January

January 2021

Bat boxes, 'greened' streets and bug hotels: Barcelona embraces its wild side

When Barcelona’s inhabitants emerged from a six-week lockdown at the end of April last year, they found that while the city had lain dormant, nature had been busy transforming the streets and parks into a bucolic wilderness. “The parks were shut,…

31/01/2021 The Guardian

Ultrasound treatment 'jump-started' the brains of 2 people in coma-like state

The two patients who received the treatment showed significant progress over just days.

28/01/2021 LiveScience

Needles are nothing to fear: 5 steps to make vaccinations easier on your kids

It's no secret many kids (and adults) don't like needles. But where needle phobia can be a barrier to vaccine acceptance, it's important to set your children up not to fear injections. Here's how.

27/01/2021 The Conversation

Facts don't convince people in political arguments. Here's what does.

Though people believe they respect a logical, fact-based opponent, they actually have greater esteem for arguments based on experience.

25/01/2021 LiveScience

German scientists make paralyzed mice walk again

German researchers have enabled mice paralyzed after spinal cord injuries to walk again, re-establishing a neural link hitherto considered irreparable in mammals by using a designer protein injected into the brain.

23/01/2021 Reuters

Futuristic sleeping pods for homeless people installed in German city

Tests are underway to if the pods protect against frostbite. If so, they could be rolled out across Germany 

22/01/2021 The Independent

Simple change to fishing gear saves thousands of birds in Namibia

A cheap and simple change to the equipment used by Namibian fishing boats is saving tens of thousands of vulnerable seabirds annually, researchers have estimated.

19/01/2021 The Guardian

Guiding gender-atypical kids through puberty

My 11-year-old daughter and I cracked open a book I'd bought for her on puberty and changing female bodies. On the very first page it informed her that, once her body developed, men would start looking at her differently.

19/01/2021 CNN

Thousands of women with ovarian cancer to access groundbreaking new drug with biggest breakthrough in three decades

‘After two brain surgeries and further radiotherapy, niraparib has given me another lease of life,’ says woman

15/01/2021 The Independent

Yellow mealworm safe for humans to eat, says EU food safety agency

Yellow mealworm finger foods, smoothies, biscuits, pasta and burgers could soon be mass produced across Europe after the insect became the first to be found safe for human consumption by the EU food safety agency.

13/01/2021 The Guardian

Superbugs have an arsenal of defences — but we've found a new way around them

We found a new way to revert antibiotic resistance. It involves using phage therapy to resensitise a type of bacteria to antibiotics.

11/01/2021 The Conversation

Seeding the Ocean: Inside a Michelin-Starred Chef’s Revolutionary Quest to Harvest Rice From the Sea

In 2008, as a young, unknown chef, he took a loin from one fish and attached it to the loin of another, using collagen to bind the two proteins together. He called them hybrids and served them to unsuspecting diners at Aponiente, his restaurant in…

09/01/2021 Time Magazine

Herbal remedies can help to treat neglected tropical diseases

“WHAT DO YOU call traditional medicine that works?” “Medicine.” This old joke contains more than a milligram of truth.

07/01/2021 Economist

CRISPR doubles lifespan of mice with rapid ageing disease progeria

CRISPR gene editing in mice has been used to correct a mutation that can cause rapid ageing, dramatically improving the animals' health and lifespan

06/01/2021 NewScientist

Why blood donation rules have finally been relaxed for gay and bisexual men

New laws due this summer will allow gay men who have had the same partner for three months or more to give blood

06/01/2021 The Conversation

Norway becomes first country to sell more electric cars than petrol vehicles

Electric cars comprised 54% of all new vehicle sales in Norway for 2019. This makes Norway the first country to have sold more electric cars than petrol, hybrid, and diesel engines in a year.

05/01/2021 The Independent

Spider-Man-style medical gun spins out 'skin substitute' for burns

Doctors in Europe, India and Israel have begun using a medical gun that spins out a protective web to cover burns and wounds, hoping the breathable “skin substitute” will help patients recover without the need for painful bandage changes.

04/01/2021 The Guardian

Jobs, houses and cows: China’s costly drive to erase extreme poverty

In just five years, China says it has lifted from extreme poverty over 50 million farmers left behind by breakneck economic growth in cities.

03/01/2021 The Japan Times