Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days
Continue reading...Category Archives: Science
Fiji ant study provides new evidence of insects’ decline on remote islands
DNA analysis of endemic specimens in museums finds 79% of ant populations in Pacific archipelago are shrinking
Island-dwelling insects have not been spared the ravages of humanity that have pushed so many of their invertebrate kin into freefall around the world, new research on Fijian ant populations has found.
Hundreds of thousands of insect species have been lost over the past 150 years and it is believed the world is now losing between 1% and 2.5% a year of its remaining insect biomass – a decline so steep that many entomologists say we are living through an “insect apocalypse”. Yet long-term data for individual insect populations is sparse and patchy.
Continue reading...US drugmaker Merck scraps £1bn London research centre and cuts 125 science jobs
New blow to UK’s key life science sector as industry body says country is losing ground on investment and research
The US drugmaker Merck has scrapped a £1bn London research centre and is laying off 125 scientists in the capital this year, in a big blow to the UK’s important life science sector.
Keir Starmer’s government has described life sciences as “one of the crown jewels of the UK economy” and the previous Conservative government had vowed to turn the country into a “global science and technology superpower” by 2030.
Continue reading...Doctors trial £100 blood test that could transform how NHS detects Alzheimer’s
More than 1,000 patients to take part in trial to see if the approach leads to faster and more reliable diagnoses
Doctors have launched a clinical trial of a £100 blood test for Alzheimer’s disease in the hope of transforming diagnosis of the devastating condition in the NHS.
More than 1,000 patients with suspected dementia are being recruited from memory clinics across the UK to see whether the test leads to faster and more reliable diagnoses and better care for those found to have the disease.
Continue reading...Rare total lunar eclipse ‘blood moon’ to be visible from UK
The satellite will turn deep red as the Earth passes between the sun and the moon at about 7.30pm on Sunday
A rare total lunar eclipse “blood moon” will be visible from the UK on Sunday night for the first time since 2022.
The moon is expected to turn a deep, dark red as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, casting its shadow across the lunar surface.
Continue reading...Archaeologists in Peru discover 3D mural that could date back 4,000 years
The unprecedented find has shifted archaeological understanding about the first civilisations in the Americas
Archaeologists in Peru have discovered a multicoloured three-dimensional mural that could date back 4,000 years, in an unprecedented find that has shifted archaeological understanding about the first civilisations in the Americas.
The centrepiece of the three-by-six metre mural is a stylistic depiction of a large bird of prey with outstretched wings, its head adorned with three-dimensional diamond motifs that visually align the south and north faces of the mural. It is covered with high-relief friezes and features designs painted in blue, yellow, red and black.
Continue reading...Malawi set to run out of TB drugs in a month after US, UK and others cut aid
Gains in cutting deaths from tuberculosis at risk as health officials warn clinics forced to ration drugs and testing
Malawi is facing a critical shortage of tuberculosis drugs, with health officials warning that stocks will run out by the end of September.
It comes just months after the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that the country had successfully reduced tuberculosis (TB) cases by 40% over the past decade.
Continue reading...Starships are meant to fly: SpaceX’s rocket finally launches after setbacks
Test flight comes after explosive failures raised doubts over founder Elon Musk’s goals to reach Mars and moon
Third time was the charm on Tuesday for the launch of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket after the launch had been scrubbed two times in as many days. The success of this 10th flight proved the spacecraft had overcome its past failures key to the Mars rocket’s reusable design.
The stainless steel behemoth, 403ft (123 meters) tall, lifted off from the company’s Starbase in southern Texas at 6.30pm local time (2330 GMT), to loud cheers from engineering teams, a webcast showed. This mission was to be a test of the ship’s new heat shield tiles and satellite deployment abilities, among hundreds of other upgrades from past iterations.
Continue reading...Fireball lights up sky over western Japan
Flash of light visible for hundreds of miles was an exceptionally bright meteor, say experts
A huge fireball dashed across the skies of western Japan, shocking residents and dazzling stargazers, though experts said it was a natural phenomenon and not an alien invasion.
Videos and photos emerged online of the extremely bright ball of light visible for hundreds of miles shortly after 11.00pm local time (1400 BST) on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Scientists capture first footage of human embryo implanting in a uterus
Groundbreaking footage shows ‘surprisingly invasive’ process and may help to improve infertility treatments
A human embryo being implanted into a uterus has been pictured in real time and in 3D footage for the first time by a team of scientists.
It shows images of an embryo implanting into a synthetic uterus, demonstrating how the process occurs naturally.
Continue reading...Abortion drug could help reduce risk of breast cancer, group of medics says
Stigma around mifepristone is stopping studies, experts in reproductive health claim in Lancet opinion piece
A drug used in medical abortions could help prevent women at high risk of breast cancer from developing the disease, according to an international group of doctors and scientists.
However, “stigma” around mifepristone is stopping pharmaceutical companies from investigating its potential as a new treatment doctors could offer to reduce the risk of breast cancer, they say.
Continue reading...Sudan cholera outbreak kills 40 in a week as health centres overwhelmed
MSF charity calls situation ‘beyond urgent’ as thousands seeking refuge from war rely on contaminated water
The “worst cholera outbreak in years” has killed at least 40 people in the last week in Sudan, according to the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières.
Overwhelmed medical centres are resorting to treating patients on mattresses on the floor, MSF said, as the country’s two-year civil war aids the spread of the disease.
Continue reading...‘Social apnoea’: sleep disorder could worsen at weekends, research suggests
Lifestyle factors such as drinking and smoking could contribute to increased severity of obstructive sleep apnoea
Letting your hair down at the weekend might be a well-known recipe for a hangover, but researchers say it might also increase the severity of a common sleep disorder.
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) involves complete pauses in breathing or partial reductions in airflow that arise because muscles in the back of the throat relax, causing the airways to narrow or close. It is more common in groups such as older people and people who are overweight or obese.
Continue reading...Eight bat researchers mostly from Asia and Africa refused entry into Australia to attend global scientific event
Organisers say move will damage nation’s scientific standing as government refuses to comment on why group of scientists were refused entry
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Organisers of an international research conference have criticised a last-minute Australian government decision to deny visas to eight invited researchers, mostly from Asia and Africa.
Prof Justin Welbergen, chair of the 20th International Bat Research Conference in Cairns, said the decision to deny the researchers entry without option to appeal had disrupted the event, which is a key forum for global collaboration on bat research and conservation.
Continue reading...Trump’s EPA eliminates research and development office and begins layoffs
Administration’s move to cut thousands of agency jobs will be devastating for US public health, union warns
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Friday it is eliminating its research and development arm and reducing agency staff by thousands of employees. One union leader said the moves “will devastate public health in our country”.
The agency’s office of research and development (ORD) has long provided the scientific underpinnings for the EPA’s mission to protect the environment and human health. The EPA said in May it would shift its scientific expertise and research efforts to program offices that focus on major issues such as air and water.
Continue reading...Sudan’s children face growing threat of deadly infectious diseases as vaccination rates halve
The country, beset by war, has the world’s lowest rates of vaccination, says the World Health Organization, as global immunisation drive also stalls
Children in Sudan, caught up in what aid organisations have called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and threatened by rising levels of violence, are increasingly vulnerable to deadly infectious diseases as vaccinations in the country plummet.
In 2022, more than 90% of young children in Sudan received their routine vaccinations. But that figure has nearly halved to 48%, the lowest in the world, according to the World Health Organization.
Continue reading...Oxford University Press to stop publishing China-sponsored science journal
Move follows concerns several papers in Forensic Sciences Research did not meet ethical standards on DNA collection
Oxford University Press (OUP) will no longer publish a controversial academic journal sponsored by China’s Ministry of Justice after years of concerns that several papers in the publication did not meet ethical standards about DNA collection.
A statement published on the website of Forensic Sciences Research (FSR) states that OUP will stop publishing the quarterly journal after this year.
Continue reading...DoJ drops charges against Utah doctor accused of destroying Covid vaccines
Michael Kirk Moore accused of distributing at least 1,937 false vaccination cards and administering saline to children
The US Department of Justice dropped charges on Saturday against Michael Kirk Moore, the Utah doctor accused of destroying more than $28,000 worth of government-provided Covid-19 vaccines and administering saline to children instead of the shot.
Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, announced the news in a statement on the social media platform X, saying the charges had been dismissed under her direction.
Continue reading...Some gut microbes can absorb and help expel ‘forever chemicals’ from the body, research shows
Previously, the only way to reduce levels of Pfas was by bloodletting or a drug with unpleasant side effects
Certain kinds of gut microbes absorb toxic Pfas “forever chemicals” and help expel them from the body via feces, new first-of-its-kind University of Cambridge research shows.
The findings are welcome news as the only options that exist for reducing the level of dangerous Pfas compounds from the body are bloodletting and a cholesterol drug that induces unpleasant side effects.
Continue reading...Denver museum known for dinosaur displays finds fossil under its parking lot
A hole drilled 750ft deep to study museum’s geothermal potential yielded an unexpected surprise
A Denver museum known for its dinosaur displays has made a fossil bone discovery closer to home than anyone ever expected: under its own parking lot.
It came from a hole drilled more than 750 ft (230 meters) deep to study geothermal heating potential for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
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