Most of those tested lack nutrients crucial for healthy foetal development as found in abundance in meat and dairy productsMore than 90% of women who are trying for a baby may have marginal or low levels of vitamins that are essential for a healthy pregnancy, according to researchers, who say the problem is likely to worsen as vegetarian diets become more popular.Tests on more than 1,700 women in...

Patients are facing shorter lives as drug companies are demanding prices that health services here and in other countries cannot payCystic fibrosis is a distressing disease, clogging the lungs of children who have to fight to breathe, and shortening lives. Parents – and young adults who also suffer from it – have been on a rollercoaster ride in the last few years. They have been taken to the...

Merriam-Webster says ‘authentic’ saw a big jump in searches this year, thanks to discussions about AI and social mediaThe moment we’ve all breathlessly waited for is finally here: dictionaries are announcing their words of the year. Last week, the US’s most esteemed lexicon, Merriam-Webster, revealed its choice: “authentic”.In its announcement, the dictionary said the word had seen a...

Aristocrat introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, saving many lives, yet remains largely unknownIt is a monument that celebrates the achievements of someone who would, her supporters say, be far better known if she had been a man.But now a 300-year-old obelisk is being given one of England’s highest listings because of the remarkable story it tells of an overlooked medical pioneer. Continue...

As the pill becomes available over the counter and free of charge in England, Madeleine Finlay talks to science correspondent Nicola Davis about the problems women in the UK face in getting access to appropriate contraception, and how unwanted side-effects and lack of support have led to a rise in the popularity of fertility awareness-based methods. She also hears from Katie about her own journey...

Samples have been taken of huge iceberg known as A23a, which calved off Antarctica 40 years ago and measures 4,000 sq km Antarctic scientists have been able to get an “incredibly lucky” inspection of the world’s largest iceberg – about three times the size of New York City – which calved off the icy continent nearly 40 years ago.The huge iceberg, known as A23a, was once attached to an...

Venting can help us bond, but it can also leave a sour taste in your mouth – where is the line, and why do we love doing it?It’s a rush to realize you dislike the same person as someone else. There’s a delicate, intoxicating dance: throwing out oblique criticisms and prowling around the edges until one person takes the leap and bravely says: “Honestly, they kind of suck.”Soaking up the...

British billionaire alarms investors by stating space tourism company has enough cash to operate ‘on its own’Shares in the space tourism group Virgin Galactic tumbled on Monday after its founder, Sir Richard Branson, ruled out further funding.The British billionaire alarmed investors by stating in an interview that the loss-making business has enough cash to operate “on its own”, weeks...

‘We need you,’ says Scientist Rebellion, which includes authors of IPCC reports on climate breakdown, as diplomats meet for Cop28Cop28 live – latest updatesWolfgang Cramer’s first involvement with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was in the 90s. He worked on the second assessment report, delivered in 1995, which affirmed the science of anthropogenic climate breakdown. At that...

Modern medicine makes it seem as if drugs are the only way to deal with diabetes. But what if diet can be a solution?One gray Sunday in the middle of the Covid lockdown, I received an unwelcome call from my family doctor. Until then, for virtually my entire life, I had managed to stay out of a doctor’s office, except for routine checkups. My luck had run out.“I am sorry to disturb you on a...

Scientist proposes framework for reconciling mathematically incompatible theories of quantum mechanics and Einstein’s gravityAt the heart of modern physics is a gulf that scientists have spent more than a century trying to bridge. Quantum mechanics gives an apparently flawless description of the forces that dominate at the atomic scale. Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity has never...

The ‘morning star’ will be joined by the brightest star of Virgo and a waning moon in both hemispheresThere is a beautiful triple meeting in the dawn sky this week. The brilliant “morning star” of Venus is close to Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, the virgin. On the mornings of 8 and 9 December, the already pretty pairing will be joined by a thin waning crescent moon.On 8 December, the...

Machine learning used to analyse compounds in a bottle of wine and trace them back to estateFraudsters who pass off ropey plonk as a high-end tipple may soon have artificial intelligence on their case; scientists have trained an algorithm to trace wines to their origins based on routine chemical analyses.Researchers used machine learning to distinguish wines based on subtle differences in the...

Biochemist who transformed the treatment of diabetes and was an expert witness in two high-profile murder trialsVincent Marks, who has died aged 93, was a world expert in insulin and hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar). In 1985, his expert opinion helped to acquit Claus von Bülow of attempted murder, in a case that was dramatised in the film Reversal of Fortune (1990).On 21 December 1980, the...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsWhat is the most unlikely event to have taken place? Eva Tilman, County DurhamSend new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Continue...

After being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, I stopped trying to please everyone else. Now I have better relationships and a healthy, joyful lifeI’m a recovering people pleaser. Suppressing and repressing my needs, desires, expectations, feelings and opinions used to be as natural to me as breathing. To me, it was normal to tell people what they wanted to hear (read: lie) to make them feel...

At Quai 9 in Geneva, safe equipment and healthcare have cut overdoses and illnesses among addicts. But around the world, opinion is divided on whether such projects really workIn a lime-green room behind Geneva’s main train station, a man is slumped over a chair, the heroin he has just injected taking effect. Around him, a handful of others are in the process of reaching that same state of...

A fascination that began in childhood led to the Apollo 13 star launching his spectacular immersive experience of the moon landings in LondonTom Hanks became obsessed with space travel at almost exactly the moment that he became obsessed with film. Listening to him talk, the two events – their ability to manufacture wonder – remain interchangeable in his mind.The first awakening came when he...

The former prime minister will come under scrutiny and these are the pressing issuesIt is expected that Johnson will make an apology at the inquiry, conceding that the government was too slow in realising the severity of the virus, and blaming a lack of preparation. Continue...

Greener neighborhoods can slow ageing process of human cells but effects of environmental racism can erase any benefitsMany studies have shown that people living in greener neighborhoods have several health benefits, including lower levels of stress and cardiovascular disease. But new research indicates that exposure to parks, trees and other green spaces can slow the rates at which our cells...

New invention, which can be set up at home, promises to transform the way we monitor our health, say scientistsScientists have developed a laser camera that can read a person’s heartbeat at a distance and pinpoint signs that they might be suffering from cardiovascular illnesses.The system – which exploits AI and quantum technologies – could transform the way we monitor our health, say...

Discredited ex-PM faces a demolition job in one of the few policy areas to which he and his allies still clingEven at the height of his popularity, Boris Johnson routinely avoided close questioning – to the extent of once hiding in a fridge to dodge a TV inquisitor. The former UK prime minister is likely to be dreading next week’s appearance at the Covid inquiry. And he probably should.It is...

Dr David Brown says erectile dysfunction drug, subject of a BBC drama, could have been scrapped if a miner hadn’t spoken outIt was the ultimate serendipitous discovery: a failed heart medication that became a multibillion-dollar erectile dysfunction drug. But the blockbuster story of Viagra could have ended differently were it not for the frankness of the Welsh miners who took part in a clinical...

Seoul’s satellite was launched into orbit on one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocketsA SpaceX rocket has launched South Korea’s first military spy satellite, intensifying a space race on the peninsula after Pyongyang launched its own first surveillance satellite last week.Seoul’s reconnaissance satellite, carried by one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, lifted off from the Vandenberg US...

Readers respond to a piece about Harvard’s Avi Loeb and his explorations into extraterrestrial lifeAvi Loeb’s scientific approach, including Times Square billboards, would fit perfectly into a story by Arthur C Clarke (The alien hunter: has Harvard’s Avi Loeb found proof of extraterrestrial life?, 29 November). Clarke, who predicted the use of satellites for communication and co-created...

Study finds infants first understand language via rhythm and tone rather than individual soundsA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P … How many would read this to that tune?According to scientists from the University of Cambridge, there’s more to the earworm than infuriating parents across the English-speaking world – they have found that singsong speech is crucial to helping babies...

Examination of remains in hospital grounds uses DNA analysis and other disciplines to build ‘biographies’Archaeologists at Cambridge University have reconstructed the “biographies” of hundreds of the city’s ordinary medieval residents by examining their skeletons in detail, using a wealth of scientific data to fill out the life stories of poor or disadvantaged people whose names were...

Fact that planet 13 times bigger than Earth is orbiting star nine times smaller than sun shows ‘how little we know about the universe’Astronomers have spotted an “overweight” planet that appears to be far too massive for its petite host star.The planet, which is 13 times bigger than Earth, is orbiting a star called LHS 3154, which is nine times smaller than the sun. The planet’s heft is...

Scientists studying the birds in Antarctica have found they snooze for 11 hours a day without falling deeply asleepSpending your nights sleeping for just four seconds at a time might sound like a form of torture, but not for chinstrap penguins, which fall asleep thousands of times a day, new research finds.Scientists studying the birds on King George Island in Antarctica found they nod off more...