Physicists are grappling with their own reproducibility crisis
17 May 2024
A contentious meeting of physicists highlighted concerns, failures and possible fixes for a crisis in condensed matter physics
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Keto diet may accelerate organ ageing
17 May 2024
In mice, a ketogenic diet increases the build-up of zombie-like cells in the heart, kidney, lungs and brain, which can accelerate organ ageing and lead to health problems
Auks, Darwin's finches and a mummified falcon: Inside NHM bird archive
17 May 2024
The NHM Tring archive houses over 1 million bird specimens, including rare and extinct species such as Darwin's finches, great auk eggs and mummified falcons. We take a peek inside the vast collection
Orchids feed their young through underground fungal connections
17 May 2024
A common species of orchid seems to pass food packages to nearby seedlings, in a kind of plant parental care
Food 'addiction' should be treated like drug abuse, claim doctors
17 May 2024
A group of doctors and scientists is getting behind the controversial idea that people can be addicted to certain trigger foods, in the same way as drugs and alcohol. The team says this addiction should be treated with abstinence, which goes against mainstream medical advice
Alfred Wallace's expedition: Cruise Indonesia exploring nature and evolution
17 May 2024
22 January 2025 - 13 days from $14,350 (USD)
Explore the Maluku Islands (Spice Islands) and Raja Ampat Islands as Wallace did, marvelling at their biodiversity and stunning beauty. You will cruise aboard a 22-berth luxury crewed schooner and visit several sites that were important to Wallace’s discoveries.
Alfred Russel Wallace was undoubtedly one of the greatest naturalists of all time. Not only did he jointly publish the theory of evolution by natural selection with Charles Darwin in 1858, but he made many other major contributions to biology and to subjects as diverse as glaciology, astrobiology, anthropology and epidemiology. He spent eight years in the region that is now Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and the book he wrote about his journey, The Malay Archipelago; The land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise, is one of the most highly regarded scientific travelogues of the 19th century.
Search for diverse species on land, in the air and at sea including several species of birds of paradise, golden birdwing butterflies and a wealth of sea creatures. Plus you will experience local culture, primary rainforests, geology, conservation projects and relaxation of the highest order.
Accompanying the cruise are three experts. George Beccaloni, an entomologist, evolutionary biologist and Wallace expert. George helped devise this itinerary, which has the highest and most authoritative Wallace content of any Indonesian tour, and visits key places that aren’t on the itineraries of other tours. Nita Cesar and Kees Groeneboer are the cruise directors, who between them cover marine biology, ornithology, marine conservation charities, linguistics and Indonesian history. All three experts will join the daytime activities, sharing their considerable insight into the region’s history, the wildlife you will find and Wallace’s adventures.
For every guest, we will make a contribution to the Wallace Correspondence Project, which aims to locate, digitise, catalogue, transcribe, interpret and publish the surviving correspondence and other manuscripts of this important 19th-century scientist.
In partnership with Kraken Travel.
Weekly: Hints of alien life in our galaxy; freezing human brains; solving a mystery of Egypt’s pyramids
17 May 2024
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There are signs that aliens might be harnessing the power of stars in our galaxy to fuel their civilisations. Dyson spheres are structures that surround entire stars to absorb their energy. Although these are just hypothetical, researchers have detected hints of their existence. But aliens aren’t the only possible explanation.
Being able to freeze human brain tissue could be a game-changer for medical research. While freezing brains is easy, thawing them out without damaging the tissue is much harder. But now a method involving a cocktail of chemical ingredients seems to have solved the problem..
The largest ever ‘ecoacoustic’ survey is being conducted throughout the forests of Costa Rica. Sound recordings of various habitats, from degraded pastures to regenerating forests, are being gathered to assess the biodiversity and health of the country’s ecosystems. Hear some of the amazing soundscapes that have been captured for the survey.
Orchids may share food with their offspring. Lab experiments have shown for the first time that parent orchids may be using fungal pathways – the mycorrhizal network – to send vital sugars to seedlings that cluster around them.
Ancient Egyptians were reliant on the Nile river to transport materials used to build the world famous pyramids. But many of those pyramids are built on inhospitable, arid land, far from the Nile. So how did they get the materials there? Geoscientists may have uncovered an ancient clue.
Hosts Christie Taylor and Rowan Hooper discuss with guests Jacob Aron, Alexandra Thomspon, James Dinneen and Chen Ly. To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.
Hear from the researchers developing cutting-edge diagnostic tests and treatments for society's most serious conditions
17 May 2024
Join our one-day masterclass to hear from six pioneering researchers who are leading the way in creating new diagnostic tests and treatments to tackle some of society’s most serious conditions, from Alzheimer’s to diabetes, and even aging itself.
Nomads thrived in Greece after the collapse of the Roman Empire
17 May 2024
Analysis of pollen in sediment cores from a large lake in Greece shows that nomadic livestock herders took over the region after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire
Tech firms claim nuclear will solve AI's power needs – they're wrong
16 May 2024
Some AI firms think nuclear power can help meet the electricity demand from Silicon Valley’s data centres, but building new nuclear power stations takes too long to plug the gap in the short term