How come lugworm poop looks like it has fallen to the ground, when they defecate upwards? Feedback in @newscientist.com asks the big questions https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27136032-200-a-surprisingly-detailed-look-at-the-physics-of-a-lugworms-poop/

We often assume that natural selection favoured intelligence and big brains, but this might not be true at all - @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2532890-human-brains-may-have-got-bigger-for-no-particular-reason/

In further evidence that capitalism is entering a terminal phase, there is now a company selling probiotic underwear, reports Feedback in @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27136022-300-do-you-want-your-underwear-with-added-probiotics/

Doctors often give patients tests or medicines, not because they'll help, but to prevent a complaint. How can we reduce this "defensive medicine", without inadvertently harming patients? @doctors-net-uk.bsky.social https://loom.ly/CHbTX1M

Are some people more prone than others to cry when chopping onions? And what does that have to do with a cat? All this and more in Feedback in @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27036012-700-hold-the-onions-and-see-if-they-make-you-cry/

A pair of wooden posts, erected 5000 years ago, pointed to sunrise on the summer solstice. They may have been a precursor to Stonehenge - @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2530818-ancient-monument-may-have-been-an-early-stonehenge-prototype/

Feedback in @newscientist.com tackles a pressing question: Reptiles with a larger body mass tend to have longer Wikipedia entries, but does that apply to the noted fictional reptile Godzilla? https://loom.ly/K62jWok

Who wins as a result of the EHRC trans code? Nobody. Nobody at all. None of this has any meaning whatsoever. It is just a needless act of administrative bother and political self-harm. open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

This always gives me a little happy: my feature on the origins of life is this week's cover story in @newscientist.com In shops tomorrow morning! https://www.newscientist.com/issue/3600/

In more shock "autistic people are diverse" news, it seems people with autism can have unusually strong OR unusually weak connections between brain regions, with different mechanisms responsible. @newscientist.com https://loom.ly/T42CBPA

If I ever do something like this to my daughter, you all have my permission to euthanise me.

New feature for @newscientist.com: When it comes to explaining how life began, sometimes the old ideas are best. Specifically, an idea put forward about a century ago and neglected for decades. https://loom.ly/3-IbpNs

I had a lot of fun chatting about anatomy, evolution and embryology - and my new book HUMANS - with Mike Marshall of News Scientist. You can watch the conversation here: youtu.be/tdzytD39vFI?...

Many people believe themselves to be funny. But who is most prone to this delusion, wonders Feedback in @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035991-800-think-you-have-a-good-sense-of-humour-so-do-most-people/

I know a reasonable amount about the evolution of birds, but palaeontologist @stevebrusatte.bsky.social's new book about them still managed to surprise me. Review in @newscientist.com https://loom.ly/mvHFkcs

You can now watch my full interview with @profaliceroberts.bsky.social for @newscientist.com, about the animal origins of the human body. NS: https://loom.ly/6vdtOMU YouTube: https://loom.ly/k3LiB_4

From biochemistry in our cells, which dates back to the first single-celled creatures living in the ancient oceans, to our arms and legs, which evolved when amphibians crawled onto land, our bodies are far older and more animal than we like to think. Alice Roberts explains more.

"Humans: The evolution of a species" is out today in the US and Canada! It's a lavishly illustrated account of our origins, written by a team of experts and also some hack called Michael Marshall. https://dk.com/products/9780241682746-humans

We know that humans migrated out of Africa, but we sometimes get into a muddle about how and when and why - @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2529312-what-really-happened-when-ancient-humans-migrated-out-of-africa/

I know nothing about this book or its author, beyond his Wikipedia page, but my spider sense, trained by years of @ifbookspod.bsky.social, tingled as soon as I saw this promo image. I just have this niggling suspicion that a lot of the book’s content might in fact be quite stupid.

New book "Humans: The evolution of a species" is out now and I helped write it! Each chapter tackles a different body part, showing how it has evolved and the role it has played in the human story. The illustrations (v much not by me) are *fantastic*. https://dk.com/products/9780241682746-humans

A new online encyclopedia is entirely generated by AI and consists of nothing but hallucinations, finds Feedback in @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035981-100-an-encyclopedia-formed-from-ai-hallucinations-what-could-go-wrong/

I spent a morning with @profaliceroberts.bsky.social talking about humans - in particular, the ways in which we both are and aren't exceptional. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035982-200-alice-roberts-we-are-fundamentally-at-the-end-of-the-day-animals/

Nigel Farage is a threat to national security inews.co.uk/opinion/nige...

New podcast: I'm on the latest episode of Ollie Guillou's What We Did Before, talking about what it was like for our ancestors to live alongside so many other kinds of humans https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before/episode/d131d4732309f66944afe2870e63c14b0e3abe0e/view

“This is censorship... This is a demonstration that some of the worst abuses in our time are not confined to kings, emperors, governments … but to a class of companies that have assumed the sovereign affect, and seek to assert their power the same way that some of those despotic nation states do.”

The Wikipedia page for the Ship of Theseus paradox has been edited so much, there's nothing left of the original text. It turns out there's a word for that, says Feedback in @newscientist.com https://loom.ly/MWeoPs0

Blair's ideas are either vacuous, or commercially suspect, or irrelevant to the modern period. What a sad end to the most talented politician of his generation inews.co.uk/opinion/tony...

In a spectacular example of forward planning, people are thinking through how piracy might work in space - Feedback in @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035961-000-shiver-me-timbers-do-we-have-to-worry-about-space-pirates-now/

Last year, @newyorker.com reported that Oliver Sacks lied in "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat". So for @newscientist.com, I re-read the book to see if there's anything worth salvaging. https://loom.ly/HmOqenE

This is great and captures something I feel, and which I imagine many of you feel too

What does it mean that ChatGPT got fixated on goblins, wonders Feedback in @newscientist.com - and finds a possibly surprising answer. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035952-700-when-chatgpt-went-full-goblin-mode/

OMG

A step forward in the use of ancient proteins to study human evolution: proteins from teeth believed to belong to Homo erectus. @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2526391-ancient-teeth-hint-at-links-between-denisovans-and-homo-erectus/

We often imagine that the first tools were used for hitting or cutting, but what if they were actually used for storing and carrying? @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2526004-the-story-of-the-first-human-tool-the-humble-container/

Via tannoy at train station: “Once again please do not swing golf clubs on the platform.”

Been working offline for most of today, has anything happened in UK politics?

In the runup to Eurovision 2026, @newscientist.com's Feedback picks through a study of every song ever performed at the contest. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035941-100-less-nostalgia-more-pain-scientists-study-1763-eurovision-songs/

I went on @kqedforum.bsky.social (California public radio) to talk about the life and work of J. Craig Venter, especially his contributions to sequencing the human genome. https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913771/what-did-mapping-the-genome-get-us

"Beyond Belief" by @helenpearson.bsky.social is a gripping account of the evidence revolution: the ongoing effort to apply experimental data to everything from conservation to parenting. https://loom.ly/xEYR1YA

Trevor Project released its annual LGBTQ youth mental health report. The results are shocking. 40% of trans youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Trans youth who wanted hormones but couldn’t access them were nearly twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who could.

🎙️ON AIR: We're talking to @innovativegenomics.bsky.social's @urnov.bsky.social and science writers @philipcball.bsky.social and @michael-marshall.bsky.social about how sequencing the human genome changed our understanding of life. ❓What are your questions about DNA mapping? 📻 Listen:

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I went on the @newscientist.com podcast to talk about the geneticist Craig Venter, who died last week. We all had a LOT of thoughts. Apple: https://loom.ly/RzUVxGI Spotify: https://loom.ly/BGQu6PE YouTube: https://loom.ly/qkx7eRs

‘I’m fighting two wars. One against the Russians. And one inside myself.’ Ukraine is reshaping warfare through its use of drones. Yet human operators remain at the controls. For @ftweekend.com, I profiled one Ukrainian FPV drone pilot to examine the personal costs. www.ft.com/content/95f5...

Craig Venter - hero, villain, both? With @pennysarchet.bsky.social, @rogerhighfield.bsky.social and @michael-marshall.bsky.social youtu.be/1Jin3rAZ9vg

Meta is building an AI avatar of Mark Zuckerberg that will interact with staff. @newscientist.com's Feedback foresees some negative outcomes. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035932-100-is-an-ai-version-of-mark-zuckerberg-or-any-boss-a-good-plan/

Could have been more encouraging to his #LondonMarathon running friend! #London #Marathon

Craig Venter, who has died, helped sequence the human genome and drove forward synthetic biology. He ruffled a very large quantity of feathers along the way. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2524928-the-rich-but-complicated-legacy-of-genome-pioneer-craig-venter/

I’ve been hearing so much anger and disappointment from frontline workers about the BBC investigation into fraudulent asylum claims. One of the most damning responses has come from one of the experts they interviewed, solicitor Ana Gonzalez. It’s really worth reading her response in full: