Nicola Davis Science Correspondent

Small genetic changes in enzyme that prevents bad breath in humans lead to sulphurous scent in some asarum

With a smell of rotting flesh the flowers of certain species of wild ginger are unlikely to be used in a wedding bouquet – although they are irresistible to carrion-loving flies. Now researchers say they have worked out how the sulphurous scent is produced.

Scientists say the odour is down to small changes in an enzyme that prevents bad breath in humans.

Superb starlings seen to build reciprocal relations in which they return favours when a ‘helper’ has offspring of its own

Birds of a feather flock together, so the saying goes. But scientists studying the behaviour of starlings have found their ability to give and take makes their relationships closer to human friendships than previously thought.

About 10% of bird species and 5% of mammal species breed “cooperatively”, meaning some individuals refrain from breeding to help others care for their offspring. Some species even help those they are unrelated to.

Crowning achievement of Alan Turing’s codebreakers is now ‘straightforward’, according to computer scientists

The Enigma code was a fiendish cipher that took Alan Turing and his fellow codebreakers a herculean effort to crack. Yet experts say it would have crumbled in the face of modern computing.

While Polish experts broke early versions of the Enigma code in the 1930s and built anti-Enigma machines, subsequent security upgrades by the Germans meant Turing had to develop new machines, or “Bombes”, to help his team of codebreakers decipher enemy messages. By 1943, the machines could decipher two messages every minute.

Small experiment monitored transfer of gluten after couples had kissed with tongues for at least one minute

People with coeliac disease can kiss gluten-eaters without concerns for their health, researchers have said after finding only trivial amounts of the protein are transferred during a french kiss.

About 1% of people around the world are thought to have coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition triggered by gluten, although many do not have a clinical diagnosis.

Method of preserving 18th-century Austrian vicar has never been seen before, say researchers

The mystery of a mummy from an Austrian village has been solved, according to researchers who say it was embalmed in an unexpected way – via the rectum.

Intrigue had long swirled around the mummified body stored in the church crypt of St Thomas am Blasenstein. The remains were rumoured to be the naturally preserved corpse of an aristocratic vicar, Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, who died in 1746 at the aged of 37, gaining the mummy the moniker of the “air-dried chaplain”.

Scientific recipe for cacio e pepe avoids a lumpy sauce but uses powdered starch instead of reserved pasta water

It may be only pasta, pecorino and black pepper, but cacio e pepe is not nearly as easy to make as some would imagine.

Now, researchers have come up with a scientific recipe that avoids a lumpy sauce every single time – but it all gets a lot more complicated.

Continue reading...

Oral medications are in development to provide alternative to injectables such as Wegovy that must be kept in fridge

Newly developed weight loss pills could have a big impact on tackling obesity and diabetes in low- and middle-income countries, experts have said.

Weight loss jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, that contain the drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide respectively, have become popular in countries including the UK after trials showed they can help people lose more than 10% of their body weight. Medications containing semaglutide and tirzepatide can also be used to help control diabetes.

Product known as Adam implanted in sperm ducts could offer a reversible alternative to condoms and vasectomies

An implantable, non-hormonal male contraceptive has been shown in trials to last for at least two years.

The contraceptive, known as Adam, is a water-soluble hydrogel that is implanted in the sperm ducts, preventing sperm from mixing with semen.

Continue reading...