John Mainstone, who for 52 years tended to one of the world’s longest-running laboratory experiments but never saw it bear fruit with his own eyes, died on 23 August after suffering a stroke. He was 78. Mainstone had been looking after the pitch drop experiment at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia since he arrived at the university […]
Nature
Predictors of suicidal behaviour found in blood
Changes in gene expression can indicate heightened risk for self-harm. People who are intent on taking their own life may not seek counsel or discuss their thoughts with others. Having some ways of predicting the rise of suicidal thoughts could help save at least some of the 1 million people worldwide who die that way […]
‘Safe’ levels of sugar harmful to mice
Diet comparable to that of many Americans left animals struggling to reproduce and to compete for territory. Too much sugar is bad for you, but how much, exactly, is too much? A study in mice has found that the animals’ health and ability to compete can be harmed by a diet that has sugar levels […]
Canada used hungry indigenous children to study malnutrition
Ire follows article detailing tests on unwitting aboriginal citizens in the 1940s and 1950s. Canadian government scientists used malnourished native populations as unwitting subjects in experiments conducted in the 1940s and 1950s to test nutritional interventions. The tests, many of which involved children at state-funded residential schools, had been largely forgotten until they were described […]
Silver makes antibiotics thousands of times more effective
Ancient antimicrobial treatment could help to solve modern bacterial resistance. Like werewolves and vampires, bacteria have a weakness: silver. The precious metal has been used to fight infection for thousands of years — Hippocrates first described its antimicrobial properties in 400 bc — but how it works has been a mystery. Now, a team led by James […]
Making the most of muscle oxygen
Animals have evolved a variety of ways to get oxygen under extreme conditions. Oxygen is vital for life, and animals have developed various ways to ensure they can access it under extreme conditions — deep under water, at high altitude or in times of stress. Three papers published today in Science examine the ways that different animals […]
Refurbished Alvin submersible returns to sea
After a two-year, $41 million upgrade, the venerable Alvin submersible is about to return to sea. On 25 May, the research ship Atlantis will leave the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, with Alvin on board, bound for Astoria, Oregon. After a series of Navy certification cruises in September and a scientific verification cruise in November, […]
Heavy sleepers
A growing body of evidence shows that getting a good night’s sleep plays an important role in regulating the body’s metabolism. Burning the midnight oil can leave you tired and grumpy the next day, dulling your mind and slowing your reaction times. But lack of sleep has consequences beyond the brain as well, with long-term […]
Gut microbe may fight obesity and diabetes
Bacterium helps to regulate metabolism in mice. The gut is home to innumerable different bacteria — a complex ecosystem that has an active role in a variety of bodily functions. In a study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers finds that in mice, just one of those […]
Seafood diet killing Arctic foxes on Russian island
Mercury pollution in marine animals may be behind a population crash. An isolated population of Arctic foxes that dines only on marine animals seems to be slowly succumbing to mercury poisoning. The foxes on Mednyi Island — one of Russia’s Commander Islands in the Bering Sea — are a subspecies of Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) […]