Emily Smith

Placenta experiments may have been corrupted by contaminationSteveAllenPhoto/Getty By Jessica HamzelouIs the placenta home to communities of bacteria? Recent evidence that the organ has its own microbiome promised to rewrite our understanding of it, but now research suggests that the earlier experiments may have been contaminated. While the gut is known to host a rich,…

Technology 31 July 2019 A new computer chip has been used to control a self-riding bicyclePeiet AL., Nature By Donna LuA COMPUTER chip inspired by the brain could pave the way for artificial intelligence with a broader range of abilities. The chip has been used to control an autonomous bicycle, but one day it might…

Westend16/GettyBy Haunani Kane FOR over two weeks, kia’i mauna (Hawaiians and their allies) have been protesting on the access road to the proposed site of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea, a sacred peak on Hawaii Island. If built, the telescope could help us understand the formation of planets and galaxies. But the…

Life 31 July 2019 Oxford University Museum of Natural HistoryBy Graham Lawton MORE than half a billion years ago, this stalk-eyed minibeast (Isoxys auritus) cruised the seas in what is now Yunnan, China. This remarkable fossil is one of 55 from the Chengjiang deposit on loan to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, most…

Should we eat local to cut food miles, or does it make no difference?

Governments are increasingly shutting down access to the internet in an effort to curb organised violence. But evidence shows it usually makes things worse Technology 31 July 2019 Protests in Sudan against the military junta led to it switching off the internetMohamed Khidir/Xinhua/eyevine By Donna LuIN EARLY June, protesters took to the streets of Sudan’s…

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection carried by ticksVitaliy Halenov/Getty By New Scientist staff and Press AssociationAn analysis of Lyme disease cases in the UK suggests that the infection may be three times more common than the current annual estimate. Researchers looked at a database of 8.4 million anonymised patient records, covering about 8 per cent…

Health 30 July 2019 Living active lives for longer is now the focus of anti-ageing researchDEEPOL by plainpicture By Graham LawtonCould this be the start of a new way to fight ageing? A supplement designed to slow the ageing process aims to increase the number of healthy years we enjoy towards the end of our…

Amid continued protests over the construction of the Thirty Metre Telescope on Mauna Kea, Haunani Kane suggests scientists can learn from Hawaiian culture Comment | Comment 30 July 2019 There are already 13 telescopes on Mauna KeaWestend61/Getty By Haunani KaneFor over two weeks, kia‘i mauna (Hawaiians and their allies) have been protesting on the access…

Humans 30 July 2019 TV programme Vikings depicts the exploits of raiding warriorsAF archive / Alamy By Michael MarshallThe Vikings weren’t all Nordic natives. They comprised multiple distinct groups of different peoples, according to a major study of ancient DNA. “Viking genetics and Viking ancestry is used quite a lot in extremist right-wing circles,” says Cat Jarman…