The young moon returns

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | The sunset on September 29, followed by a brief appearance of the very young moon, before it, too, set. Photo by Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe.

On September 29, 2019, the very thin young (22 hours after new) moon was captured setting behind Murahwa Mountain near Mutare in exactly the same place where the sun disappeared 50 minutes earlier. Both young moon and Venus first became visible about half an hour after sunset and were photographed descending until the moon had set behind the mountain. As darkness approached, Mercury with the bright star Spica (left) also became visible in triangular formation above Venus. [see chart]

Unusual to see such a nice combination/coincidence of events in the same portion of sky! The young moon was very thin and hard to see.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | The very young moon and Venus first became visible about half an hour after sunset and were photographed descending until the moon disappeared behind the mountain. Photo by Peter Lowenstein.

Bottom line: The sunset, young moon and Venus on the evening of September 29, 2019, as seen from Mutare, Zimbabwe.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2nSw9iw

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | The sunset on September 29, followed by a brief appearance of the very young moon, before it, too, set. Photo by Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe.

On September 29, 2019, the very thin young (22 hours after new) moon was captured setting behind Murahwa Mountain near Mutare in exactly the same place where the sun disappeared 50 minutes earlier. Both young moon and Venus first became visible about half an hour after sunset and were photographed descending until the moon had set behind the mountain. As darkness approached, Mercury with the bright star Spica (left) also became visible in triangular formation above Venus. [see chart]

Unusual to see such a nice combination/coincidence of events in the same portion of sky! The young moon was very thin and hard to see.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | The very young moon and Venus first became visible about half an hour after sunset and were photographed descending until the moon disappeared behind the mountain. Photo by Peter Lowenstein.

Bottom line: The sunset, young moon and Venus on the evening of September 29, 2019, as seen from Mutare, Zimbabwe.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2nSw9iw

What climate change in the Arctic means for the rest of us

Image via Chase Dekker/shutterstock.

By Richard Hodgkins, Loughborough University

In the Arctic, a summer of heat, melting and fire was rounded off by news that 2019 saw the second-lowest ever minimum extent of sea ice. That’s the point in early autumn each year when scientists say that the Arctic Ocean will begin to freeze again. By that measure, only 2012 had less sea ice than this year.

Meanwhile, the IPCC‘s latest special report on the oceans and cryosphere was full of bad news (the cryosphere is that part of the earth system where water occurs in its frozen form, usually as snow or ice). The region’s glacier ice is retreating, the ground is thawing, forests are becoming a fire risk. Only people in low lying islands are as vulnerable to climate change as those in the Arctic, according to the IPCC.

So what happened in the Arctic in 2019? And why do Arctic geographers like me say what happens there matters so much for the world?

Let’s start by looking at what made this year so worrying:

Rapid melt of the Greenland ice sheet

Greenland started melting early in 2019 and this reached historically high levels when warm air from Europe’s midsummer heat wave arrived, causing melting over more than 90% of its surface.

While the cumulative area of melting is still smaller than the record-setting season of 2012, the total amount of ice lost is similar, because 2019’s early melting quickly removed the previous winter’s low snowfall and exposed older, dirty ice to the sun’s glare.

Greenland melting in 2019 (red) compared to longer-term average (blue). Image via NSIDC/Thomas Mote.

Sustained loss of Arctic sea ice

Scientists also measure the end-of-winter maximum extent of ice cover, and this was also historically low, although not record setting. But lots of melting in spring and summer meant by mid-August there was only fractionally more ice than the same time in 2012, the year of record minimum. Moreover, Arctic sea ice is now less than half as thick as it was at this time of year in 1980, meaning it is less resilient to even moderately warm summers.

Compare this year’s sea ice (white blob in centre) to previous average minimums (red line). Image via NASA Goddard.

Extensive wildfires in Siberia and Alaska

Probably most remarkable was the extent of vegetation burning right across the Arctic. By late July these slow-burning, long-duration fires had released 100m tonnes of carbon, an amount similar to the annual output of countries like Belgium, Kuwait or Nigeria. By the middle of August, the smoke cloud covered an area larger than the European Union.

Meanwhile, an extraordinary 32 degree C (90 degree F) heatwave fueled a particularly intense fire season in Alaska, which released roughly three times more carbon than the state emits each year from burning fossil fuels.

Wildfires in northern Siberia, July 2019. Image via Pierre Markuse/flickr.

Turbo-charged warming in the Arctic

Air temperatures in the Arctic are increasing at least twice as fast as the global average. This is down to a series of strong “feedbacks” that amplify the initial warming and in turn create more warming. For instance, the loss of reflective snow and ice means more solar energy will be absorbed in the ground and ocean, warming the earth, causing more snow and ice to melt, and so on.

These feedbacks make the Arctic particularly sensitive to changes in climate: with 1.5 degree C (2.7 degrees F) of global warming, one sea-ice-free Arctic summer is projected per century, whereas at 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) this increases to at least one per decade.

Everywhere is warming, but the Arctic is warming fastest. Image via The Conversation/HadCRUT v4.

Changing Arctic, changing world

Such effects would be bad enough if confined to the Arctic Circle and above, but what goes on up there really does affect almost every human on the planet. Here are a few reasons why:

1. More persistent and extreme mid-latitude weather

The exceptional rate of Arctic warming is shrinking the temperature difference between the far north and the mid-latitudes, and there is mounting evidence that this reduces the intensity of the polar-front jet stream, which crosses the North Atlantic from west to east and determines the paths of weather systems.

The jet stream is becoming more wobbly. Image via NOAA.

A slower and more contorted jet stream allows cold air to move further south and warm air to move further north, and it also allows weather systems to persist longer than usual. Under these circumstances, episodes of severe cold or protracted heat, as the U.K. experienced in spring and summer 2018 respectively, become more likely.

2. The sea level will rise

The Arctic contains the world’s second largest repository of freshwater: the Greenland Ice Sheet. As that water melts into the ocean and raises the sea level, the effects will be felt globally. Under a business-as-usual scenario, Greenland alone could lead to sea level rise this century of at least 14cm (5.5 inches) and as much as 33cm (13 inches). By 2200, it could be a meter (39 inches) or more.

Such estimates aren’t very precise, partly because the science is hard, but also because we simply don’t know if we’ll get our emissions under control. Whatever actually happens, it’s clear that many people will be affected: even under conservative growth assumptions, there could be 880m people living in flood-exposed coastal regions by 2030, and more than a billion by 2060.

Elephant Foot Glacier, northern Greenland. Image via Nicolaj Larsen/Shutterstock.

3. An unplanned withdrawal from the 1.5 degree C carbon budget

In order to have a 66% probability of avoiding global warming beyond 1.5 degree C (2.7 F), the IPCC says we can release no more than 113 billion additional tonnes of carbon. That’s only about ten years of emissions at the current rate.

Arctic wildfires will eat into that “carbon budget”, and reduce the room for maneuver of governments that have committed to the Paris Agreement. These fires have been particularly carbon-intensive as they are burning through peatlands, which are rich in decomposed organic matter and are a vast source of ancient carbon. Until recently these peatlands were frozen solid. Now, many areas are increasingly vulnerable to ignition from lightning strikes or human activity.

Some scientists have therefore suggested that Arctic fire management should be reconsidered as a critical climate mitigation strategy.

Wildfire smoke fills the air. Alaska, July 2019. Image via Chiara Swanson/Shutterstock.

Although changes in the Arctic can have global ramifications, it’s important to remember that it remains home to a diverse, partly-indigenous population of several million. Arctic peoples already face numerous challenges including pollution, overfishing, habitat fragmentation, and cultural and economic transformation. The reduction in “reliably frozen” areas adds considerably to these challenges, and it’s not certain that Arctic people will even share in any benefits from things like a growth in shipping.

Change in the Arctic is largely driven by activity elsewhere. But these changes in turn have an impact far beyond the region, on the atmosphere, sea level rise, or our global carbon budget. This circular process only serves to underline the pervasive character of contemporary climate change.

Richard Hodgkins, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Loughborough University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: How climate change in the Arctic affects the rest of the world.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2mf3gg3

Image via Chase Dekker/shutterstock.

By Richard Hodgkins, Loughborough University

In the Arctic, a summer of heat, melting and fire was rounded off by news that 2019 saw the second-lowest ever minimum extent of sea ice. That’s the point in early autumn each year when scientists say that the Arctic Ocean will begin to freeze again. By that measure, only 2012 had less sea ice than this year.

Meanwhile, the IPCC‘s latest special report on the oceans and cryosphere was full of bad news (the cryosphere is that part of the earth system where water occurs in its frozen form, usually as snow or ice). The region’s glacier ice is retreating, the ground is thawing, forests are becoming a fire risk. Only people in low lying islands are as vulnerable to climate change as those in the Arctic, according to the IPCC.

So what happened in the Arctic in 2019? And why do Arctic geographers like me say what happens there matters so much for the world?

Let’s start by looking at what made this year so worrying:

Rapid melt of the Greenland ice sheet

Greenland started melting early in 2019 and this reached historically high levels when warm air from Europe’s midsummer heat wave arrived, causing melting over more than 90% of its surface.

While the cumulative area of melting is still smaller than the record-setting season of 2012, the total amount of ice lost is similar, because 2019’s early melting quickly removed the previous winter’s low snowfall and exposed older, dirty ice to the sun’s glare.

Greenland melting in 2019 (red) compared to longer-term average (blue). Image via NSIDC/Thomas Mote.

Sustained loss of Arctic sea ice

Scientists also measure the end-of-winter maximum extent of ice cover, and this was also historically low, although not record setting. But lots of melting in spring and summer meant by mid-August there was only fractionally more ice than the same time in 2012, the year of record minimum. Moreover, Arctic sea ice is now less than half as thick as it was at this time of year in 1980, meaning it is less resilient to even moderately warm summers.

Compare this year’s sea ice (white blob in centre) to previous average minimums (red line). Image via NASA Goddard.

Extensive wildfires in Siberia and Alaska

Probably most remarkable was the extent of vegetation burning right across the Arctic. By late July these slow-burning, long-duration fires had released 100m tonnes of carbon, an amount similar to the annual output of countries like Belgium, Kuwait or Nigeria. By the middle of August, the smoke cloud covered an area larger than the European Union.

Meanwhile, an extraordinary 32 degree C (90 degree F) heatwave fueled a particularly intense fire season in Alaska, which released roughly three times more carbon than the state emits each year from burning fossil fuels.

Wildfires in northern Siberia, July 2019. Image via Pierre Markuse/flickr.

Turbo-charged warming in the Arctic

Air temperatures in the Arctic are increasing at least twice as fast as the global average. This is down to a series of strong “feedbacks” that amplify the initial warming and in turn create more warming. For instance, the loss of reflective snow and ice means more solar energy will be absorbed in the ground and ocean, warming the earth, causing more snow and ice to melt, and so on.

These feedbacks make the Arctic particularly sensitive to changes in climate: with 1.5 degree C (2.7 degrees F) of global warming, one sea-ice-free Arctic summer is projected per century, whereas at 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) this increases to at least one per decade.

Everywhere is warming, but the Arctic is warming fastest. Image via The Conversation/HadCRUT v4.

Changing Arctic, changing world

Such effects would be bad enough if confined to the Arctic Circle and above, but what goes on up there really does affect almost every human on the planet. Here are a few reasons why:

1. More persistent and extreme mid-latitude weather

The exceptional rate of Arctic warming is shrinking the temperature difference between the far north and the mid-latitudes, and there is mounting evidence that this reduces the intensity of the polar-front jet stream, which crosses the North Atlantic from west to east and determines the paths of weather systems.

The jet stream is becoming more wobbly. Image via NOAA.

A slower and more contorted jet stream allows cold air to move further south and warm air to move further north, and it also allows weather systems to persist longer than usual. Under these circumstances, episodes of severe cold or protracted heat, as the U.K. experienced in spring and summer 2018 respectively, become more likely.

2. The sea level will rise

The Arctic contains the world’s second largest repository of freshwater: the Greenland Ice Sheet. As that water melts into the ocean and raises the sea level, the effects will be felt globally. Under a business-as-usual scenario, Greenland alone could lead to sea level rise this century of at least 14cm (5.5 inches) and as much as 33cm (13 inches). By 2200, it could be a meter (39 inches) or more.

Such estimates aren’t very precise, partly because the science is hard, but also because we simply don’t know if we’ll get our emissions under control. Whatever actually happens, it’s clear that many people will be affected: even under conservative growth assumptions, there could be 880m people living in flood-exposed coastal regions by 2030, and more than a billion by 2060.

Elephant Foot Glacier, northern Greenland. Image via Nicolaj Larsen/Shutterstock.

3. An unplanned withdrawal from the 1.5 degree C carbon budget

In order to have a 66% probability of avoiding global warming beyond 1.5 degree C (2.7 F), the IPCC says we can release no more than 113 billion additional tonnes of carbon. That’s only about ten years of emissions at the current rate.

Arctic wildfires will eat into that “carbon budget”, and reduce the room for maneuver of governments that have committed to the Paris Agreement. These fires have been particularly carbon-intensive as they are burning through peatlands, which are rich in decomposed organic matter and are a vast source of ancient carbon. Until recently these peatlands were frozen solid. Now, many areas are increasingly vulnerable to ignition from lightning strikes or human activity.

Some scientists have therefore suggested that Arctic fire management should be reconsidered as a critical climate mitigation strategy.

Wildfire smoke fills the air. Alaska, July 2019. Image via Chiara Swanson/Shutterstock.

Although changes in the Arctic can have global ramifications, it’s important to remember that it remains home to a diverse, partly-indigenous population of several million. Arctic peoples already face numerous challenges including pollution, overfishing, habitat fragmentation, and cultural and economic transformation. The reduction in “reliably frozen” areas adds considerably to these challenges, and it’s not certain that Arctic people will even share in any benefits from things like a growth in shipping.

Change in the Arctic is largely driven by activity elsewhere. But these changes in turn have an impact far beyond the region, on the atmosphere, sea level rise, or our global carbon budget. This circular process only serves to underline the pervasive character of contemporary climate change.

Richard Hodgkins, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Loughborough University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: How climate change in the Arctic affects the rest of the world.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2mf3gg3

Astronomer probes idea of ET ‘lurkers’

View larger. | Asteroid 2016 HO3 is a co-orbital object, or quasi-satellite. It’s a natural object whose orbit around the sun keeps it near Earth. A new study suggests it’s the perfect hiding place for an extraterrestrial probe, or “lurker.” Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/ James Benford.

Could there be alien probes “lurking” near Earth? That’s a scenario recently explored in a new paper by James Benford of Microwave Sciences. The idea is that a group of co-orbital, rocky asteroids near Earth – also known as quasi-satellites – would be the perfect place to hide a probe, in order to conduct observations of Earth undetected.

Benford’s new peer-reviewed paper discussing this possibility was published in The Astronomical Journal on September 20, 2019 (preprint here).

From the paper:

A recently discovered group of nearby co-orbital objects is an attractive location for extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) to locate a probe to observe Earth, while not being easily seen. These near-Earth objects provide an ideal way to watch our world from a secure natural object. That provides resources an ETI might need: materials, a firm anchor, concealment. These have been little studied by astronomy and not at all by SETI or planetary radar observations.

Benford goes on in his paper to describe co-orbital objects (aka quasi-satellites) found thus far and to propose both passive and active observations of them as possible sites for ET probes.

Artist’s concept of 2016 HO3, a co-orbital asteroid near Earth. Image via Inverse.

Basically, his premise is that this group of recently discovered co-orbital rocky asteroids near Earth – sharing a similar orbit to Earth’s but not orbiting Earth itself – would be an ideal location to hide an alien probe. From the vantage point of a co-orbital asteroid, the extraterrestrial civilization could gather observations of Earth while remaining hidden.

It’s an intriguing idea. Not only would these sorts of asteroids allow concealment of the probe, but they would also supply raw materials (via some kind of mining activity) and constant solar energy, if the probe needed them.

These co-orbitals have been little studied by astronomers so far, and not at all yet by SETI or planetary radar observations.

Benford calls hypothetical, hidden, unknown and unseen alien probes by the name lurkers. In theory, they would be robotic, like our own robot probes sent out to explore our solar system, but doubtless much more advanced. It’s possible that a lurker could be in our solar system, hiding on one of Earth’s co-orbital asteroids, for thousands or millions of years, just silently watching.

Benford suggests that searching for lurkers would be an interesting new type of SETI, which traditionally has focused on looking for artificial radio or light signals from distant stars. But if there were alien probes literally in our own backyard, we could actually go and observe them. Scientists could first look for them in the electromagnetic spectrum of microwaves and light or by using planetary radar.

Can you imagine finding an alien probe in our own backyard? The scene in the Stanley Kubrick’s epic 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey – where the apes first see the black monolith – comes to mind:

At the moment, the best target to explore for alien lurkers is asteroid 2016 HO3, sometimes called, Earth’s constant companion or Earth’s pet asteroid. It is the smallest, closest, and most stable (known) co-orbital. Indeed, China has announced it has plans to send a probe to 2016 HO3, on a 10-year mission that will launch in the year 2024 or later. This object is very similar to small asteroids elsewhere in the solar system. According to astronomer Vishnu Reddy:

While HO3 is close to the Earth, its small size – possibly not larger than 100 feet [30 meters] – makes it challenging target to study. Our observations show that HO3 rotates once every 28 minutes and is made of materials similar to asteroids.

Benford has also previously advocated using what he calls Benford Beacons, short microwave bursts to attract attention, kind of like lighthouses, as well as using powerful electromagnetic beams to send light spacecraft – solar sails – into the solar system for interplanetary exploration.

Earth isn’t the only planet with co-orbitals. Jupiter has two large groups of co-orbital asteroids, called the Trojans, which precede it and follow it in its orbit. Image via Paul Weigert/Western University/Gizmodo.

The lurker idea is an interesting one. It relates to the famous Fermi Paradox, which asks the question where are they? In other words, if there are highly advanced civilizations in our galaxy – technologically ahead of us by thousands or millions of years – then they could have/ should have expanded across the galaxy and found us by now. Lurkers could be a form of the sentinel hypothesis – such as Bracewell Probes – which, according to the new paper, suggests:

If advanced alien civilizations exist they might place AI monitoring devices on or near the worlds of other evolving species to track their progress. Such a robotic sentinel might establish contact with a developing race once that race had reached a certain technological threshold, such as large-scale radio communication or interplanetary flight. A probe located nearby could bide its time while our civilization developed technology that could find it, and, once contacted, could undertake a conversation in real time. Meanwhile, it could have been routinely reporting back on our biosphere and civilization for long eras.

Looking for lurkers is certainly speculative and might sound too much like science fiction to some people’s taste. But it has an appealing logic about it. And now the idea is published in a major, peer-reviewed journal.

The fact is, we don’t have a clue how an alien civilization would think. That’s why, when it comes to searching for evidence of alien intelligence, the more possibilities that can be considered, the better!

A new theory suggests that co-orbital objects or quasi-satellites – objects whose orbits around the sun keep them near Earth – would be ideal hiding places for an alien probe, or “lurker.” Image via NASA/Inverse.

Bottom line: A new study proposes searching for lurkers, alien probes that might be hiding among co-orbital rocky asteroids near Earth.

Source: Looking for Lurkers: Co-orbiters as SETI Observables

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2ojDb0a

View larger. | Asteroid 2016 HO3 is a co-orbital object, or quasi-satellite. It’s a natural object whose orbit around the sun keeps it near Earth. A new study suggests it’s the perfect hiding place for an extraterrestrial probe, or “lurker.” Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/ James Benford.

Could there be alien probes “lurking” near Earth? That’s a scenario recently explored in a new paper by James Benford of Microwave Sciences. The idea is that a group of co-orbital, rocky asteroids near Earth – also known as quasi-satellites – would be the perfect place to hide a probe, in order to conduct observations of Earth undetected.

Benford’s new peer-reviewed paper discussing this possibility was published in The Astronomical Journal on September 20, 2019 (preprint here).

From the paper:

A recently discovered group of nearby co-orbital objects is an attractive location for extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) to locate a probe to observe Earth, while not being easily seen. These near-Earth objects provide an ideal way to watch our world from a secure natural object. That provides resources an ETI might need: materials, a firm anchor, concealment. These have been little studied by astronomy and not at all by SETI or planetary radar observations.

Benford goes on in his paper to describe co-orbital objects (aka quasi-satellites) found thus far and to propose both passive and active observations of them as possible sites for ET probes.

Artist’s concept of 2016 HO3, a co-orbital asteroid near Earth. Image via Inverse.

Basically, his premise is that this group of recently discovered co-orbital rocky asteroids near Earth – sharing a similar orbit to Earth’s but not orbiting Earth itself – would be an ideal location to hide an alien probe. From the vantage point of a co-orbital asteroid, the extraterrestrial civilization could gather observations of Earth while remaining hidden.

It’s an intriguing idea. Not only would these sorts of asteroids allow concealment of the probe, but they would also supply raw materials (via some kind of mining activity) and constant solar energy, if the probe needed them.

These co-orbitals have been little studied by astronomers so far, and not at all yet by SETI or planetary radar observations.

Benford calls hypothetical, hidden, unknown and unseen alien probes by the name lurkers. In theory, they would be robotic, like our own robot probes sent out to explore our solar system, but doubtless much more advanced. It’s possible that a lurker could be in our solar system, hiding on one of Earth’s co-orbital asteroids, for thousands or millions of years, just silently watching.

Benford suggests that searching for lurkers would be an interesting new type of SETI, which traditionally has focused on looking for artificial radio or light signals from distant stars. But if there were alien probes literally in our own backyard, we could actually go and observe them. Scientists could first look for them in the electromagnetic spectrum of microwaves and light or by using planetary radar.

Can you imagine finding an alien probe in our own backyard? The scene in the Stanley Kubrick’s epic 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey – where the apes first see the black monolith – comes to mind:

At the moment, the best target to explore for alien lurkers is asteroid 2016 HO3, sometimes called, Earth’s constant companion or Earth’s pet asteroid. It is the smallest, closest, and most stable (known) co-orbital. Indeed, China has announced it has plans to send a probe to 2016 HO3, on a 10-year mission that will launch in the year 2024 or later. This object is very similar to small asteroids elsewhere in the solar system. According to astronomer Vishnu Reddy:

While HO3 is close to the Earth, its small size – possibly not larger than 100 feet [30 meters] – makes it challenging target to study. Our observations show that HO3 rotates once every 28 minutes and is made of materials similar to asteroids.

Benford has also previously advocated using what he calls Benford Beacons, short microwave bursts to attract attention, kind of like lighthouses, as well as using powerful electromagnetic beams to send light spacecraft – solar sails – into the solar system for interplanetary exploration.

Earth isn’t the only planet with co-orbitals. Jupiter has two large groups of co-orbital asteroids, called the Trojans, which precede it and follow it in its orbit. Image via Paul Weigert/Western University/Gizmodo.

The lurker idea is an interesting one. It relates to the famous Fermi Paradox, which asks the question where are they? In other words, if there are highly advanced civilizations in our galaxy – technologically ahead of us by thousands or millions of years – then they could have/ should have expanded across the galaxy and found us by now. Lurkers could be a form of the sentinel hypothesis – such as Bracewell Probes – which, according to the new paper, suggests:

If advanced alien civilizations exist they might place AI monitoring devices on or near the worlds of other evolving species to track their progress. Such a robotic sentinel might establish contact with a developing race once that race had reached a certain technological threshold, such as large-scale radio communication or interplanetary flight. A probe located nearby could bide its time while our civilization developed technology that could find it, and, once contacted, could undertake a conversation in real time. Meanwhile, it could have been routinely reporting back on our biosphere and civilization for long eras.

Looking for lurkers is certainly speculative and might sound too much like science fiction to some people’s taste. But it has an appealing logic about it. And now the idea is published in a major, peer-reviewed journal.

The fact is, we don’t have a clue how an alien civilization would think. That’s why, when it comes to searching for evidence of alien intelligence, the more possibilities that can be considered, the better!

A new theory suggests that co-orbital objects or quasi-satellites – objects whose orbits around the sun keep them near Earth – would be ideal hiding places for an alien probe, or “lurker.” Image via NASA/Inverse.

Bottom line: A new study proposes searching for lurkers, alien probes that might be hiding among co-orbital rocky asteroids near Earth.

Source: Looking for Lurkers: Co-orbiters as SETI Observables

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2ojDb0a

New insights on Venus’ cloud-tops and super-rotation

Venus dayside in false color via PLANET-C Project Team/ EuroPlanet.

Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft – aka the Venus Climate Orbiter – got off a rocky start but has been sending back useful data from Venus for several years now. Akatsuki launched in May, 2010, but failed to enter orbit around Venus in December of that year. Space engineers saved the day with a 20-minute firing of the craft’s attitude control thrusters, placing the craft into an alternative orbit around Venus – albeit a highly elliptical one – five years later, in 2015. This month, at the EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland, Kiichi Fukuya of the University of Tokyo reported on new insights into the mysterious super-rotation of Venus’ atmosphere, made possible by Akatsuki’s data. That is, the upper atmosphere of Venus rotates around the planet much faster than the planet spins; the atmosphere rotates around the planet in just 4 Earth-days, while the planet itself takes 243 Earth-days to spin once. Fukuuya said:

The most exciting discovery is the frequent occurrence of equator-ward motions [of the atmosphere] on the nightside. This is in contrast to the strong poleward circulation on the dayside we have observed previously at other wavelengths.

Overall, these scientists reported that data from Akatsuki show:

… striking variety in wind speeds year-on-year and between the planet’s northern and southern hemispheres.

Takeshi Horinouchi of Hokkaido University, Japan, and Yeon Joo Lee of JAXA/ISAS and TU Berlin also detected planetary-scale atmospheric waves at the cloud tops, which may interact with the super-rotation. For these studies they used:

… advanced cloud-tracking and quality control techniques to analyze with high accuracy the direction and speed of cloud top winds using data collected by [Akatsuki’s] Ultraviolet Imager instrument over three years.

Equator-wards motion of clouds on night side. Image via University of Tokyo.

Pole-wards motion of clouds on day side. Image via University of Tokyo.

And they said the difference they observed in Venus winds between the planet’s hemispheres might be linked to a second mystery at Venus: an as-yet unidentified chemical in the atmosphere that strongly absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun. You might know that Venus is considered Earth’s “twin” in size and desnity. It’s a world very similar to Earth in many ways, but its atmosphere sets it apart. The atmosphere of Venus – which is mostly carbon dioxide – is extremely dense and hot; atmospheric pressure on Venus’ surface is some 90 times that of Earth. This as-yet-unknown ultraviolet absorber in the atmosphere is interesting to these scientists because its variability in Venus’ atmosphere might cause the asymmetry in wind speeds between the planet’s northern and southern hemispheres. Thus the scientists commented:

Our results provide new questions about the atmosphere of Venus, as well as revealing the richness of variety of the Venus atmosphere over space and time.

Artist’s concept of Akatsuki in orbit around Venus. Image via ISAS/JAXA.

Bottom line: Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft has provided new insights on the mysterious super-rotation of Venus’ dense atmosphere.

Via Europlanet Society

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2mPSyNg

Venus dayside in false color via PLANET-C Project Team/ EuroPlanet.

Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft – aka the Venus Climate Orbiter – got off a rocky start but has been sending back useful data from Venus for several years now. Akatsuki launched in May, 2010, but failed to enter orbit around Venus in December of that year. Space engineers saved the day with a 20-minute firing of the craft’s attitude control thrusters, placing the craft into an alternative orbit around Venus – albeit a highly elliptical one – five years later, in 2015. This month, at the EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland, Kiichi Fukuya of the University of Tokyo reported on new insights into the mysterious super-rotation of Venus’ atmosphere, made possible by Akatsuki’s data. That is, the upper atmosphere of Venus rotates around the planet much faster than the planet spins; the atmosphere rotates around the planet in just 4 Earth-days, while the planet itself takes 243 Earth-days to spin once. Fukuuya said:

The most exciting discovery is the frequent occurrence of equator-ward motions [of the atmosphere] on the nightside. This is in contrast to the strong poleward circulation on the dayside we have observed previously at other wavelengths.

Overall, these scientists reported that data from Akatsuki show:

… striking variety in wind speeds year-on-year and between the planet’s northern and southern hemispheres.

Takeshi Horinouchi of Hokkaido University, Japan, and Yeon Joo Lee of JAXA/ISAS and TU Berlin also detected planetary-scale atmospheric waves at the cloud tops, which may interact with the super-rotation. For these studies they used:

… advanced cloud-tracking and quality control techniques to analyze with high accuracy the direction and speed of cloud top winds using data collected by [Akatsuki’s] Ultraviolet Imager instrument over three years.

Equator-wards motion of clouds on night side. Image via University of Tokyo.

Pole-wards motion of clouds on day side. Image via University of Tokyo.

And they said the difference they observed in Venus winds between the planet’s hemispheres might be linked to a second mystery at Venus: an as-yet unidentified chemical in the atmosphere that strongly absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun. You might know that Venus is considered Earth’s “twin” in size and desnity. It’s a world very similar to Earth in many ways, but its atmosphere sets it apart. The atmosphere of Venus – which is mostly carbon dioxide – is extremely dense and hot; atmospheric pressure on Venus’ surface is some 90 times that of Earth. This as-yet-unknown ultraviolet absorber in the atmosphere is interesting to these scientists because its variability in Venus’ atmosphere might cause the asymmetry in wind speeds between the planet’s northern and southern hemispheres. Thus the scientists commented:

Our results provide new questions about the atmosphere of Venus, as well as revealing the richness of variety of the Venus atmosphere over space and time.

Artist’s concept of Akatsuki in orbit around Venus. Image via ISAS/JAXA.

Bottom line: Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft has provided new insights on the mysterious super-rotation of Venus’ dense atmosphere.

Via Europlanet Society

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2mPSyNg

2019’s Arctic sea ice minimum 2nd-lowest on record

The Arctic sea ice cap is a huge expanse of frozen seawater floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas. The Arctic is frozen water, in other words, unlike the Antarctic, which is an actual continent covered by ice. Every year, Arctic sea ice expands and thickens during fall and winter and grows smaller and thinner in spring and summer. This year’s Arctic sea ice minimum is believed to have come on September 18, 2019, at 1.6 million square miles (4.15 million square km) unless, unexpectedly, the ice cap gets smaller still. If September 18 was indeed the sea ice minimum for 2019, this year’s minimum is in a three-way tie – with 2007 and 2016 – for second-lowest minumum since modern record-keeping began in the late 1970s, according to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

The lowest Arctic sea ice minimum ever recorded was in 2012, when the ice cap shrank to 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square km).

In recent decades, increasing temperatures have caused marked decreases in Arctic sea ice in all seasons, with particularly rapid reductions in the minimum end-of-summer ice extent. The shrinking of the Arctic sea ice cover can ultimately affect local ecosystems, global weather patterns, and the circulation of the oceans.

Changes in Arctic sea ice cover have wide-ranging impacts. The sea ice affects local ecosystems, regional and global weather patterns, and the circulation of the oceans.

This map shows the extent of Arctic sea ice as measured by satellites on September 18, 2019. Extent is defined as the total area in which the ice concentration is at least 15 percent. Darkest blue indicates open water or ice concentration less than 15 percent. Lighter blue to white indicates 15–100 percent ice cover. The yellow outline shows the median September sea ice extent from 1981–2010; according to NSIDC data, the median minimum extent for 1979–2010 was 2.44 million square miles (6.33 million square km). Microwave instruments onboard U.S. Department of Defense meteorological satellites monitored the changes from space. Image via NASA

Claire Parkinson is a climate change senior scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. She said in a statement:

This year’s minimum sea ice extent shows that there is no sign that the sea ice cover is rebounding. The long-term trend for Arctic sea ice extent has been definitively downward. But in recent years, the extent is low enough that weather conditions can either make that particular year’s extent into a new record low or keep it within the group of the lowest.

An opening in the sea ice cover north of Greenland is partially filled in by much smaller sea ice rubble and floes, as seen during an Operation IceBridge flight on September 9, 2019. Image via NASA/Linette Boisvert.

Why does sea ice matter? Here’s an explanation from Climate.gov:

Arctic sea ice is as fundamental to the environment and ecosystems of the Arctic as trees are to the Amazon Rainforest. Since 1979, ice extent has shrunk by 40 percent, and the loss is transforming Alaska’s climate, accelerating coastal erosion, reducing walrus and other marine mammal habitat, changing the timing and location of blooms of the food web’s microscopic plant life, and lowering survival rates for young walleye pollock—the nation’s largest commercial fishery.

Mark Brandon, polar oceanographer at Open University, wrote in The Conversation:

Sea ice is declining rapidly, and an ice-free Arctic ocean will become a regular summer occurrence as things stand. Indigenous peoples who live in the Arctic are already having to change how they hunt and travel, and some coastal communities are already planning for relocation. Populations of seals, walruses, polar bears, whales and other mammals and sea birds who depend on the ice may crash if sea ice is regularly absent. And as water in its bright-white solid form is much more effective at reflecting heat from the sun, its rapid loss is also accelerating global heating.

Bottom line: The Arctic sea ice minimum extent for 2019 was 1.6 million square miles (4.15 million square km), This minimum is tied for 2nd-smallest in the satellite record.

Via NASA

Via NASA Earth Observatory

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2m2AnUi

The Arctic sea ice cap is a huge expanse of frozen seawater floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas. The Arctic is frozen water, in other words, unlike the Antarctic, which is an actual continent covered by ice. Every year, Arctic sea ice expands and thickens during fall and winter and grows smaller and thinner in spring and summer. This year’s Arctic sea ice minimum is believed to have come on September 18, 2019, at 1.6 million square miles (4.15 million square km) unless, unexpectedly, the ice cap gets smaller still. If September 18 was indeed the sea ice minimum for 2019, this year’s minimum is in a three-way tie – with 2007 and 2016 – for second-lowest minumum since modern record-keeping began in the late 1970s, according to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

The lowest Arctic sea ice minimum ever recorded was in 2012, when the ice cap shrank to 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square km).

In recent decades, increasing temperatures have caused marked decreases in Arctic sea ice in all seasons, with particularly rapid reductions in the minimum end-of-summer ice extent. The shrinking of the Arctic sea ice cover can ultimately affect local ecosystems, global weather patterns, and the circulation of the oceans.

Changes in Arctic sea ice cover have wide-ranging impacts. The sea ice affects local ecosystems, regional and global weather patterns, and the circulation of the oceans.

This map shows the extent of Arctic sea ice as measured by satellites on September 18, 2019. Extent is defined as the total area in which the ice concentration is at least 15 percent. Darkest blue indicates open water or ice concentration less than 15 percent. Lighter blue to white indicates 15–100 percent ice cover. The yellow outline shows the median September sea ice extent from 1981–2010; according to NSIDC data, the median minimum extent for 1979–2010 was 2.44 million square miles (6.33 million square km). Microwave instruments onboard U.S. Department of Defense meteorological satellites monitored the changes from space. Image via NASA

Claire Parkinson is a climate change senior scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. She said in a statement:

This year’s minimum sea ice extent shows that there is no sign that the sea ice cover is rebounding. The long-term trend for Arctic sea ice extent has been definitively downward. But in recent years, the extent is low enough that weather conditions can either make that particular year’s extent into a new record low or keep it within the group of the lowest.

An opening in the sea ice cover north of Greenland is partially filled in by much smaller sea ice rubble and floes, as seen during an Operation IceBridge flight on September 9, 2019. Image via NASA/Linette Boisvert.

Why does sea ice matter? Here’s an explanation from Climate.gov:

Arctic sea ice is as fundamental to the environment and ecosystems of the Arctic as trees are to the Amazon Rainforest. Since 1979, ice extent has shrunk by 40 percent, and the loss is transforming Alaska’s climate, accelerating coastal erosion, reducing walrus and other marine mammal habitat, changing the timing and location of blooms of the food web’s microscopic plant life, and lowering survival rates for young walleye pollock—the nation’s largest commercial fishery.

Mark Brandon, polar oceanographer at Open University, wrote in The Conversation:

Sea ice is declining rapidly, and an ice-free Arctic ocean will become a regular summer occurrence as things stand. Indigenous peoples who live in the Arctic are already having to change how they hunt and travel, and some coastal communities are already planning for relocation. Populations of seals, walruses, polar bears, whales and other mammals and sea birds who depend on the ice may crash if sea ice is regularly absent. And as water in its bright-white solid form is much more effective at reflecting heat from the sun, its rapid loss is also accelerating global heating.

Bottom line: The Arctic sea ice minimum extent for 2019 was 1.6 million square miles (4.15 million square km), This minimum is tied for 2nd-smallest in the satellite record.

Via NASA

Via NASA Earth Observatory

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2m2AnUi

Watch for the young moon after sunset

For a number of intrepid sky watchers, the hunt for the young moon counts as great sport. Seeking out a young moon that might – or might not – fleetingly show itself as a pale, skinny crescent in the western evening twilight demands fortitude and patience. That’ll be the situation on September 29, 2019, when chance of seeing the extremely young moon will vary around the globe. On that evening, the moon will be exceedingly low in the western sky after sunset, very near the place where the sun went down. Binoculars come in handy.

Following that – on September 30 and into the first couple of evenings of October – the young moon will be easier to see. It’ll be higher up in the west after sunset, edging closer each evening to the bright red star Antares – Heart of the Scorpion in the constellation Scorpius – and the even-brighter planet Jupiter.

So let’s focus on that first evening again for a bit: September 29. It’s quite difficult to catch a young moon that’s less than one day (24 hours) old, and for the world’s Eastern Hemisphere, the moon will be less than one day old as the sun sets on September 29.

Quite by coincidence, the line of sunset pretty much aligns with Earth’s prime meridian one day after new moon (2019 September 29 at 18:26 UTC). By the time that the line of sunset reaches Central Time Zone in North America, the moon will be about 30 hours old. Map via EarthView.

The further west you live on the Earth’s globe, the better your chances of spotting the young moon after sunset on September 29. That’s because the moon is somewhat older when the sun sets at more westerly longitudes.

Click here to find out the moon’s setting time in your sky, remembering to check the moonrise and moonset box.

Also, the further south you live, the better are your chances of catching the young moon on any of these evenings. That’s because the ecliptic – the approximate monthly path of the moon in front of the constellations of the zodiac – hits the sunset horizon at a steep angle in the Southern Hemisphere yet a a shallow angle in the Northern Hemisphere.

This particular young moon swings a maximum 5 degrees (10 moon-diameters) north of the ecliptic (5 degrees in ecliptic latitude). That erases much of the Northern Hemisphere’s disadvantage. This time around, the Northern Hemisphere finds itself in a better position than it usually does for spotting an early autumn young moon.

Click here to find out the present ecliptic latitude of the moon.

It’ll be easier to view the planets Mercury and Venus, plus the star Spica, from the Southern Hemisphere, because of the steep tilt of the ecliptic. Contrast with the feature sky chart at top for mid-northern latitudes,

Click here to know the moon’s place upon the zodiac.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Two planets – Mercury and Venus – also sit low in the west after sunset. They’re tough to spot, especially from the Northern Hemisphere. Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe captured this series of images on September 27, 2019. Both Mercury and Venus very quickly follow the sun below the western horizon. Venus is much brighter than Mercury. Thank you, Peter!

Bottom line: Wherever you may live, the young moon is hard to catch on September 29, 2019, but easier on September 30, and on October 1 and 2.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2mBbteZ

For a number of intrepid sky watchers, the hunt for the young moon counts as great sport. Seeking out a young moon that might – or might not – fleetingly show itself as a pale, skinny crescent in the western evening twilight demands fortitude and patience. That’ll be the situation on September 29, 2019, when chance of seeing the extremely young moon will vary around the globe. On that evening, the moon will be exceedingly low in the western sky after sunset, very near the place where the sun went down. Binoculars come in handy.

Following that – on September 30 and into the first couple of evenings of October – the young moon will be easier to see. It’ll be higher up in the west after sunset, edging closer each evening to the bright red star Antares – Heart of the Scorpion in the constellation Scorpius – and the even-brighter planet Jupiter.

So let’s focus on that first evening again for a bit: September 29. It’s quite difficult to catch a young moon that’s less than one day (24 hours) old, and for the world’s Eastern Hemisphere, the moon will be less than one day old as the sun sets on September 29.

Quite by coincidence, the line of sunset pretty much aligns with Earth’s prime meridian one day after new moon (2019 September 29 at 18:26 UTC). By the time that the line of sunset reaches Central Time Zone in North America, the moon will be about 30 hours old. Map via EarthView.

The further west you live on the Earth’s globe, the better your chances of spotting the young moon after sunset on September 29. That’s because the moon is somewhat older when the sun sets at more westerly longitudes.

Click here to find out the moon’s setting time in your sky, remembering to check the moonrise and moonset box.

Also, the further south you live, the better are your chances of catching the young moon on any of these evenings. That’s because the ecliptic – the approximate monthly path of the moon in front of the constellations of the zodiac – hits the sunset horizon at a steep angle in the Southern Hemisphere yet a a shallow angle in the Northern Hemisphere.

This particular young moon swings a maximum 5 degrees (10 moon-diameters) north of the ecliptic (5 degrees in ecliptic latitude). That erases much of the Northern Hemisphere’s disadvantage. This time around, the Northern Hemisphere finds itself in a better position than it usually does for spotting an early autumn young moon.

Click here to find out the present ecliptic latitude of the moon.

It’ll be easier to view the planets Mercury and Venus, plus the star Spica, from the Southern Hemisphere, because of the steep tilt of the ecliptic. Contrast with the feature sky chart at top for mid-northern latitudes,

Click here to know the moon’s place upon the zodiac.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Two planets – Mercury and Venus – also sit low in the west after sunset. They’re tough to spot, especially from the Northern Hemisphere. Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe captured this series of images on September 27, 2019. Both Mercury and Venus very quickly follow the sun below the western horizon. Venus is much brighter than Mercury. Thank you, Peter!

Bottom line: Wherever you may live, the young moon is hard to catch on September 29, 2019, but easier on September 30, and on October 1 and 2.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2mBbteZ

News digest – alcohol pricing success, cancer treatment experience, European drug approval and garlic

Exciting new breed of cancer drugs approved in Europe

The BBC covers the approval of a new breed of cancer drug by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), called ‘tumour agnostic’ drugs. They’re different from most cancer drugs because instead of being developed based on where the cancer is growing in the body, the drugs target specific changes in cancer cells’ DNA. This means people with different types of cancer may benefit from them. But while the latest tumour agnostic drug may provide a valuable option for patients with some rare cancers, it’s a way off being available on the NHS, as we’ve blogged about before.

PM pledges £200 million for new NHS equipment to detect cancer

The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced a £200 million funding boost to help diagnose people with cancer earlier. The money will be spent on new diagnostic machines that can be used to test for cancer, including MRI and CT scanners. Read The Telegraph for more.

‘My body feels like it is dying from the drugs that are meant to save me’

Take a look at this Guardian long-read for a poignant and honest account of one woman’s experience of going through gruelling chemotherapy treatment.

Study links certain male fertility treatment with possible increased prostate cancer risk

A new Swedish study suggests that men who have had a certain type of fertility treatment could have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer compared to those who have conceived naturally. According to the BBC, the researchers looked at 1.2 million pregnancies in Sweden over 20 years, but more research is needed to see if the link is there in larger groups and the underlying reasons at play.

Some men treated with surgery for prostate cancer may not need radiotherapy

Our prostate cancer trial results, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference, show that men with early prostate cancer who’ve had surgery do just as well without radiotherapy as those having the additional treatment. As The Telegraph explains, this could save men from life-changing side effects.

Language change around obesity suggested to prevent weight stigma

The British Psychological Society released a new report advising on the best language to use when talking about obesity. The Telegraph covered the recommendations, which aim to reframe obesity as a complex condition which has many causes.

Alcohol pricing policy cuts drinking rates in Scotland

Minimum pricing of alcohol in Scotland is having its desired effect, reports the Mail Online. The policy, introduced in May 2018, sets the minimum pricing of alcohol to 50p per unit. And research suggests it’s cut the nation’s drinking rate. On average, people in Scotland are now drinking 1 unit of booze less a week than before the price hike, leading to suggestions that the legislation should be adopted across the UK.

Tasmanian devil tumours teach us about immunotherapy resistance

A cluster of interacting proteins that are active in some human cancers and Tasmanian devil facial tumours have given scientists new clues as to how cancers evade the immune system. BT.com covered the research, that we part-funded, and we also blogged about this one.

UK home to 3.6 million vapers

Figures from Action on Smoking and Health reveal there are now almost half as many vapers in the UK as those who smoke tobacco. The BBC covered the report, which also indicates that the majority of people using e-cigarettes are former smokers.

Pancreatic cancer urine test set to start trials

An experimental urine test that aims to detect pancreatic cancer earlier is set to enter clinical trials, reports the Mail Online. The study, which will cost £1.6 million, will help researchers assess how accurately the test can pick up the early signs of the hard-to-treat disease.

Cancer Research UK boost entrepreneurs in science

Pharma Times covers our first entrepreneurship initiative, which will provide support and education to early career researchers. The business accelerator programmes aim to help scientists turn their innovative ideas into viable companies that could benefit patients. Our press release has the details.

And finally

A nutritional study, reported by the Scotsman, looked at the consumption of a sauce packed with garlic and onions in a group of women in Puerto Rico. Researchers said the study suggests that eating at least two helpings of sofrito a day may reduce breast cancer risk and that these pungent vegetables were behind the link. But they only looked at a small and very specific group of people, so there’s no need to stock up on onions and garlic.

Gabi

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/2mwZwGY

Exciting new breed of cancer drugs approved in Europe

The BBC covers the approval of a new breed of cancer drug by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), called ‘tumour agnostic’ drugs. They’re different from most cancer drugs because instead of being developed based on where the cancer is growing in the body, the drugs target specific changes in cancer cells’ DNA. This means people with different types of cancer may benefit from them. But while the latest tumour agnostic drug may provide a valuable option for patients with some rare cancers, it’s a way off being available on the NHS, as we’ve blogged about before.

PM pledges £200 million for new NHS equipment to detect cancer

The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has announced a £200 million funding boost to help diagnose people with cancer earlier. The money will be spent on new diagnostic machines that can be used to test for cancer, including MRI and CT scanners. Read The Telegraph for more.

‘My body feels like it is dying from the drugs that are meant to save me’

Take a look at this Guardian long-read for a poignant and honest account of one woman’s experience of going through gruelling chemotherapy treatment.

Study links certain male fertility treatment with possible increased prostate cancer risk

A new Swedish study suggests that men who have had a certain type of fertility treatment could have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer compared to those who have conceived naturally. According to the BBC, the researchers looked at 1.2 million pregnancies in Sweden over 20 years, but more research is needed to see if the link is there in larger groups and the underlying reasons at play.

Some men treated with surgery for prostate cancer may not need radiotherapy

Our prostate cancer trial results, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference, show that men with early prostate cancer who’ve had surgery do just as well without radiotherapy as those having the additional treatment. As The Telegraph explains, this could save men from life-changing side effects.

Language change around obesity suggested to prevent weight stigma

The British Psychological Society released a new report advising on the best language to use when talking about obesity. The Telegraph covered the recommendations, which aim to reframe obesity as a complex condition which has many causes.

Alcohol pricing policy cuts drinking rates in Scotland

Minimum pricing of alcohol in Scotland is having its desired effect, reports the Mail Online. The policy, introduced in May 2018, sets the minimum pricing of alcohol to 50p per unit. And research suggests it’s cut the nation’s drinking rate. On average, people in Scotland are now drinking 1 unit of booze less a week than before the price hike, leading to suggestions that the legislation should be adopted across the UK.

Tasmanian devil tumours teach us about immunotherapy resistance

A cluster of interacting proteins that are active in some human cancers and Tasmanian devil facial tumours have given scientists new clues as to how cancers evade the immune system. BT.com covered the research, that we part-funded, and we also blogged about this one.

UK home to 3.6 million vapers

Figures from Action on Smoking and Health reveal there are now almost half as many vapers in the UK as those who smoke tobacco. The BBC covered the report, which also indicates that the majority of people using e-cigarettes are former smokers.

Pancreatic cancer urine test set to start trials

An experimental urine test that aims to detect pancreatic cancer earlier is set to enter clinical trials, reports the Mail Online. The study, which will cost £1.6 million, will help researchers assess how accurately the test can pick up the early signs of the hard-to-treat disease.

Cancer Research UK boost entrepreneurs in science

Pharma Times covers our first entrepreneurship initiative, which will provide support and education to early career researchers. The business accelerator programmes aim to help scientists turn their innovative ideas into viable companies that could benefit patients. Our press release has the details.

And finally

A nutritional study, reported by the Scotsman, looked at the consumption of a sauce packed with garlic and onions in a group of women in Puerto Rico. Researchers said the study suggests that eating at least two helpings of sofrito a day may reduce breast cancer risk and that these pungent vegetables were behind the link. But they only looked at a small and very specific group of people, so there’s no need to stock up on onions and garlic.

Gabi

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/2mwZwGY