Category Archives: Science

Australian scientists produce kangaroo embryos using IVF for first time

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Team has produced more than 20 embryos using method used in humans, though there are no plans for live joeys

Scientists have produced kangaroo embryos through in vitro fertilisation for the first time, in a development they say could help conservation of endangered animals.

Australian researchers at the University of Queensland made the eastern grey kangaroo embryos using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a technique widely used in human IVF, in which a sperm is injected into a mature egg.

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Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

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Researcher at Swansea University says tiny plant spores mixed into bitumen can extend surface lifespan by 30%

For all motorists, but perhaps the Ferrari-collecting rocker Rod Stewart in particular, it will be music to the ears: researchers have developed a road surface that heals when it cracks, preventing potholes without a need for human intervention.

The international team devised a self-healing bitumen that mends cracks as they form by fusing the asphalt back together. In laboratory tests, pieces of the material repaired small fractures within an hour of them first appearing.

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‘Groundbreaking’: scientists develop patch that can repair damaged hearts

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Cells taken from blood and ‘reprogrammed’ into heart muscle cells may help patients with heart failure

Damaged hearts can literally be patched up to help them work, say researchers, in what has been hailed as a groundbreaking development for people with advanced heart failure.

According to a recent study, heart failure affects more than 64 million people worldwide, with causes including heart attacks, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease.

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Study of more than 600 animal and plant species finds genetic diversity has declined globally

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Analysis by dozens of scientists internationally notes urgent conservation efforts could halt or even reverse losses

Genetic diversity in animals and plants has declined globally over the past three decades, an analysis of more than 600 species has found.

The research, published in the journal Nature, found declines in two-thirds of the populations studied, but noted that urgent conservation efforts could halt or even reverse genetic diversity losses.

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Ancient British coins found in Dutch field likely to be spoils of Roman conquest

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Archaeologists hail discovery of very rare hoard featuring 44 gold coins bearing name of Celtic king Cunobelinus

A hoard of British coins bearing the inscription of King Cunobelin and found in a Dutch field have been identified as very likely to be the spoils of war of a Roman soldier from the conquest of Britain.

The 44 gold coins, known as staters, were discovered alongside 360 Roman coins, by two amateur archaeologists with metal detectors in a field in Bunnik, near Utrecht. The coins are believed to have been given as military pay.

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Scientists of potato blight pathogen?

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Researchers say study may help global efforts in controlling disease that still destroys crops today

It was a disaster that killed about 1 million people, devastating 19th century Ireland, but while the potato disease linked to the Irish famine is well known, a battle has raged over where it originated.

Scientists have long been divided over whether the fungus-like pathogen Phtytophthora infestans cropped up in the Andes or originated in Mexico.

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‘Drinking PFAS’: water providers call for broad ban on ‘forever chemicals’ amid proliferation fears

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Fifty-one sites in NSW have significant PFAS contamination requiring continued monitoring and remediation, EPA tells Senate inquiry

Experts and water providers have called for a broad ban on so-called “forever chemicals” at a Senate inquiry into PFAS, warning of environmental harm and increasingly costly removal.

The Water Services Association of Australia’s executive director, Adam Lovell, said a ban should be imposed on PFAS in non-essential consumer products. “We need to reduce now, as much as possible, how much PFAS is in the environment.

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Uncharted territory for the WHO if Trump withdraws US membership

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WHO is ‘critical in protecting US business interests’, says CEO of firm that may see lean years if Trump carries out vow

The World Health Organization (WHO) could see lean years ahead if the US withdraws membership under the new Trump administration. Such a withdrawal, promised on the first day of Donald Trump’s new administration, would in effect cut the multilateral agency’s funding by one-fifth.

The severe cut would be uncharted territory for the WHO, potentially curtailing public health works globally, pressuring the organization to attract private funding, and providing an opening for other countries to influence the organization. Other countries are not expected to make up the funding loss.

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Meteorite strike captured in rare video from Canadian home’s doorbell camera

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Sound was also recorded in footage of space rock hitting house entranceway, producing cloud of smoke and a crackle

A doorbell camera on a Canadian home has captured rare video and sound of a meteorite striking Earth as it crashed into a couple’s walkway.

When Laura Kelly and her partner returned home after an evening walk, they were surprised to find their walkway littered with dust and strange debris, according to the Meteoritical Society, which posted the video with its report.

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Pompeii excavation unearths private spa for wooing wealthy guests

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Thermal bath complex is latest discovery among ruins of Italian city destroyed by Vesuvius eruption in AD79

A large and sophisticated thermal bath complex that was believed to have been used by its owner to woo well-heeled guests has been discovered among the ruins of ancient Pompeii.

The baths were found during excavations of a home on Via di Nola in Regio IX, a wealthy district of the city before it was destroyed by the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

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Colombian tree frog found by Sheffield florist highlights invasive species threat

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Scientists say frog’s journey shows difficulty of spotting insects or fungi spread by global plant trade

A tiny tree frog hitchhiking in a bunch of roses to Sheffield from Colombia has inspired a study into invasive species reaching the UK’s shores.

Dr Silviu Petrovan, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s zoology department and a senior author of a paper published today in the journal BioScience, had his interest piqued when he was asked to identify a live frog found in roses in a florist’s shop in Sheffield.

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Sibling rivalry: parents favour older children and daughters, study finds

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International research also reveals conscientious or agreeable children are likely to receive preferential treatment

As Philip Larkin once noted, your mum and dad have a lasting effect on you. Now, researchers have revealed which siblings in a family are more likely to be favoured: it is bad news for sons.

Researchers have found daughters, older children and those who are more conscientious or agreeable are likely to receive preferential treatment.

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Ketamine’s move from club to ‘chill out’ drug is sign of a troubling culture shift

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Experts say mental health treatment is key to tackling rise in UK, rather than simply reclassifying drug as class A

It was once viewed as a fringe club drug whose use as a horse tranquilliser gave it a “dirty” reputation. But with illegal ketamine use reaching record levels, the Home Office announced last week that it was considering reclassifying it as a class A drug in response to a dramatic increase in use among young people.

An estimated 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 reported ketamine use in the year ending March 2023 in England and Wales, the largest number on record, according to Home Office data. Behind the headline figures, there is also evidence of a troubling culture shift, with an increasing number of people taking the drug, which has dissociative, anaesthetic and psychedelic effects, at home rather than in an occasional party setting. This heightens the risk of dependency, experts say, which can lead to devastating health consequences.

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UK can be ‘AI sweet spot’: Starmer’s tech minister on regulation, Musk, and free speech

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Technology secretary Peter Kyle has the task of making Britain a leading player in the AI revolution, but says economic growth will not come at the cost of online safety

With the NHS still struggling, a prisons crisis still teetering and Britain’s borrowing costs soaring, there are few easy jobs going in Keir Starmer’s cabinet at present.

But even in such difficult times, the task of convincing Silicon Valley’s finest to help make Britain a leader in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution – all while one leading tech boss uses the Labour government as a regular punching bag and others ostentatiously move closer to Donald Trump – is among the most challenging.

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Cockney influences found in Scotland, Australia and New Zealand, says expert

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Linguistics professor says London dialect is most likely to be spoken in Essex, but aspects have traversed the globe

The cockney dialect, as associated with the late EastEnders icon Dame Barbara Windsor, may not be as prevalent in today’s London, but it remains possibly the most influential English dialect across the world, according to academic research.

No longer the preserve of those born within earshot of the Bow Bells in the City of London, today cockney is more likely to be spoken in Essex.

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Scandinavians came to Britain long before Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, finds study

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Genetic analysis of Roman soldier or gladiator buried in York reveals 25% of his ancestry came from Scandinavia

People with Scandinavian ancestry were in Britain long before the Anglo-Saxons or the Vikings turned up, researchers have found after studying the genetics of an ancient Roman buried in York.

The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons brought an influx of Scandinavians to ancient Britain in the fifth century, with the first major Viking raid – which targeted the monastery at Lindisfarne – occurring in AD793.

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A total eclipse of the Moon, Saturn’s rings ‘disappear’, meteors and more: your guide to the southern sky in 2025

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These nocturnal events are more spectacular from dark country sky, but they can still be seen from a light-polluted city – and for many, no telescope is needed

Each night an annual parade of constellations passes above our heads but there are always exciting, less frequent events to look out for in the sky. The year 2025 is no exception. The night sky is more spectacular from a dark country sky, but you can see these events even if, like many others, you live in a light-polluted city. For most events you do not need a telescope or binoculars.

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Australian bushfire smoke detected over Antarctica for first time since black summer

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Particles recorded by scientists at the Chilean research station, the Profesor Julio Escudero Base, as recently as Sunday

Smoke from bushfires in south-eastern Australia has been detected over Antarctica for the first time since the 2019-20 black summer fires.

Scientists detected the smoke particles at the Profesor Julio Escudero Base, a Chilean research station on King George Island, at the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula.

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Scientists explore longevity drugs for dogs that could also ‘extend human life’

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Researchers say drugs may be able to increase lifespan by extending health and thus shortening the rate of ageing

Not for nothing are dogs called man’s best friend: they are good for their owners’ mental and physical health, and some studies have shown that if you’re looking for a date and want to seem more attractive, it might be time to get a canine companion.

So what would it be like if dogs could live for ever – and what if that secret could help their owners live longer, healthier lives too?

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Painstaking work to conserve Ireland’s oldest paper documents begins

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Delicate 650-year-old pages to be preserved are some of the island’s most important historical texts

Work has begun to conserve and digitise one of the oldest paper documents still in existence on the island of Ireland.

The ecclesiastical register, which dates back to the medieval period, is about 650 years old. It belonged to the former archbishop of Armagh Milo Sweteman.

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