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Michael Le Page

@mjflepage.bsky.social

Award-winning reporter at New Scientist who clings to the belief that good journalism mattters. I write about life on Earth, inc climate ☀️, food 🍱, CRISPR 🧬 and biomed 💊 My bio & stories: https://www.newscientist.com/author/michael-le-page

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Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · 8h ago

This really surprised me: a major source of certain pesticides in rivers is hand-washing by pet 🦮🐈 owners 🧪 “We detected [pesticides] in the wash-off even before we asked people to stroke their pets, so they’re just constantly on the hands of pet owners” www.newscientist.com/article/2583...

Should you stop using preventive flea treatments on your pets? | New Scientist

It has been assumed for decades that tick and flea treatments for pets pose no threat to wildlife or people, but there’s growing evidence that we have got it wrong

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · yesterday

A study of the 2023 Canadian wildfires 🔥 has concluded that drifting smoke caused a 3 per cent drop in solar power generation in Europe and North America, costing nearly $2 billion and increasing CO2 emissions 🧪 It's happening again this year, of course www.newscientist.com/article/2582...

Canadian wildfires are reducing solar power generation in Europe | New Scientist

Lost solar power due to smoke blocking the sun cost Europe and North America nearly $2 billion in 2023 alone

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · 2d ago

Parasols and beach umbrellas 🏖️ are pretty useless at keeping you cool. Effectively it's only a degree cooler underneath them, modelling suggests 🧪 (the study didn't look at trees but their shade should be much cooler) www.newscientist.com/article/2582...

Why sitting under a parasol is barely cooler than being in the sun | New Scientist

A beach umbrella might protect you from sunburn, but when it comes to keeping you cool, it makes surprisingly little difference

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · last wk.

"To put it in sporting terms, existing drugs tackle their opponents one-on-one, and sometimes that opponent evades them. Protacs are like a referee who red-cards an entire team, taking them off the field altogether" My latest column 🧪 www.newscientist.com/article/2581...

A new kind of drug will help fight previously untreatable conditions | New Scientist

The first of a new generation of drugs that works in a completely different way to existing ones has been approved. Columnist Michael Le Page says this approach could transform treatments for all kind...

newscientist.com

Ed Newton-Rex@ednewtonrex.bsky.social · last wk.

I've confirmed that the UK's new Sovereign AI Fund does no due diligence on whether AI companies use copyrighted work without permission before investing in them. It took me 3 Freedom of Information requests to find this out: 🧵 1/10

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Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · 3w ago

The Epstein-Barr virus not only triggers multiple sclerosis, it might continue drive the disease process via low-level replication, a study of immune responses suggests 🧪 If so, antivirals - which don't yet exist for EBV - would be the best treatment for MS www.newscientist.com/article/2579...

Best treatment for multiple sclerosis may be antivirals | New Scientist

Low levels of replicating Epstein-Barr viruses might be the main driver of the autoimmune condition multiple sclerosis. This may mean that targeting them would be as effective as suppressing the immun...

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · 4w ago

These announced numbers from Germany seems very much in line with the estimate of @ccallahan45.bsky.social of 4543 heatwave deaths in that country in the June heatwave, and 20,000 across Europe as a whole. Your thoughts, Chris? www.newscientist.com/article/2532...

June heatwave may have killed around 20,000 people in Europe

It will be some months before the true toll of Europe's worst-ever heatwave is confirmed, but researchers can estimate a death count based on how many people died in Europe during previous hot periods

newscientist.com

Go Green @ecowarriorss.bsky.social · 4w ago

Germany: June heat wave linked to 5,000 excess deaths We are not waiting for a climate Emergency Its already here now www.dw.com/en/germany-j...

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · last mo.

If you eat enough fibre, the fatty acids produced by bacteria in your gut trigger the release of hunger-suppressing hormones such as GLP-1 🧪 But it's really hard to eat this much, so an existing fibre has been 'supercharged' so lower amounts trigger this effect www.newscientist.com/article/2532...

A type of fibre that stimulates GLP-1 release approved for use in food

A form of fibre that boosts the release of the hunger-reducing hormone GLP-1 has been approved as safe by a European regulator, and could be added to foods within a year

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · last mo.

Europe's most extreme heatwave so far - there will be worse - has been estimated by @ccallahan45.bsky.social to have killed 20,000 🧪 This estimate is based on past studies of the relation between heat and deaths in Europe #climate www.newscientist.com/article/2532...

June heatwave may have killed around 20,000 people in Europe

It will be some months before the true toll of Europe's worst-ever heatwave is confirmed, but researchers can estimate a death count based on how many people died in Europe during previous hot periods

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · last mo.

Past attempts to create minimal cells have involved deleting genes from existing bacteria. The 'SpudCell' 🥔 has instead been created by starting with just 36 selected genes 🧪 It's not quite living - yet - but it is a really impressive achievement www.newscientist.com/article/2532...

What is 'SpudCell'? Arguably the greatest bioengineering feat yet

A prototype cell partly capable of replicating itself has been created using 36 existing bacterial genes, but it's not really a living organism – yet

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · last mo.

In 2022 I wrote about how Alyssa Tapley's life was saved by a form of CRISPR called base editing 🧪 Earlier this year I spoke to her, and here's the story from her perspective: www.newscientist.com/article/2532...

I’m the first person whose life was saved by CRISPR base editing

When standard leukaemia treatments failed, 13-year-old Alyssa Tapley was told she had only weeks left – but then she was offered an experimental procedure

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · last mo.

I'm all for using 'extinction drives' 🧬 to wipe the mosquito species that carry malaria but sadly that is unlikely to happen soon because of the anti-GM crowd 🧪 £ Instead, the flesh-eating screwworm is the likely first target of a gene drive. My latest column: www.newscientist.com/article/2531...

Screwworm could be the first species targeted by an 'extinction drive'

We have developed genetic technologies that could wipe out entire species of pests that are harmful to us. Columnist Michael Le Page says the flesh-eating screwworm is the most likely first target

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · last mo.

The @niakanlab.bsky.social has used CRISPR base editing 🧬 to reveal the crucial role that a gene called NANOG - named the Celtic world of the ever young, Tír na nÓg - plays in developing human embryos 🧪 www.newscientist.com/article/2531...

We’ve uncovered a master gene that switches on human development

We have identified the gene that, when activated, initiates the developmental programme that results in cells forming a human body

newscientist.com

Matthew Sparkes@sparkes.bsky.social · last mo.

A confronting slab of doom here from @mjflepage.bsky.social on the UK's current heatwave. This is the first extreme weather event I've experienced in the UK that's actually made me wonder how I'll cope in future. www.newscientist.com/article/2531...

If you aren't terrified by this heatwave, you should be

The extreme heat currently being felt in Europe isn’t the new normal – much worse is to come, and we are doing far too little to adapt, says Michael Le Page

newscientist.com