This week’s biggest stories
A nice kick-off to the New Year as a mysterious type of radio wave from deep space has been traced to a precise source for the first time. So-called fast radio bursts picked up in 2016 by a telescope in New Mexico likely emanated from a dwarf galaxy some 3bn light years from Earth. The new discovery will not settle the issue of exactly what’s causing the pulses, but it definitively eliminates several theories. Oh the excitement – it’s like Contact, but real! Space excitements aside, concerns are growing about the impact of air pollution on health. A study in the Lancet this week, which tracked 6.6 million people, estimates one in 10 cases of Alzheimer’s among those living by busy roads could be linked to air and noise pollution. It’s by no means conclusive, but does link to other work on the impact of pollution on the brain and its processes. Don’t despair though, there’s some happier brain news with the surprise discovery that the tissues responsible for facial recognition keep growing into adulthood - unlike other areas which are fully formed in early life. It’s hoped that the finding will help scientists understand some aspects of the ageing process, but also what happens in disorders that make it hard for people to spot familiar faces.
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Straight from the lab – top picks from our experts on the blog network
Bring me sunshine in your spores: the science of pollen fossil radiation | Lost Worlds Revisited
UV radiation has huge direct effects on our planet’s climate, despite forming only 8% of the sun’s output. It causes the photochemical reaction which produces the ozone layer, and also heats the stratosphere. As well as the aforementioned damage to DNA which UV radiation causes, increased UV radiation can also produce stress in plants: their growth is stunted, they photosynthesise less, and a whole range of more subtle effects. And what is bad for plants is bad for the entire ecosystem. What we haven’t had up until now is a reliable record of sunshine through deep time.
Ageing gracefully as a scientist: an idiot’s guide | Occam’s corner
The journey from fledgling researcher to established lab head usually involves the step-by-step, inexorable dismantling of crucial lab nous. I’ve seen a lot of scientists transition from full-time researcher to office-bound scholar, some more gracefully than others. But I am keen not to become the butt of anyone’s jokes, affectionate or otherwise, so in the spirit of looking the new year square in the face, here is what I will strive to do – and not do – to keep my inner bench-scientist alive.
Keep lit: how to lose weight without giving up alcohol | Brain flapping
Alcohol is second only to fats in terms of the amount of energy per mass it contains. In plain English, alcohol delivers about 7 calories per gram consumed (fat delivers closer to 9 calories per gram). And that’s just the pure alcohol, the ethanol, in your drink. The stuff around it (the beer, the stout, the cocktail ingredients, the mixers) add substantially more. What’s more, these are “empty” calories. The point of drinking is to get the intoxicating effect, not to nourish the body in some way, so physiologically we’re just pouring pointless calories down our throat. However, scientific analysis offers some way to potentially “game the system” ...
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Alex Bellos’s Monday puzzle
New Year, new puzzle - so what’s the story about 2017, arithmetically speaking? Can you solve Alex’s 2017 equation?
Visit Alex Bellos’s Adventures in Numberland blog for more marvellous maths
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Eye on science – this week’s top video
Keepers at ZSL London Zoo began their annual stock take on Tuesday, counting each animal from the 750 different species at the zoo. It looks like the penguins were particularly helpful ...
