×Bygene-editing trials for treating sickle cell disease and beta thalassaemia are being extended to include children aged under 12 after the therapies proved successful in ongoing trials involving people aged between 12 and 35. The aim is to treat children early enough to prevent them getting lasting damage from these .“The results are superb,” says at Imperial College London, a doctor who is involved in the trials, which include patients from multiple sites across the European Union, UK and US.Now, the challenge will be making the treatment widely available, which could be an issue because...…×Bygene-editing trials for treating sickle cell disease and beta thalassaemia are being extended to include children aged under 12 after the therapies proved successful in ongoing trials involving people aged between 12 and 35. The aim is to treat children early enough to prevent them getting lasting damage from these .“The results are superb,” says at Imperial College London, a doctor who is involved in the trials, which include patients from multiple sites across the European Union, UK and US.Now, the challenge will be making the treatment widely available, which could be an issue because...WW…

×ByBitcoin’s value has plunged by 22 per cent in the past five days as investors rush to sell the cryptocurrency amid fears that an asset bubble is bursting.The average buyer is after the world’s most popular cryptocurrency shed a trillion dollars in value in two months.For El Salvador, which staked its economy on the success of bitcoin when it became in September 2021, the crash has wiped out more than half of its bitcoin holdings – and could be the death knell for its national crypto experiment.AdvertisementEl Salvador has invested heavily in creating and promoting the bitcoin...…×ByBitcoin’s value has plunged by 22 per cent in the past five days as investors rush to sell the cryptocurrency amid fears that an asset bubble is bursting.The average buyer is after the world’s most popular cryptocurrency shed a trillion dollars in value in two months.For El Salvador, which staked its economy on the success of bitcoin when it became in September 2021, the crash has wiped out more than half of its bitcoin holdings – and could be the death knell for its national crypto experiment.AdvertisementEl Salvador has invested heavily in creating and promoting the bitcoin...WW…

×ByAfrican grey parrots are not only really smart, they are helpful too. They are the first bird species to pass a test that requires them both to understand when another animal needs help and to actually give assistance.Besides humans, only bonobos and orangutans have passed this test, says Désirée Brucks at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany. Even chimps and gorillas have failed at it.Brucks and first trained birds one at a time. Each was given a pile of tokens – small metal washers – and taught that they could exchange them for food by passing them to a researcher...…×ByAfrican grey parrots are not only really smart, they are helpful too. They are the first bird species to pass a test that requires them both to understand when another animal needs help and to actually give assistance.Besides humans, only bonobos and orangutans have passed this test, says Désirée Brucks at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany. Even chimps and gorillas have failed at it.Brucks and first trained birds one at a time. Each was given a pile of tokens – small metal washers – and taught that they could exchange them for food by passing them to a researcher...WW…

×ByTASKED with telling the universe’s epic story, cosmologists have put on a compelling show. The curtain rises with a bang before a sweeping, unstoppable narrative unfolds. Stars form and explode, galaxies swirl their way into existence. munch and merge, sending out ripples through the auditorium.It is a ripping yarn – but the longer we watch it, the more it seems not quite to add up. The story is inconsistent. The pace changes arbitrarily. Some of the characters are ill-drawn, do inexplicable things or are just plain not there on cue. All in all, there is enough in this play that goes...…×ByTASKED with telling the universe’s epic story, cosmologists have put on a compelling show. The curtain rises with a bang before a sweeping, unstoppable narrative unfolds. Stars form and explode, galaxies swirl their way into existence. munch and merge, sending out ripples through the auditorium.It is a ripping yarn – but the longer we watch it, the more it seems not quite to add up. The story is inconsistent. The pace changes arbitrarily. Some of the characters are ill-drawn, do inexplicable things or are just plain not there on cue. All in all, there is enough in this play that goes...WW…

×ByChanging the way we make could reduce their carbon footprint, providing a boost to green energy.Although solar panels are a source of renewable energy, making them has an environmental impact. Fengqi You at Cornell University in New York and his colleagues have analysed the overall environmental impact of two types of new solar panels, comparing these against panels made with crystalline silicon wafers – the current industry standard.The team found that a new type of made from two layers of a mineral called perovskite requires a smaller total and results in fewer carbon emissions. The...…×ByChanging the way we make could reduce their carbon footprint, providing a boost to green energy.Although solar panels are a source of renewable energy, making them has an environmental impact. Fengqi You at Cornell University in New York and his colleagues have analysed the overall environmental impact of two types of new solar panels, comparing these against panels made with crystalline silicon wafers – the current industry standard.The team found that a new type of made from two layers of a mineral called perovskite requires a smaller total and results in fewer carbon emissions. The...WW…

×ByBirds, reptiles, amphibians and fish may see kinds of colours we can’t even imagine, say researchers whose experiments with wild hummingbirds show they perceive five so-called non-spectral colours.Almost all of the correspond to a single wavelength. Such colours are called spectral colours because they are part of the visible spectrum, ranging from red and yellow to blue and violet.The exception is , which can be evoked only by a combination of red and blue light, not by any single wavelength. For this reason, it is known as a non-spectral colour. “For us, purple is kind of special,”...…×ByBirds, reptiles, amphibians and fish may see kinds of colours we can’t even imagine, say researchers whose experiments with wild hummingbirds show they perceive five so-called non-spectral colours.Almost all of the correspond to a single wavelength. Such colours are called spectral colours because they are part of the visible spectrum, ranging from red and yellow to blue and violet.The exception is , which can be evoked only by a combination of red and blue light, not by any single wavelength. For this reason, it is known as a non-spectral colour. “For us, purple is kind of special,”...WW…

×ByMindfulness and other types of are usually seen as simple stress-relievers – but they can sometimes leave people worse off.About one in 12 people who try meditation experience an , usually a worsening in or anxiety, or even the onset of these conditions for the first time, according to the first systematic review of the evidence. “For most people it works fine but it has undoubtedly been overhyped and it’s not universally benevolent,” says Miguel Farias at Coventry University in the UK, one of the researchers behind the work.There are many types of meditation, but one of the most popular...…×ByMindfulness and other types of are usually seen as simple stress-relievers – but they can sometimes leave people worse off.About one in 12 people who try meditation experience an , usually a worsening in or anxiety, or even the onset of these conditions for the first time, according to the first systematic review of the evidence. “For most people it works fine but it has undoubtedly been overhyped and it’s not universally benevolent,” says Miguel Farias at Coventry University in the UK, one of the researchers behind the work.There are many types of meditation, but one of the most popular...WW…

×ByIN THE , things happen at a glacial pace. Just ask Peter Gorham. For a month at a time, he and his colleagues would watch a giant balloon carrying a collection of antennas float high above the ice, scanning over a million square kilometres of the frozen landscape for evidence of high-energy particles arriving from space.When the experiment returned to the ground after its first flight, it had nothing to show for itself, bar the odd flash of background noise. It was the same story after the second flight more than a year later.While the balloon was in the sky for the third time, the...…×ByIN THE , things happen at a glacial pace. Just ask Peter Gorham. For a month at a time, he and his colleagues would watch a giant balloon carrying a collection of antennas float high above the ice, scanning over a million square kilometres of the frozen landscape for evidence of high-energy particles arriving from space.When the experiment returned to the ground after its first flight, it had nothing to show for itself, bar the odd flash of background noise. It was the same story after the second flight more than a year later.While the balloon was in the sky for the third time, the...WW…

×ByThere may be no need to keep and other similar vaccines at -70°C, potentially making it much easier to distribute them across the world. Two other teams using the same messenger RNA (mRNA) technology for their vaccines have found that they remain stable for at least three months in a normal fridge.The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine candidate generated great excitement around the world this week when the companies announced …No commitment, cancel anytime*Offer ends 19/10/2022. *Cancel anytime within 14 days of payment to receive a refund on unserved issues.Existing subscribers, please with...…×ByThere may be no need to keep and other similar vaccines at -70°C, potentially making it much easier to distribute them across the world. Two other teams using the same messenger RNA (mRNA) technology for their vaccines have found that they remain stable for at least three months in a normal fridge.The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine candidate generated great excitement around the world this week when the companies announced …No commitment, cancel anytime*Offer ends 19/10/2022. *Cancel anytime within 14 days of payment to receive a refund on unserved issues.Existing subscribers, please with...WW…

×ByHumankind: A hopeful historyBloomsbury (Buy from *)IN 1651, English philosopher Thomas Hobbes startled the world with Leviathan, an account of the . Hobbes argued that people, when left to their own devices, were naturally vicious. Fortunately, they were also gregarious, and it was through their groups, societies and civilisations that people expressed their best selves.For those with anxious minds, the trouble with Hobbes’s view is that …No commitment, cancel anytime*Offer ends 19/10/2022. *Cancel anytime within 14 days of payment to receive a refund on unserved issues.Existing...…×ByHumankind: A hopeful historyBloomsbury (Buy from *)IN 1651, English philosopher Thomas Hobbes startled the world with Leviathan, an account of the . Hobbes argued that people, when left to their own devices, were naturally vicious. Fortunately, they were also gregarious, and it was through their groups, societies and civilisations that people expressed their best selves.For those with anxious minds, the trouble with Hobbes’s view is that …No commitment, cancel anytime*Offer ends 19/10/2022. *Cancel anytime within 14 days of payment to receive a refund on unserved issues.Existing...WW…