27 articles from SATURDAY 3.4.2021

Births among endangered right whales highest since 2015

North Atlantic right whales gave birth over the winter in greater numbers than scientists have seen since 2015, an encouraging sign for researchers who became alarmed three years ago when the critically endangered species produced no known offspring at all.

Empathy, compassion, personality, attitudes: can people change?

There is plenty of evidence that empathy can be taught in childhood, but it gets more complicated when it comes to adults, especially when it is forcedCan people change?That’s the question behind the multibillion-dollar self-help industry, the proliferation of blogs and podcasts that promise to make you a better human, and the ubiquitous and vacuous “inspo” memes. Continue...

Research reveals why redheads may have different pain thresholds

Humans and mice with red hair have a different tolerance for pain because their skin's pigment-producing cells lack the function of a certain receptor. Lack of this receptor function causes changes that tip the balance between pain sensitivity and pain tolerance. The findings may be helpful for designing new treatments for pain.

Undermining the AstraZeneca jab is a dangerous act of political folly | Robin McKie

Spreading fears over the Oxford vaccine undercuts science and public healthIt has been a disquieting week for those concerned about the lifting of Covid restrictions. Numbers of cases and deaths may be declining but the news that the AstraZeneca vaccine has been linked to cases of rare blood clots and has been suspended for use in younger people in Germany and the Netherlands is a disturbing...

String theorist Michio Kaku: 'Reaching out to aliens is a terrible idea'

The physicist on Newton finding inspiration amid the great plague, how the multiverse can unite religions, and why a ‘theory of everything’ is within our graspMichio Kaku is a professor of theoretical physics at City College, New York, a proponent of string theory but also a well-known populariser of science, with multiple TV appearances and several bestselling books behind him. His latest...