This week’s biggest stories
The line between sci-fi world and reality got a little blurred this week with scientists announcing babies may one day be born from embryos made with skin cells rather than egg . That means endangered animals could be saved [no, there are no plans for creating Jurassic Park, not yet] and some day it might even be possible for male couples to have babies, without the need of a woman. Futuristic stuff, indeed. Elsewhere, astronomers unveiled the most detailed map of the Milky Way to date, thanks to a 1bn pixel camera fitted on the Gaia spacecraft launched by European Space Agency in 2013. In Italy, meanwhile, the police are looking for DNA thieves after 14,000 test tubes that could hold the secret to why Sardinians live such long lives were allegedly stolen. And an intriguing study links toxic chemicals in household dust to cancer and infertility.
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Straight from the lab – top picks from our experts on the blog network
Scientists reveal most accurate depiction of a dinosaur ever created | Lost Worlds Revisited
It’s not like anything seen alive on Earth today: it’s the size of large turkey, but with a face like a Jim Henson puppet. The head is a shoe-box with eyes, the Frankensteinian flatness on top accentuated by horns sticking out horizontally from each cheek. A parrot-like beak juts out at the front.
Did this red-footed booby really fly all the way from the Galapagos to the UK? | Animal magic
The blown-off-course booby was spotted by local resident Gail Cohen who was having brunch in her beach hut with a friend. She’d seen the species on a trip to the Galapagos so knew instantly that it was from far afield.
The c-world that never was: how your senses deceive you | Brain flapping
The extra-weird thing is that, once the brain has decided what it’s heard, it’s very difficult to hear anything else, no matter how unlikely or illogical its conclusions may be. The brain doesn’t like questioning or doubting itself. So it doesn’t do that.
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Alex Bellos’s Monday puzzle
This week, Alex Bellos has set some puzzles on a bookish theme. The first is about actual books. The second and third link words and numbers. And there’s a fiendish anagram to finish off. So go on, give it a go.
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Science Weekly podcast
How do we define intelligence? How do we decide which animals possess it? And why are some people so uncomfortable with the idea of intelligence and consciousness existing outside the world of Homo sapiens? Catch up on this week’s podcast ... on the nature of intelligence.
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Eye on science – this week’s top video
What really happens to our brains when we hear music? Tinie Tempah agreed to let scientists scan his brain while listening to music. Can he crack the science of sound?
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