It is unclear whether BA.2.86 causes more severe disease but its detection in several countries has put scientists on alertA new Covid variant that is causing concern among scientists due to its large number of mutations has been detected in London.The variant, dubbed BA.2.86, has been detected through genetic sequencing, although only a handful of such sequences have so far been reported. The first was reported in Israel, with the variant since being detected in Denmark and the US. Continue reading...

Researchers conclude there is ‘potential value’ in testing heart patients’ urine for substances such as marijuana, ecstasy and cocaineMore than one in 10 patients admitted to cardiac intensive care have taken recreational drugs, research has found.Researchers in France tested the urine samples of all patients admitted to cardiac intensive care in 39 French hospitals during a fortnight in April 2021. They found 11% had taken drugs such as marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine. Continue reading...

My partner, however, always assumed that one day he would be a dadI didn’t become a childfree woman. I was born childfree, much like everyone else, then I simply stayed that way. There was no need to go through a future-mother phase to know that in my home there would be no chirpy children’s laughter or tippety-tap of bare toddler feet.Poor David then, my partner. He most definitely was in his future-father phase when we met, aged 20, 21. Continue reading...

If departing the EU has failed to deliver, why is the UK still so divided? Seven years on, we ask behavioural psychologists if cognitive dissonance can be overcomeOne of the most significant political events of the past few months, it has seemed to me, wasn’t strictly a bit of politics at all, but an emotional catch and quaver in the voice of a politician. The politician was the Conservative MP Steve Baker and the sudden sob in his throat came about during a TV interview about the efforts to resolve the Northern Ireland protocol.Baker, you will recall, was one of the most strident voices in...

The quest to discover whether or not we’re alone in the universe has become an obsession for many Americans. Some of them are elected officials, reports Adam Gabbatt in Washington DCOver the past few weeks, there’s been a lot of talk of UFOs. Which isn’t unusual in the US – over the decades, it has become for many enthusiasts a kind of obsession. But what is unusual is that recently this UFO chatter has gone beyond internet forums, YouTube channels and kooky podcasts. Now it’s arrived in Washington.In the past few years, the Pentagon has said pilots are seeing things up in the sky...

Team coverts polyethylene into fatty acids, soap’s main ingredient, but say it is not panacea for plastic pollutionScientists have discovered a method to give new life to old plastic – by converting it into soap.Plastics are chemically similar to fatty acids, which are one of the main ingredients in soap. For Guoliang Liu, an associate professor of chemistry at Virginia Tech and author of the paper published in the journal Science, this similarity suggested it should be possible to convert polyethylene into fatty acids, and then into soap. The problem was size: molecularly, plastics are...

Or denser?Today’s three puzzles are written by Barry R Clarke, author of Mensa’s bestselling book of logic puzzles. Mensa is the society for people with high IQs, which it defines as those who score in the top 2 per cent of intelligence tests.If you breeze through these puzzles, consider yourself a clever clogs! Continue reading...

The solutions to today’s puzzlesToday I set you these three problems by Mensa-approved author Barry R Clarke. Here they are again with solutions.1. Switched on Continue reading...

A new method called ‘skeletal editing’ offers a hugely simplified way to alter matter, paving the way for world-changing innovations in personalised medicine and sustainable plasticsAsk Mark Levin what excites him about his work, and the associate professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago could double as a poet. “We’re one of the only fields of science that at its core is about making things that have never existed anywhere else in the universe, and would never have existed if we didn’t intervene,” he enthuses. “We get to manipulate matter at the atomic level to shape it...

As cases rise, scientists say country is mostly in the dark about how infections could play out in coming monthsThe UK is nearly “flying blind” when it comes to Covid this autumn, experts have said, amid an increase in cases.While the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) continues to track some metrics of Covid, including hospitalisation numbers, many of the community surveillance studies tracking infection levels have finished. Continue reading...

Study also suggests parents who have two children of same sex are more likely to try for third than those with one of each sexCinderella may have had an evil stepmother and a pair of ugly stepsisters to contend with, but the next time you settle down to the fairytale, spare a thought for parents with three daughters under the same roof.Having three daughters and no sons can lead to a minor dent in mothers’ wellbeing that can take a whole decade to pass, according to researchers. Continue reading...

Madeleine Finlay speaks to science correspondent Nicola Davis about why octopuses are more similar to us humans than we might believe. She also hears from Prof David Scheel about our increasing understanding of the sophistication of these cephalopods, and how that should influence our treatment of themClips: Netflix, Voice of AmericaRead more of Nicola Davis’ reporting on octopuses here Continue reading...

A pod in the strait of Gibraltar has sunk three boats and damaged dozens of others, and their story has captivated the world. What explains this unprecedented behaviour?What’s going on with the #orcauprising? You’ve probably gathered the basics: orcas are “attacking” yachts. To be strictly factual, since 2020, a small pod of orcas in the strait of Gibraltar has been interacting with sailing boats in a new way: ramming vessels, pressing their bodies and heads into the hulls and biting, even snapping off, the rudders. Over three years, more than 500 interactions have been recorded, three...

Often dismissed by the medical establishment, people with complex illnesses such as ME and long Covid are taking the hunt for treatments into their own handsIn 2019, years after developing the myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) that had kept her bedridden in a state of chronic pain and exhaustion, Tamara Romanuk experienced something “miraculous”. After taking antibiotics prescribed to treat a separate infection, she experienced a short-term remission in symptoms. “I went from being bedbound to twirling outside,” Romanuk says. “I had no idea that life could be so different from what I...

From cabin dwellers to chateau owners, it’s a zest for life – even the small things – that makes us flourishWhen my partner, Zan, and I drove our van out of the parking lot in Buenos Aires in 2006 – and faced southwards towards Patagonia – we had rules for the trip ahead: no computer, no phone, no social media, no camera, no compass, no internet. These were the rules. But, more importantly, no plans. Instead, we hauled dozens of books on philosophy, like The Art of Happiness by Epicurus and Conversations of Socrates, and some odd sprinklings of sociology and psychology texts. The...

Loopholes in proposed post-Brexit laws could allow preventive use to continue, raising risk of resistance, says coalition of groupsProposed laws to curb antibiotic use on UK farms contain loopholes that could undermine the fight against deadly drug-resistant bacteria, campaigners say, adding that they were drafted after closed-door meetings with industry.The government published the draft legislation, designed to replace EU rules post-Brexit, after consultations with pharmaceutical, veterinary medicine and farming lobby groups, according to freedom of information requests filed by the...

Indonesia's mangrove forests are being felled to make charcoal - locals say they have to make a living.

Essex Wildlife Trust says intact teeth, like the one found, are a "rare find".

A signal sent in error left Voyager 2's antenna tilting the wrong way, severing contact with Earth.

The historic royal tradition of "swan upping" reveals a sharp decline in swan young on the River Thames.

A new Oxford University study pinpoints for the first time how high- and low-meat diets impact the planet.

With Chandrayaan-3, India aims to be the first to land near the Moon's little-explored south pole.

Countries have agreed to limit carbon from shipping by 2050 but green groups say the pact is flawed.

The Wildlife Trust in Northamptonshire says the dam-building mammals will be released next winter.

Europe launched its last Ariane-5 rocket from French Guiana on Wednesday, carrying two military communications satellites.