Light-activated molecular machines have been created that act as a broad-spectrum ‘antibiotic’ to mechanically damage bacterial cell membranes. Although this research is currently at an early pre-clinical stage, initial in vivo studies are encouraging. Modern antibiotics revolutionised medicine following their discovery in the 20th century, but years of misuse now mean that antibiotic resistance is […]

A carbon capture plant that has opened in Northwich is the largest such project in the UK. The £20 million facility will convert 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into food and pharmaceutical grade sodium bicarbonate each year. Carbon capture technology that removes carbon dioxide from the waste streams of industrial sites is a key part […]

Two strangers with similar body odour are more likely to become friends, a study by scientists in Israel has found. It shows that despite being an underappreciated sense, smell can play an important role in how people form and maintain social bonds. ‘People constantly, but mostly subconsciously, sniff themselves and others,’ says Inbal Ravreby from […]

As the war in Ukraine drags on into its fourth month, there have been increasing reports of attacks on chemical facilities. On 31 May an air strike in Severodonetsk caused the explosion of a nitric acid container, spewing a huge cloud of toxic fumes into the air, with residents urged to stay in their homes. […]

Medical research spending by UK charities has fallen by £260 million since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The shortfall is a result of severe disruption to charities’ fundraising efforts caused by the pandemic. The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) reports that its members annual investment in research dropped almost 30% from £920 million […]

Medical research spending by UK charities has fallen by £260 million since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The shortfall is a result of severe disruption to charities’ fundraising efforts caused by the pandemic. The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) reports that its members annual investment in research dropped almost 30% from £920 million […]

An analysis of Sputnik V vaccine data has concludeed that the published results were likely faked. The vaccine was authorised in Russia before any clinical studies were published, and subsequent trial results proved controversial. An Australian–Singapore group casts fresh doubt on Sputnik data after investigating the almost identical efficacy for every age group from a […]

An explosion and fire has killed one person and injured at least one other at an ethylene glycol plant operated by state-owned Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical in China. The explosion, early in the morning of 18 June, killed the driver of a transport vehicle and injured one other employee. The ensuing fire apparently spread across three […]

Engineered bacteria have been injected under the skin of rodents where they functioned as living drug or vaccine factories. The approach, which used modified Escherichia coli trapped inside hydrogel microcapsules, holds promise for new therapies to treat diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Microbes have been modified for decades to produce protein drugs, including insulin. […]

Is western astrology a big data science, or even the very first big data science? Data scientist Alexander Boxer thinks it is and has written a book to back up his claim, A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and The Search for Our Destiny in Data.[1]  His justification for having written this book is interesting: […]