This week’s biggest stories
The celebration of scientific endeavour that is Nobel week is drawing to a close. Highlighting amazing and fundamental breakthroughs in medicine, physics and chemistry it’s been a truly inspiring few days, even if some of the science got a bit bogged down in pastry analogies. But if medals aren’t your thing (I know, right? Too heavy for day wear, too ostentatious for dinner; what’s a laureate to do?) then an exciting archeological find revealing the earliest known UK journey, that of a Mesolithic chap and his dog, might be more your style. But if you’ve been eagerly stockpiling candles in happy anticipation of your 120th birthday, look away now - research this week suggests that the human lifespan may have reached its natural limit and is stuck at around 115. Well, as Freddie Mercury so wisely pointed out, who wants to live forever? Perhaps we should bow out gracefully give other primates a chance, which might not be so bad given that psychologists have discovered that, like humans, apes have a “theory of mind” and can guess what others are thinking. And frankly, the “King Kong” films the scientists created to show the apes are reason enough to check out the research!
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Straight from the lab – top picks from our experts on the blog network
Meet the mathekniticians - and their amazing woolly maths creations | Alex’s Adventures in Numberland
Ashforth and Plummer go under the name of Woolly Thoughts, and have become celebrities in the world of the mathematical crafts. Some of their afghans have even been bought by the Science Museum in London.
Dark Matter: Did we just hear the most exciting phrase in science? | Life and Physics
On 25 August 2003, a Delta II rocket launched the Spitzer Space Telescope into a orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida. More than 13 years later, on 19 September 2016, an intriguing analysis of some of these observations was posted by three astrophysicists. The analysis seems to be telling us something surprising.
Why did a medal become the prize for scientific achievement? | The H word
A medal has not always been the obvious way to reward competitive achievement. It was once an innovation, and is one that tells us as much about the enthusiasms of a particular group of 18th-century gentleman as about the new world of experimental science that they sought to celebrate.
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Monday Mind Games
Ambiguous figures have intrigued scientists since the 1800s, but what can they tell us about our visual system? Mind gamers, prepare to be intrigued.
Visit the Head quarters blog, home of Mind Games
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Science Weekly podcast
In this special collaboration between the Guardian’s Science Weekly and Chips with Everything podcasts, we explore how big data and algorithms affect our lives - for better and worse
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Eye on science – this week’s top images
Zoologist Henry Nicholls’ round-up of all the best animal news and research for September features gambling (and gambolling) wolves, friendly tits and happy bees. Happy Friday!
