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Lab notes

Get a weekly round-up of the biggest stories in science, insider knowledge from our network of bloggers, and some distractingly good fun and games

23 February 2018

  • Neanderthal paintings are seen in a cave in Pasiega, Spain in this photo obtained February 21, 2018. Univeristy of Southampton/Handout via REUTERS - ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.?

    Lab notes: meet the primitive Picassos – our arty ancestors the Neanderthals

    This week in science we’ve seen Neanderthal cave art, Beaker folk DNA revelations, glowing brains and an intriguing theory about Homo erectus – and that’s just for starters

16 February 2018

  • Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf<br>This photo released by Paramount Pictures shows actors, Shia LaBeouf, left, and Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, in a scene from “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” due out May 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, David James) ** NO SALES **

    Lab notes: So long Indiana Jones? Archaeology goes high-tech

    New techniques find enormous ancient city, ant emergency medicine and a warning to the (faecally) curious: it’s been quite a week in science

9 February 2018

  • A likeness of "Cheddar Man", Britain's oldest known almost complete human skeleton is seen at the Natural History Museum in London<br>A likeness of "Cheddar Man", Britain's oldest known almost complete human skeleton, is seen at the Natural History Museum, after genetic research concluded that he was dark skinned and blue eyed and ahead of the airing of "First Brit: Secrets of the 10,000 Year Old Man" a Channel 4 documentary about the discovery, in London, January 30, 2018. Picture taken January 30, 2018. Tom Barnes/Channel 4 handout via REUTERS FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

    Lab notes: Cheddar Man and Falcon X – not a crimefighting duo, but this week in science!

    The face of the one of the first modern Britons revealed, Falcon Heavy’s triumphant launch, exciting fertility breakthrough, horrifying insects and much more in this week’s science

2 February 2018

  • Killer Whale, orcinus orca, Adult with open Mouth<br>GDAPY7 Killer Whale, orcinus orca, Adult with open Mouth

    Lab notes: So long and thanks for all the fish?

    Talking orcas, three-person babies are go, a natural painkiller in nasal spray form, the campsite of Stonehenge’s architects and much more

26 January 2018

  • First monkey clones created in Chinese laboratory<br>epa06472083 A handout photo made available on 25 January 2018 by the Institute of Neuroscience (ION) of Chinese Academy of Sciences shows two cloned macaques named 'Zhong Zhong' and 'Hua Hua' at the non-human-primate research facility under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, China, 20 January 2018. China announced on 25 January 2018 that it successfully cloned world's first macaques from somatic cells by the same method that made Dolly the cloned sheep. EPA/CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

    Lab notes: Bones and clones made this week's science headlines

    Cloned monkeys, a jawbone that could rewrite the human timeline and a very cheeky disco ball satellite – that’s not even half of this week’s exciting science

19 January 2018

  • Close-Up Of Text On Note Pad<br>GettyImages-649132315 list of new years resolutions

    Lab notes: talkin' 'bout a resolution (sounds like some science)

    We’re well into 2018 now – time to apply some science to any lingering New Year’s resolutions, and savour some beautiful early breakthroughs!

5 January 2018

  • Vector background from numbers<br>DWRW21 Vector background from numbers

    Lab notes: from zero aliens to a whopping prime, 2018 is already racking up the digits

    It’s a happy new year as alien hunts begin afresh, ice age DNA provides revelations and an enormous prime number is discovered

22 December 2017

  • FILE PHOTO: Santa Claus rides in his sleigh as he prepares for Christmas in the Arctic Circle near Rovaniemi, Finland December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski/File Photo

    Lab notes: we give you the Christmas gift of science – happy holidays all!

    Signing off for the festive period we nevertheless have space, gene editing, fish orgies and continuing human evolution for you. Merry Christmas indeed!

15 December 2017

  • VARIOUS - 1950S<br>No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only. No Book Cover Usage Mandatory Credit: Photo by Everett/REX/Shutterstock (568657fa) 'I Love Lucy' - Lucille Ball, 1951-57 VARIOUS - 1950S

    Lab notes: Dracula, weird sex and hunting for aliens – a B-movie week in science

    Scientists scan ‘Oumuamua for signs of alien tech, Nasa’s Kepler mission makes a new discovery, bloodsucking ticks, moonlight motorcycle rides, a huge Huntington’s breakthrough and, ahem, monkey-deer sex

8 December 2017

  • Reconstruction of Halszkaraptor escuilliei (by Lukas Panzarin, scientific supervision by Andrea Cau). This small dinosaur was a close relative of Velociraptor, but in both body shape and inferred lifestyle it much closely recalls some waterbirds like modern swans.

    Lab notes: raise a glass to your ear and hail the dinosaur swan

    Listening to champagne, new amphibious dinosaurs, genetic engineering and treasure finds – this week’s science is a fitting start to the party season

1 December 2017

  • FILE PHOTO: Actors dressed as a 'Yeti' ride aboard a tour bus during a promotional event in Manhattan New York<br>FILE PHOTO: Actors dressed as a 'Yeti' ride aboard a tour bus during a promotional event for Travel Channel's "Expedition Unknown: Hunt for the Yeti" in Manhattan, New York City, U.S. on October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

    Lab notes: abominable news for yeti-hunters but a strong week for women's bones

    Disappointment over ‘yeti’ samples contrasts with revelations of prehistoric women’s strength, while more evidence unearthed on Caesar’s invasion of Britain ... and that’s just the start of this week’s science news

24 November 2017

  • Artist's impression of interstellar asteroid 'Oumuamua<br>epa06340680 An undated handout photo made available by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) on 20 November 2017 shows an artist's impression shows the first interstellar asteroid `Oumuamua. This unique object was discovered on 19 October 2017 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawai'i. Subsequent observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile and other observatories around the world show that it was travelling through space for millions of years before its chance encounter with our star system. 'Oumuamua seems to be a dark red highly-elongated metallic or rocky object, about 400 metres long, and is unlike anything normally found in the Solar System. EPA/ESO/M. Kornmesser / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

    Lab notes: Aloha 'Oumuamua, welcome to our solar system and a fine week in science!

    An out-of-this world combination of mysterious interstellar visitors, lefty sports stars, the emotional effects of booze and Demon Ducks of Doom awaits ...

17 November 2017

  • Champagne bottle being opened on white. Please see my portfolio for other champagne and New Years related images.

    Lab notes: Bottoms up! Cheers to a vintage week in science

    Wine traces from 6,000BC, an audacious gene therapy, satellites in the Shetlands and a potentially habitable planet – like a good barman, exciting science just keeps pouring out

10 November 2017

  • CORRECTS LOCATION - In this Oct. 18, 2017, photo provided by Ruhr University, doctors lift up a sheet of skin at the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Modena in Italy. Doctors treating a critically ill boy with a devastating skin disease used experimental gene therapy to create an entirely new skin for him. Two years ago, the boy was admitted to a German hospital, with blisters all over his body. In an experiment, doctors took a small sample of the boy’s skin and added a normal version of the bad gene to his skin cells. They grew new sheets of skin in the lab and transplanted those onto the boy. Details of the case were published Wednesday, Nov. 8. (Frank Jacobsen/Ruhr University Bochum via AP)

    Lab notes: skin makes me cry, plus a zombie supernova in the sky

    As well as providing scope for 90s music references, this week saw huge medical advances, explosive astronomy and some sheep who would adore Hello magazine

3 November 2017

  • Sunset at the Pyramids, Giza, Cairo, Egypt<br>One of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

    An alien portal? A grain store? Just a big ol' hole? No: it's Lab notes!

    Extraordinary Egyptology combined with particle physics, bad news for grammar pedants and a new great ape are just a few elements of this week’s science

27 October 2017

  • EMBARGOED UNTIL December 19, 2012, 19:00 CET A handout photo released on December 17, 2012 by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows NGC 6388, a dynamically middle-aged globular cluster in the Milky Way. While the cluster formed in the distant past (like all globular clusters, it is over ten billion years old), a study of the distribution of bright blue stars within the cluster shows that it has aged at a moderate speed, and its heaviest stars are in the process of migrating to the centre. A new study using Hubble data has discovered that globular clusters of the same age can have dramatically different distributions of blue straggler stars within them, suggesting that clusters can age at substantially different rates. AFP PHOTO / NASA/ESA/HUBBLE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NASA/ESA/HUBBLE/ F. Ferraro (University of Bologna)" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTSF. Ferraro/AFP/Getty Images

    Lab notes: strange news from another star as physics melts the internet

    Between detection of a mysterious object potentially from another solar system, Stephen Hawking’s thesis breaking the internet and leprous medieval squirrels it’s been an eclectic week in science

20 October 2017

  • Artist’s impression of two neutron stars colliding on Monday.

    Lab notes: neutron stars collide; sexism and syphilis – the week in science

    New frontiers in astronomy and artificial intelligence, Ancient Greek acoustics, drop in flying insects threatens ‘ecological Armageddon’, and much more

13 October 2017

  • NGC 2264<br>B773MB NGC 2264

    Lab notes: from missing matter to magic mushrooms, this week's mindblowing science

    Tracking down the universe’s missing matter, a psychoactive ‘reboot’ for the brain, colourful dinosaur eggs, some slippery logic, a science film quiz and much more

6 October 2017

  • This undated photo provided by the Greek Culture Ministry on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, shows the corroded metal arm from an ancient statue, found in one of the richest shipwrecks of ancient times off the island of Antikythera in southern Greece. The ministry said that archaeologists revisiting the wreck, which was first investigated a century ago, yielding an ancient astronomical computer known as the Antikythera Mechanism, have found two fragments of metal statues and a section of the 1st Century BC ship’s wooden hull. (Greek Culture Ministry via AP)

    Lab notes: Nobels, no women and no body (but an exciting arm) – the week in science

    Incredible science and scientists rewarded, ancient treasures prised from the seabed, Santa Claus’s resting place, some really invasive hacking and much more

29 September 2017

  • This handout artist impression released by the European Space Agency (ESA) on September 22, 2017 shows a lunar base made with 3D printing. By 2040, a hundred people will live on the Moon, melting ice for water, 3D-printing homes and tools, eating plants grown in lunar soil, and competing in low-gravity, "flying" sports. To those who mock such talk as science fiction, experts such as Bernard Foing, ambassador of the European Space Agency-driven "Moon Village" scheme, reply the goal is not only reasonable but feasible too. / AFP PHOTO / ESA/Hubble / BERNARD FOING / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / ESA/Foster+Partners/BERNARD FOING" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS BERNARD FOING/AFP/Getty Images

    Lab notes: everyone's gone totally lunar over space travel

    Lunar spaceports, a new gravitational wave detection (in 3D!), a novel gene-editing technique, another promising application for nerve stimulation and more
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