An image of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* in polarised light, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope EHT Collaboration At the centre of our galaxy lies a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* – but one group of researchers is suggesting it may not be a black hole at all. The team says that…
BBC/Curious Films/Rory Langdon The chances are that you think about artificial intelligence far more today than you did five years ago. Since ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, we have become accustomed to interacting with AIs in most spheres of life, from chatbots and smart home tech to banking and healthcare. But such rapid change…
Symbiotic bacteria live inside specialised organs called bacteriomes within insects. This image shows a cross-section of the planthopper Callodictya krueperi, with fluorescent probes labelling three microbes: Vidania (red), Sodalis (yellow) and Sulcia (green) Courtesy Anna Michalik et al Symbiotic bacteria living inside insect cells have the smallest genomes known for any organism. The findings further muddy the distinction between cellular organelles…
You can have too much of a good thing when it comes to exercising REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson While exercise is important for a long and healthy life, ultramarathons may accelerate the ageing of cells in our blood. Athletes who ran 170 kilometres over mountainous terrain accumulated more age-related damage to their red blood cells than those…
A scanning electron micrograph of Bifidobacteria bacteria – the main genus found in the large intestine of infants DR GARY GAUGLER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY An unprecedented look at how the gut microbiome varies among babies in different parts of the world reveals that infants in the West lack a microbe that is common elsewhere. This could…
Fatherhood came as something of a shock to Mat Lewis-Carter. His partner, Chess, got pregnant unexpectedly and, despite the excitement, he struggled to adjust to the news. When his baby daughter arrived in July 2021, Lewis-Carter didn’t immediately feel a connection. He began to “spiral”, going on long runs to escape the house over the…
Paediatricians do more than just treat children’s ailments – or dress up as princesses. A team of 10 in China had their blood screened to help develop treatments for common childhood illnesses MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP via Getty Images In the fight against common childhood illnesses, scientists have turned to an unusual source: the blood of paediatricians….
Pekingese (left) and Japanese chin (right) dogs have a high risk of breathing problems Michael Schultze, KATAMOUNT/Alamy Dog owners are being warned to be cautious of a much broader range of breeds when purchasing puppies, following research showing serious breathing disorders are more prevalent than previously thought. Dogs with a shorter snout and flatter face…
Close-up of a piece of glass with Microsoft Flight Simulator map data written into it Microsoft Research An automated system for storing large amounts of information in glass could change the future of data centres. Our world runs on data, from the internet and readouts of countless industrial sensors to scientific data from particle colliders,…
People with prolonged grief disorder have increased activity in areas of the brain involved in memory and emotion processing when they see death-related images, like a graveyard Paul Mansfield/Getty Images For most people, the intense sting of grief eases with time. For some, however, persistent and painful grief remains, developing into prolonged grief disorder. A…
