A paralysed man, Michel Roccati, has regained the ability to walk thanks to an electrical implant created by a team of Swiss scientists. Roccati was paralysed in a motorcycle accident five years ago and had no feeling at all in his legs. This is the first time someone with a complete cut in their spinal…
Could farm animals solve the organ donor crisis?
For many who spend years on organ donor lists, the long wait may soon be coming to an unusual end. Thanks to a common farm animal– the pig- the medical practice of transferring tissues and organs from one species to another (xenotransplantation) has reached new levels, with an entire heart being successfully implanted. The owner…
Mark Thompson’s 140-hour ‘Ultimate Space Lecture’
264 hours stands as the current Guinness World record for staying awake the longest. However, unlike jumping out an aeroplane without a parachute from 7,500 metres and landing in a net, Guinness stopped recognizing it due to safety concerns. Instead, Norfolk-born President of the Norwich Astronomical Society Mark Thompson decided to attempt the longest running…
Black Representation in STEM
A report commissioned by the Royal Society earlier this year outlines alarming figures on the number of Black academic staff in STEM-related fields. This development is part of an ongoing discussion regarding the lack of ethnic diversity in STEM within the UK at all stages of career progression. Using diversity statistics from the years spanning…
Bizarre Science: Why do we watch horror films?
As Halloween approaches and the nights get darker, lots of people will be settling down to watch a horror film. What is it about these movies that make horror-lovers obsessed with them and keeps them coming back for more jumpscares and gore? What makes someone sign up for a dose of “media-induced masochism”? Science may…
The Age of Humanity
The Anthropocene is an idea most of us have heard of, but the concept is largely varied and involves so much its understanding can often get lost. The literal meaning of the Anthropocene is: the current epoch we are living in after the Holocene within the Quaternary Period is within the Cenozoic Era. The basic…
Woolly Mammoths to Return from Extinction, Jurassic Park Style
Scientists working at a start-up in Texas have raised 15 million dollars worth of funding to bring the woolly mammoth back from extinction. Colossal, a company focusing on the gene-editing technology CRISPR, hopes reintroducing the species to its natural habitat can help slow the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Woolly mammoths share 99.6%…
Rare Embryo Laid By a Dinosaur Age Turtle
The embryo egg was first found by a Chinese farmer at a riverside in the Henan province of China. It had a 0.07-inch shell and was almost the size of a tennis ball. Most fossil eggs are not identifiable to a specific species, however, this egg was different. “This is actually the first time that…
The Infodemic: A Rise in Science Denial
In a recent study from YouGov, it was revealed 20% of adults in Britain believe humanity has secretly made contact with aliens from other worlds. While conspiracy theories like this may seem harmless on the outside, research from the World Health Organisation points to worrying signs of conspiracy theories being taken more seriously. This trend…
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