As the planet warms, and intense heatwaves become the norm, our urban environments need a radical rethink to keep them habitable. So what do we want the cities of the future to look like? Madeleine Finlay speaks to author and historian Ben Wilson, Prof Jessica Davies and Prof Diane Jones Allen about how to create cities that are fairer, greener and more self-reliant.Clips: ITV, BBC, WIONRead about the recent City Nature Challenge here Continue reading...

‘Potential neuro-signatures of consciousness’ observed in unresponsive patients at time of death, scientists saySome recall bright lights at the end of a tunnel, feeling the presence of loved ones or floating above their body after a near-death experience. Now, scientists say they have captured “conscious-like” brain activity in dying patients in findings that give new insights into the process of death.“How vivid experience can emerge from a dysfunctional brain during the process of dying is a neuroscientific paradox,” said Jimo Borjigin, of the University of Michigan, who led the study. “We saw potential neuro-signatures of consciousness.” Continue reading...

Discovery could help plug gaps in understanding of evolution after Cambrian explosion more than 500m years agoMany people discovered new interests closer to home as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns. For Dr Joseph Botting and Dr Lucy Muir, it was a 10-metre-wide quarry in a sheep field near to their home in Llandrindod, central Wales, which appeared to be teeming with tiny fossils.Now researchers believe the site could help plug gaps in scientific understanding of how evolution proceeded after the Cambrian explosion – the period when the ancestors of most modern animals are believed to have evolved. It could even prove to be as important as the Burgess Shale in Canada that preserves one of the world’s first complex marine ecosystems, experts say. Continue reading...

The answers to today’s puzzlesEarlier today I set you these puzzles, in memory of Ivan Moscovich, the toy and puzzle maestro who died last week. (Click here to find out more about him.)Here are the puzzles again, with solutions. Continue reading...

The particles could be linked to cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’sResearchers at the University of Vienna have discovered particles of plastic in mice’s brains just two hours after the mice ingested drinking water containing plastic.Once in the brain, “Plastic particles could increase the risk of inflammation, neurological disorders or even neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s,” Lukas Kenner, one of the researchers, said in a statement, although more research is needed to determine the relationship between plastics and these brain disorders. In addition to potentially severe degenerative consequences, the researchers also believe that microplastic contamination in our brains can cause short-term health effects such as cognitive impairment, neurotoxicity and altered neurotransmitter levels, which can contribute to behavioral changes.Adrienne Matei is a freelance journalistDo 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...

Brain games from a master puzzlerUPDATE: To read the answers click hereToday’s column is a tribute to Ivan Moscovich, a legend in the world of puzzles, who died last week aged 96. Ivan was a prolific inventor of toys and games, a pioneer of interactive science museums and a bestselling author of puzzle books. The following questions are taken from his magnum opus, The Big Book of Brain Games, which sold around half a million copies.(More about Ivan’s amazing life below.) Continue reading...

Study of 200,000 Chinese hospital admissions finds acute exposure to air pollution raises risk of heart arrhythmiasSpikes in air pollution increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias, a large study has found.The research, based on nearly 200,000 hospital admissions in China, found a significant increase in risk of arrhythmias in the first few hours after an increase in air pollution levels. Heart arrhythmias can increase the risk of heart disease and sudden cardiac death. Continue reading...

Spica, the 16th brightest star in the night sky, is 11 times larger than the sunWe start the month with the almost full moon making a close pass of Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, the virgin. The conjunction takes place across the evening of Wednesday 3 May, continuing past midnight into the pre-dawn hours of Thursday.The chart shows the view looking south from London at 23.00BST. The moon will be virtually full with 96% of its visible surface illuminated – it is considered full when 98% or more of its visible surface is lit. On Wednesday night the moon will pass several degrees away from Spica, which is the 16th brightest star in the night sky and fully 11 times larger than our sun. Continue reading...

When it comes to employment, science and technology graduates fare only slightly better than ‘starving artists’

Exclusive: algorithm performs more efficiently and effectively than current methods, according to a studyDoctors, scientists and researchers have built an artificial intelligence model that can accurately identify cancer in a development they say could speed up diagnosis of the disease and fast-track patients to treatment.Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. It results in about 10 million deaths annually, or nearly one in six deaths, according to the World Health Organization. In many cases, however, the disease can be cured if detected early and treated swiftly. Continue reading...

On his wedding day, Tim Sullivan’s much-loved dad suddenly collapsed and died on what should have been the happiest of days. But what he learned has shaped his lifeIt was all set to be one of the happiest days of my life, 9 September 1989. I was getting married. Everything leading up to the date had gone smoothly. The wedding was taking place in a small church, St Teilo’s in Bishopston Valley on the Gower peninsula. About 130 friends and family had made the trip down to South Wales. After the ceremony, Rachel and I were going to process up the hill from the church to the reception at my in-laws’ home, led by a small jazz band and followed by our guests. But as we left the church, my father suddenly collapsed and died in my arms. He was 65, exactly the age I am now as I write this.It’s a moment I remember vividly. A moment that affected what I went on to write about in my career and how I wrote it. A moment that demonstrated how tragic things have a habit of occurring at the happiest and most unexpected of times. Continue reading...

Department of Health asks watchdog to assess effectiveness of giving semaglutide to obese youngsters aged 12 to 17Children as young as 12 in England could be given weight-loss injections on the NHS after the government asked medical watchdog Nice to assess the potential benefits of prescribing them to under-18s.Department of Health officials have asked the watchdog to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of giving semaglutide injections to obese children aged 12 to 17, “in addition to healthy nutrition and increased physical activity”, the Observer can reveal. Continue reading...

The founders of Melbourne’s Steam Room program believe scientists can make their work more accessible through humour. Will their hypothesis prove true?

While politics as usual dominates the Commons, thankfully a few people from the upper chamber are thinking about the big pictureThe most interesting TV I’ve watched recently did not come from a conventional television channel, nor even from Netflix, but from TV coverage of parliament. It was a recording of a meeting of the AI in weapons systems select committee of the House of Lords, which was set up to inquire into “how should autonomous weapons be developed, used and regulated”. The particular session I was interested in was the one held on 20 April, during which the committee heard from four expert witnesses – Kenneth Payne, who is professor of strategy at King’s College London; Keith Dear, director of artificial intelligence innovation at the computer company Fujitsu; James Black from the defence and security research group of Rand Europe; and Courtney Bowman, global director of privacy and civil liberties engineering at Palantir UK. An interesting mix, I thought – and so it turned out to be.Autonomous weapons systems are ones that can select and attack a target without human intervention. It is believed (and not just by their boosters) that these systems could revolutionise warfare, and may be faster, more accurate and more resilient than existing weapons systems. And that they could, conceivably, even limit the casualties of war (though I’ll believe that when I see it). Continue reading...

The Juan Fernández fur seal, once thought extinct, can ingest cadmium without ill effects – though no one knows howA creature that humans came very close to obliterating now offers hope that we may be able to find ways to tackle one of the most pernicious environmental poisons, say scientists.Their research has revealed that one of the world’s most isolated aquatic mammals, Arctocephalus philippii, can tolerate high levels of cadmium, as well as other metallic pollutants, without suffering ill effects. Continue reading...

Nation’s guidelines say no donor should father more than 25 children in 12 familiesDutch judges have ordered a man suspected of fathering more than 550 children through sperm donations to stop donating, in the latest fertility scandal to shock the Netherlands.The man, identified in Dutch media only as Jonathan M, 41, was taken to court by a foundation protecting the rights of donor children and by the mother of one of the children allegedly fathered from his sperm. Continue reading...

ChatGPT rated higher in quality and empathy of written advice, raising possibility of medical assistance roleChatGPT appears to have a better ‘bedside manner’ than some doctors – at least when their written advice is rated for quality and empathy, a study has shown.The findings highlight the potential for AI assistants to play a role in medicine, according to the authors of the work, who suggest such agents could help draft doctors’ communications with patients. “The opportunities for improving healthcare with AI are massive,” said Dr John Ayers, of the University of California San Diego. Continue reading...

Habitat loss blamed as study finds 19% of bryophyte species at risk and at least four have become extinct in Great BritainAlmost one-fifth of bryophytes – the plant group that includes mosses, liverworts and hornworts – in Great Britain are threatened with extinction, according to a new red list assessing their conservation status.The red list, published in the Journal of Bryology, was compiled based on criteria and categories set by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Continue reading...

Humans with condition can have disturbed sleep, and similar symptoms in dogs indicate cognitive decline is under wayFrom loud snores to twitching paws, dogs often appear to have a penchant for a good snooze. But researchers have said elderly canines with dementia appear to spend less time slumbering than those with healthy brains – mirroring patterns seen in humans.It has long been known that people with dementia can experience sleep problems, including finding it harder to get to sleep. Researchers have also found changes in the brainwaves of people with dementia during sleep – including decreased slow brain waves that occur during non-rapid eye movement deep sleep. These are important in memory consolidation and appear to be linked to the activity of the brain’s system for clearing away waste. Continue reading...

Misguided introduction of alien predator saw partula snails driven from their habitat – but zoos have reared new populationsWhen French Polynesia was overrun by the invasive African giant land snail, another alien species, the predatory rosy wolf snail, was introduced to solve the problem.Unfortunately the rosy wolf snail devoured tiny, endemic partula snails instead, hunting down the scent of their slime trails at three times the speed of a normal snail. Continue reading...

The environmental law charity ClientEarth and 13 other groups headed into a Flemish court this week in an effort to stop Ineos building a petrochemical plant that would be the biggest project of its kind in Europe for 30 years. Madeleine Finlay hears from correspondent Sandra Laville about how plastics are made, the environmental and health impacts of the process and what needs to be done to get a handle on plastic pollutionClips: CBS, PBSRead Sandra Laville’s reporting on this story here Continue reading...

Study concerns Messier 87 galaxy, 55m light years away from Earth, and a black hole 6.5bn times more massive than the sunAstronomers have captured the first image showing a powerful jet being launched from the edge of a black hole’s event horizon into intergalactic space.The observations of the black hole at the centre of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87) could help reveal how black hole jets, which are among the brightest objects in the universe, are created. Continue reading...

Today’s generation of older people could be last to face untreatable Alzheimer’s – but only if NHS overhauls careToday’s generation of elderly people could be the last to face the spectre of untreatable Alzheimer’s disease, according to the co-chair of the government’s new dementia mission.Hilary Evans, the chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, appointed by ministers last month, said the world was “on the cusp of a new dawn” for dementia treatments that meant devastating neurodegenerative illness would no longer be regarded as an inevitable part of old age. Continue reading...

‘Unprecedented’ warming indicates climate crisis is taking place before our eyes, experts sayTemperatures in the world’s oceans have broken fresh records, testing new highs for more than a month in an “unprecedented” run that has led to scientists stating the Earth has reached “uncharted territory” in the climate crisis.The rapid acceleration of ocean temperatures in the last month is an anomaly that scientists have yet to explain. Data collated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), known as the Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST) series, gathered by satellites and buoys, has shown temperatures higher than in any previous year, in a series stretching back to 1981, continuously over the past 42 days. Continue reading...

Hakuto-R may have miscalculated altitude, says company after losing contact with spacecraftJapan’s ispace said its attempt to make the first private moon landing had failed after losing contact with its Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) lander when it unexpectedly accelerated and probably crashed on the lunar surface.The startup said it was possible that as the lander approached the moon, its altitude measurement system had miscalculated the distance to the surface. Continue reading...

Half of women have dense breast tissue that does not show up on mammograms and can only be seen with extra screeningIn July 2022, I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer after having had a “normal” mammogram just nine months earlier at the age of 42. Other than a small thyroid disorder, I have been extraordinarily healthy my entire life, running half marathons, practicing yoga and doing a 30-mile backpacking trek only two months earlier. I had no known family history and never missed a screening in my short life of mammography.So how did the cancer advance so far without detection, despite top-notch medical care in one of the biggest cities in America? The answer for me and millions of other women is the dense breast phenomenon – which, at long last, is finally becoming a part of the conversation around women’s health.Elizabeth L Silver is the author of the forthcoming novel The Majority (Riverhead), as well as the novel The Execution of Noa P Singleton and the memoir The Tincture of Time. Also an attorney, she teaches creative writing with the UCLA Writers Program and lives in Los Angeles with her family Continue reading...

Pressures on the NHS, a lack of doctors and post-Brexit delays are hampering our ability to develop cutting-edge drugsThe UK’s remarkable capability and capacity in clinical research was catapulted on to the world stage during the pandemic. The Recovery trial, led by Oxford University, studied existing drugs in seriously ill patients with Covid-19 and identified the first proven and effective life-saving treatments.The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was tested in a trial of more than 10,000 people across the UK, using repurposed research infrastructure in our hospitals and universities, and saved more lives globally than any other vaccine. The mix-and-match vaccine studies known as Com-Cov showed the world how different types of Covid-19 vaccines could be used together, while Cov-Boost provided key data on booster doses that has informed global vaccine policy.Prof Sir Andrew Pollard was chief investigator of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine trials and is director of the Oxford Vaccine Group Continue reading...

Research points to danger of tiny metal ions breaking off from implants and leaking into the bloodPatients who have had older types of hip replacement may be at greater risk of heart damage than previously thought, researchers have said, because of cobalt leaching out of so-called metal-on-metal implants.Tens of thousands of UK patients were fitted with these devices during the 2000s, when they were marketed as a solution for young, active patients who needed a hip replacement that would last a lifetime. Continue reading...

Study of seismic activity in southern Turkey shows even small fluctuations can have a big impactMost earthquake faults require a huge input of energy to make them shift but occasionally a tiny shove is enough. Recent data from the Armutlu peninsula, on the southern shore of the Sea of Marmara, Turkey, show the small stress changes associated with sea level fluctuations are enough to trigger quakes up to magnitude 4.5.Scientists monitored seismic activity and sea level change in the region for six months and found the likelihood of earthquakes on the peninsula increased significantly when the sea level was rising. The effect was amplified during the winter, when the variations in sea level were greater. Continue reading...

We are exploring the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.This week, from 2020: After losing four pregnancies, Jennie Agg set out to unravel the science of miscarriage. Then, a few months in, she found out she was pregnant again – just as the coronavirus pandemic hit Continue reading...

Ispace loses communication with Hakuto-R lunar lander, ending a mission that began more than four months agoA Japanese startup attempting the first private landing on the moon has lost communication with its spacecraft and said that it assumes the lunar mission had failed.Ispace said that it could not establish communication with the uncrewed Hakuto-R lunar lander after its expected landing time, a frustrating end to a mission that began with a launch from the US more than four months ago. Continue reading...

Authors say scientist’s role was acknowledged at the time of discovery – contrary to popular narrativeIn the story of how Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the structure of DNA, the popular narrative is one of skullduggery and deceit. But now researchers say there is a twist in the tale of the double helix.It has long been held that Rosalind Franklin’s X-ray diffraction image known as Photo 51 was illicitly shown to Watson, revealing to him that DNA has a double helix and allowing him and his colleague Crick to deduce the structure and claim the glory. Continue reading...

The enormous expense of these rockets could have been spent on addressing the many crises that we face on our fragile planetOne strong argument in favor of heavily taxing the super-rich is that billionaires so often seem to have profoundly misguided ideas about how to spend their money. They waste it on solid gold toilets, or – like the Sacklers and the Russian oligarchs supporting Putin’s war – they use it to do harm. Most commonly, they fund wildly expensive vanity projects that gratify their egos while solidifying their position as masters of the universe who are socially, economically and physically insulated from the rest of us.Among the most ambitious and widely publicized of these programs is the spaceport, SpaceX, that Elon Musk has built in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, not far from the Mexican border. Musk founded Space Exploration technologies in 2002. His stated aim is to produce rocket ships capable of transporting a hundred passengers and large amounts of supplies and equipment into outer space – to explore the moon and eventually, Musk hopes, to colonize Mars. The first Falcon 1 rockets were tested in 2006. Twenty-six rockets have been launched in 2023 alone.Francine Prose is a former president of Pen American Center and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Continue reading...

Rather than board the injection bandwagon, Britain should be taxing unhealthy food and clamping down on marketingHumankind has been freed from the threat of disease by some wonderful, transformative inventions, from smallpox injections to the Covid vaccinations. With all due respect, I don’t think the so-called skinny jab is one of them.A boom in injectable weight-loss drugs, such as Wegovy from the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, a biological type 2 diabetes medication containing semaglutide, has promised to revolutionise obesity treatment in recent months. For some people with serious obesity-related health conditions, these appetite suppressants will indeed be a life-saver. Trials show Wegovy can help people lose 15% of their body weight, and the drug has been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) for use in the NHS. That’s good news for people whose health is already suffering.Sarah Boseley is the Guardian’s former health editor Continue reading...

Experts and campaigners have been pointing out the racial disparities in maternal healthcare for years. The latest report to highlight the issue comes from the UK government’s women and equalities committee. MPs behind the report have condemned the government’s failure to address the gulf in outcomes. So why are black and Asian women still more at risk from childbirth? Madeleine Finlay hears what it can be like to navigate the maternity system as a woman of colour, and speaks to Guardian health editor Andrew Gregory and Prof Shakila Thangaratinam about what lies behind the statistics and what can be doneRead Andrew Gregory and Mabel Banfield-Nwachi’s reporting here.Read the Guardian view on race and maternal health here. Continue reading...

Study suggests antimicrobial used to promote livestock growth breeds bacteria more resistant to our natural defencesThe blanket use of antibiotics in farming has led to the emergence of bacteria that are more resistant to the human immune system, scientists have warned.The research suggests that the antimicrobial colistin, which was used for decades as a growth promoter on pig and chicken farms in China, resulted in the emergence of E coli strains that are more likely to evade our immune system’s first line of defence. Continue reading...

Everyone is susceptible to misinformation or being led astray online. Here’s how to know when to follow your intuition or look for more factsCast your mind back to 2008, and you may remember the imminent end of the world. According to various doomsayers, the opening of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Cern was set to create a black hole that would destroy the Earth and everyone on it.We are still standing today – but this fact has not stopped continued speculation about other dark deeds in those subterranean tunnels. In the stranger corners of the internet, you can find reports that the institute is riddled with Satanists, who are set to blast open a multi-dimensional portal into hell – rumours that have been fuelled by a video purporting to reveal a human sacrifice. Continue reading...

As a child I was ‘away with the fairies’, as an adult I ran for miles. Now I use that energy to make my son’s life amazingI was once on a list of two people who lost their work passes at the Guardian more than anyone else. I am chronically chaotic: my wardrobe includes unfolded jumpers and items thrown on top of each other. I am driven by what I can only describe as an inner motor that wants to be doing new things at all times.Given all these symptoms, it’s surprising that it took me until the age of 34 to get a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and it came alongside the birth of my first child. When I was pregnant, it was suggested I might have the condition. As I struggled with the physical and hormonal changes of carrying a child, my mental health plummeted. I was referred to the perinatal mental health team. There, I listed the many symptoms that had plagued my life. ADHD is a lot more than being forgetful. I have had bouts of insomnia so bad that I thought I would never sleep again. My life was driven by impulsiveness that left me ruining relationships and struggling to maintain certain friendships. I was constantly trying to numb an overactive mind. Continue reading...

For most of us, the key to boosting sexual interest is to find what works your accelerator and what slams on the brakes. Could a new hormone treatment play a part in improving sex lives? Plus debunking the most common low libido mythsPeter had never felt particularly interested in sex. Although he’d had various opportunities throughout his adult life, he had always been surprised at how lacklustre his attitude to these sexual encounters was. Maybe he was tired, he’d drunk too much alcohol, or he was worried about his performance – whatever it was, it hadn’t been a major worry until he met his current partner four years ago.“For her, that physical connection with men had always been a big thing,” he says. “I wasn’t interested in it to the same level, and this still creates issues in terms of what the other perceives should be the right amount.” Continue reading...

Research supports the benefits of ‘expressive writing’ – but what makes it so cathartic?Like many anguished teens, I often felt that my best friend was my diary. I would enter my bedroom in a terrible mood, but as the sentences took shape on the page, whatever was troubling me no longer felt like quite as much of a catastrophe. I wasn’t able to extinguish every sadness, but often felt calmer, as if a physical pressure had lifted from my chest.These moments always brought to mind a scene in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in which the headteacher at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, extracts upsetting memories with his magic wand and places them in a shallow bowl, called the “pensieve”, which allows him to view things more dispassionately. Writing, for me, provided the same relief. Continue reading...

Study using modern forecasting to analyse paper records shows severity of event – and how much worse consequences would be todayIt was a storm sufficiently severe to rip up thousands of trees, leave several people dead and to warrant a mention in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses – subsequently taking its name from there.However, it is not until now that researchers have been able to say that the 1903 tempest whipped up winds of a force seen less than once a century – making Storm Ulysses one of the worst ever seen. Continue reading...

Driven by a revamped drug portfolio, AstraZeneca is expected to report revenues of $10.7bn in its latest quarterly resultsNearly a decade after AstraZeneca fended off a hostile takeover approach from US rival Pfizer, the British drug firm has overtaken the Viagra maker in terms of market value, marking a significant moment in its turnaround – and for UK plc.In a week when AstraZeneca and Britain’s second-biggest pharma firm GSK release their latest quarterly results and the main industry body, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry holds its annual conference, all eyes will be on what pharma executives say about the UK as a place to operate and invest in. Continue reading...

How much tongue is too much? Linger or go straight in? Somatic sexologist – and kissing coach – Stella Anna Sonnenbaum gives us a beginner’s guideYour first kiss can be a daunting experience – mine was also my worst, so bad in fact that I broke it off and pretended I needed the plot of Terminator II, which was playing in the background, explaining. A bad first kiss is not unusual, of course. So what are some common mistakes made by rookie kissers, and can veteran snoggers improve?Somatic sexologist Stella Anna Sonnenbaum points to moments “when it’s expected but we don’t really feel like it; that ‘oh my god they’re kind of leaning in, I should do something’” feeling. Continue reading...

Blue-white Regulus and red Algeiba stars will be visible around world in conjunction with moonWe return to Leo, the lion, for our last Starwatch of April. This time it is to see the moon coast between two bright stars in the lion’s body.The chart shows the view looking south south-west from London on 29 April. The moon will be in the second week of the current lunation, having passed the first quarter, and it will now have 67% of its visible surface illuminated by sunlight. Continue reading...

It turns out that within moderation, stress can even be good for youI’m sitting in the back of the plane when the pilot announces we’ve reached maximum altitude. One of the crew gets up and – somewhat theatrically – slides open the side of the plane. In ones and twos, we shuffle towards the open door. When it comes to my turn, standing on the edge of a two-mile vertical drop, I’m more terrified than I’ve ever been.Thankfully, as a first-time jumper, I’m strapped to an experienced parachutist who will guide us down. I don’t even have to take the next step. But my brain is screaming at me not to go through with it. Behind me, my instructor gently pulls my head back so I can hear his reassuring words over the roaring wind. I grit my teeth, take a deep breath, and we tumble forward into the fresh rushing air. Continue reading...

Under the watchful and resourceful eye of award-winning conservationist Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda’s threatened mountain gorilla population has made an impressive recovery – as has the local communityThe Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is tucked away in a remote corner of south-west Uganda. Meaning “place of darkness” in the Runyakitara language, this dense, mist-swathed rainforest makes for a good hiding place for half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. The other half, which the American primatologist Dian Fossey so famously befriended, live in Rwanda’s Volcanoes national park.These majestic but shy creatures – whose existence now generates about 60% of Uganda’s tourism revenue – like to hide, especially when they know veterinary intervention is afoot. The gorillas are always outsmarting the humans – if they see someone carrying a dart gun (for sedation, vaccinations, medicine, etc), they’ll walk backwards so as not to expose their backs, where the dart needs to land. They also like to mock-charge at humans, stopping suddenly to indicate they mean no harm, yet leaving no doubt as to who holds the power. And if they’re really not feeling the presence of humans, they’ll outright charge at you. Continue reading...

Learning to feel OK with unpredictability can bring great rewards. Just ask the world’s scientists and artists who embrace doubts and the unknownWe are experiencing now the greatest uncertainty humanity has ever known.” Nine years ago, this statement by Yuval Harari provoked explosive laughter from my teenage daughter. She whispered to me, “what about the blitz? The Black Death? Come on …” I was torn between embarrassment, as heads scowled at a young woman who clearly didn’t know her place, and pride in her critical thinking. That instinctive rejection of Harari’s generational narcissism was valid then and more than justified today: 2014 was a cakewalk compared to 2022.Uncertainty is a mental state brought on when we know we don’t know something about the future. So it’s different from ignorance because, when we feel uncertain, we have enough information to glean how much more we are missing. We know climate change is real but not in enough detail to decide whether to buy sandbags or move house. Epidemiologists are fully confident there will be future epidemics but not when or what the pathogen will be. There is no shortage of data, there’s too much! And it’s ambiguous, susceptible to a wide range of interpretations. The defining characteristic of uncertainty is that, unlike risk, it is unquantifiable. Probability can’t capture its ambiguity or complexity. What we do know, for certain, is that this leaves us deeply uncomfortable. Continue reading...