Category Archives: Science

Scientists criticise Nasa for scaling back mission to explore beyond Pluto

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Anger at decision to axe the main task of the New Horizons spacecraft to probe the remote Kuiper belt

It may have reached the edge of the solar system and travelled more than 5 billion miles through space, but the New Horizons spacecraft is causing major ripples on Earth. A dispute has erupted between scientists and US space officials in the wake of Nasa’s decision to stop funding next year for the vessel’s main mission.

The move was described as “misguided and unfortunate” by Alan Stern, New Horizons’s principal investigator.

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US Covid emergency status ends as officials plan ‘new phase of managing’ virus

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Vaccines and medication will remain available for free ‘while supplies last’ but most Americans will have to pay for testing

Thursday marked the end of Covid-19’s public health emergency status in the US, concluding more than three years of free access to testing, vaccines, virtual accommodations and treatment for the majority of Americans.

The end of the emergency designation comes just weeks after the World Health Organization declared an end to the global health emergency. But the nation’s leading health officials also wanted to be sure Americans don’t confuse this marker for the end of Covid-19 concerns.

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Fears over proliferation of disinfectant wipes linked to health problems

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Researchers say wipes common in schools and care homes exposing people to dangerous chemical group called ‘quats’

Since the pandemic’s outset, the global use of disinfectants has gone through the roof. Clorox dramatically boosted production of its wipe packs to 1.5m a day by mid-2021, and an industry trade group said 83% of consumers surveyed around the same time reported they had used a disinfectant wipe in the last week.

But as schools reopened, a group of toxic chemical researchers grew concerned as they heard reports of kids regularly using disinfectant wipes on their classroom desks, or teachers running disinfectant foggers.

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Australia’s first national space mission up in the air after federal budget cuts

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Industry says the Albanese government is ‘defunding space programs without explanation’

Australia’s first national space mission – building satellites to detect and respond to bushfires and floods, and to undertake maritime surveillance – is up in the air.

The former Coalition government announced $1.2bn for a National Space Mission for Earth Observation (NSMEO), designing, building and operating four new satellites, in March last year.

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Some of the first humans in the Americas came from China, study finds

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New genetics study finds some of the first arrivals came during the last ice age, and shortly after, in two distinct migrations

Some of the first humans to arrive in the Americas included people from what is now China, who arrived in two distinct migrations during and after the last ice age, a new genetics study has found.

“Our findings indicate that besides the previously indicated ancestral sources of Native Americans in Siberia, the northern coastal China also served as a genetic reservoir contributing to the gene pool,” said Yu-Chun Li, one of the report authors.

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‘Unique’ frogs in NSW rainforests feared locally extinct after black summer bushfires

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Pugh’s mountain frog, which has been ‘evolving since Australia was connected to Antarctica’ was worst affected of nine threatened species, researchers say

Several frog species are feared to be locally extinct in parts of New South Wales after the black summer bushfires, a survey of amphibian populations has found.

Scientists conducted a survey of 411 sites in north-east and south-east NSW, monitoring 35 frog species for 18 months after the 2019-2020 bushfire season.

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Recovery of ancient DNA identifies 20,000-year-old pendant’s owner

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Elk tooth pendant unearthed in Siberia is first prehistoric artefact to be linked to specific person using genetic sleuthing

Scientists have used a new method for extracting ancient DNA to identify the owner of a 20,000-year-old pendant fashioned from an elk’s canine tooth.

The method can isolate DNA that was present in skin cells, sweat or other body fluids and was absorbed by certain types of porous material including bones, teeth and tusks when handled by someone thousands of years ago.

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Three sections of Roman wall in City of London given protected status

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Remains of once vast riverside structure granted legal protection against unauthorised change

Three sections of a huge but little-known Roman wall, discovered under the City of London, have been given protected status as scheduled national monuments.

The riverside wall was a once vast stone structure that formed part of the defences of Roman London. Built in the third century AD along the Thames, it connected to the city’s landward fortifications, large sections of which still exist.

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Seven psychoactive drugs detected in Australian wastewater for the first time

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Drugs have previously been detected in other research but wastewater results suggest increasing consumption

Seven psychoactive drugs have been detected in Australian wastewater for the first time, a three-year surveillance program has found.

Wastewater testing has revealed the presence of synthetic drugs including mephedrone (commonly referred to as meow meow), ethylone and eutylone, which have stimulant effects akin to MDMA.

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Dutch court orders sperm donor to stop after 550 children

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Nation’s guidelines say no donor should father more than 25 children in 12 families

Dutch 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.

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AI has better ‘bedside manner’ than some doctors, study finds

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ChatGPT rated higher in quality and empathy of written advice, raising possibility of medical assistance role

ChatGPT 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.

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Dogs with dementia also have sleep problems, finds study

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Humans with condition can have disturbed sleep, and similar symptoms in dogs indicate cognitive decline is under way

From 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.

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Europe’s ‘carbon bomb’ petrochemical plant: can it be stopped? – podcast

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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 pollution

Clips: CBS, PBS

Read Sandra Laville’s reporting on this story here

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Japan’s ispace says moon lander probably crashed on lunar surface

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Hakuto-R may have miscalculated altitude, says company after losing contact with spacecraft

Japan’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.

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Use of antibiotics in farming ‘endangering human immune system’

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Study suggests antimicrobial used to promote livestock growth breeds bacteria more resistant to our natural defences

The 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.

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AstraZeneca overtakes Pfizer as crunch week for UK pharma looms

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Driven by a revamped drug portfolio, AstraZeneca is expected to report revenues of $10.7bn in its latest quarterly results

Nearly 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.

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How an Arctic snow school aims to respond to climate crisis with Inuit help

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Canadian project plans to strengthen understanding of Arctic environment by drawing on Indigenous knowledge

Alexandre 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.

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Hoard of 1,000-year-old Viking coins unearthed in Denmark

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Artefacts believed to date back to 980s found by girl metal-detecting in cornfield last autumn

Nearly 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.

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Elephant seals sleep for just two hours a day, deep dive research reveals

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Marine mammals typically sleep in 10-minute bursts during deep, 30-minute dives to avoid predators, scientists believe

Seals 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.

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Star quality: Russia premieres first feature film shot in space

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Vladimir Putin hails achievement that beat Hollywood project announced by Tom Cruise, Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX

The first feature film shot in space premiered in Russian cinemas on Thursday, as Moscow exulted in beating a rival Hollywood project amid a confrontation with the west.

The Challenge is about a surgeon dispatched to the International Space Station (ISS) 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 aboard the orbiting laboratory.

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