Science

TikTok is awash with videos falsely claiming “detox” drinks, fad diets and parasite cleanses can cure liver disease.  Four in 10 posts about liver disease on TikTok contain misinformation, according to a study presented at Digestive Disease Week in Chicago on Tuesday. The most common inaccurate posts boasted claims about herbal products reversing liver disease.

The shape of modern human noses may be partly determined by genetic material inherited from Neanderthals, according to a new study. Neanderthals were an ancient species who lived in Eurasia until their extinction about 40,000 years ago. But scientists believe they interbred with homo sapiens – meaning some of their DNA remains in modern-day humans.

From “cozzie livs” (cost of living, for the uninitiated) to “platty joobs”, Britain loves an abbreviation. Coronation is a pretty hard one to abbreviate though, but the internet is trying its hardest. One TikToker has given his top three in a video that now has over one million views. Gathering inspiration from the late Queen’s

A review of the artificial intelligence (AI) market has been launched by the UK competition watchdog. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) chief executive Sarah Cardell told the Financial Times its “fact-finding” mission would inform on the “real opportunities” but also the protections that could be needed. The probe would include the models behind popular chatbots

A second drug has shown the ability to slow the progression of the leading form of dementia. Results of a study, released in a preliminary form by drug maker Eli Lilly, show their drug donanemab reduced the rate of cognitive decline of Alzheimer’s patients in a trial by between 27 and 35%. Those on the

Air travel could be disrupted during the summer holiday peak, according to airlines, after the US refused to budge on a deadline for adding new sensors to planes. The sensors are to ensure 5G wireless technology does not interfere with aeroplane altimeters, which are instruments used for measuring altitude – particularly crucial for bad-weather landings.

Apple and Google have teamed up to thwart people who try to track others using devices designed to help find lost keys and luggage. The rival tech giants do not often collaborate on new features for their smartphones, with a joint initiative to create contact tracing software during the pandemic one of few past examples.

World Health Organization officials have said COVID is no longer a global health emergency. “It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat.” In May last year, WHO experts said the end

Fifty-five people have been arrested in the UK as part of an international crackdown on illegal drugs and goods trading on the dark web. Almost 300 suspects have been detained in total, across countries including the US (153), Germany (52), the Netherlands (10), Austria (nine), France (five), Switzerland (two), Poland and Brazil (one each). They

“Exciting” new research could shed light on what happens when we die, according to scientists. The new study may help explain accounts from individuals who have had near-death experiences. Researchers from the University of Michigan looked at four patients who had died from cardiac arrest in hospital while they were being monitored using EEG recordings

Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced tech billionaire convicted of fraud, has avoided starting her 11-year jail term on Thursday after a judge backed her appeal to delay it. Holmes, 39, who founded Theranos, was sentenced to 11 years and three months after being found guilty of three counts of investor fraud and one count of conspiracy

An attempt to land the first privately-funded spacecraft on the moon appears to have failed. Japan’s ispace Inc hoped its Hakuto-R lander would touch down in the moon’s Atlas crater after a 100-day journey. But after completing its final orbit of the moon, and decelerating from 6000 kilometres per hour to a walking pace a

An investigation is under way after a research rocket fired from Sweden malfunctioned and ended up landing in Norway. The Norwegian foreign ministry has said its authorities take “any unauthorised activity” on its side of the border “very seriously”, according to reports. The rocket, which looked into weightlessness, had reached orbit at a height of

The bright Northern Lights illuminated the sky across certain parts of the UK last night. The lights glazed the sky on Sunday 23 April and were seen across Wales and England. Lancaster University’s AuroraWatch, run by the Space and Planetary Physics group, issued a ‘red alert’, meaning that seeing aurora was very “likely”. Here’s what

WhatsApp will now let people hang on to temporary messages – but it will alert the sender and give them the power to make a decision on the fate of the message. The disappearing messages function means messages automatically delete after 24 hours, seven days, or 90 days. But a new function called “keep in

Wearing the correct sports bra may increase running performance by up to 7%, according to a new study.  More support during running is linked to increased knee joint stiffness. This stiffness, which alters the lower body movement, has previously been linked to improved running performance. In a study of 12 recreational runners, who self-reported they