Chris Simms

Set fire to it?
Run over it with a truck several times?

Message from Evri delivery service. Says: We need you to take action We're sorry your parcel has been damaged beyond repair in transit. Please contact your sender.

Well this is an exciting message from Evri:

"We need you to take action
We're sorry your parcel has been damaged beyond repair in transit. Please contact your sender."

It was four boxes of self-adhesive floor tiles. What on earth can they have done to damage them so badly?

A vaccine targeting human IgE induces long-term protection against anaphylaxis in humanized mice A conjugate vaccine targeting human IgE induces long-term production of neutralizing antibodies and protects against anaphylaxis in humanized mice.

The original research paper in Science Translational Medicine is available here (freely available for two weeks): www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Of course, the study is in mice, so we can't be sure it will work in humans.

However, researchers are optimistic it will translate to us, partly because the mice were engineered to produce human IgE rather than mouse IgE. Only clinical trials will tell though

The vaccine focuses on immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies, much like the drug omalizumab, dampening down the immune system's response, but it lasts far longer - a year at least in mice

Experimental vaccine prevents dangerous allergic attack for a year By blocking a molecule that pushes the immune system into overdrive, a vaccine protects mice from life-threatening anaphylaxis

If you've got a food allergy and constantly watch ingredients, or sometimes have to avoid hugging or kissing someone because of what they've eaten, this news could be for you: An experimental vaccine can prevent life-threatening allergic reaction in mice 🧪

www.newscientist.com/article/2507...

We now have a greater understanding of how exercise slows cancer Tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to a shift in the body’s metabolism that means muscle cells outcompete cancer cells in the race to get sugar to grow

It is well known that #exercise is linked to better #cancer survival, but the mechanisms behind this are poorly understood.

It now seems tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to muscle cells outcompeting cancer cells for sugar. @newscientist.com #health 🧪

www.newscientist.com/article/2506...

It also supports the "RNA world" hypothesis, which proposes that the earliest life on Earth consisted of RNA molecules that contained genetic information and could replicate.

This is because a sugar called ribose (in RNA) was found in a sample from Bennu, but deoxyribose (in DNA) wasn’t.

This is evidence that that asteroids could have delivered all the prerequisites for life to Earth – and perhaps to elsewhere in the solar system.

Asteroid Bennu carries all the ingredients for life as we know it We knew from prior analyses that a distant asteroid sampled in 2020 carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life, and researchers have just found the missing ingredient: sugar

I've fallen a bit behind posting about articles I've written. This was a cool one published yesterday for @newscientist.com:

We knew asteroid Bennu carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life. Now we've found the missing ingredient. #space 🧪

www.newscientist.com/article/2506...

There's much more detail in the @newscientist.com article, but overall there is a reduction in the diversity of microbe species in the oral microbiome and an increase in species linked to inflammation.

The hormonal upheaval during pregnancy is generally blamed for the higher risk of conditions like gum disease and tooth decay. A common idea also states that fetuses take calcium from their mother’s teeth, which isn’t backed up by evidence.

Upheavals to the oral microbiome in pregnancy may be behind tooth loss Dental problems often arise or get worse during pregnancy, and a new study hints that rapid changes to the oral microbiome at this time could be at least partly to blame

Pregnancy is linked to greater risk of dental issues, but we aren’t entirely sure why.

Now, it seems that the oral microbiome changes when a woman is expecting, becoming less diverse and potentially more prone to causing inflammation. 🧪 #health #pregnancy

www.newscientist.com/article/2506...

Two young Asian leopard cats, (Prionailurus bengalensis bengalensis). Photo by Joel Sartore

How cute are these two young Asian leopard cats? (Photo by Joel Sartore)

People in China lived alongside 'chicken-killing tigers' long before domestic cats arrived Leopard cats were living alongside people in ancient China for more than 3,500 years before domestic cats arrived from Europe via the Silk Road.

My cats made me write this story and I'm very glad they did.

It also makes we want a leopard cat (a "chicken-killing tiger"), but apparently although they are adorably cute only for the first month, after that they go WILD
🧪 #nature #history #china

www.livescience.com/animals/cats...

Two young Asian leopard cats, (Prionailurus bengalensis bengalensis). Photo by Joel Sartore

How cute are these two young Asian leopard cats? (Photo by Joel Sartore)

State formation across cultures and the role of grain, intensive agriculture, taxation and writing - Nature Human Behaviour Opie and Atkinson conduct a global phylogenetic analysis of 868 cultures and find evidence indicating that cereal grain cultivation, not agricultural surplus, drove state formation. Their findings als...

It was great to talk to @kitopie.bsky.social, @davidwengrow.bsky.social and @ldietrich.bsky.social about this work.

Original paper available here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

So given that the pattern of agriculture hasn't changed too much (except in efficiency) over the intervening millennia, can we say the desire for tax income is one of the reasons so many people still struggle to get their five-a-day/healthy mix of fruit and vegetables?

This is backed up by research showing that although the move towards cereal cultivation was associated with a population boost in the Neolithic period, it also led to a decline in overall health, height and dental health.

Interestingly, the study in Nature Human Behaviour also indicates that once formed, states may have tried to stop the production of the less easily taxed non-grain crops - limiting the food types available to the people. @nature.com

This is because cereal grains like wheat, barley and maize have great taxable potential.

They they can be easily assessed by tax officials because they are grown in fixed fields, above ground, ripen at predictable times and can be stored for long periods - unlike most root vegetable and tubers.

Easily taxed grains were crucial to the birth of the first states The cultivation of wheat, barley and maize, which are easily stored and taxed, seems to have led to the emergence of large societies, rather than agriculture generally

What led to the emergence of the first states, thousands of years ago?

People often say agriculture, but the first large-scale societies didn't appear until 4000 years after the advent of agriculture. The answer may be growing grain, specifically. 🧪 #history

www.newscientist.com/article/2505...

This is a great video from @tomvanderlinden.bsky.social on why films often don't feel as real any more and the (haptic) elements that trick your body into thinking you are actually there. It explains why I move in my seat so much during the test run scene in Top Gun: Maverick #films #science 🧪

Rafflesia hasseltii: a plant seen more by tigers than people. Watching this flower open by night was the closest thing to magic:

So does the future hold massive swamps of mosquitoes, farmed to produce parts for 3D printing? @sparkes.bsky.social 🧪 #insects #technology

Kissing may have evolved in an ape ancestor 21 million years ago Rather than being a recent cultural development, kissing may have been practised by other early humans like Neanderthals and our ape ancestors

Early humans like Neanderthals probably kissed, and our ape ancestors could have been doing it 21 million years ago 🧪 #evolution #kissing #sex

It was great talking to @matildabrindle.bsky.social and @zannaclay.bsky.social for this @newscientist.com story.

www.newscientist.com/article/2504...

It was great talking to Miljana Radivojević and @dl-arch.bsky.social about this one. This settlement was “basically laying the foundations for the Silk Roads as we know them today, a kind of pre-modern globalisation", @dl-arch.bsky.social told me.

But crucially, it also had a large industrial area, dedicated to bronze and copper production. Being on the Irtysh river, the settlement, called Semiyarka, may have been a key node in the vast Bronze Age metal networks linking Central Asia with the rest of the continent

This settlement featured long earthworks, conceivably for defence; at least 20 enclosed household compounds, probably built with mud bricks; and a central monumental building, which might have been used for rituals or governance

Vast Bronze Age city discovered in the plains of Kazakhstan A major settlement in Central Asia called Semiyarka dating back to 1600 BC had houses, a big central building and even an industrial zone for producing copper and bronze

This came as a big surprise to me: In the grasslands of Central Asia, long the domain of mobile peoples living in yurts, a giant settlement dating back 3600 years has been discovered. 🧪 #BronzeAge #science #archaeology

www.newscientist.com/article/2504...