Science News | Daily News from The Irish Times

Original painting by Sophie McKay Knight, with imagery contributed by women scientists from the University of St Andrews – part of the Chrysalis project coordinated by Mhairi Stewart.

Figuring out why women don’t figure in Stem industries

Kevin Courtney

How do we encourage more girls to defy the stereotypes and take up Stem subjects?

Sky survey reveals ‘hundreds of thousands’ of undetected galaxies

I-LOFAR radio telescope on the grounds of Birr Castle.

Kevin O'Sullivan

Astronomers from UCD in group that used telescopes at Birr, Co Offaly and abroad

Scientists in Ireland glean fascinating insight into solar storms

A discovery made by scientists in Ireland provides fresh insight on how spectacular solar storms arise

Kevin O'Sullivan

Findings may enable accurate forecasting of when bursts set to occur and impact on Earth

Great white shark’s DNA ‘may help save human lives’

A great white shark. Photograph: Byron Dilkes/Danah Divers/PA Wire

Scientists discover genetic mutations that help protect against cancer and other diseases

Nasa plans moon return ‘to stay’ by 2028

A photograph of Earth with the moon in the foreground. It was taken by the crew of Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve, 1968

Space agency plans to work with private companies on transport systems

We are fortunate to be meat-eaters because meat drove the evolution of our large brains and complex bodies. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien/The Irish Times

Humans are not ready to take red meat totally off the menu

William Reville

Our diets may be bad for our health, but a vegetarian world would create new problems

Sequencing is important in sports: penalty shoot-outs in football, service order in tennis tie-breaks and choice of colour in chess matches. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty Images

A mathematical formula for sharing fair and square

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: Even the naming of the Thue-Morse sequence is about fair play

Cloud computing: we could be walking in the footsteps of some of the world’s greatest thinkers. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien/The Irish Times

Ramble on: exercising your mind in the great outdoors

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: nature provides a myriad mathematical puzzles to ponder as you walk

Our sedentary lifestyle, 5000 or less steps per day, is correlated with a spectrum of diseases; cardiovascular, diabetes and more. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien

Apes can be lazy and never get fat. We can’t. How come?

William Reville

Understanding the difference explains why modern lifestyles damage our health

Pills or placebo? Science may not be the only way to understand illness and healing and that the placebo effect is a biological response to the act of caring – the rituals involved trigger specific neurobiological pathways that modulate body sensations, symptoms and emotions

Patient care and enzyme release appear crucial to placebo effect

William Reville

Research points to biochemical basis for perplexing but powerful medical treatment

This artist’s impression compares the seven planets orbiting the ultra-cool red dwarf star Trappist-1 to the Earth at the same scale. They are shown to the same scale but not in the correct relative positions. Image: M Kornmesser/ESO

Lessons from potentially habitable planets could have deep resonance

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: Significance of Kepler’s theory on orbital periods shown in Trappist-1A

Sir Roger Scruton believes heresy is central to understanding the erosion of free speech

New doctrine threatens freedom of speech in universities

William Reville

Bowing to fear of causing offence undermines fundamental principle of free enquiry

“Trees are approximately conical in shape . . . Cones are developable surfaces: they can be flattened out into a plane without being stretched or shrunk.” Photograph: Fabian Bimmer/AP

Consider a spherical Christmas tree

Peter Lynch

Scientific models can oversimplify complex real-world phenomena

Lava erupts near Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano. Experiments show that hot spring pools can sequester simple biological chemical building blocks into membrane-enclosed compartments. Photograph: Armann Hoskuldsson/Reuters

Did life begin on Earth in volcanic pools?

William Reville

Confirmation of hypothesis could guide exploration for life on other planets

One source of randomness is atmospheric noise, the “static” generated by lightning discharges. Photograph: Julian Stratenschulte/EPA

Random numbers plucked from the atmosphere

Peter Lynch

Randomness defies precise definition despite attempts to define it over the years

Charles Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton, proposed eugenics as a science in the late 1800s

New eugenics proposals must be interrogated very carefully

William Reville

William Reville: Social pressure on parents to go along with genetic enhancement of offspring would be great

Many critics now blame this self-esteem movement for producing a generation of emotionally fragile young adults. Photograph: iStock

Self-esteem is great – so long as it is rooted in reality

William Reville

William Reville: The misguided US self-esteem fad lingers on this side of the Atlantic

An illustration of Prof James Moriarty in Conan Doyle’s work bears a striking resemblance to a photograph of Prof George Boole (left) and may well have been based on it.

Could Sherlock Holmes’s true nemesis have been a mathematician?

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: New book suggests Arthur Conan Doyle based Moriarty on George Boole

Kepler’s idea was not warmly supported by his contemporaries, but harmonic relations are known today to be crucial. Photograph: Getty

Harmony was at the core of Johannes Kepler’s cosmic model

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: For Kepler, music played a key role in the emergence of the new astronomy

Surprisingly for a scientist, Richard Dawkins supports his charge on the long-term psychological damage of a religious upbringing with little more than anecdotes. Photograph: Alan Betson

Is religion good for children?

William Reville

Harvard study indicates religious upbringing helps adolescents navigate life’s challenges

Life began on Earth early, about 3.4 billion years ago. Photograph: Getty Images

We know Earth is special. So are we alone in the galaxy?

William Reville

The Milky Way is extremely unlikely to contain another technological civilisation

Vital subject: weusemaths.ie shows the links between the curriculum, courses and careers. Photograph: iStock/Getty

Who needs maths? Oh, only animators, builders, nurses, plumbers...

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: You’d be surprised how many people use mathematics at work

The dominant male in a gorilla group services a harem, hogging all the sex with all females in the group and denying the subservient males any “look-in”. Photograph: Alan Betson

Are humans naturally monogamous or polygamous?

William Reville

Balance of evidence indicates we are biologically inclined towards monogamy

The 200th anniversary of the birth of William Rowan Hamilton, in 2005: then minister for state Noel Treacey with TDs Joe Costello and the late Tony Gregory and members of the Cabra Community Centre Project on their way to Broombridge for the unveiling of a plaque.

The many modern uses of quaternions

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: A surprising application is to electric toothbrushes but they have many vital functions

There has been a recent explosion of “predatory” science journals that aggressively solicit research papers from scientists who pay to have the papers published.

The dodgy science of wiping your backside

William Reville

William Reville: Predatory journals can contaminate scientific literature

Tom Lehrer: a comical, musical, mathematical genius

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: Famous for his ballads, Lehrer was also one of the great satirists of his time

The discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 paved the way for the development of sophisticated gene-editing techniques. Photograph: Getty Images

Biological elitism: the result of tinkering with human genomes?

William Reville

Despite ethical unease, germ-line modification will surely find mainstream acceptance

You have probably noticed the little rectangles in the camera of your smartphone; this is face detection in action.

Automatic face recognition: how it works

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: We are photographed numerous times every day and have little idea who is collecting the information

A spiral has appeared over the past decade or so on the beach between Booterstown station and the Merrion Gates, southeast of Dublin. A sandbank (pictured) has gradually built up, driven by the action of the sea waves, and has assumed a form close to a logarithmic spiral.

What’s behind the miraculous spiral on Booterstown Strand?

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: Something must have altered to trigger this development

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can renew themselves through cell division and, under certain circumstances, can develop into differentiated organ-specific cells. Photograph: Getty Images

How human cells can be reprogrammed to renew our bodies

William Reville

Scientists hope to use pluripotent stem cells to replace organs that have failed

Kelvin’s tide machine. Belfast-born William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) developed the science by constructing the harmonic theory of tides.

That’s Maths: tides are a tug-of-war between Earth, moon and sun

Peter Lynch

Software packages (and apps) now analyse tidal records and use the results to make predictions

Senator David Norris, then Green Party leader Trevor Sargent and Marian Harkin MEP at the GM-free Ireland Network protest rally outside Leinster House, Dublin, in 2006. Photograph: Matt Kavanagh

Are genetically modified organisms safe?

William Reville

Green criticism has undermined public and political confidence in GMOs but science proves they are no riskier than more traditional methods

Ireland recorded 392 suicides last year. Photograph: iStock

Suicide: the best strategies attempting to counter this major problem

William Reville

We have been surprisingly passive in Ireland in responding to issue

Piet Hein: “The Universe may / Be as great as they say / But it wouldn’t be missed / If it didn’t exist”

The Empty Set: this article is about nothing at all

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: Many philosophers regard ‘nothing’ with anxiety, nausea or panic

The first exoplanet transit was detected in 1999 and within 10 years more than 100 exoplanets had been detected. Photograph: Stocktrek RF/Getty

Searching for planets beyond our solar system

William Reville

The discovery of extra-terrestrial intelligence would be truly transcending

Columnists

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson -

Newton Emerson: Most Dublin politicians have no understanding of Northern Ireland

Janan Ganesh

Janan Ganesh -

Trump is copying Obama when it comes to his Asia policy

Maureen Dowd

Maureen Dowd -

Maureen Dowd: Many turned a blind eye to Michael Jackson’s cruelty

Paul Gillespie

Paul Gillespie -

Could an Irish Border poll help resolve Brexit impasse?

Citizen Science The Irish Times and citizen science researchers have teamed up. See the results here

Latest Ireland

€55,000 for girl unable to grow long nails after accident 13:44

Dublin Airport resumes flight operations after drone spotted 13:43

Dáil suspended twice in row over stalled oil and fossil fuels Bill 13:38

Families deal with recession legacy long after economy recovers - ESRI 13:37

Multi-denominational patrons for 12 new primary schools 13:28

Most Read in News

1 Dublin Airport resumes flight operations after drone spotted

2 ‘I’m grand’: Cork woman cuts off finger after years of chronic pain

3 The story of Dublin’s ‘most notorious child sexual abuser’

4 MetroLink southside section is set to be abandoned

5 Disappearance of Icelandic poker player in Dublin mystifies family

Real news has value

Subscriber Only

Irish Times News

Follow @IrishTimesNews

Features & Opinion

The Galway professor behind our understanding of Neanderthals

William King was first to decipher that ancestors were different species to modern humans

From Democritus to Einstein, the long search for the tiny atom

Their existence was posited 2,500 years ago, and they were thought to be ‘indivisible’

Five notable scientific anniversaries in 2019

This June, it will be 100 years since world’s first non-stop transatlantic flight took place

Sign In

Forgot Password?

Sign Out