Exploration of Bahamas seabed will be first time notorious New Providence hideout has been searched
The Pirates of the Caribbean is a $4.5bn swashbuckling film franchise and Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham are among marauding buccaneers who have captured imaginations over the centuries.
But almost nothing is known about the life and times of actual pirates.
Continue reading...Volatile weather patterns may be altering taste of juniper berries – a key botanical in the spirit – scientists say
The flavour of a gin and tonic may be impacted by climate change, scientists have found.
Volatile weather patterns, made more likely by climate breakdown, could change the taste of juniper berries, which are the key botanical that give gin its distinctive taste.
Continue reading...Study suggests role of male parents may be under-appreciated in some primate species
If male baboons were subject to the same kind of cultural commentary as humans, the phrase “deadbeat dads” might be called for, such is the primate’s relatively limited involvement in raising their young.
But a study suggests that even their little effort might go a long way, with female baboons who experience a stronger relationship with their fathers when young tending to live longer as adults.
Continue reading...Chartered spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary’s first astronauts in decades delayed indefinitely
A chartered spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary’s first astronauts in decades has been delayed indefinitely because of leak concerns at the International Space Station.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) said Thursday that it had postponed the Axiom Mission 4 to the ISS to monitor the cabin pressure on the Russian side of the orbiting lab before accepting visitors. Officials stressed that the seven astronauts currently at the space station are safe and that other operations up there would not be affected.
Continue reading...Critics had claimed that plan announced in May exposed complex of desert etchings to impact of informal mining
Peru’s government has abandoned a plan that reduced the size of a protected area around the country’s ancient Nazca Lines, after criticism the change made them vulnerable to the impact of informal mining operations.
Peru’s culture ministry said on Sunday that it was reinstating with immediate effect the protected area covering 5,600 square kilometers (2,200 square miles), that in late May had been cut back to 3,200 sq km. The government said at the time the decision was based on studies that had more precisely demarcated areas with “real patrimonial value”.
Continue reading...Shubhanshu Shukla will be first Indian to reach orbit in more than 40 years as country works to join global space race
The first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station is due to blast off as part of an effort by the world’s most populous nation to catch up with the US, Russia and China in human space flight missions.
Shubhanshu Shukla, a 39-year-old air force fighter pilot, is one of a four-person mission launching on Tuesday from the US with the private company Axiom Space, which is using a SpaceX capsule.
Continue reading...Psychologist and writer’s appearance on Aporia condemned for helping to normalise ‘dangerous, discredited ideas’
The Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker appeared on the podcast of Aporia, an outlet whose owners advocate for a revival of race science and have spoken of seeking “legitimation by association” by platforming more mainstream figures.
The appearance underlines past incidents in which Pinker has encountered criticism for his association with advocates of so-called “human biodiversity”, which other academics have called a “rebranding” of racial genetic essentialism and scientific racism.
Continue reading...Resilience would have made history as the first non-US commercial lander to make a successful touchdown
An attempt to land a commercially built spacecraft on the surface of the moon looked to have ended in failure on Thursday, two years after its predecessor, launched by the same Japanese company, crashed following an uncontrolled descent.
Resilience, an un-crewed vehicle from the Tokyo company ispace, would have made history as the first non-US commercial lander to make a successful touchdown, scheduled for 3.17pm ET Thursday (4.17am JST Friday) at Mare Frigoris (the Sea of Cold) in the far north of the moon.
Continue reading...Researchers enlisted help of AI along with radiocarbon dating to produce new insights into ancient texts
Many of the Dead Sea scrolls could be older than previously thought, with some biblical texts dating from the time of their original authors, researchers say.
The first of the ancient scrolls were discovered in the caves of Qumran in the Judean desert by Bedouin shepherds in the mid-20th century. The manuscripts range from legal documents to parts of the Hebrew Bible, and are thought to date from around the third century BCE to the second century CE.
Continue reading...A man 43,000 years ago dipped a finger in red pigment and made a nose on a face-like pebble in Spain, scientists say
One day around 43,000 years ago, a Neanderthal man in what is now central Spain came across a large granite pebble whose pleasing contours and indentations snagged his eye.
Something in the shape of that quartz-rich stone – perhaps its odd resemblance to an elongated face – may have compelled him to pick it up, study it and, eventually, to dip one of his fingers in red pigment and press it against the pebble’s edge, exactly where the nose on that face would have been.
Continue reading...Case of man carrying rare genetic variant fuels calls for limit on number of children that can be fathered by one donor
The sperm of a man carrying a rare cancer-causing mutation was used to conceive at least 67 children, 10 of whom have since been diagnosed with cancer, in a case that has highlighted concerns about the lack of internationally agreed limits on the use of donor sperm.
Experts have previously warned of the social and psychological risks of sperm from single donors being used to create large numbers of children across different countries. The latest case, involving dozens of children born between 2008 and 2015, raises fresh concerns about the complexity of tracing so many families when a serious medical issue is identified.
Continue reading...New testing method means treatments could start sooner, possibly before patient leaves the operating table
A new method for diagnosing brain tumours could cut the time patients wait for treatments by weeks to hours and raise the possibility of novel types of therapy, researchers have said.
According to the Brain Tumour Charity, about 740,000 people around the world are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, around half of which are non-cancerous. Once a brain tumour is found, a sample is taken during surgery and cells are immediately studied under a microscope by pathologists, who can often identify the type of tumour. However, genetic testing helps to make or confirm the diagnosis.
Continue reading...University of Reading report says conflicts including war in Ukraine among 12 most pressing threats to pollinator
War zones, microplastics and street lights are among the emerging threats to the bee population, according to scientists.
Bee experts have drawn up a list of the 12 most pressing threats to the pollinator over the next decade, published in a report, Emerging Threats and Opportunities for Conservation of Global Pollinators, by the University of Reading.
Continue reading...The discovery by two local fossil hunters on a river bank in Victoria has ‘potentially far-reaching implications’, scientists say
Fossilised claw prints found in Australia suggest amniotes – the ancestors of reptiles, birds and mammals – evolved about 40m years earlier than thought.
The footprints, in sandstone dated 354m to 358m years old, were probably made by reptiles crossing a surface dimpled by raindrops. Researchers said the trackways represent the oldest evidence of amniotes on the planet.
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Continue reading...Swiss study finds wellbeing and life quality can be improved more than with insulin and other antidiabetic drugs
Weight loss jabs may be good for people’s mental health as well as helping curb their appetite, according to research.
A study by scientists from the University of Bern in Switzerland has found that appetite-suppressing injections also improve mood, wellbeing and quality of life more than insulin and other antidiabetic drugs.
Continue reading...Providing semaglutide for all those eligible may bring productivity gains as people are able to work more
Giving weight loss jabs to everyone eligible for them could boost the UK economy by £4.5bn, according to research.
Worldwide, about 3.8 billion people over 25 and just under 750 million children and young people are forecast to be overweight or obese by 2050. In England, 26.5% of adults are obese, while across the UK 4.6 million are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Continue reading...British team says new study ‘radically transforms’ understanding of bronze age trade networks
In about 1300BC, the major civilisations of the eastern Mediterranean made a cultural and technological leap forward when they began using bronze much more widely for weapons, tools and jewellery. While a form of the metal had previously been used in smaller quantities by the Mycenaeans and Egyptians among others, bronze was now abundant – but how?
Most bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, but while the former was widely available in antiquity, tin is a rare element, with no large sources within thousands of kilometres. This left one big question, referred to by archaeologists as the “tin problem”. Where were the bronze age societies of the Mediterranean getting the tin for their bronze?
Continue reading...Macron and von der Leyen expected to announce protections for researchers seeking to relocate amid Trump’s crackdown
France and the EU are to step up their efforts to attract US-based scientists hit by Donald Trump’s crackdown on academia, as they prepare announcements on incentives for researchers to settle in Europe.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, alongside the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will make speeches on Monday morning at Sorbonne University in Paris, flanked by European university leaders and researchers, in which they are expected to announce potential incentives and protections for researchers seeking to relocate to Europe.
Continue reading...As infections pummel communities in the US, Mexico and Canada, fear of ‘the most contagious human disease’ grows
A leading immunologist warned of a “post-herd-immunity world”, as measles outbreaks affect communities with low vaccination rates in the American south-west, Mexico and Canada.
The US is enduring the largest measles outbreak in a quarter-century. Centered in west Texas, the measles outbreak has killed two unvaccinated children and one adult and spread to neighboring states including New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Continue reading...A ‘wetter farming’ project explores rehydrating peatland to help grow crops in boggier conditions while cutting CO2 emissions
“I really don’t like the word ‘paludiculture’ – most people have no idea what it means,” Sarah Johnson says. “I prefer the term ‘wetter farming’.”
The word might be baffling, but the concept is simple: paludiculture is the use of wet peatlands for agriculture, a practice that goes back centuries in the UK, including growing reeds for thatching roofs.
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