Chemists are appealing for your help to test out some of the life hacks that circulate online. One such tip is to add a copper coin to fresh cut flowers to make them last longer. The scientific theory is sound but does it work in practice? They’re calling on all citizen scientists. Here’s how to take part.

You’re out for dinner and your food arrives. Your salmon en croute has been ‘deconstructed’ to fit into a mason jar, your chips have been wheeled to your table in a tiny toy trolley, your tarte tatin has been perched atop a jenga set and the waiter seems to be pouring your wine into a miniature stiletto. ‘Bring us plates!’ You cry. ‘Enough with the gimmicks!’. Except, if you’re honest with yourself, you probably took a picture of that salmon in a jar, didn’t you? And then you probably posted it on Instagram too, didn’t you? Not judging, it’s just that as long as you keep doing that, we won’t be getting our plates back any time soon.

And we heard about an important breakthrough this week in our understanding of how diet affects cognitive function. A study has found that mice deprived of a particular essential fatty acid during pregnancy are more likely to produce pups that display schizophrenia-like symptoms as adults. This is an important contribution to the evidence on how nutrition in the womb can affect our health later in life.

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg expressed some very strong opinions on same-sex marriage and abortion this week. In a TV appearance he said his Catholic faith makes him opposed to abortion under all circumstances, even in the case of rape. But, he added, his personal views have no bearing on the law. Pam Lowe reminds this lawmaker that he is simply wrong on that point.

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