Malaria killed Tut

ON THE RADAR: The pick of the science news

King Tut’s final curse was malaria, according to new findings. An international team examined anthropological, radiological, and genetic test results from several royal mummies, including that of the Egyptian boy king, who died around 1324 BC. They found evidence of several ailments, but overall the data suggests he died from complications of malaria, which would also have affected his ability to walk.

“These results suggest avascular bone necrosis in conjunction with the malarial infection as the most likely cause of death in Tutankhamun,” write the researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Red light for bees

Bees famously use a “waggle dance” to tell others about the location of food sources. But new research indicates that bees who were attacked while foraging at a particular location will warn off others who are waggling information to other bees about the dangers of that site.

Their "stop" signal is delivered as a brief vibration, according to the study published online in Current Biology.

“This signal is directed at bees who are recruiting for the dangerous food location and it decreases their recruitment,” says US researcher James Nieh from the University of California, San Diego.

“Thus, fewer nest mates go to the dangerous food site.”

“The IPCC is no longer fit for purpose"

– Mike Hulme from the University of East Anglia, writing about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in an opinion piece in Nature in which five climatologists call for separate panels, more independence, faster production of reports and more open debate

Silhouette of a space shuttle

Nasa’s space shuttle Endeavour remains overhead this week, as crew continue maintenance at the International Space Station. Orbiting at around 330km above the Earth surface, the mission has attached the new Tranquility node and Cupola, designed and built by the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Cupola, an observation deck, is fitted with seven windows, which provide its panoramic views.