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Editor's note
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Humiliating defeats on a scale not seen for 40 years were inflicted on the British government last night. Ministers were found in contempt of parliament for failing to publish the full legal advice on the Brexit withdrawal agreement. The advice is now due to be published today. Christopher Kirkland explains the rules surrounding contempt of parliament and why the defeat has wider significance for Brexit.
Researchers from the University of Queensland have found that all cancers share a specific structure in their cell DNA. And if put in water, it forms a pattern that is attracted to gold particles. The researchers, Abu Sina, Laura Carrascosa and Matt Trau, write that isolating cancerous DNA and seeing its affinity to gold can detect any cancer in less than ten minutes.
Once the most threatened bird in the world, the pink pigeon of Mauritius finally has something to chirp about. From only ten individuals in 1990, a recent survey found that there are 400 today. While conservationists celebrate, Mike Jeffries wonders if we should look again at the familiar feral pigeon – a biological marvel with its own charming history.
The universe is famously almost entirely made up of invisible, mysterious substances dubbed dark matter and dark energy. But we don’t really know what they are. Now new research suggests they may both be part of the same strange concept – a “dark fluid” of negative masses. Jamie Farnes explains how his model has the potential to solve some big mysteries in physics.
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Gemma Ware
Society Editor
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Top stories
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Parliament’s Brexit clock is ticking.
bryan.../flickr
Christopher Kirkland, York St John University
Ministers were found in contempt of parliament on December 4 for not publishing the full legal advice on the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
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All cancers have a similar DNA pattern that differs from that of non-cancer cells.
from shutterstock.com
Abu Sina, The University of Queensland; Laura G. Carrascosa, The University of Queensland; Matt Trau, The University of Queensland
Our research has found that cancer DNA forms a unique structure when placed in water. We used this finding to develop a test that can detect cancerous DNA in less than ten minutes.
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A pink pigeon in the wild of Mauritius.
Arcalexx/Flickr
Mike Jeffries, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Pink pigeons may make more charismatic subjects for our adoration, but their feral relatives who keep us company in towns and cities are just as deserving.
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Science + Technology
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Fiona McNeill, Heriot-Watt University
With demand outstripping supply for STEM professionals, Scotland will suffer if more young women are not engaged with these subjects.
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Alexeis Garcia-Perez, Coventry University; Anitha Chinnaswamy, Coventry University
We found hundreds of local council workers willing to give out login details for government systems without realising.
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Mark Griffiths, Nottingham Trent University
Problem gambling among children has gone up, and it's got everything to do with gambling-like features in video games.
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Neil Dagnall, Manchester Metropolitan University; Ken Drinkwater, Manchester Metropolitan University
The scientific explanations might not be definitive, but your brain is largely responsible.
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Stacy Rosenbaum, University of California, Los Angeles
Male gorillas who spend more time with infants are expected to sire about 5 times more babies.
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Politics + Society
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Jonas von Hoffmann, University of Oxford; Raúl Bejarano Romero, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Mexico's new president is backing an initiative to regulate cannabis from seed to smoke. Here's how legalisation would work, and why it's a good proposal.
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Pippa Catterall, University of Westminster
It might seem counterintuitive, but what if giving MPs more freedom could stop the rebellion?
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Bobby Duffy, King's College London
A video aimed at presenting the facts about Brexit repeats some of the same mistakes Remain supporters made before the 2016 referendum.
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Education
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Pam Hanley, University of Huddersfield; Kevin Orr, University of Huddersfield
The government's ambitious plans for T-levels might struggle to get off the ground given that further education colleges are already short of 20,000 staff.
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Environment + Energy
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Hakim Abdi, Lund University; Daniel Metcalfe, Lund University
Much of our scientific knowledge comes from just two regions in Alaska and Sweden.
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Featured events
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Richmond Building, Portland Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3DE, United Kingdom — University of Portsmouth
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Humanities Bridgeford Street, The University of Manchester, Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom — University of Manchester
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Picture Gallery, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom — Royal Holloway
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Lower ground floor, Emily Wilding Davison Building, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom — Royal Holloway
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