After four-month journey, Aditya-L1 will measure and observe sun’s outermost layers
India’s solar observation mission has entered the sun’s orbit after a four-month journey, the latest success for the space exploration ambitions of the world’s most populous country.
The Aditya-L1 mission was launched in September and is carrying an array of instruments to measure and observe the sun’s outermost layers.
Continue reading...Despite a surplus of eggs at fertility clinics around the country, very few end up being donated to research or other prospective parents
The vast majority of eggs frozen by prospective mothers go unused, causing headaches for IVF clinics and preventing potentially groundbreaking research.
Scientists are decrying a wasted opportunity as thousands of frozen eggs sit unused in storage instead of being used in potentially valuable medical research.
Continue reading...Extending the limit could help uncover causes of recurrent miscarriage and congenital conditions, experts say
Scientists are calling for a review of the 14-day rule on embryo research, saying that extending the limit could help uncover the causes of recurrent miscarriage and congenital conditions.
Until now, scientists studying the earliest stages of life have been restricted to cultivating embryos up to the equivalent of 14 days of development. They can then pick up the path of development several weeks later, on pregnancy scans and from material donated from terminations.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Study published in 2019 used blood and saliva samples from 203 Uyghur and Kazakh people living in Xinjiang capital
Concerns have been raised that academic publishers may not be doing enough to vet the ethical standards of research they publish, after a paper based on genetic data from China’s Uyghur population was retracted and questions were raised about several others including one that is currently published by Oxford University Press.
In June, Elsevier, a Dutch academic publisher, retracted an article entitled “Analysis of Uyghur and Kazakh populations using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel” that had been published in 2019.
Continue reading...The man in red’s distinct visage emerges by algorithm, proving not any old bearded man looks like him
Santa impersonators watch out. Scientists have created a Santa-detection machine and used it to prove what children have been telling adults for generations – that Santa has a unique face which clearly distinguishes him from other elderly bearded men.
Previous research has suggested that children as young as three can identify Santa Claus based on his distinctive appearance.
Continue reading...The animals combine sleeping and digesting, researchers found after extracting reindeer brain data
If your ceaseless feasting at Christmas leaves you exhausted, it may be worth taking inspiration from reindeer: research suggests the animals can sleep while chewing.
During the summer months, reindeer spend most of their time munching foliage – an important activity given food can be scarce in the winter. However, a study suggests one way they balance their need to digest with the need to sleep is by multitasking.
Continue reading...Research found little ones typically begin to distinguish fantasy from reality during preschool years
• ‘I cried for hours’: the moments people realised truth about Father Christmas
From empty glasses of sherry on the mantelpiece to sooty footprints leading to the bedroom door, evidence of Santa’s existence is clearly irrefutable. Yet most children will begin to question it at some point – and many parents anticipate this moment with dread. Now psychologists have identified the average age when Santa scepticism creeps in, and which children are at greatest risk of harbouring negative feelings when it does.
While most adults have fallen for the myth that Santa doesn’t exist, many children still believe – even if the idea of a single individual visiting the homes of billions of children in a single night is at odds with their wider reasoning skills.
Continue reading...There are now seven known species of soft-furred hedgehogs, which look like a cross between a mouse and a shrew
Scientists have identified five new species of soft-furred hedgehogs from south-east Asia.
Two of the species discovered are entirely new to science, while three have been elevated from subspecies level by researchers, who carried out DNA analysis as well as detailed physical observations of the mammals.
Continue reading...Sensational report that Indonesia’s Gunung Padang site is 25,000 years old is dismissed by archaeologists around the world
It was one of the most sensational science stories of 2023. Researchers claimed last month that the Gunung Padang site in West Java, Indonesia, is the world’s most ancient pyramid and could be more than 25,000 years old.
Such antiquity would be unprecedented. Stonehenge and the oldest major pyramids of Egypt are only a few thousand years old, while the previous record holder, Turkey’s Göbekli Tepe stone monuments, are thought to be about 11,000 years old.
Continue reading...AMA criticises political leaders for ‘painful lack of collaboration’ on vaccines and urges faster rollout of national centre for disease control
The Australian Medical Association has accused some premiers of “actively undermining” public health officials at points during the pandemic and said governments were now seeking to avoid criticism of their actions throughout the Covid period.
In a submission to the federal Covid inquiry, the health lobby group also urged the Labor government to speed up its rollout of a national centre for disease control to combat future pandemics, while lashing former political leaders for “a painful lack of collaboration” during the vaccine rollout.
Continue reading...Exclusive: astronomers surprised at size of 13bn-year-old object, which raises new questions about where black holes came from
Astronomers have detected the oldest black hole ever observed, dating back more than 13bn years to the dawn of the universe.
The observations, by the James Webb space telescope (JWST), reveal it to be at the heart of a galaxy 440m years after the big bang. At around a million times the mass of the sun, it is surprisingly big for a baby black hole, raising the question of how it grew so big so quickly.
Continue reading...Researchers find turning to fatty and other unhealthy foods for solace reduces vascular function and raises risk of heart disease
Using fatty foods to comfort eat during times of stress can impair the body’s recovery from the pressure, research suggests.
Many people turn to unhealthy foods such as chocolate or crisps when they are feeling the strain, but researchers have found that this can reduce blood flow to the brain and cause poorer vascular function – which in turn can have a negative effect on mental health and cognitive function, and increase the risk of heart disease.
Continue reading...PM likely to be asked about WhatsApp messages from pandemic that he says are irretrievable, despite reports number accessed
Fresh questions are being raised over whether Rishi Sunak has handed over all relevant material to the Covid inquiry after reports that pranksters have been able to access an old phone number he used during his time as chancellor.
The prime minister will face a day of questioning at the inquiry on Monday, where he is expected to be questioned about his claims that scientists had too much power. He will also be asked detailed questions about the “eat out to help out” scheme that many experts believe allowed the virus to spread.
Continue reading...Blood disorder that can lead to premature death affects estimated 100,000 people in the United States, most of whom are Black
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a pair of gene therapies for sickle cell disease, including the first treatment based on the breakthrough Crispr gene-editing technology, opening up two “transformative therapy” avenues for some patients.
The FDA approved Lyfgenia from Bluebird Bio, and a separate treatment called Casgevy by partners Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Crispr Therapeutics. Both therapies are made from the patients’ own blood stem cells and were approved for people aged 12 and older.
Continue reading...Re-examination finds what were taken to be veins of leaves are actually bone growth patterns
Two small, oval fossils thought to be prehistoric plants are actually the remains of baby marine turtles, researchers have revealed.
The fossils, found in rocks dating to between 132 and 113 million years ago, were discovered in Colombia in the middle of the 20th century by Padre Gustavo Huerta, a priest with a penchant for fossil plants.
Continue reading...African-led trial ended a year early as researchers conclude there is ‘little or no chance’ new combination vaccines cut HIV risk
The first trial in Africa of two combination vaccines to prevent HIV has been halted after researchers concluded it was not working.
The vaccines (part of the PrEPVacc study) were being tested on 1,500 people aged between 18 and 40 in Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa.
Continue reading...Former PM also angrily denies comments he made about letting Covid ‘rip’ meant he had been uncaring
Boris Johnson assumed that Rishi Sunak’s flagship “eat out to help out” hospitality scheme had been cleared by government scientists and was surprised to learn later it was not, the former prime minister has told the inquiry into Covid.
In evidence that could pose notable difficulties for the prime minister when he appears before the inquiry on Monday, Johnson said it would have been “normal” for advisers such as Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance to have been briefed, and that he assumed this had been the case.
Continue reading...Former prime minister also admits he should have worked more closely with devolved administrations
Hugo Keith KC is questioning Johnson.
He asks if Johnson’s approach has been to give all relevant material to the inquiry.
I understand the feelings of these victims and their families and I am deeply sorry for the pain and the loss and suffering of those victims and their families.
Continue reading...Scientists complain after ‘sheer waste’ of human embryos discarded despite patients’ wishes
Leading scientists are calling for a change in the law to help IVF patients donate unused embryos to biomedical research after a collapse in donations over the past 15 years.
The increasing commercialisation of IVF, overstretched NHS clinics and cumbersome paperwork are blamed for a 25-fold decrease in the number of donated embryos. Scientists described some patients going to “extraordinary lengths” to ensure their embryos could be used for research rather than discarded, with many private clinics failing to routinely offer donation as an option.
Continue reading...Discredited ex-PM faces a demolition job in one of the few policy areas to which he and his allies still cling
Even at the height of his popularity, Boris Johnson routinely avoided close questioning – to the extent of once hiding in a fridge to dodge a TV inquisitor. The former UK prime minister is likely to be dreading next week’s appearance at the Covid inquiry. And he probably should.
It is no exaggeration to say that events on Wednesday and Thursday at the inquiry’s repurposed office building in Paddington, west London, could help define the post-power image and legacy of Johnson, and very possibly not for the good.
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