The stress-reducing, life-extending benefits of religion can offer useful strategies even for non-believers, say scientistsIn his Pensées, published posthumously in 1670, the French philosopher Blaise Pascal appeared to establish a foolproof argument for religious commitment, which he saw as a kind of bet. If the existence of God was even minutely possible, he claimed, then the potential gain was so huge – an “eternity of life and happiness” – that taking the leap of faith was the mathematically rational choice.Pascal’s wager implicitly assumes that religion has no benefits in the...

The UK is in the middle of its worst outbreak of bird flu. The current strain of H5N1 avian influenza has devastated wild bird populations, killing thousands and affecting threatened species such as puffins and hen harriers. Bird flu has also been wreaking havoc on poultry, and since 7 November, all captive birds in England have been kept indoors to prevent them catching the virus.How are both wild and captive bird populations coping with the current strain of avian flu? And is the UK prepared to deal with another major animal disease outbreak? Ian Sample speaks with Phoebe Weston, a...

With digital bioacoustics, scientists can eavesdrop on the natural world – and they’re learning some astonishing thingsScientists have recently made some remarkable discoveries about non-human sounds. With the aid of digital bioacoustics – tiny, portable digital recorders similar to those found in your smartphone – researchers are documenting the universal importance of sound to life on Earth. By placing these digital microphones all over Earth, from the depths of the ocean to the Arctic and the Amazon, scientists are discovering the hidden sounds of nature, many of which occur at...

In Melbourne’s family court, Lucy visits hearings, legal interviews and mediations – all to relieve people’s stress as they navigate the justice systemGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastWhen Lucy enters a court-room at the federal circuit and family court in Melbourne, she bows to the judge – as is customary. Only Lucy is no ordinary court attender. She is a five-year-old chocolate labrador deployed as a “court facility dog” as part of a pilot program to provide support for people in court .Lucy, who is Instagram-famous through her handle @...

Attacks on satellites could take out GPS systems, banking systems, power grids, and impact on military operations, panel at space conference saysIt would no longer be “life as we know it” if a space war destroyed the satellites that the world now relies on, space commanders have warned, and China and Russia have demonstrated that they’re capable of doing just that.Top brass from the US and Canada are in Sydney for an Australian Strategic Policy Institute conference on space as the new frontier in “commerce, industry, competition and war”. They have discussed the importance of working...

It’s supposed to be the first ever carbon neutral World Cup. Organisers Fifa and host Qatar say they have implemented sustainability initiatives, taken measures to limit carbon output and will offset greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing credits. Fifa has admitted, however, that the tournament’s carbon footprint will bigger than any of its predecessors, and experts believe emissions have been underestimated, calling into question the claim of carbon neutrality.Madeleine Finlay speaks to sports reporter Paul MacInnes about the environmental burden of building stadiums, flying in players and...

Civil Aviation Authority gives regulatory approval for Newquay site to send satellites into spaceThe prospect of a “historic” space mission being launched from the far south-west of Britain before Christmas has taken a giant leap forward after an operating licence was granted to Spaceport Cornwall.There had been growing concern at the time it was taking for the issuing of licences that will allow the first launch of satellites from UK soil, but on Wednesday morning the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that the site in Newquay could be used for sending satellites into space. Continue...

Rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, on its way to send its Orion capsule on a 25-day crewless test flight around the moon and backWe are now four minutes into the flight.The Artemis 1 is travelling at more than 5,000 miles an hour. Continue reading...

The Vascones, an Iron Age tribe from whose language modern Basque is thought to descend, were previously viewed as largely illiterateMore than 2,000 years after it was probably hung from the door of a mud-brick house in northern Spain to bring luck, a flat, lifesize bronze hand engraved with dozens of strange symbols could help scholars trace the development of one of the world’s most mysterious languages.Although the piece – known as the Hand of Irulegi – was discovered last year by archaeologists from the Aranzadi Science Society who have been digging near the city of Pamplona since...

World-first pilot in England helps identify those who could be offered statins, who would otherwise be ‘invisible’ to NHSGPs in the north of England have used predictive genetic tests to identify people most at risk of heart disease in the world’s first pilot of the technology.The NHS study, called Heart, offered genetic tests to nearly 1,000 people aged 45 to 64, in the hope of better predicting their risk of developing cardiovascular disease over the next 10 years. Continue reading...

Neuroscientists show clubbers move more to very low frequencies, even though they are not consciously detectableWhen it comes to getting into the groove on the dancefloor, it really is all about the bass, researchers have found.Scientists say when very low frequency (VLF) sound was introduced during a live electronic music event, gig-goers moved more even though they could not hear the frequencies. Continue reading...

The dramatic vanishing of polar ice sheets will cause catastrophic sea level rise that will threaten cities, according to a major new studyThe climate crisis has pushed the planet’s stores of ice to a widespread collapse that was “unthinkable just a decade ago”, with Arctic sea ice certain to vanish in summers and ruinous sea level rise from melting glaciers now already in motion, a major new report has warned.Even if planet-heating emissions are radically cut, the world’s vast ice sheets at the poles will continue to melt away for hundreds of years, causing up to three metres of sea...

The theoretical physicist and martial arts expert has written a new book that uses magic and wizardry as a portal to engage people with the important but overlooked field of condensed matterFelix Flicker is a theoretical physicist working on the quantum underpinnings of matter. Born in Devon, he studied at Oxford, the Perimeter Institute in Ontario, Canada, and Bristol University, where he completed his PhD. Now a physics lecturer at Cardiff University, he is also a kung fu teacher and former British champion of shuai jiao (Chinese wrestling). Flicker, 35, has just published his first book, The...

Huge chunk of the Long March 5B rocket launched four days previously re-entered the atmosphere on FridayA hefty and uncontrolled chunk of the massive rocket used to deliver the third module of China’s Tiangong space station fell back to Earth on Friday morning, triggering the closure of some of Spain’s air space and leading to hundreds of flight delays.Four days after blasting off from southern China, a large part of the Long March 5B (CZ-5B) rocket broke up as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the south-central Pacific ocean at 10.01 UTC, according to European and US space...

A masterclass in cell function that will leave you in awe of biology Cells build organisms from the ground up, and therefore to choose to write about them is to give oneself permission to explore almost any aspect of the living world. They are “a life within a life” as Siddhartha Mukherjee puts it in his latest book, which takes advantage of that licence to offer a comprehensive account of basic biology, alongside a history of the many great minds that have helped us to see beyond widespread misconceptions to scientific truth.This is not just about clear-cut successes: alongside the stories...

Research could help explain how virus got so out of control this year, while also refining efforts to combat itBritish researchers have identified evidence of “considerable” transmission of monkeypox in the few days before symptoms of the virus emerge.If replicated, the finding would upend received wisdom about how the virus spreads. It could help explain how monkeypox, which causes sometimes excruciatingly painful lesions, got so out of control this year, while also refining efforts to combat it. Continue reading...

Nearly third of patients on largest trial using psychedelic compound went into rapid remissionThe psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms can help alleviate severe depression when combined with psychotherapy, according to a trial that raises hopes for people failed by existing antidepressants.Nearly a third of patients with severe depression went into rapid remission after a single 25mg dose of psilocybin followed by therapy sessions, which aimed to help patients identify causes and potential solutions to their depression, researchers said. Continue reading...

Satellite photo shows what appears to be a happy face pattern on the sun with dark patches called ‘coronal holes’A Nasa satellite captured an image of what appeared to be a happy face pattern on the sun earlier this week, prompting the US space agency to say the sun was seen “smiling”.The agency released the image Wednesday on Twitter, writing: “Today, Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the sun ‘smiling.’ Seen in ultraviolet light, these dark patches on the sun are known as coronal holes and are regions where fast solar wind gushes out into space.” Continue reading...

About 600,000 birds have been culled or have died in the UK's worst avian flu outbreak.

Scientists are searching through a museum's wheat collection to find the crop of the future.

A British man is one of 17 new recruits to Europe's space agency's astronaut training programme

The American space agency is trying once again to get its giant new Moon rocket off Earth.

Changes to our planet's shine is just one of the stranger side effects of rising temperatures.

The prime minister will travel to the COP27 summit in Egypt on Sunday to discuss climate change.

The UN's 27th annual climate conference opens in Egypt with world leaders attending on Monday.