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People with cancer rarely get Alzheimer’s, and people with Alzheimer’s rarely get cancer. Now scientists think they might know why: certain tumours appear to send a protective signal to the brain that helps clear away the toxic clumps linked to dementia.
In experiments with mice, tumours released a protein that travelled to the brain and switched on its clean-up cells, making them much better at removing the sticky deposits that cause Alzheimer’s. Cancer expert Justin Stebbing explains how this new discovery could point towards treatments that copy this effect.
In 1607, a catastrophic flood swept along the Bristol Channel, drowning villages and claiming hundreds of lives – but was it a storm surge or something more unusual? And finally, our Curious Kids series answers the question: when did fire first appear on Earth?
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Clint Witchalls
Senior Health Editor
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Dragon Images/Shutterstock.com
Justin Stebbing, Anglia Ruskin University
A new mouse study suggests some cancers release signals that help the brain clear Alzheimer’s-linked proteins, offering clues to a long-standing medical mystery.
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A woodcut from the title page of ‘Lamentable newes out of Monmouthshire’ in Wales, an English-language news book of 1607.
The Granger Collection/Alamy
Simon Haslett, Bath Spa University; Swansea University
Four centuries on, scientists are still debating whether the catastrophic flood of 1607 was driven by a storm surge or a tsunami.
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Anna.zabella/Shutterstock
Andrew Scott, Royal Holloway, University of London
Wildfire has been an important part of the Earth system for more than 400 million years.
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World
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Sanam Mahoozi, City St George's, University of London
Reporting on Iran’s anti-government protests comes with extraordinary risks and obstacles.
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Rikke Lie Halberg, Lund University
Donald Trump’s claim rests on a selective reading of wartime history.
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Bamo Nouri, City St George's, University of London
Despite the bellicose rhetoric, Washington must realise the folly of another protracted conflict in the Middle East.
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Arts + Culture
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Stephan Blum, University of Tübingen
The real heartbeat of Troy is a story that history has long forgotten.
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Business + Economy
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Alisha Ali, Sheffield Hallam University; Lisa Wyld, Buckinghamshire New University; Maria Gebbels, University of Greenwich
Far from being ‘soft’ skills, knowing what people need and when is a strategic necessity for businesses.
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Ashleigh Logan-McFarlane, Edinburgh Napier University
The social media frenzy turned into a publicity coup for the Beckhams.
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Environment
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Teresa Silverthorn, University of Liverpool; Jonathan Ritson, University of Manchester; Mike Peacock, University of Liverpool
Ditches and canals can be climate heroes.
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Mark Williams, University of Leicester; Jan Zalasiewicz, University of Leicester
Just one of the many ways the Anthropocene is reshaping life on Earth.
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Health
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Eef Hogervorst, Loughborough University
A study of 590,000 people finds modest changes to sleep, exercise and diet are linked to better ageing.
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Judith Roberts, Aberystwyth University
Mindfulness is usually taught through stillness and silence. But for some, full presence is easier to achieve in movement, and even in risk.
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Podcasts
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Gemma Ware, The Conversation
Amin Naeni, an expert on digital authoritarianism, tracks how Iran built the capability to shutdown the internet. Listen on The Conversation Weekly podcast.
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