Category Archives: Science

New analysis of ancient human protein could unlock secrets of evolution

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The technique – known as proteomics – could bring new insights into the past two million years of humanity’s history

Tiny traces of protein lingering in the bones and teeth of ancient humans could soon transform scientists’ efforts to unravel the secrets of the evolution of our species.

Researchers believe a new technique – known as proteomics – could allow them to identify the proteins from which our predecessors’ bodies were constructed and bring new insights into the past 2 million years of humanity’s history.

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Donor children could contact biological parents before 18 under new proposals

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Existing UK fertility law should be updated to regulate modern treatments, says HFEA

Children born via sperm or egg donation would not need to wait until adulthood to find out more about their biological parents, under proposed changes to the law in the UK.

At present, donor-conceived children cannot obtain information about their biological parents until they are 18. But the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said the law should be updated so this information can be made available after the birth of a child, should the donor choose.

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Covid-19 likely emerged from laboratory leak, US energy department says

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Updated finding a departure from previous studies on how the virus emerged and comes with ‘low confidence’

The virus which drove the Covid-19 pandemic most likely emerged from a laboratory leak but not as part of a weapons program, according to an updated and classified 2021 US energy department study provided to the White House and senior American lawmakers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The department’s finding – a departure from previous studies on how the virus emerged – came in an update to a document from the office of National Intelligence director Avril Haines. It follows an FBI finding, issued with “moderate confidence”, that the virus spread after leaking out of a Chinese laboratory.

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Scientist convicted of editing babies’ genes has Hong Kong visa revoked over ‘false statement’

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Local media report inquiry launched over application by Chinese scientist He Jiankui, whose work sparked ethics storm

Hong Kong has reportedly revoked a visa for the controversial gene therapy scientist He Jiankui less than a day after it was revealed he’d been granted one, despite having a criminal record in China for illegal medical practices.

Hong Kong immigration officials said his visa was rescinded and a criminal investigation launched into allegations He had lied on his application form, the South China Morning Post reported.

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Dame Angela McLean to be UK’s first female chief scientific adviser

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Professor of mathematical biology to succeed Sir Patrick Vallance after advising MoD and working with Sage during pandemic

Dame Angela McLean has been appointed as the UK’s chief scientific adviser – the first woman to hold the post.

McLean will take over the role of providing independent scientific advice to the prime minister and members of the cabinet on 1 April, after the end of Sir Patrick Vallance’s five-year term. She will also advise on aspects of science and technology policy, and work to improve the quality and use of scientific evidence and advice in government.

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Fragments of ‘Valentine’s fireball’ meteorite fall in southern Italy

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Object hit balcony in Matera and remnants in pristine condition – ‘almost as if we collected it directly from space’, says expert

Residents of southern Italy’s picturesque and ancient “city of stone” have been gripped by another rocky phenomenon after a meteorite crash-landed on the balcony of a home in Matera’s suburbs.

The space object, which had been travelling at about 200mph, was spotted in the skies above the Puglia and Basilicata regions on 14 February, becoming known as “Valentine’s fireball”, before falling on to the balcony of the home of brothers Gianfranco and Pino Losignore and their parents.

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Fecal bacteria ‘rampant’ on New York sidewalks, researchers find

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Co-author advises taking off your shoes at the door after studying dog poop on Upper East Side

Researchers at New York’s Marymount College have published a study that, in its essence, attempts to establish how much dog poop footwear carries into the homes of New Yorkers on the affluent Upper East Side.

The study, released to the Indoor and Built Environment journal, concludes there’s a strong argument for leaving your outside shoes at the door – or risk tracking fecal bacteria around the house.

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Antarctic science expedition put on ice due to problems with Australia’s research vessel Nuyina

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Ocean voyage to study declining sea ice levels cancelled after RSV Nuyina required repairs leaving climate scientists dismayed

A major scientific expedition to urgently assess record-low sea ice levels in Antarctica has been cancelled due to ongoing repairs on Australia’s icebreaking vessel, RSV Nuyina, with climate scientists expressing disappointment at “Band-Aid” solutions.

US scientists have this week reported that the floating ice around the continent – which protects melting glaciers from currents and warmer waters – has reached the lowest level ever recorded, in part due to unprecedented heatwaves in recent years.

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Biden administration’s rule for federal scientists is a ‘gag order’, critics say

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Federal scientists would largely be barred from publicly discussing research, which could have a ‘chilling effect’, experts say

The Biden administration has proposed what some critics label a “gag order” on federal scientists in the US that would largely bar them from publicly discussing their research, and could effectively prohibit them from taking part in controversial studies on issues like the climate crisis, chemical pollution and biosafety.

The rule would have a “chilling effect” on the nation’s scientific discourse, and a similar policy has already been used to censor scientists, said Jeff Ruch, Pacific director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer), a non-profit that protects federal researchers.

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‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity

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University of Sydney scientists have found a receptor protein which ‘acts a bit like molecular velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus’

Australian researchers have found a protein in the lungs that sticks to the Covid-19 virus like velcro and immobilises it, which may explain why some people never become sick with the virus while others suffer serious illness.

The research was led by Greg Neely, a professor of functional genomics with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre in collaboration with Dr Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher and Matthew Waller, a PhD student. Their findings were published in the journal PLOS Biology on Friday.

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Brexit causes collapse in European research funding for Oxbridge

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Oxford and Cambridge universities, once given more than £130m a year in total by European research programmes, are now getting £1m annually between them

One of the UK’s most prestigious universities has seen its funding from a large European research programme plummet from £62m a year to nothing since Brexit, new figures show.

The latest statistics from the European Commission reveal that Cambridge University, which netted €483m (£433m) over the seven years of the last European research funding programme, Horizon 2020, has not received any funding in the first two years of the new Horizon Europe programme.

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Scientist who edited babies’ genes says he acted ‘too quickly’

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Exclusive: He Jiankui stops short of apologising for procedure that shocked the world of science in 2018

The scientist at the heart of the scandal involving the world’s first gene-edited babies has said he moved “too quickly” by pressing ahead with the procedure.

He Jiankui sent shock waves across the world of science when he announced in 2018 that he had edited the genes of twin girls, Lulu and Nana, before birth. He was subsequently sacked by his university in Shenzhen, received a three-year prison sentence, and was broadly condemned for having gone ahead with the risky, ethically contentious and medically unjustified procedure with inadequate consent from the families involved.

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Bear-clawed cavern discovered in Spain ‘opens new door on prehistory’

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Researchers hail ‘world-class discovery’ that suggests cave bears may have lived farther south than thought

Researchers exploring a cave system in south-east Spain have discovered a huge cavern, sealed off for millennia, hung with huge stalactites and gouged by the claws of long-extinct cave bears, which, they claim, “opens a new door on prehistory”.

The find was made at the Cueva del Arco, a collection of caves in the Almadenes gorge near the Murcian town of Cieza. Although the site had already yielded evidence of settlements stretching back 50,000 years – making it one of the few places in the eastern Iberian peninsula where the transition from Neanderthals to modern humans can be documented – experts digging there suspected it harboured further discoveries.

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Blobs of human brain planted in rats offer new treatment hope

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Scientists suggest patient’s own cells could be grown in the lab and used to repair stroke or trauma injuries

Blobs of human brain tissue have been transplanted into the brains of rats in work that could pave the way for new treatments for devastating brain injuries.

The groundbreaking study showed that the “human brain organoids” – sesame seed-sized balls of neurons – were able to integrate into the rat brain, linking up with their blood supplies and communicating with the rat neurons.

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NSW irrigator hit with $350,000 fine for water theft offences

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Moree Plains company found guilty of knowingly taking water with faulty metering equipment for crops such as cotton

A Moree Plains irrigator has been ordered to pay a record $350,000 in fines after pleading guilty to knowingly taking water, using an under-recording meter system and constructing an unlawful dam.

It is the first time a “tier one” offence has been successfully prosecuted by the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR).

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‘Charmouth crocodile’ identified as new genus of croc-like creature

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Remains of 2-metre-long animal were discovered in 2017 by two fossil hunters for whom it has been named

Scientists have identified a new genus of fearsome crocodile-like creature that once hunted off what is now Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.

The remains of the 2-metre-long animal were discovered by fossil hunters after a series of landslips on to a beach in 2017, and the newly recognised beast has been named Turnersuchus hingleyae in honour of the finders, Paul Turner and Lizzie Hingley.

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Bizarre ‘whirlpool’ appears in night sky above Hawaii

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Phenomenon believed to have origins in launch of military GPS satellite from SpaceX in Florida

A camera on top of Hawaii’s tallest mountain has captured what looks like a spiral swirling through the night sky.

Researchers believe the strange phenomenon is linked to a military GPS satellite that launched from a SpaceX rocket in Florida.

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Three or more concussions add up to long-term cognitive problems, study suggests

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Multiple concussions in a lifetime were shown to affect the ability to plan and pay attention, though research also underlined health benefits of playing sport

Experiencing multiple concussions may be linked to worse brain function in later life, suggests a study of nearly 16,000 people.

Among 15,764 people aged 50 to 90, those who reported three or more concussions had worse complex planning and attention scores on a range of cognitive tests.

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Plant toxin hailed as ‘new weapon’ in antibiotic war against bacteria

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Scientists say albicidin has allowed them to take a giant step forward to creating a powerful new range of antibacterial drugs

Scientists have discovered a plant toxin whose unique method of dispatching bacteria could be used to create a powerful new range of antibiotics. The prospect of developing new antibacterial drugs this way has been hailed by doctors, who have been warning for many years that the steady rise of multidrug-resistant pathogens such as E coli now presents a dangerous threat to healthcare across the planet.

The new antibiotic – albicidin – attacks bacteria in a completely different way to existing drugs, a group of British, German and Polish scientists have revealed in a paper recently published in the journal Nature Catalysis. This suggests a new route could be exploited to tackle bacterial disease, they say.

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‘Remarkable’: Eastbourne shipwreck identified as 17th-century Dutch warship

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Klein Hollandia discovery ‘opens up fascinating chapter in rich, shared maritime history between UK and Netherlands’

• Shipwrecked: how tech is revealing world of 3m lost vessels

A remarkably preserved shipwreck known only as the “unknown wreck off Eastbourne” has finally been identified as the 17th-century Dutch warship Klein Hollandia which was involved in all the big battles in the second Anglo-Dutch war.

Its identity has been confirmed after painstaking research by archeologists and scientists after its initial discovery in 2019, having lain 32 metres (105ft) underwater on the seabed since 1672.

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