The pick of the science news
Debating dates for the diary
Dr John Loughhead, executive director of the UK Energy Research Centre, will give a free lecture, Threats to Our Environment: the Energy Opportunities, on Thursday next at 6pm in the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street, Dublin. Booking essential, register at ria.ie.
On Wednesday, Bad Sciencecolumnist Dr Ben Goldacre and UK science minister Lord Drayson go head to head on the issue of the quality of science journalism in the mass media. The event starts at 7pm and the plan is to stream it live on the Times Higher Educationwebsite, timeshighereducation.co.uk.
By numbers
3
The number of new genetic links to Alzheimer's disease identified in two studies in Nature Geneticsthis week
12.8 billion
The distance, in light years, between earth and a giant galaxy surrounding a supermassive black hole discovered by University of Hawaii astronomers
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