This week’s biggest stories
A nanochip that sits on the skin and uses an electric field to reprogramme cells could be a breakthrough in the way we treat injured or ageing tissue, say researchers. Will it keep us healthy for longer? Or is that something that increasing our salt intake could help with? Scientist James DiNicolantonio thinks so, but his new book The Salt Fix has public health bodies falling over themselves to condemn his advice. We need to nail this healthy eating thing (not necessarily clean eating, though) if we’re going to live long and prosper on other planets. And given that a new discovery about the Moon’s magnetic field has raised fresh possibilities in the hunt for new worlds, we should really get on it quicksticks. Finally, two excellent yarns for all you bone lovers out there. Firstly, some good news from Bradford University, who are to digitise the slightly bonkers archive of the boundlessly eccentric palaeopathologist Calvin Wells, sadly without the shrunken head, but still: interesting objects abound. Secondly, analysis of bones found in a Somerset cave (which have already been linked to human cannibalism 15,000 years ago) has revealed evidence of ritualistic engravings. A charming combination of the horrifying and fascinating to start your weekend!
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Talking point of the week
Another week, another sickening attack on Professor Mary Beard for her unspeakable insistence on scholarship and reasonable debate. Geneticist Jennifer Raff has added more fuel to the fire with this fantastic piece explaining why, if there were indeed Africans in Roman Britain, their DNA might not show up in contemporary populations. A monstrous regiment of well-informed women, indeed.
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Straight from the lab – top picks from our experts on the blog network
Just say ‘know’ to drugs: can testing facilities make festivals safer? | Sifting the evidence
Without specialist drug testing services it is very difficult for drug users to know what they are taking, particularly with regard to potency and purity. Essentially, they have to rely on word of mouth and potentially inaccurate reports based on indicators such as colours or logos on tablets. These methods are unreliable and potentially life threatening. As high quality pills with a distinctive logo and colour develop a good reputation among users, other manufacturers will copy these designs to increase their profits, while changing the contents of the pill. Given that festivals and drug use go hand in hand for a number of people, services such as The Loop that offer drugs safety testing without the fear of criminal sanction would appear vital to avoid health related problems.
Why do cephalopods produce ink? And what’s ink made of, anyway? | Lost Worlds Revisited
In some of the earliest surviving natural history accounts, this curious behaviour is noted. Writing in 350 B.C.E, Greek philosopher Aristotle notes that the cuttlefish employs its dark liquid for the sake of concealment, although he supposes that octopus and squid only do so out of fear. Some 400 years later that other famed early natural historian, Pliny the Elder, theorises that cuttlefish have ink, or a black fluid, instead of blood. Fast forward to now and what do we know about how cephalopods evolved ink and inking? Surprisingly, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this well known behaviour.
The human cost of the pressures of postdoctoral research | Head quarters
Most work on mental health issues in universities tends to focus on undergraduate or postgraduate students. Yet despite forming the backbone of most academic research, postdocs are often completely missing from this research. That being said, there is some evidence that in comparison to other occupational groups, the overall mental health of those working in academic is relatively poor – in particular, levels of depression and anxiety tend to be inflated. A Guardian survey in 2014 of 2500 academics with self-reported mental health issues suggested that 66% of people agreed that their problems were directly related to their university work. Similarly, two-thirds reported that they had not spoken to anyone in a senior position about their mental health.
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Friday fun
The BBC needs to accept that former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson doesn’t exist, says Dean Burnett ...
The BBC has recently come under fire for a Radio 4 programme which featured Nigel Lawson criticising the concept of climate change. This has drawn the ire of many scientists, and rightly so. The science on this matter is settled, there is no meaningful debate to be had, and the evidence is there for all to see should they choose to go and look for it. Basically, Nigel Lawson isn’t real.
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Science Weekly podcast
This week, Hannah Devlin explores the science and ethics behind a landmark study that successfully edited the genomes of developing embryos.
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Eye on science – this week’s top video
Nice bit of biology for all of you out there who were fascinated by the story of the Aussie teen who waded into the sea only to emerge bleeding uncontrollably from mysterious bites.
