Climate change measuring instruments are on life support | John Abraham

Programs to measure climate changes may be heading for declines due to budget cutsScientists have adopted basic rules of management, such as: "You can't manage what you can't measure." This is a truism in climate science. In order to understand where our climate is headed, we need to know where it has been in the past, and where it is now. Understanding the state of the climate is an immen

Children given antibiotics in first year 'more likely to develop eczema'

New research published in British Journal of Dermatology suggests antibiotics could affect maturing immune systemChildren who receive antibiotics in the first year of their lives are as much as 40% more likely to go on to develop eczema, according to a new study by British researchers."One potential explanation is that broad-spectrum antibiotics alter the gut microflora and that this in tu

Göttingen to Geneva, an interlude | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physics

Spoiler: I caught my planeSomething has gone a bit wrong with the Deutsche Bahn (DB). Of the last six trains I have tried to take, two were cancelled and three were delayed, including the one I am currently on. On the other hand, my train from Paddington to Swindon on Monday was just fine. I am aware this isn't exactly five sigma, but if your hypothesis was anything to do with "German efficie

Country diary: Middleton-in-Teesdale, Co Durham: On the trail of the 'double dumplings'

Middleton-in-Teesdale, Co Durham: These wild bloated buttercups confer all the elegance of an art deco lampOne of the delights of living in a county with boundaries that stretch from sea level to the Pennine peaks is that it's possible to travel back through the seasons simply by walking uphill. Yesterday, when we visited coastal woodland at Hawthorn Dene, the bluebells had long since faded.

Earth will be a 'pale blue dot' in portrait by Nasa's Cassini probe | Stuart Clark

Nasa's Cassini spacecraft will take an image of Earth from 1.44bn kilometres away. From there, our planet will look like the expected images of alien earths around other starsNasa takes pictures of Earth all the time – but not like this. The Cassini spacecraft is in orbit around Saturn, and so is currently 1.44bn kilometres away. From that distance, Earth is only going to appear as a pixel or

Animals know more than you think

Chickens have better numeracy and spacial awareness skills than young children, and pigs use mirrors. Who knew?Perhaps it is no coincidence that the animals we think of as being the most stupid – pigs, chickens, sheep – are also the ones we don't always treat too well. However, humans might be the ones who have to rethink the definitions of "bird-brain" and "pig ignorance".According to a n

Alejandro Guijarro's best photograph – a Cambridge University blackboard

'I showed it to the caretaker who'd wiped it – he was surprised he'd created such a beautiful image'A few years ago, I became increasingly interested in all the academic institutions around the world that are working on new theories of reality – in particular quantum mechanics, which says nothing is for certain, everything is a matter of possibilities. I began to visit them to photograph thei

Mars had an oxygen-rich atmosphere four billion years ago

The oxygen was either produced by life forms or by a chemical reaction in the atmosphere of MarsMars had an oxygen-rich atmosphere more than a billion years before the Earth, say scientists. An examination of meteorites and rocks on the planet suggests that oxygen was affecting the Martian surface four billion years ago.On Earth, oxygen did not build up to appreciable quantities in the atm

Tokyo's traditional diet

Michiko Ono and Masaru Nishimori are both in their 80s, have never suffered a serious illness and deal with the Japanese capital's city heat better than their interviewerIn the Sugamo district of northern Tokyo the capital's older people – today braving 30C heat and energy-sapping humidity – come to shop, eat, and pray for even longer lives.The object of their desire is Sugamo's famed _shi

The Okinawa diet – could it help you live to 100?

Japanese people are more likely to reach 100 years old than anyone else in the world, a fact that some researchers attribute to their diet. So, are they right – and is eating tofu and squid the place to start?Tokyo locals share their day-to-day menusCan you eat your way to a century? I am not referring to test cricketers, I'm talking about the Japanese diet. Or the Sardinian diet. Or the Ik

People of Earth, say cheese! Nasa to take everyone's picture from space

On 19 July, the Cassini probe will take our portrait from Saturn. Let's make it a good oneEarth, are you ready to have your picture taken? On 19 July, the Nasa space probe Cassini will take a photograph of Earth from its vantage point "a billion miles away", in the words of Carolyn Porco, who is in charge of the robot craft's cameras.Porco wants everyone to wave for this cosmic portrait. W

Gaming as a force for good – Cannes Lions 2013 video debate

Games designer Jane McGonigal and Mark Holdum from media buying agency PHD talk to John Plunkett at the 2013 Cannes Lions Festival of CreativityJohn PlunkettAndy GallagherPhil MaynardIrene Baqué

Bursaries to the rescue of high-flying science grads

The government and UK aerospace industry are investing £6m to find the next generation of aerospace engineersThe best maths and science graduates have the chance to pick up a new bursary and take a masters course in aerospace engineering, thanks to a new link-up between professional organisations and leading businesses in the sector.A total of £6m has been provided by government and the UK

How would you drain Loch Ness?

Readers answer other readers' questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsWould it be technically possible to drain Loch Ness?_Alan Hooper, Bexleyheath, Kent_• Post questions and answers below or email them to nq@guardian.co.uk. Please include name, address and phone number*Scotland*Geographyguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Me

James Davies's top 10 psychiatry critiques

The author of Cracked selects a battery of books that challenge received wisdom about mental illness and how to treat itI wrote Cracked: Why Psychiatry Is Doing More Harm Than Good because of the huge gulf between what most people believe about psychiatric diagnoses and medications and what the evidence actually reveals. When I started working in the NHS I pretty much accepted the mainstre

Semantic Polarities and Psychopathologies in the Family – review

It may have an unlovely title, but Tim Parks promises this rigorous book will offer you a liberating way of thinking about every family, including your ownIt will be pointless to pretend this is an ordinary review. Despite its unlovely title and rigorous approach, Valeria Ugazio's book has, in one form or another – in Italy it went through many versions before its long overdue publication in

Agriculture's impact on malaria

Caspar van Vark unpicks the complex link between irrigation systems and mosquitoes in AfricaRaising agricultural productivity is a priority in much of sub-Saharan Africa, where some 70% of people live in rural areas and rely on farming. But 90% of the estimated 660,000 global deaths caused by malaria in 2010 were also in Africa, and agricultural development can play a role in its transmission

What's in a name? Why scientific names are important | Dr Dave Hone

The correct use of formal scientific names of organisms is key to accurate communication, but despite the simplicity of the system, it is rarely done rightScientists are somewhat notorious for being pernickety and nit-picking about details and always want to be as exact and specific as possible, or when they can't be, to couch their words with the right levels of "probablys", "maybes" and "al

World's poorest will feel brunt of climate change, warns World Bank

Droughts, floods, sea-level rises and fiercer storms likely to undermine progress in developing world and hit food supplyMillions of people around the world are likely to be pushed back into poverty because climate change is undermining economic development in poor countries, the World Bank has warned.Droughts, floods, heatwaves, sea-level rises and fiercer storms are likely to accompany i

Video games (for promoting science) | Dean Burnett

PETA recently released a video game where you commit violence against research scientists. Arguably the best response would be to create video games that promote and educate about scienceApparently PETA have created a video game where you commit serious violence against research scientists. That's nice. Given how PETA have strongly objected to the vaguest hint of cruelty in video games many t

Australians passing up free bowel cancer screening

Reluctance to be tested puts large numbers of people potentially at risk from second largest cause of cancerMore than three quarters of eligible Australians are not being screened for bowel cancer despite it being offered for free, which is putting them at risk from the second biggest cause of cancer death in the country.A study, published in BMC Public Health on Wednesday, found that just

Universities urged to sponsor free schools specialising in maths

Plan supported by Office for Fair Access aims to encourage talented students from disadvantaged backgroundsUniversities are being urged by the government to sponsor new free schools specialising in mathematics, in a plan supported by the Office for Fair Access (Offa) to encourage talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds to study maths at degree level.As an incentive to open the new

Letters: Northern museums

We are concerned at the threatened closure of the northern "national" science museums: Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, the National Railway Museum, York, and the National Media Museum, Bradford (Report, 5 June). These are of enormous value to both scholarly and popular understanding of our industrial and scientific heritage, and represent one of the few areas where there has been a co

Country diary: Wenlock Edge: Could the psychedelic blueness of these bugle flowers help to heal the land?

Wenlock Edge: This shock of blue, exploded from a scattering of plants here over a century or more, has reached a zenithBlue as an ambulance light, the patch of bugle flowers in the wood. Once open, maybe a long-abandoned garden before trees took hold, this place becomes the dreamy point of midsummer, with its own reality surrounded by a pervading anxiety. At the entrance to the wood is a pul

Open access inaction | Jack Stilgoe

From time to time, it's important to pause the bureaucratic debate about open access and recognise how stupid scientific publishing isLike many academics, I am currently trying to work out what I should think and do about open access. I share with many scientists strong personal commitments to the idea of openness. I am in this game because I think research is valuable, and I work at a Univer

The weather may be grim, but let's learn to enjoy it | Richard Mabey

The Met Office held a crisis meeting today. But why do Brits turn trivial weather nuisances into dashers of hopes?Everyone bewildered by the seemingly unprecedented weirdness of this year's summer might spare a thought for those living in 1783, who went through another kind of trial by weather. Gilbert White of Selborne's account of the events of 23 June to 20 July is a masterpiece of deadpan

The GOP's latest abortion ban push is staggeringly stupid | Ana Marie Cox

The white male-dominated Republican party is still living in the stone age on social issues. It just goes from bad to worseIt's a truism verging on dogma that history favors steady progress toward equal rights for gays. The last election cycle saw incredible gains for marriage equality and representation for gays and lesbians in government. There is a movement in the Republican party to at le

Is the future of clean energy a pond of algae in every backyard? | Lou Del Bello

The green credentials of biofuel crops have been sullied in recent years. Rienk van Grondelle believes the answer to the world's clean energy needs will be super-efficient algaeDriving through the countryside in the south of France, you would probably be charmed by the vineyards and delighted at the thought of drinking fine French wine. But when Rienk van Grondelle looks at the same view, he

G8, build political will to overcome malnutrition

The G8 has the information and tools to prioritise nutrition in development, but it will have to create the right political environment to hold true to commitmentsThe G8 countries are being asked to make firm financial and strategic commitments to fight malnutrition on a scale never before imagined. Can they do it? If not, we can point to a lack of political will, but not lack of information

Nasa selects newest class of astronauts who could lead mission to Mars

Four women and four men made it through pool of 6,100 applicants for opportunity to take part in leading space missionsMembers of Nasa's newest astronaut class, a group that includes the highest number of women since the program began more than 50 years ago, have been speaking about their selection.The agency's 21st astronaut class, announced on Monday, includes four women and four men, wh