The psychotherapist on body hatred, what’s changed since she wrote Fat Is a Feminist Issue – and the smell of her clientsSusie Orbach’s first book, Fat Is a Feminist Issue, a pioneering exploration of women’s relationship with eating and body image, became an instant classic when it was published in 1978. Orbach is one of the world’s best-known psychotherapists, lecturing internationally, advising organisations ranging from the NHS to the World Bank, and helping patients who have included Diana, Princess of Wales. The daughter of an American teacher and a Labour MP, Orbach grew up in London, where she still lives and works.What do you remember about writing Fat Is a Feminist Issue?
A lack of equal male partners, rather than career or educational ambitions, is why more women are trying to prolong their fertilitySelfish career-driven women. Gullible dupes of the fertility industry. Victims of the patriarchy. When leading anthropologist Marcia C Inhorn first embarked on her decade-long study of why women freeze their eggs, the popular narrative was largely one of derision.“There was a lot of either blaming women or saying that they’re naïve, stupid and so forth,” says the Yale professor, from a red armchair in her home in New Haven, Connecticut. Continue reading...
Lincolnshire locals are up in arms at an ‘illogical’ order by the council – and even Banksy is thought to be helping them outThe vast sands of Cleethorpes beach can stretch into the horizon at low tide, revealing all kinds of interesting things previously hidden by the sea. It’s the perfect spot for metal detectorists to discover artefacts such as musket balls and ancient coins among the marine debris.Yet the local authority has introduced a ban with the threat of £100 fines for anyone using a metal detector in the area, causing uproar among local people who have combed the beach for decades. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6B1D1)
US study got owners to train their pets to contact other birds using a touchscreen tabletPet parrots that are allowed to make video calls to other birds show signs of feeling less isolated, according to scientists.The study, which involved giving the birds a tablet that they could use to make video calls, found that they began to engage in more social behaviour including preening, singing and play. The birds were given a choice of which “friend” to call on a touchscreen tablet and the study revealed that the parrots that called other birds most often were the most popular choices. Continue reading...
My father, Michel Treisman, who has died aged 93, was a polymath with a store of knowledge and wise advice for every eventuality. He spent most of his career as a lecturer and researcher at Oxford University, where his work on experimental psychology focused primarily on our perception of time.He was best known for proposing a model for the brain’s internal clock and devising methods to measure the rate at which it ticks. However, his interests extended to other fields, including evolutionary biology. For instance, he proposed a novel explanation for motion sickness: he suggested that, when you’re riding in a car, the mismatch between the motion you see and the movement you’re actively making produces an effect similar to that caused by ingesting toxins – a situation in which vomiting can save your life. Continue reading...
Canadian project plans to strengthen understanding of Arctic environment by drawing on Indigenous knowledgeAlexandre Langlois was surprised to learn that snow that has stayed on the ground for a couple days in the Arctic can be heard even before it is felt.Margaret Kanayok, an Inuk elder from Ulukhaktok, an Inuit community in the neighbouring Northwest Territories, had come to speak to a group of scientists who had gathered to attend the world’s first Arctic snow school, being held in Nunavut, Canada. Continue reading...
Artefacts believed to date back to 980s found by girl metal-detecting in cornfield last autumnNearly 300 silver coins believed to be more than 1,000 years old have been discovered near a Viking fortress site in north-west Denmark, a museum has said.The trove – lying in two spots not far apart – was unearthed by a girl who was metal-detecting in a cornfield last autumn. Continue reading...
Research claims to show link between cancer and lye-containing products largely used by black womenCampaigners are calling on the cosmetics company L’Oréal to withdraw its hair-straightening products that are largely used by black women after research linked it to an increased risk of cancer.In an open letter, coordinated by the UK feminist group Level Up, campaigners also ask the company to invest in research on the long-term use of chemical relaxers, which make hair easier to straighten. Continue reading...
Certificate at Exeter to include teaching about existing therapies and research in psychology, psychiatry and neuroscienceA UK university is launching one of the world’s first postgraduate qualifications on psychedelics to teach healthcare workers about using psilocybin, LSD, MDMA and other psychoactive drugs in therapeutic work.The certificate from Exeter University cements psychedelics as an area of scientific importance in the UK. It could help pave the way for clinical therapies becoming available within the next five years, with some treatments being in the final stages of clinical trials. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6B08R)
Marine mammals typically sleep in 10-minute bursts during deep, 30-minute dives to avoid predators, scientists believeSeals dozing on the beach may appear to be enjoying the ultimate life of leisure. However, groundbreaking research has revealed that for most of their lives elephant seals sleep just two hours daily in a series of short naps while performing deep dives.The findings, revealed in the first study to record brain activity in a free-ranging, wild marine mammal, show that during the months they spend at sea, elephant seals rival the record for the least sleep among all mammals, currently held by African elephants. The seals were found to typically sleep in 10-minute bursts during deep, 30-minute dives, often spiralling downwards while dreaming, and occasionally lying down for a nap on the seafloor. Continue reading...
Worms soaked in cannabinoid found to have stronger preference than usual for higher-calorie foodsIt is not just humans that get the munchies: worms also display the same craving for their favourite snacks after consuming cannabis, new research has found.In the study, published in the journal Current Biology, researchers managed to simulate worms getting stoned by soaking them in cannabinoid. Continue reading...
The first feature film shot in space has opened in Russian cinemas, with Moscow celebrating beating a rival Hollywood project. The Challenge is about a surgeon who is sent to the International Space Station to save an injured cosmonaut. Russia sent an actor and a film director to the ISS for 12 days in October 2021 to film scenes onboard the orbiting laboratory. A Hollywood project was announced in 2020 by Tom Cruise in collaboration with Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX Continue reading...
The largest and most powerful rocket ever built blasted off from Texas but blew up within minutes, in a test flight that its makers, SpaceX, hope will be the first step on a human journey to Mars. After a cancelled launch earlier this week due to a pressurisation issue, the 120-metre Starship rocket system took off at 8.33am local time on Thursday. It gathered speed but then started to spin at altitude before exploding about four minutes after leaving the ground. It appeared that the two sections of the rocket system – the booster and cruise vessel – were unable to separate properly after takeoff, possibly causing the spacecraft to fail
Largest and most powerful rocket ever built blasts off on test flight that is hoped to be step on human journey to MarsThe largest and most powerful rocket ever built has blasted off from Texas but blew up within minutes in a test flight that its makers, SpaceX, hope will be the first step on a human journey to Mars.After a cancelled launch earlier this week because of a pressurisation issue, the 120-metre Starship rocket system took off at 8.33am local time (2.33pm in the UK) on Thursday. It gathered speed, but then started to spin at altitude before exploding about four minutes after leaving the ground. Continue reading...
Commonwealth Games medallists since 1930 shown to have greater longevity than general populationTop-level sportspeople can live more than five years longer than the rest of the population, a study has found.Using Commonwealth Games competitor records from since the inaugural event in 1930, the International Longevity Centre UK found large differences in the longevity of medal winners compared with people in the general population born in the same year. Continue reading...
Vladimir Putin hails achievement that beat Hollywood project announced by Tom Cruise, Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceXThe first feature film shot in space has premiered in Russian cinemas, with Moscow celebrating beating a rival Hollywood project amid a confrontation with the west.The Challenge is about a surgeon dispatched to the International Space Station to save an injured cosmonaut. Russia sent an actor and a film director for a 12-day stint on the ISS in October 2021 to film scenes onboard the orbiting laboratory. Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Chris van Tulle on (#6AZGX)
Sliced supermarket bread, ham, cheese, crisps, a fruit-flavoured yoghurt and a fizzy drink. If this sounds like a standard lunch, you’re not alone. The average person in the UK gets more than 50% of their calories from ultra-processed foods – otherwise known as ‘industrially produced edible substances’. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Chris van Tulleken about what ultra-processed foods are really made of, how they have become a major part of our diets, and the impact they are having on our health Continue reading...
Ukraine had said a satellite reentering the atmosphere was the cause of the phenomenon, but the space agency has denied thisA flash in the sky over the Ukrainian capital prompted confusion and alarm as city authorities said it was caused by a Nasa satellite reentering the atmosphere, while the US space agency denied involvement.A “bright glow” was observed over Kyiv around 10pm local time, the head of Kyiv’s military administration Sergiy Popko wrote on Telegram. Continue reading...
The solar eclipse is seen through telescopes at the Perth Observatory and Learmonth Solar Observatory, south of Exmouth on the west coast of Australia. A total solar eclipse will visible in some parts of the world on April 20, 2023. These include Exmouth and Barrow Island in the Ningaloo region of Western Australia, eastern regions of Timor-Leste and West Papua in Indonesia► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube
Results of stem cell research could lead to treatment that halts or reverses the processScientists believe they have discovered the mechanism for hair turning grey, which could help develop treatment to alter cells in order to reverse or halt the process.A new study suggests stem cells may get stuck as hair ages and lose their ability to mature and maintain hair colour. Continue reading...
Dr Stephen Wright’s widow considering legal action against AstraZeneca and governmentA doctor died from a rare reaction to the AstraZeneca Covid jab in one of the first rounds of vaccinations, a coroner has ruled.Dr Stephen Wright, 32, an NHS clinical psychologist and frontline health worker, suffered from a combination of a brainstem infarction, bleed on the brain and vaccine-induced thrombosis, an inquest at London’s Southwark coroner’s court heard. Continue reading...
In the 21st century, we are used to picking through the psychological pain and peril of all our fictional heroes. Perhaps we should stopYou never know art better than that which you’re forced to study as a teenager. For my O-level in music I had no choice but to listen in some detail to Malcolm Arnold’s Four Scottish Dances, Beethoven’s Pathétique piano sonata and Fauré’s Requiem. For a lad obsessed with the likes of Led Zeppelin, at the time this represented a traumatic listening experience. But it taught me a valuable lesson: if you’re exposed to any piece of art long enough, eventually it will move you. No pain, no gain, possibly. I’ve loved all three pieces ever since. OK, I failed the O-level, but I can hardly see it as a failure given it opened up a whole genre of music I might have missed. The Requiem has been particularly important to me. I listen to it driving home from the football whenever my team have lost. I listen to it often.As far as literature is concerned, Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge was a different kettle of fish. I loved it from page one. The first three paragraphs alone still make me want to applaud with my hands above my head, like I do when my team take to the field. Exactly 40 years since my O-level English literature exam (passed, with a grade A, since you ask), I decided to re-read it. Some passages feel as familiar as my name and address, while others – concerning the plot, mainly – ring no bells at all. Weird. Continue reading...
It’s hoped that the skeleton, made up of the bones of three different Tyrannosaurus Rex, will remain on public displayA Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton called Trinity – made up of the bones of three different T-Rexes – has sold for US$6.1m in a rare auction in Switzerland.The skeleton, estimated to be 65m to 67m years old, had been expected to fetch a higher price after it was put up for sale by an anonymous US individual. It was bought by a private European collector of modern art and dinosaur relics at the Koller auction house in Zurich. Continue reading...
UK Biobank study suggests heart scans could help identify early damage and guide post-treatment carePeople who survive cancer may be at heightened risk of cardiovascular disease in subsequent years, data suggests.However, heart scans may identify early heart damage, potentially opening the door to more tailored follow-up care for cancer survivors. Continue reading...
Research adds to growing evidence that pandemic may be contributing to rapid rise in people with diabetesUp to one in 20 new diabetes cases could be related to Covid infection, data suggests.The research adds to mounting evidence the pandemic may be contributing to a rapidly escalating diabetes crisis, with individuals who have experienced more severe Covid at greatest risk. Continue reading...
Some organisms truck along slowly for aeons before suddenly surging into dominance – and something similar often happens with human inventions, too. But why?What are the most successful organisms on the planet? Some people might think of apex predators like lions and great white sharks. For others, insects or bacteria might come to mind. But few would mention a family of plants that we see around us every day: grasses.Grasses meet at least two criteria for spectacular success. The first is abundance. Grasses cover the North American prairies, the African savannahs and the Eurasian steppes, which span 5,000 miles from the Caucasus to the Pacific Ocean. A second criterion is the number and diversity of species. Since the time grasses originated, they have evolved into more than 10,000 species with an astonishing variety of forms, from centimetre-high tufts of hair grass adapted to the freezing cold of Antarctica to the towering grasses of northern India that can hide entire elephant herds, and to Asian bamboo forests, with “trees” that grow up to 30 metres tall. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay with Li on (#6AX3H)
Madeleine Finlay speaks to science correspondent Linda Geddes about trying out a virtual reality game that challenges you to keep your heart-rate down while facing a terrifying monster, why it could help with tackling anxiety, and whether the gamification of coping strategies could be the best way to integrate them into our every day livesFind out more about Linda’s virtual reality experience hereClip: Hellblade (Ninja Theory) Continue reading...
The appearance of the swirl was shared online after it was caught in time-lapse on the Geophysical Institute’s all-sky cameraNorthern lights enthusiasts got a surprise as they watched the Alaska skies early on Saturday, when a light blue spiral resembling a galaxy appeared amid the aurora for a few minutes.The cause of the spiral was excess fuel that had been released from a SpaceX rocket that launched from California about three hours before it appeared. Continue reading...
Confirmation by officials makes it more likely Britain will be re-admitted to €95.5bn European scientific research programmeThe UK will not have to pay for the two years it has been out of the EU’s €95.5bn (£84bn) Horizon scientific research programme, EU officials have said, in a significant move that opens the door to British scientists.The European Commission statement that the UK was not required to pay for 2021 and 2022 when British membership of Horizon was frozen because of a dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol should in theory hasten a deal on British participation. Continue reading...
The answers to today’s lexical perplexities, and the Pilish prizewinnerEarlier today I set you these problems (and a challenge) about constrained writing, a literary form in which a text must conform to mathematical rules.Here are the puzzles again, with solutions. And below you will discover who won the Pilish challenge – judged by Sarah Hart, author of the fab new book Once Upon a Prime, about the links between maths and literature. Continue reading...
Elon Musk says launch of most powerful rocket ever built called off due to ‘pressurisation’ issueThe largest and most powerful rocket ever built was readied and fuelled for its first test flight on Monday, but SpaceX cancelled the launch minutes before blasting off after discovering a “pressurisation” problem.“A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today,” the SpaceX founder, Elon Musk, said on Twitter. Minutes later, the launch was officially abandoned, with operators ending the countdown 40 seconds before lift-off. Continue reading...
Smug detractors may roll their eyes, but this ancient art gave me a deep understanding of who I am – until it began to feel restrictiveIn early 2017, I became completely fixated on the movements of Jupiter. The planet was hurtling towards my sign, Libra, which, in astrology terms, meant that I would feel the influence of the “luckiest” planet in the sky for as long as it remained in that position (a year). And I really did feel lucky that year. I made friends and lovers easily. I met the person I am now engaged to. Every day I woke up curious and excited, the bright, expansive presence of Jupiter floating right above me like a 61.42bn km² talisman. Thank you Jupiter, I remember thinking to myself. You are my favourite planet in space.My astrology obsession may have reached new levels that year, but it’s always been there. The instant I was born, at 6.36am, my mum wrote down the time so that I’d have an accurate birth chart (an insight into my character based on the alignment of the planets at my time of birth). Growing up, my grandma often read our tarot, the cards spread out on her soft, flowery bed, a vehicle for an unspoken closeness. And I had my own private relationship with astrology, too. Potential relationships would be vetted via star signs (I date Sagittariuses, not Capricorns). Life choices would be explained by the planets (no one goes out during Cancer season). And my conception of myself became hugely shaped by my own astrological makeup (a double Libra: charming when necessary, persuasive, more than a little flaky). In later years, I’d find myself scanning horoscope websites and checking astrology apps such as Co-Star and The Pattern daily.Daisy Jones is a writer and author of All the Things She Said Continue reading...
Mathematical rules for writingUPDATE: The answers and the prize winner is up hereToday’s puzzles celebrate the connections between mathematics and literature.They also mark the publication of Once Upon a Prime, a terrific new book about these connections, by Sarah Hart, professor of maths at Birkbeck, University of London. (One of the puzzles below gives you the chance to win a copy.) Continue reading...
There may not be many of them, but they can be very bright and fast, and viewing conditions look promisingThe Lyrid meteor shower will reach its peak in the early hours of 23 April. Created by dust from the tail of comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher), the Lyrids are not usually vast in number – only about 18 an hour are expected – but they are often very bright and fast moving. Some of the more spectacular ones are known to burn up so brightly that they cast shadows.This year, viewing conditions are expected to be good because the moon has just 9% of its surface illuminated, so even faint meteors will be visible. Occasionally, brief outbursts of 100 meteors an hour have been recorded for the Lyrids. The last report of such an outburst came from the US in 1982 and before that Japan in 1945, and Greece in 1922. Continue reading...
Excavation shows facility included luxurious dining rooms with views of fountains that gushed with wineOf all the Roman ruins that populate what is now a pleasant landscape of pine trees and meadows, under the distant gaze of the Alban Hills, the Villa of the Quintilii is perhaps the most impressive – almost a city in miniature, covering up to 24 hectares.Lying on the ancient Appian Way as it runs south-east from Rome, the villa had its own theatre, an arena for chariot races and a baths complex with walls and floors lined in sumptuous marble. Continue reading...
He was one of Wales’s greatest rugby stars – and the game’s first professional player to come out as gay. But it’s the truth about HIV that Gareth Thomas is set on tackling nowGareth Thomas isn’t sure where to start. Or, rather, if he should even try to. Mum, Yvonne, warned against it before he left Bridgend yesterday. The publicist now hovering in earshot seems unconvinced. Yet here the two of us are on a wintery March morning: sitting in a west London hotel lobby, to discuss a relationship he was in 10 years ago. His sex life, specifically. In how much detail remains uncertain.Thomas retired from rugby in 2011, but through punditry, activism and reality TV, the former Wales international – recently made a CBE – has maintained a major public presence. As an LGBTQ+ pioneer, sporting giant and HIV advocate extraordinaire, he’s a national hero in Wales and beyond. In secret, however, Thomas has been facing years of complex legal wrangling, including a criminal investigation. In a recently settled civil case, an ex-partner – Ian Baum – alleged that Thomas “deceptively” transmitted HIV to him a decade ago. Only in August 2022 did some of the details become public. That wasn’t Thomas’s call – he was given six hours’ notice. Continue reading...
The diagnostic terms for autism were overhauled 10 years ago. Experts, campaigners and autistic people reflect on these changesChris Bonnello, 37, was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in 2011. But these days he just says he’s autistic. “A lot of us did not want to let go originally, it was something that fitted us very nicely,” recalls the teacher turned autism advocate who runs a website called Autistic Not Weird from his home in Nottingham. “But it is better for autistic people if we are all recognised, acknowledged and appreciated together.”Sarah Weston, 47, received a diagnosis of autism spectrum condition in 2019. Yet in daily life she describes herself as an “Aspie” – an informal, affectionate term for a person with Asperger syndrome. She doesn’t have the complex learning disabilities some autistic people do and which non-autistic people can think of when they hear autism. She says using Aspie or Asperger’s just helps outsiders understand what she’s like and clears up confusion. And she is certain, based on her cognitive and language abilities, that she would have received the Asperger’s label had she been diagnosed earlier. Continue reading...
An advocate of plant intelligence, the Italian author discusses the complex ways in which plants communicate, whether they are conscious, and what his findings mean for vegansBorn in Calabria in 1965, Stefano Mancuso is a pioneer in the plant neurobiology movement, which seeks to understand “how plants perceive their circumstances and respond to environmental input in an integrated fashion”. Michael Pollan in the New Yorker described him as “the poet-philosopher of the movement, determined to win for plants the recognition they deserve”. Mancuso teaches at the University of Florence, his alma mater, where he runs the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology. He has written five bestselling books on plants.What’s at the root of your love of plants?
Infections of ancestors lying dormant in DNA can be activated to help immune system attack tumoursRemnants of ancient viruses passed down over thousands or even millions of years in human DNA could help fight cancer, a study has found.Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute were studying lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally, to understand why some patients respond better than others to immunotherapy. Continue reading...
Suggestions in the US that eating the dessert can be beneficial have been greeted by a ripple of scepticism from British expertsDelicious, sweet and full of saturated fat, the concept of ice-cream as a health food is as ridiculous as it is compelling.But in what will be welcome news for many as Britain basks in warmer weather this week, an American public health historian has revealed how numerous studies over several decades have repeatedly found mysterious potential health benefits of the frozen dessert – only to be glossed over by scientists. Continue reading...
Scientists calculate 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano released 1,000 times more energy than Hiroshima bombA huge underwater volcanic event in Tonga last year was of a magnitude comparable with the most powerful nuclear detonation by the US, researchers have revealed.Scientists have used eye and earwitnesses accounts, along with data from tide gauges, satellites, evidence of broken windows and other sources, to calculate that the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which occurred on 15 January 2022 and was felt around the world, likely involved five blasts. The last of them released energy equivalent to about 15 megatonnes of TNT. Continue reading...
Reports of new jabs being developed could fuel the perception that medicine can somehow eliminate death, says Dr Tabitha WinnifrithThe claim by Moderna’s chief medical officer that vaccines may save millions of lives is misleading and will only fuel the perception that somehow medicine can eliminate death (Cancer and heart disease vaccines ‘ready by end of the decade’, 7 April). This in turn leads to a disproportionate fear of death and a belief that dying is somehow a failure.There will be instances in which vaccines could prevent young, active people with a good quality of life from developing cancer, which might be welcomed. But cancer is a disease that is much more prevalent in late middle age and in elderly people. In these cases, a vaccine, while preventing someone from dying from cancer, will enable them to live a little bit longer, by which time they will have developed other ailments. They are consigned to living out their latter years while enduring the many debilitating conditions of old age. Continue reading...
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer has blasted off on an eight-year voyage from a spaceport in French Guiana. The European Space Agency's mission to Jupiter will survey three moons that may have once hosted life. Europa, Callisto and Ganymede are frigid, ice-covered Jovian satellites three-quarters of a billion km from the sun, but they have vast liquid water oceans beneath their surfaces. If hydrothermal vents – found on ocean floors all over Earth – exist, they may provide enough warmth for life to thrive in the darkness
European Space Agency probe due to arrive in 2031 to scan icy moons and study Great Red SpotThe European Space Agency’s Juice probe has blasted off on a landmark mission to Jupiter’s moons, rising on a plume of white from its launchpad in Kourou, French Guiana, on the north-eastern shoulder of South America.The mission, which was delayed for 24 hours after lightning threatened to strike on Thursday, intends to uncover the secrets of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, its enormous polar auroras, and how its mighty magnetic field shapes conditions on the gas giant’s nearby moons. Continue reading...
Science | The Guardian