This week’s biggest stories
Why don’t humans have penis bones? I bet you’ve been asking yourself that question for ages, right? Well, now we have at least part of the answer. Be warned: it’s not exactly flattering. Still, onto other intriguing evolutionary news: footprints discovered in Tanzania almost certainly belong to a species of human ancestor called Australopithecus afarensis. Even more exciting is that measurements have revealed that these belonged to the largest Australopithecus yet recorded, leading the Star Wars-loving researchers to nickname him Chewie. Leaping forward in time (and possibly back again as well), a new form of gene therapy has been shown to produce rejuvenating effect in mice, leading scientists to claim that the ageing process may be reversible. And more historic progress has been made this week as the UK’s fertility regulator gave the green light for clinics to seek licences to create embryos with the DNA of three people, an experimental technique developed to help women with mitochondrial mutations have healthy babies.
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Straight from the lab – top picks from our experts on the blog network
If nuclear war broke out where’s the safest place on Earth? | Brain flapping
Ex-Pentagon chief William Perry claimed this year that nuclear destruction is a bigger risk today than during the 70s and 80s. The shock election of Donald Trump, described by US military officers as ‘easily baited and quick to lash out’, has also revived our atomic anxiety. With Donald soon to be in sole command of 7,000 nuclear warheads, are we one step closer to nuclear annihilation?
Why palaeontologists are aflutter over new fossil feather finds | Lost Worlds Revisited
The Jehol Biota from Northeastern China has proven to be a fossil treasure trove. Early Cretaceous (approximately 131-120 million years ago) in age, the Jehol biota covers a period with a high diversity of fossils, including plants, invertebrates, dinosaurs and mammals, but it is best known for its exquisitely preserved feathered dinosaurs.
Science has always been a bit ‘post-truth’ | Political Science
What makes Kuhn’s account of science ‘post-truth’ is that truth is no longer the arbiter of legitimate power but rather the mask of legitimacy that is worn by everyone in pursuit of power. Truth is just one more – albeit perhaps the most important – resource in a power game without end. In this respect, science differs from politics only in that the masks of its players rarely drop.
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Monday Mind Games
The trolley problem is a decades-old thought experiment that reveals our inconsistent moral intuitions. So, would you kill one person to save many others?
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Science Weekly podcast
Over 100 million women around the world use the female contraceptive pill. But why isn’t there a male alternative? And are the barriers to its creation scientific or social? Join the Science Weekly podcast team as they ask: the male contraceptive pill: how close are we?
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Eye on science – this week’s top video
Pie in space. Some cutting-edge science right there...
