Emily Smith

Narcolepsy seems to be associated with creativityagsandrew/Getty By Jessica HamzelouLiving at the border between wakefulness and a dream world may do wonders for your creativity. People with narcolepsy are excessively sleepy during the day and can often drift off. Isabelle Arnulf, who treats narcolepsy at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, noticed that her patients seemed remarkably…

Health 18 June 2019 Sometimes ‘good’ gut microbes can turn bad NOBEASTSOFIERCE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY By Jessica HamzelouThe billions of bacteria that line our guts have evolved with us, and play a crucial role in our digestion, physical and mental health. But bacteria that seem beneficial for most people can cause harm in others: they can…

Facebook is launching a cryptocurrencyREUTERS/Charles Platiau By Donna LuFacebook announced its plans to launch Libra, a digital currency, in 2020. Once in circulation, the cryptocurrency will be stored in a digital wallet called Calibra, which will be available as a standalone app as well as within Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Facebook has created a subsidiary…

Space 18 June 2019 Our most detailed image yet of BennuNASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin/PA Wire By New Scientist staff and Press AssociationNASA has captured its closest and most detailed image yet of Bennu, a 78 billion-kilogram asteroid which approaches close to Earth every six years. The image was taken on 13 June while the OSIRIS-REx…

Do figures on Chinese organ donations add up?Huang Xin/Xinhua/Eyevine By Clare WilsonTransplant organs are still being sourced from executed prisoners in China, according to an inquiry in London initiated by a campaign group to investigate the issue. Taking organs from prisoners is illegal according to an international convention, and the Chinese government previously said it…

Physics 15 June 2019 Physicists have worked out how to make the perfect crêpeGetty By Chelsea WhyteThin and crispy in some spots, chewy or undercooked in others – that’s no way to eat a crêpe. It’s easy to make a poor version of these light breakfast treats, but thanks to a mathematical analysis of how…

Today’s weedkillers won’t be effective foreverPowered by Light/Alan Spencer / Alamy Stock Photo By Michael Le PageThe most damaging weed in the UK is about to become resistant to the main defence farmers have against it – the weed-killer glyphosate. And the situation is similar in many other countries around the world, with more than…

Environment | Analysis 14 June 2019 The UK’s vertical farming sector is growingHolly Challinor/Jones Food Company By Adam VaughanThe herbs in your future online supermarket delivery may be grown not in a field in a distant country, but in a shed on the outskirts of a nearby city. This week, UK online supermarket Ocado spent…

Health 14 June 2019 Fat cells in bone behave in a weird waySPL By Michael Le PageThere is a distinct type of fat in our bones that doesn’t act like fat at all. These peculiar fat cells, or adipocytes, grow larger, not smaller, when we starve. “They are fake adipocytes,” says cancer researcher Catherine Muller…

Space 14 June 2019 Planet PDS 70b (on the right) is forming in the protoplanetary disc of PDS 70ESO/A. Müller et al. By Leah CraneAbout 369 light years away, a planet is being born – and with that exoplanet, possibly a set of rings or moons. In 2018, astronomers spotted a young world growing around…