This week’s biggest stories
It’s a controversial idea, but a new paper this week describes for first time how scientists can test the controversial idea that the speed of light is not a constant. If the theory is proven, it would overturn Einstein’s century-old claim that the speed of light is a constant. It could change the way we view the cosmos, but until it’s proven (or not) we can content ourselves with what we do know - and for some of that we have the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft to thank. After nearly two decades, more than 300,000 incredible images and the discovery of no fewer than seven moons, Cassini is about to begin its swansong, which will end when the craft finally dives into Saturn itself on 15 September. If the noble end of this plucky little orbiter brings you down, why not cheer up with a little festive “neural karaoke”? An AI project from the University of Toronto can take any digital photo and transform it into a computer-generated singalong - and we have their Christmas effort for you to enjoy. Other cheering news is that a single dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, can lift anxiety and depression experienced by people with advanced cancer for six months or even longer, according to two new studies. An even happier note sounded this week for women who are in danger of passing on devastating and often fatal mitochondiral disorders to their children - UK doctors are poised to seek permission this month to create Britain’s first baby from the DNA of three people if the government’s fertility regulator approves the treatment.
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Friday feature
From an Arctic Circle expedition to working with the school of biology and environmental science at University College Dublin and having her work sent into space by the European Space Agency, artist Siobhan McDonald explains how she collaborates with researchers to broach subjects at the edges of current scientific knowledge. There’s also a great gallery of some of the work that will be included in her forthcoming exhibition, Crystalline.
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Straight from the lab – top picks from our experts on the blog network
Drink and be merry: why alcohol makes us feel good, then doesn’t | Brain flapping
The mechanisms of alcohol intoxication are quite confusing. We’re talking about a relatively small molecule (ethanol) that ends up present throughout the whole brain. Ethanol disrupts the cell membranes of neurons, mildly and temporarily, but neurons are complex and delicate, so this still affects their functioning. Given that all the brain’s functions depend on neurons, alcohol potentially affects the entire brain, all at once. You can see why it would be tricky to pin down the exact causes of drunken antics.
How did the whale get its ‘moustache’? | Lost Worlds Revisited
This moustache is properly called baleen, and is found in the mystecetes: the group of whales that include the famous giants such as humpbacks, bowheads and blue whales. It is neither hair nor tooth, but a stack of keratinous plates that hang, closely packed and bristling, from the upper jaw inside a whale’s mouth, forming a brush-like sieve for feeding. Recent research suggests it evolved from the gums, but exactly when and how it first appeared in ancient whales is difficult to figure out. Baleen may have been around for up to 30 million years, but it almost never preserves in the fossil record.
The case of the desperately ill spy and the untraceable poison | Notes & Theories
There were puzzling discrepancies in his lab results. Someone suffering from a bacterial infection would be expected to have a high white blood cell count, as the body produces more of these cells to fight off the infection. In this case the white blood cell count was very low and decreasing. Perhaps this was a reaction to the antibiotics. Perhaps not. Four days later, when her husband was still not making the expected recovery, Mrs Carter suggested poisoning.
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Alex Bellos’s Monday puzzle
An unexpected extra puzzle treat from Alex this week, with Newcomb’s problem, which for almost half a century has been one of the most contentious conundrums in philosophy, with ramifications in economics, politics and computer science. As part of his original post, Alex asked readers which answer they’d choose - read the results of the poll and decide for yourself!
Visit Alex Bellos’s Adventures in Numberland blog for more marvellous maths
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Science Weekly podcast
Helping Nicola Davis delve into the problem of ageing in the latest Science Weekly podcast we have biomedical gerontologist Dr Aubrey De Grey, who reveals his unique, seven-step approach to the problem of ageing. Harvard University’s Dr Justin Werfel discusses why programmed death might be a good thing, and the University of Kent’s Dr Jenny Tullet explains how she’s using roundworms to reveal clues about the genetics of ageing.
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Eye on science – this week’s top pictures
More than 50 spectacular specimens of monkeys, apes, lemurs, lorises and bushbabies will go on show at the National Museum of Scotland from 9 December. The taxidermy was specially commissioned for the exhibition and is the first to show primates behaving as if they were in the wild - get a sneak peek at some of the specimens in this fab gallery.
