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High-potency cannabis use leaves a distinct mark on DNA – new research
Cannabis is one of the most commonly used drugs in the world. Yet there’s still much we don’t know about it and what effects it has on the brain – including why cannabis triggers psychosis in some people who use the drug. But our recent study has just brought us closer to understanding the biological impact of high-potency cannabis use.
The ‘bully cats’ bred to resemble American bully dogs and how fashion is creating mutant pet breeds
Pedigree cat breeding has long had its controversies but a new trend for cats bred to look like American bully XL dogs could be one of the most worrying fads yet. So-called “bully cats” originated in the US and are a result of mutant breeding. Unlike pedigree breeding, which focuses on keeping animals purebred, mutant breeding involves intentionally combining genetic mutations to create cats with a specific look. In this case, they mix the gene that causes hairlessness in sphynx cats with the gene responsible for the short legs of munchkin cats, making bully cats a munchkin-sphynx cross.
Prison education is vital – but it is neglected and failing
The quality of education in young offender institutions (YOIs) in England has seriously declined, according to a recent report from Ofsted and the prisons inspectorate. The report into these institutions, whose offenders are aged 15 to 18, referred to “steadily declining educational opportunities”. Among the failings listed were a lack of time allocated to education, lack of proper staff training, staff shortages and poor behaviour of learners.
Pobol y Cwm: BBC’s longest running TV soap celebrates 50 years on air
“We had a special kind of audience in mind: the Welsh who have never read Barn or Y Faner (two popular Welsh-language publications written in a scholarly tone) but live their lives every day in the natural sound of the Welsh language.” That’s how dramatist Gwenlyn Parry described the target audience of the new BBC Wales soap opera, Pobol y Cwm, which was broadcast for the first time 50 years ago ago, on October 16 1974.
Trying to lose weight? Here’s why your genetics could be just as important as your exercise regime
Weight loss is a complicated process. There are so many factors involved including your diet, how much sleep you get each night and the kind of exercise you do. Our recent study shows that your specific genetic profile may also have a dominant effect on how well you lose weight through exercise. This might explain why two people who do an identical workout will see very different results.
Moldova votes on whether to join EU as Russia intensifies vast disinformation campaign
Moldova is emerging as a major strategic battleground in a fierce competition between Russia and the west. A Kremlin-backed disinformation campaign has intensified over the last few months, in the run-up to Moldova’s presidential elections. One of the key reasons for this is that a referendum on EU membership...
Universities all want higher fees and funding – but the government may prefer a more targeted approach
Like most of the UK, universities were surprised by the timing of July’s general election. They had no time to influence the incoming Labour government’s policy commitments. Labour’s manifesto acknowledged the financial problems suffered by England’s universities, which are caused by a real-terms decline in the maximum fee...
Who really holds the purse strings? Why it matters which partner decides where the money goes
In an era of increasing financial complexity, who really calls the shots when it comes to investing your household’s savings? This question has significant implications for financial health and overall wellbeing. As economists, we specifically wanted to understand how “bargaining power” is distributed between men and women in a...
A brief history of deadly dolls in horror cinema – from Annabelle to M3gan
From Longlegs (2024) to M3GAN (2022) to Annabelle Comes Home (2019), creepy dolls are eerily at home on the big screen. Their cinematic history can be traced back to The Doll’s Revenge (1907) in which a young boy witnesses his previously destroyed sister’s doll reassemble itself, before tearing him apart and devouring him.
Lebanon: assassinating sectarian leaders has always led to instability – this time will be no different
The assassination of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in September sent shock waves through the Middle East and beyond. Nasrallah had evolved into the very embodiment of Hezbollah over his 32 years in charge, and had established himself as a key figure in Iran’s so-called axis of resistance. At...
Songwriters have long revealed the ugly side of ‘love’ – from John Lennon to Mariah Carey
For as long as pop music has existed, there have been love songs. And as long as there have been love songs, songwriters have been wrestling with what love means to them. We have been told that love is the best, that it can mend our souls, and keep us alive. But we have also been warned that love is a battlefield upon which we will be torn apart, and eventually killed.
Decline of X is an opportunity to do social media differently – but combining ‘safe’ and ‘profitable’ will still be a challenge
It’s now almost two years since Elon Musk concluded his takeover of Twitter (now called X) on 27 October 2022. Since then, the platform has become an increasingly polarised and divisive space. Musk promised to deal with some of the issues which had already frustrated users, particularly bots, abuse...
Religious hate crimes in England and Wales are at a record high – but many still go unreported
Religious hate crimes in England and Wales are at record levels. New Home Office statistics reveal that although hate crime overall saw an annual decrease of 5% in the year to March 2024, there was a 25% increase in religious hate crimes. Hate crimes against Jewish people more than doubled...
How profits from big pharma’s use of genetic information could revolutionise nature conservation
The blue blood of threatened horseshoe crabs contains a chemical essential for testing the safety of vaccines. So these ancient creatures are highly sought after by pharmaceutical companies worldwide, contributing to declines in their populations. While species are disappearing at alarming rates, with a global biodiversity financing gap of US$600...
Salem’s Lot: a faithful but shallow adaptation of Stephen King’s classic vampire novel
The vampire story dwells among the undead of literary and cinematic genres, ever available for reanimation. This year alone has seen the publication of more than 30 vampire novels in the US (from Rachel Harrison’s So Thirsty to K. M. Enright’s Mistress of Lies), alongside the release of several vampire movies, including Abigail (with Nosferatu, rebooting the silent German classic, due at Christmas).
Music and dementia: researchers are still making discoveries about how songs can help sufferers
Music is woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. Whether it’s lifting our spirits, pushing us to run faster or soothing us to sleep, we can all recognise its power. So it’s no wonder it is increasingly being used in medical treatment. As well as proving very...
We tend to keep away from midges and – even when in swarms – they tend to keep away from each other
We’ve all found ourselves trying to avoid the swarms of midges that are so common in late summer. But as you try to avoid them, what you may not know is that they are equally keen to avoid each other. It’s strange behaviour for creatures that typically move around...
IDF actions against UN peacekeepers suggest Israel may be considering occupying part of southern Lebanon
The United Nations security council has expressed strong concern for the safety of peacekeepers in Lebanon after a series of incidents over the past week in which UN positions have come under fire from the Israel Defense Forces as they continue their push in the south of the country. “UN...
We’ve bred corals to better tolerate lethal heatwaves, but rapid climate action is still needed to save reefs
Our research group has bred corals able to better survive marine heatwaves. Our work, now published in Nature Communications, shows that it is possible to improve coral heat tolerance even within a single generation. We did this using selective breeding: a technique used by humans for thousands of years to...
How AI can help you make a computer game without knowing anything about coding
Just as calculators took over the tedious number-crunching in maths a few decades ago, artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming coding. Take Kyo, an eight-year-old boy in Singapore who developed a simple platform game in just two hours, attracting over 500,000 players. Using nothing but simple instructions in English, Kyo brought...
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