By Will Rogers-Coltman
Copyright standard
Teen smokers age their future kids
A new study presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress gives yet another reason to quit smoking. Researchers analysed blood from 892 adults and found those whose fathers smoked during puberty were biologically nine months to a year older than their actual age.
Strangely, smoking later in life had far less impact, and mothers’ pre-pregnancy smoking made none — suggesting its linked to a crucial window when sperm cells are forming. Scientists say nicotine exposure in adolescence may leave lasting epigenetic changes passed to future children.
Trees stand tall amid climate change
Trees in the Amazon rainforest have grown in size in response to climate change, according to a recent study from the Rainfor network. Due to the rising amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a key ingredient for photosynthesis, the study found that the trees in 180 plots across the Amazon had increased in size by an average of 3.2 per cent every decade for the past 30 years.
The research is a rare glimmer of hope in the sea of detrimental effects of climate change, showing how the planet can bounce back and adapt in the face of adversity.
Drugs industry power shuffle
Dame Emma Walmsley announced earlier this week she is stepping down as chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline — one of the biggest posts in the pharmaceutical industry. GSK is a stalwart of British business, employing more than 65,000 people. Since 2017, Walmsley has manned the ship in turbulent times, facing pressure to step down in 2021 by activist investor Elliott Management, and launched GSK’s consumer healthcare business Haleon. Luke Miels, who controversially swapped teams from AstraZeneca back in 2017, will replace Walmsley.
Long live women
Men have their strengths, but they’re also uniquely capable of moments of immense stupidity and violence – often when trying to impress a prospective partner. A recent study from the Max Plank institute gives scientific backing to these claims, showing that female animals tend to have longer average lifespans as they are not competing for mates like males are.
The research found that as a result of males engaging in premating combat and rituals, stags locking horns for example, they tended to carry more injuries throughout their life. From a sample of 1,776 mammals, the study demonstrated female mammals lived an average of 13 per cent longer than males, and birds 5 per cent. Scientists say this is also partly genetic, with female’s XX chromosomes making them more resistant to mutations.
Life on Saturn’s moon?
The astronomy world has been abuzz this week with a new clue in the hunt for life beyond Earth – and it comes from Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. Nearly 20 years after NASA’s Cassini spacecraft first flew through its towering geysers, scientists re-examining the probe’s archived data have found fresh evidence of complex organic molecules in the moon’s watery plumes.
These carbon-containing compounds – the raw ingredients for life – appear to come straight from Enceladus’ hidden ocean, which feeds the spectacular jets that shoot through surface cracks and into space. While some researchers warn radiation could also create organics on the surface, the discovery strengthens the case for a future mission to land, sample fresh ice, and test the moon’s true habitability.