Scientists teach mice to smell an odour that doesn’t exist

Scientists have taught mice to smell an odour that doesn’t exist in order in a study to show how the brain identifies different scents. In experiments on mice, US neuroscientists generated an electrical signature that was perceived as an odour in the brain’s smell-processing centre, the olfactory bulb. Because the odour-simulating signal was handmade, researchers … Read more

UK quarantine form dropdown includes countries that don’t exist

A mix-up on the government’s new online quarantine form has given the option for travellers entering the UK to declare themselves as being from countries which no longer exist.  Those filling out the Home Office’s website where able to claim they were from places such as Czechoslovakia and the USSR – both of which have … Read more

TONY HETHERINGTON: Mr Chief Accountant doesn’t exist

Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.  P.O. writes: I work in my own little business, and in 2012 I switched my two telephone lines … Read more

‘Marsquakes’ lead scientists to recreate conditions thought to exist in the Martian core

‘Marsquakes’ measured by NASA’s InSight rover and an experiment to recreate the conditions thought to exist in the Martian core could reveal how the planet formed.  Researchers from the University of Tokyo have been studying the seismic properties of iron-sulphur – thought to be the substance at the core of Mars. It’s not known exactly … Read more