Now you can buy gorgeous furniture made of mushrooms

First, designers debuted leather made from mushrooms. Now you can sit on furniture made from fungi, too. At first glance, the sturdy white stools and beautiful accent tables look like any other piece of furniture, perhaps crafted from wood or marble. But they are far from ordinary. They are made entirely from ingredients much simpler and squishier than you’d think: the mycelium “roots” of mushrooms, agriculture waste, and microorganisms.

The chic new furniture line – a collaboration between Ecovative and bioMASON, two companies __that specialize in making sustainable alternatives for consumer goods using a process called biofabrication – was unveiled recently at Biofabricate 2016. “What we do __that is unique is that we use biological organisms to literally grow our product,” says Eben Bayer, CEO of Ecovative. “In most cases, like when you brew beer, the organism you use is thrown away at the end. But the organism is the most beautiful part. And it is part of our furniture.”

The microscopic, thread-like tissue that makes up a mushroom—known as mycelium—is used to make the base of the stools and the table legs. Because mycelium naturally latches onto different substances to help mushrooms grow and form colonies, it can be coaxed into shape around a scaffolding of woodchips or hemp fibers, binding all of these components together as it grows.

Bayer says he discovered the power of mycelium as a college student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute a decade ago, when he grew fungi in his bedroom for a class project. He realized the mycelium could be used to make a soft, foam-like material not unlike the plastic foam used for packaging computers and electronics. But unlike plastic foam, the mycelium-based material would be readily biodegradable. Now Ecovative has successfully scaled that process up as a business, partnering with companies like Dell that use its special mycelium foam.

But Bayer realized that there was more to be done with mycelium. With its pliability, it could be manipulated into many different textures and shapes. “By changing the environmental conditions we grow it in, we can get lots of different tissue properties and structural properties,” he says. Tweak the temperature or carbon dioxide levels, for example, and the mycelium can form tougher materials. Use a stronger scaffolding, like wood chips and stalks instead of flexible hemp fibers, and the mycelium can incorporate that durability as it grows. Once the mycelium runs out of these nutritional building blocks, it dies and hardens. With a bit of heat and pressure, it can then be compressed into something resembling a particle board – tough enough to support a human’s weight.

The marble-esque tabletop material is similarly customizable. It’s made using a process developed by Ginger Krieg Dosier, CEO of bioMASON. It relies on bacteria that form calcium carbonate around grains of sand, which is how sea shells and coral reefs are formed.

“It’s really learning from nature,” says Dosier. “We can explore different shapes and different applications for this technology just by changing the size of the sand, the temperature or pH levels, and by adding colors to the mix.”

Depending on what ingredients are used and the conditions they're grown in, the resulting product can take the form of bricks, façade tiles, or table tops, she says. Her company has already used this special “biocement” to pave a pair of courtyards in San Francisco, and she's working with architects and builders who could theoretically make bioMASON bricks themselves on site.

Dosier sees living organisms as the factories of the future, replacing energy-intensive manufacturing with more sustainable models. “This is a better, cleaner way to make materials. Why use fire to harden bricks, which creates a lot of carbon pollution, when we can grow them at ambient temperatures?” she says.

Dosier says the furniture collaboration is just one example of efforts by researchers worldwide to grow fungi, bacteria, and proteins into sustainable, toxin-free, commercially available goods. A few biomaterials companies have shown that they can make leather made from mushrooms and spider silk-like cloth from lab-grown proteins, but most have had problems scaling up their biofabricated products. The Japanese company Spiber, for example, unveiled a prototype of a North Face-branded “Moon Parka” made with synthetic spider silk fibers last year. But plans to sell the parka were delayed because of problems with production. Limited numbers of the jackets are now on sale for $1,000 in Japan, and will soon be available for the same price in flagship stores in the U.S.

“We have shifted the conversation from ‘what if” to ‘where can I buy?’ biofabricated products for the home and office,” says Bayer. The key is to work with traditional factories, modifying biological processes to fit their existing infrastructure and manufacturing processes, he says. “We know that to make an impact we have to reach industrial scale. You can only do that if you fit into today's economic system.” That’s why Ecovative is working with outside mills to help ramp up production, says Bayer.

The biofabrication process must also compete with current offerings in terms of cost and speed. Together, Ecovative and bioMASON have honed their processes for growing myco-board and biocement tabletops down to less than a week. Traditional bricks, tiles and furniture take about three to five days. Cost reduction is next. “Biological organisms are inherently cheaper than synthetic products. The main cost for us right now is in the manufacturing, and by modifying that and partnering with local factories, we can bring that down too,” says Dosier.

For now, both Dosier and Bayer are excited for people to have the opportunity to bring some microbial manufacturing into their homes. The mycoboard panels produced by Ecovative have even been named one of This Old House’s “Top 100 Best New Home Products of the Year.” Their cute little Stack Stool is available online for $249, and the limited edition King’s Table can be had for $699. And if you want some of their sound-dampening tiles for the home studio you’re upgrading, they’ll only set you back $22.

“When you can touch and hold something like this for yourself, that’s when you realize that bacteria can really do this and make this,” says Dosier. “Once customers experience biofabricated products themselves, then they’ll drive us to find out is what else microorganisms can do.”

Saturn mission approaches tour finale

The end phases of the mission should yield new information about Saturn Image copyright Cassini Imaging Team/SSI/JPL/ESA/NASA
Image caption The end phases of the mission should yield new information about Saturn's interior

The Cassini spacecraft is beginning the end phases of its mission to Saturn.

Having spent 12 years flying around the ringed planet and its moons at a relatively safe distance, the probe is now about to undertake a series of daredevil manoeuvres.

These will see the satellite repeatedly dive extremely close to - and through - the rings over the next nine months.

The manoeuvres will culminate in Cassini dumping itself in the atmosphere of the giant planet.

This destructive ending is necessary because the spacecraft is running low on fuel.

Nasa (US space agency), which leads the Cassini mission, needs to make sure __that an out-of-control probe cannot at some future date crash into any of Saturn’s moons - in particular, Enceladus and Titan.

There is a chance these moons harbour life, and however remote the possibility - a colliding satellite could introduce contamination from Earth. This must not be allowed to happen.

But in the lead up to its safe disposal - set for 15 September next year - Cassini should gather some remarkable science.

Starting on Wednesday, Cassini will repeatedly climb high above Saturn's north pole before then plunging to a point just outside the F ring (the outer boundary of the main ring system).

The probe will do 20 such orbits, even sampling some of the particles and gasses associated with the F ring.

Image copyright NASA
Image caption Artwork: Cassini plunging between the rings and the planet's cloudtops

Starting on 22 April next year, Cassini will then initiate a series of dives __that take it in between the inner edge of the rings and the planet’s atmosphere.

On occasion, it could pass less than 2,000km above Saturn’s cloud tops.

As well as returning some spectacular imagery of the rings and moonlets previously seen only from a large distance, these upcoming manoeuvres are designed to permit close-up investigation of Saturn’s interior.

“One of the big outstanding questions at Saturn, for example, is: we don’t know how long a day is. We have a large error. It’s 10.7 hours plus or minus 0.2 hours,” said magnetic field instrument principal investigator, Prof Michele Dougherty.

“Come and ask me afterwards but I think what we learn about the internal structure of the planet could be among the great discoveries of mission,” the Imperial College London, UK, scientist told BBC News.

Interestingly, many of the unknowns at Saturn are similar to the ones also now being pursued by Nasa’s Juno spacecraft at Jupiter - fascinating mysteries such as whether there is a solid core at the planet's centre.

“It’s as if we’re about to do a whole new mission at Saturn - a Juno-type mission at Saturn,” said Prof Dougherty.

Cassini is a cooperative venture between Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Italian space agency.

The probe launched in 1997 and arrived at Saturn in July 2004.

Key discoveries have included the determination that Enceladus is spewing water into space from a sub-surface ocean, and that Titan is a strange Earth-like world where lakes and seas are fed by rivers and rain - except that all the liquid is made up of hydrocarbons such as methane.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

How flushing your toilet could help create biofuel

Picture a giant toilet bowl looming larger than life outside the UN headquarters in New York. It sounds like an absurd scene, but the stunt from three years ago was not a childish prank. It was a serious statement to mark the first World Toilet Day and raise awareness of the fact __that one third of the world’s population lacks access to toilets.

Addressing the global sanitation crisis is a top priority among the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and it now has an exciting solution.

In fact, science may soon make your toilet bowl a viable alternative energy source. Your flushes can produce two or three gallons of biofuel per year when the wastewater is treated using a process, developed scientists and engineers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, called hydro-thermal liquefaction (HTL).

HTL emulates the way crude oil forms naturally, when biomass decays under high pressure and heat for millions of years — but it only takes 45 minutes.

Research engineer Justin Billing says the technology works with any wet organic waste materials, such as sewage, algae, feedstock, or animal manure. These were once considered poor sources for biofuel because older processes required drying them out, but this does not. All it takes is pressure and heat — you must bake the material at 660 degrees Fahrenheit.

James Oyler, the President of Genifuel Corporation acquired the license for the technology and plans to put it to good use. He focuses on wet waste materials because there’s a lot of it and it costs money to dispose of it.

“We can avoid the disposal costs, completely eliminate the waste and turn it into fuel,” Oyler explained.

The process creates two main products:

One product is a biocrude, a substance similar to oil __that comes out of the ground. Biocrude can be refined using conventional processes to make gasoline and jet fuels. The other product is a form of natural gas. HTL also creates a small quantity of nutrient-rich solids as a byproduct, which can be used in fertilizer production.

“What sets HTL apart is the simplicity,” Billing said. “It was always the ideal solution because it produces quality crude with high stability.”

HTL is more far more efficient than ethanol. HTL yields three to four times the energy required to produce it, while ethanol barely breaks even. Unlike ethanol, which must be mixed with conventional gas before it enters your tank, HTL biofuel works in its purest form. Vehicles can run on 100 percent HTL.

HTL is far more eco-friendly than gasoline. With HTL, human waste, which would otherwise decompose, is used to power cars and trucks. With gasoline, oil is dredged up from the Earth and dumped into the sky, increasing the total volume of carbon pollution in the atmosphere. In the aggregate, HTL generates up to 75 percent less carbon pollution than gasoline.

HTL has three main benefits, Oyler said:

  1. It makes renewable fuel.

  2. It solves the critical problem of treating wastewater.

  3. It creates clean water at the end, without filtering out the solids.

This US population produces an estimated 34 billion gallons of wastewater per year, according to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Local governments bear the brunt of the costs. Orange County, CA alone spent $17 million last year and there are about 15,000 wastewater treatment plants around the country. Oyler explained that this process could have a “transformational effect.”

“It’s because they have to be, they can’t have equipment breaking down,” he said. “They have to know that this is going to work.”

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and the Water Environment and Reuse Foundation put the technology to the test and they liked what they saw.

As a result, Metro Vancouver is currently constructing a demonstration facility and the California Energy Commission, is working on a plant to process dairy industry waste.

Implementing HTL at all of U.S. wastewater treatment plants would produce 30–45 million barrels of bio-oil per year, which sell for $3–5 each. Human couldn’t fuel every car and truck in the country. The U.S. currently uses 18 million barrels of oil per day.

Oyler explained that this technology isn’t a silver bullet that will replace fossil fuels on its own, but a piece of a larger puzzle, which will include other forms of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.

“A lot of things are making worthwhile contributions and this is definitely worthwhile,” Oyler said.

The process is exceptionally versatile and scalable. Billing said researchers are currently working to replicate the process in a much larger facility. The same reactors can be used for different organic materials, from municipal sludge — which also includes toilet paper and other components — to waste material from wine and beer production. Oyler also hopes to apply the process to dispose of trees killed by beetles and wildfires in the western half of the country.

Dealing with the sewage also preserves valuable drinking water. As the planet warms, droughts are getting longer, hotter and more frequent. Rivers and streams are drying up.

In many parts of the developing world, water is scarce and toilets are few, and people succumb to diseases like dysentery, typhoid and cholera. Even in America, where most homes have at least one toilet, wastewater is still a problem that we can’t just flush away.

Laura A. Shepard writes for Nexus Media, a syndicated newswire covering climate, energy, policy, art and culture. You can follow her at @LAShepard221.

Scientists can now control mice with radio waves and light

The mouse didn’t plan to run in circles. It was just moseying about in its mousey little way when, with a flight of a switch, a light went off in its brain. In __that moment, running in circles became the mouse’s sole purpose for being. This was a literal light, surgically installed inside the mouse’s skull. Powered wirelessly by radio waves, the light triggered photosensitive neurons and changed how the little mouse moved.

This research comes to us from IEEE Spectrum, in the story A New Kind Of Wireless Mouse. Ada Poon, an associate professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University, wrote up the results of the study, and the new, minimally obtrusive way to direct the small lab mammals. Previous experiments have controlled mice wirelessly, but the implements they used meant large batteries attached to the mice. The cumbersome power supply, while enabling wireless control, meant the mice were limited in the task they could perform.

Before Poon’s team could make the mouse walk in circles, they first had to make sure the neurons in the mouse responded to light. Writes Poon:

The trick comes from a unicellular green algae __that can swim toward a light source, thanks to a special type of protein on its cellular membrane. The protein responds to light by opening an ion channel in the membrane, thus changing the electrical potential within the algae cell and triggering the movement of two whiplike flagella. Around 2005, several research groups realized they could take the gene that codes for this protein and insert it into the DNA of a neuron.

With that in place, the neuron responds to light as though it had just fired normally, sending a signal to the mouse and, in this case, making it walk in circles. A radio frequency generator, calibrated to the resonance of the mouse itself, was installed under the experimental cage. Every time the mouse stepped in the cage, the signal would travel through the mouse and activate the light, sending the mouse circling around the cage again.

Read more about the device, and check out a video of it below:

Mars probe returns first pictures

A CaSSIS image of a 1.4km sized crater (left centre) on the rim of a much larger crater near the Mars equator Image copyright ESA/Roscosmos/ExoMars/CaSSIS/UniBE

Europe's and Russia's new satellite at Mars has sent back its first images of the planet.

The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) arrived on 19 October, putting itself in a highly elliptical parking orbit.

This must be circularised over the coming year before the mission can begin full science operations.

But scientists have taken the opportunity of some close passes to the planet in recent days to check out the TGO's instrumentation.

Image copyright ESA/Roscosmos/ExoMars/CaSSIS/UniBE
Image caption A structure called Arsia Chasmata on the flanks of one of the large volcanoes, Arsia Mons. The width of the image is around 25 km

There is delight at the quality of the pictures returned from camera system, CaSSIS (the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System).

TGO passed over a region called Hebes Chasma at its closest approach, just 250km from the Martian terrain.

"We saw Hebes Chasma at 2.8 metres per pixel," said Nicolas Thomas, the camera's principal investigator from the University of Bern, Switzerland.

"That's a bit like flying over Bern at 15,000km/h and simultaneously getting sharp pictures of cars in Zurich."

TGO sensors NOMAD and ACS also came through their early tests successfully.

These are the sensors __that will make a detailed inventory of Mars' atmospheric gases.

In particular, they will go after the components __that constitute less than 1% of the planet's air - chemical species such as methane, water vapour, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide.

Methane is the main focus. From previous measurements, its concentration is seen to be low and sporadic in nature. But the mere fact that it is detected at all is really fascinating.

The simple organic molecule should be destroyed easily in the harsh Martian environment, so its persistence - and the occasional spikes in its signal - indicate a replenishing source of the gas.

The speculation is that it could be coming from microbial life somewhere on the planet.

It will be CaSSIS's job to look for possible geological forms on the surface that might tie into methane sources. A fourth instrument, FREND (successfully tested in recent days, too), will sense hydrogen in the near-surface. This data can be used as a proxy for the presence of water or hydrated minerals.

This again is information that could yield answers to the methane question.

TGO was the unspoken success on the day Esa's Schiaparelli lander crashed into Mars.

The surface probe had been dropped off at the Red Planet by TGO and was making its ill-fated descent just as the satellite took up its parking orbit.

The successful insertion almost went unnoticed in the fuss over Schiaparelli.

TGO is the first phase in a joint venture at Mars that Europe is undertaking with Russia.

The second step in this project known as ExoMars is to put a robot rover on the planet in 2021.

It needs a large injection of cash on the European side to go forward, however - just over €400m.

Research ministers from Esa member states are meeting this week in Lucerne, Switzerland, to try to resolve this budget problem.

Seeing TGO perform so well should at the very least give the politicians a warm feeling as they push through their difficult discussions.

Image copyright Emanuele Simioni
Image caption The first CaSSIS stereo reconstruction of a small area in Noctis Labyrinthus. The image gives an altitude map of the region with a resolution of less than 20 metres

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

Astronaut eye problems blamed on spinal fluid

Astronauts Image copyright NASA
Image caption Astronauts Luca Parmitano and Michael Hopkins research vision changes on the International Space Station

Scientists might have found the root cause of vision problems __that affect some astronauts.

Some spacefarers who stay in orbit for long periods develop blurry vision along with a suite of physical changes.

Now, a team of researchers says __that the syndrome might be related to changes in the clear fluid which surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

The results from a small sample have been presented at a scientific meeting in Chicago, US.

Over the last decade, flight surgeons and scientists at Nasa have seen a pattern of vision problems in astronauts on long-duration space missions.

The syndrome, known as visual impairment intracranial pressure (VIIP), has been reported in nearly two-thirds of space explorers after long periods spent aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

"People initially didn't know what to make of it, and by 2010 there was growing concern as it became apparent that some of the astronauts had severe structural changes that were not fully reversible upon return to Earth," said lead author Noam Alperin, from the University of Miami.

Confused by space

In addition to blurry vision, the astronauts exhibited flattening at the back of their eyeballs and inflammation at the head of the optic nerve.

One idea is that the changes have been largely due to shifts in fluid occupying the body's vascular spaces. This moves towards the upper body when astronauts spend time in space.

But Prof Alperin has been looking at another potential source of the problems - the cerebrospinal fluid. This helps cushion the brain and spinal cord, and can accommodate the changes when a person moves from a lying to a standing position.

"In space the system is confused by the lack of the posture-related pressure changes," Prof Alperin explained.

The team performed high-resolution MRI scans before and shortly after spaceflights for seven long-duration astronauts.

They compared the results with nine astronauts who flew into orbit for short stints on the space shuttle.

'Irreversible' damage

The results showed that long-duration astronauts had significantly greater post-flight increases in the volume of CSF within the bony cavity of the skull that holds the eye, and also in the volume of CSF in the cavities of the brain where the fluid is produced.

The sample size is small, and the results have not yet appeared in a peer-reviewed journal. But Prof Alperin says the research points to a "primary and direct role of the CSF in the globe deformations seen in astronauts with visual impairment syndrome".

"If the ocular structural deformations are not identified early, astronauts could suffer irreversible damage," he said, "as the eye globe becomes more flattened, the astronauts become hyperopic, or far-sighted."

Prof Alperin has received a $600,000 grant from Nasa to study the condition.

He outlined the findings at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago.

How Boston's 1919 molasses flood turned so deadly

In January of 1919, a tank containing two million gallons of molasses burst open, unleashing a sticky flood onto Boston's North End. The 25-foot high wave of goo oozed over the streets at 35 miles per hour, crushing buildings in its wake and killing 21 people.

A number of factors are thought to have contributed to the disaster. The steel of the take, where the Purity Distilling Company was fermenting molasses into alcohol, was only half as thick as it should have been. And __that January's relatively balmy, 40-degree Fahrenheit weather may have increased pressure as carbon dioxide built up inside. Now, research by Harvard fluid dynamicists suggests cold temperatures also added to the deadly mix.

Before the rupture, the molasses inside the tank was likely 5 degrees Celsius warmer than the surrounding air, thanks to a fresh shipment of syrup from the Caribbean. The higher temperature may have helped the molasses spread over the Boston waterfront at such an alarming pace. But once exposed to the nearly freezing winter temperatures outside, the goo cooled and became much thicker and stickier. The higher viscosity may have trapped people caught in the flow, and likely hampered rescue and cleanup efforts, according to the researchers.

Researchers gained new insight into the disaster by studying historical accounts of the accident, century-old maps, and weather data. The researchers also built their own mini molasses flood inside a walk-in refrigerator. Using corn syrup as a stand-in for molasses at this smaller scale, they studied the goop's flow properties at wintery temperatures.

The main purpose of the research, the Harvard scientists admit, is to raise interest in fluid dynamics. Dare we say a career in fluid dynamics might be pretty sweet?

[Newswise via New York Times]

Flood spending decisions 'perverse', Green Alliance says

Flood water gathers in fields in Somerset following Storm Angus Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Flood water gathers in fields in Somerset following Storm Angus

England spends nearly four times more on activities __that may cause flooding than it invests to combat flooding, the Green Alliance think tank has said.

It says £1.5bn went on subsidies for farm management __that ignores or increases flood risk, while help from the EU farm policy for land management that reduces flooding totals £419m.

Green Alliance said money was being spent "in ways that are perverse."

The government said natural flood management plays "an important role".

Currently farmers get grants based on the amount of land they own.

The report wants farmers to be rewarded for:

  • Allowing trees and vegetation to slow water flow
  • Creating healthy soils to absorb water
  • Allowing rivers to meander, to slow the flow
  • Creating wetlands to retain water
  • Keeping floodplains to provide space for rivers to overflow safely

The Green Alliance research goes further, though, by calculating the balance between spending on flood prevention and flood repairs.

It concludes that £613m is spent on the after-effects of flooding, whilst hard flood defences receive less than half that - £269m.

Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Flood water surrounded the village of Clyst St George in the wake of Storm Angus

The report is in line with current thinking promoting natural flood defences. The government announced last week that it would set aside £15m for solutions which help slow the flow of water off the uplands to prevent it rushing downstream.

Environmentalists said it was not enough, but these innovative schemes are in their infancy and even their supporters agree that they need testing on a river catchment scale.

What is more, Green Alliance said the principles of spending on land management need more fundamental review.

Under current arrangements, subsidised farming methods can:

  • Denude upland slopes, which speeds up water flow
  • Drain fields, which overloads streams
  • Straighten and dredge rivers, which pushes flooding downstream
  • Compact soils through livestock, which increases run-off
  • Raise stream banks, which also shifts trouble downstream

'Perverse' spending

MPs on the Commons Environment Committee recently suggested that decision-making over flooding should be taken away from the Environment Agency.

Green Alliance wants flood managements and prevention given to regional-scale catchment boards.

Angela Francis from Green Alliance said: “We are spending hundreds of millions of pounds of public money in ways that are perverse.

“Just by allocating current funding more rationally the government could reduce the burden on the public purse, save vulnerable communities from the misery of flooding, and increase the health of our natural environment.”

Patrick Begg, from the National Trust, said that Brexit created an opportunity to "create a system that rewards and incentivises farmers and land managers" to reduce the flow of flood waters through natural solutions.

The National Farmers Union is happy for farmers to be paid to catch water on their land, but fears that farms grants overall will be cut when the UK leaves the Common Agricultural Policy.

A spokesman for the environment department Defra has told the BBC it was "committed" to flood protection.

“Natural flood management plays an important role in our strategy - that is why last week we announced a further £15m funding for these schemes," the spokesman said.

“We’re spending a record £2.5bn on flood defences to better protect 300,000 more homes by 2021 and many of these projects are also already using natural flood management measures.”

Follow Roger on Twitter at @rharribin.

Paper microscopes, perfect turkeys, and more of our favorite images of the week

How was your Thanksgiving? Was the turkey dry? We've got a few tips to make sure your bird is cooked to perfection every time.

Schiaparelli: Esa gives update on Mars crash investigation

Crash Image copyright NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Image caption Satellite images: Schiaparelli's crash site (Left), parachute (Top-right) and heatshield (Bottom-right)

The European Space Agency has released details from its preliminary report into the Schiaparelli crash on Mars.

The investigation confirms the probe misinterpreted sensor data, which made it think it was below ground level, when in reality the module was still at an altitude of around 3.7km.

This prompted Schiaparelli to jettison its parachute too early and to fire its landing rockets for just three seconds.

These actions put the probe into a freefall __that led to its destruction.

A crater and scattered hardware were later imaged by an American satellite.

"This is still a very preliminary conclusion of our technical investigations," said David Parker, Esa’s director of human spaceflight and robotic exploration.

"The full picture will be provided in early 2017 by the future report of an external independent inquiry board, which is now being set up, as requested by Esa’s director general, under the chairmanship of Esa's inspector general.

"But we will have learned much from Schiaparelli __that will directly contribute to the second ExoMars mission being developed with our international partners for launch in 2020."

Image copyright ESA
Image caption Artwork: The retrorockets should have fired for about 30 seconds

Schiaparelli was part of Esa's ExoMars programme - a joint venture with the Russians - which is endeavouring to search for evidence of past or present life on the Red Planet.

The 600kg robot was conceived as a technology demonstrator - a project to give Europe the learning experience and the confidence to go ahead with the landing on Mars in 2021 of an ambitious six-wheeled rover.

This future vehicle will use some of the same technology as Schiaparelli, including its doppler radar to sense the speed and distance to the surface on descent, and its guidance, navigation and control (GNC) algorithms.

Media captionSchiaparelli's landing sequence - stage by stage

Engineers will be encouraged that so many key systems on the descent probe worked as expected on 19 October.

The parachute deployed as planned at an altitude of 12km when the probe was travelling at a speed of 1,730km/h.

The vehicle's heatshield, too, did its job of slowing the probe and protecting it from the high temperatures of atmospheric entry - and this disc-shaped shield was released at an altitude of 7.8km.

But it was then that the descent sequence started to go awry.

Schiaparelli's inertial measurement unit (IMU) had earlier sensed rotational accelerations in the probe when the parachute first opened that very briefly stepped outside what had been anticipated. The data became "saturated".

Unfortunately, when this information was then taken in by the GNC system, the probe incorrectly updated where it thought it was in the descent. And when the data from the doppler radar subsequently kicked in, the error already in play was propagated forward.

At one stage, Schiaparelli even calculated its position to be several metres below the surface of the planet.

"The system ended up calculating a negative altitude," explained Esa's Schiaparelli's manager, Thierry Blancquaert.

"And this is when the probe initiated the other steps - which was to release the parachute attached to the backshell, switch on the propulsion system, and then switch it off, and then switch to surface mode."

As it went into freefall, and thinking it had already touched down, Schiaparelli started up its post-landing sequence, including booting up its onboard weather station and getting ready to transmit the pictures it had been taking on the way down.

The probe crashed into the dusty, equatorial Meridiani Plain at a velocity of about 150m/s (540km/h).

All this information was discerned from telemetry that Schiaparelli sent back as it hurtled down through the Martian atmosphere.

Engineers will take the lessons learned into the 2021 landing, assuming the rover mission is approved.

"Because we know what went wrong, we can correct it; and I'm super-happy to have reached this conclusion," Thierry Blancquaert told BBC News.

Europe's research ministers still have to find the funds to carry the rover project through to completion. This matter should be resolved at the Esa Ministerial Council in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 1/2 December.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

Europe's science ministers to decide on ExoMars rover

ExoMars artist
Image caption Artist's impression: The robot rover will aim to drill below Mars' surface

European research ministers will be asked for a little over €400m (£345m; $430m) to put a rover on Mars in 2021 when they meet next week.

This is the additional sum needed to finish building the European Space Agency's much-delayed ExoMars robot.

A technical review has just concluded __that the project is running true to its latest schedule, but it can only go forward with full funding.

Ministers will decide ExoMars' fate at a council in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The British-assembled rover would launch on a Russian rocket in August 2020 and land on the Red Planet eight months later.

It is being designed with the ability to drill up to 2m below Mars' dusty terrain to look for evidence of microbial activity.

Dr David Parker is Esa's director of Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration. He said member-state delegations to the agency had been expressing strong support for the project in the run-up to the Lucerne gathering.

"The rover remains scientifically compelling because there is no other mission planned to go below the surface of Mars which is damaged by radiation and which would destroy any past or present life," he told BBC News.

Image copyright UKSA
Image caption UK science minister Jo Johnson will be at the centre of the negotiations in Lucerne

The six-wheeled robot is the second mission in a two-step venture __that Europe is conducting with the Russians.

The first phase has just seen a satellite to study Mars' atmosphere go into orbit around the planet, and a disc-shaped probe called Schiaparelli try to make a demonstration landing on its surface.

Schiaparelli crashed but engineers say they learned important lessons that can now be applied to the rover's touch-down bid in four years' time.

But to be in such a position, the six-wheeled vehicle will need the nod of ministers in Lucerne.

Ahead of this council, Esa and its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, have conducted a thorough review of the project's technical status, to establish that all the mission's hardware can be made ready in time.

It was fears that some elements would be late that saw the mission slip earlier this year from its intended 2018 launch.

The required equipment goes beyond just the rover and a suite of scientific instruments. It includes also a "cruise ship" to carry the vehicle to Mars (this will come from Germany) and the mechanism to land the robot on the surface (a major Russian contribution).

"There has been intense technical work by the project members, including the industrial team led by Lavochkin (Russia) and Thales Alenia Space (Italy), which has now established an adequate schedule margin for launch at the overall system level and within the pieces of the system; so, the rover and the carrier, and so on," explained Dr Parker.

Image copyright ESA
Image caption Artwork: A satellite and demonstration lander arrived at Mars last month. The lander crashed

It has been recommended that in order to shorten the timeline on what had previously been proposed, all the different elements will now be sent to an experienced facility in Toulouse, France, for final integration and testing - and only afterwards go to the launch site at Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Originally, final integration and testing was to be done at the spaceport.

It is on the basis of the positive status report delivered this week to member state delegations that the funding request will now go forward to ministers.

The little over €400m includes more than €300m for industry with the rest to cover Esa's internal costs.

These include preparing the mission control centre that will command the rover on the surface of Mars.

'Dumbed-down' rover

But additional to all this money, member states will have to provide at some future point the funds to support the surface operation of the vehicle - assuming it gets down safely.

The expectation is that the robot will explore the Red Planet for at least 218 Martian days; hopefully much longer.

The two leading Esa countries in the ExoMars rover project are Italy and the UK. Both have indicated they will be offering substantial financial support at the Lucerne meeting.

But it will require others in the 22-nation organisation to dig deep as well.

Image caption Autonomous navigation would enable the rover to do more science

Ministers will be discussing a great swathe of programmes in Switzerland, including continued participation in the space station and the development of future Earth observation satellites.

For some nations, these alternative projects will be more important to them. Full commitment to ExoMars is not guaranteed, therefore.

And even if all the funds are forthcoming, some issues of contention will no doubt persist.

For example, there is currently an ongoing argument centred around the rover's use of autonomous navigation - the ability of the vehicle itself to plot the best path across the surface of Mars once instructed to go to a particular location.

This feature - a UK development - was long considered an integral part of the mission, but has now been removed from the current design on the grounds of cost.

Researchers though are likely to continue to press for its reinstatement because a robot that drives quickly and efficiently can do much more science in the time available - never mind the clear industrial spin-out potential from such technology.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

Bourbon County beer is back with a new pasteurization process

It's Black Friday, so you know what __that means. No, not overhyped shopping deals. Well, yes. But also, true to Black Friday tradition, Goose Island is about to release the 2016 varieties of its lusciously dark Bourbon County Stout.

Yes, there is a reason you're reading about this in a science publication. Four of the six 2015 varieties of the specially crafted, labor-intensive beer were soured by a strange bacteria __that made the flavors inconsistent. To make sure that doesn't happen again, Goose Island is trying out a new pasteurization system.

Just like with milk, pasteurization kills off the microbes in beer. It also stops the growth of the yeast that produce the beer's lovely alcohol. The company's new process involves flash pasteurization. This means heating the beer up to very high temperatures for very short periods of time. This process also helps limit the heat's ability to degrade the molecules in the beer that give it flavor. Jared Jankoski, Goose Island's head brewmaster, says it will ensure consistency.

Jankoski and his taste testers couldn't taste a difference between this year's batch compared to previous (uncontaminated) years. “It's the only test that you want to fail,” he says, “because you don't want to be able to taste the difference.”

For what it's worth, your local Popular Science editor also could not taste any decrease in quality in the four 2016 batches. All four varieties, aged in whiskey barrels, were sweet, chocolatey, smoky, and delicious. As for consistency we can't say…scientifically speaking, we might have to drink a lot more just to be sure.

Bumper load of new viruses identified

Virosphere Image copyright University of Sydney
Image caption Viruses have been infecting invertebrates for possibly billions of years

An international research team led from Australia and China has discovered nearly 1,500 new viruses.

The scientists looked for evidence of virus infection in a group of animals called invertebrates, which includes insects and spiders.

Not only does the study expand the catalogue of known viruses, it also indicates they have existed for billions of years.

The findings were published in the journal Nature.

Few would argue __that all living species on Earth are susceptible to viruses – these microscopic parasites are ubiquitous.

But virologists have long suspected __that our current view of the diversity of viruses is blinkered – all too often constrained to those causing disease in humans, animals and plants, or to those that we can grow in the laboratory.

A trip to a tropical rainforest or the African savannah gives a snapshot into the incredible diversity of visible life on Earth, but understanding the potentially mind-boggling myriad of minuscule viruses has not been so easy.

Capturing new viruses is not like netting a new species of butterfly – viruses are invisible.

Undeterred by this practical problem an international team was keen to survey invertebrates for new viral species.

Invertebrates are spineless creatures and the group includes many familiar animals, such as insects, spiders, worms and snails. They represent the vast majority of animal species in the world today.

Scientists wanting to work out the totality of viral "life" – although many virologists would argue that viruses are not truly alive – are starting to adopt techniques that reveal their genetic calling cards, revealed in the things they infect.

Image copyright AP
Image caption Some invertebrates do carry viruses that can infect humans, but the newly identified ones probably pose very little risk

Just like powerful new telescopes are peering deeper into space, revealing a wealth of hitherto unknown stars, next-generation sequencing techniques are providing new insight into the magnitude of the invisible world of viruses; a world we call the virosphere.

We are familiar with DNA, the "stuff of life" that makes up the blueprint of our genomes. But many viruses use a different chemical to construct their genomes – a substance known as RNA.

Just like DNA, this consists of strings of individual building blocks, or bases; each designated by a different letter: A, C, G and U.

Next generation sequencing allows researchers to quickly determine the sequence of these letters. And if you work out the order of the letters on any chain of RNA, you can determine if it belongs to a virus and whether or not the virus is new.

Its potential for virus discovery is huge.

Image copyright SPL
Image caption A minuscule universe: A highly magnified view of dengue virus particles

The research team collected around 220 species of land- and water-dwelling invertebrates living in China, extracted their RNA and, using next-generation sequencing, deciphered the sequence of a staggering 6 trillion letters present in the invertebrate RNA "libraries".

When the researchers analysed this mass of data they realised that they had discovered almost 1,500 new virus species – a whopping number by any measure. Many of these were so distinct that they did not easily fit into our existing virus family tree.

Prof Elodie Ghedin from New York University, who was not directly involved with the study, told the BBC: "This is an extraordinary study providing the largest virus discovery to date.

"It will no doubt remodel our view of the virus world and redraw virus phylogeny.

"This is what happens when you combine a bold and brute force approach with the right technology and the right set of eyes."

Even though some invertebrates carry viruses that can infect humans - like zika and dengue - the study authors do not think that these newly discovered viruses pose a significant risk.

However, this cannot be ruled out entirely, and Prof Ghedin thinks that this is an important issue to address.

"If we have learned anything from these types of true discovery projects is that when we start looking into places we haven’t looked at before, we find an incredible richness that goes beyond what was suspected.

"It also makes a strong case for expanding virus surveillance to invertebrates in our quest to better understand (and predict) emerging viruses," she said.

'Looking back'

The research also showed that throughout time viruses have been trading genetic material to create new species – an incredible feat according to Prof Eric Delwart from the University of California, San Francisco, who told the BBC: "It shows a lego-like ability of different viral functional units to be recombined to create new viruses even when they originate from highly divergent viruses. The plasticity of viral genomes continues to amaze."

Not only have these studies expanded our view of the diversity of viruses, they have also provided a more complete picture of virus history, as Prof Edward Holmes from the University of Sydney, who was involved in the study explained: "We have discovered that most groups of viruses that infect vertebrates – including humans, such as those that cause well-known diseases like influenza – are in fact derived from those present in invertebrates."

He also believes that his group's data shows that viruses have been infecting invertebrates for possibly billions of years, raising the prospect that invertebrates are the true hosts for many types of virus.

The researchers hope that next-generation sequencing can pave the way for virus discovery in a variety of other species. And it does not stop there.

Prof Delwart thinks that further analyses of existing next-generation datasets may yield additional virus species unlike any that we have seen before.

If future studies reveal anywhere near this number of new viruses, then we’ve only just scratched the surface. It seems that the virosphere is set to explode.

Jonathan Ball is a professor of virology at Nottingham University. This coming Saturday, he will be taking part in CrowdScience, the new BBC World Service science weekly, which starts with a question from listener Ian in Jordan which is "where did viruses come from?"

Five things to do with your frozen turkey (besides cooking it)

There you are, looking down at an 18-pound frozen turkey. Suddenly, you realize you are not equipped to cook something like this. Your kitchen is too small, you didn't budget enough thawing time, and you're emotionally ill-equipped to juggle holiday meal prep. But you feel like you should do something with your frosty bird. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are a few other uses for frozen turkeys.

Note: You probably shouldn't do most/any of these things.

Deep Fried Explosion

Technically, deep frying a frozen turkey still falls within the realm of cooking. Kinda. If you're cool with the possibility of burning your house down before dinner.

Thanks to would-be feasters too hungry to go through the arduous process of cooking their turkey in the oven, Thanksgiving day sees three times as many cooking fires as any other day of the year. Deep frying isn’t inherently dangerous, but frozen turkeys and hot oil don’t mix.

When a frozen turkey is introduced to the deep fryer, all __that ice and water has to go somewhere. Initially, it goes down, beneath the less dense oil. Moments later, it vaporizes, expanding to 1700 times its original volume, forcing the hot oil to surge over the sides of the fryer and onto the flame below. Boom, inferno. So seriously, if you’re going to deep fry a turkey, take the time to thaw it first—you’ll actually have a dinner to enjoy __that way.

Bowling a Butter Ball

You probably have some assorted cans of cranberry sauce and pumpkin puree lying around the house, right? With a little set up (and a long, smooth surface) you'll be turkey bowling in no time.

The details are hazy, but turkey bowling seems to have been invented in the late 1980s. Originally played after-hours in supermarket aisles by grocery store clerks, it quickly found a place in Thanksgiving charity events as a novel way to raise money.

With a little practice, you’ll be skilled enough to handle even a “wishbone” situation — what regular bowlers would call a 7-10 split — without stepping over the “fowl line.”

Actual Research

If you’re looking for something a bit more significant to do with your bird, consider conducting some scientific research. Frozen turkeys have provided at least one important medical breakthrough in the past: the link between trans fats and heart disease.

In the 1940s, when the science of freezing food was taking off, a researcher named Fred Kummerow fed turkeys different diets before slaughtering and placing them in cold storage. He was trying to figure out how to make a better tasting frozen bird, and he found that traditional diets of linseed meal didn’t preserve the birds’ fat deposits as well as cornmeal diets did. This meant that turkeys fed a traditional diet would quickly develop a rancid flavor, even after freezing.

Kummerow’s experiments with frozen turkeys led him to devote his life’s work to understanding the links between diet and fat preservation. In 1957, he discovered that high amounts of trans fats were a major cause of heart disease. So put your frozen turkey under a microscope—your poultry could be hiding another big scientific breakthrough.

Ingestion Test

Humans aren’t the only ones with an appetite for turkey. But at least we don’t eat them whole, coming at us at 900 miles an hour. That's the preferred method of ingestion for airplanes, thanks to air guns like the U.S. Air Force’s AEDC Ballistic Range S-3.

These ‘chicken cannons’ – as the name implies — commonly use dead chickens to test the integrity of aircraft, although they regularly use turkeys and geese as well. Ingestion tests see these birds (frozen or thawed, depending on the specific test) fired straight into a running jet engine to ensure a midair bird-strike can’t cripple the airplane. It’s also an efficient way to shred your uneaten turkey for Thanksgiving leftovers.

Murder Most Fowl

Okay, so a frozen turkey has never been used as a murder weapon (or maybe they're just the secret to a perfectly concealed crime, who can say). But assaults with frozen turkeys are on the rise. Beginning with a few isolated cases back in the 1940s, the popularity of these unorthodox weapons rose as frozen turkeys became more commonplace. Now, these cases are an almost annual occurrence.

In one example of quick thinking, bystanders fended off a man attempting to steal a woman’s car in a grocery store parking lot by hitting him over the head with the turkey the woman had just bought. In another situation, police were unable to confiscate the turkey a man had used to shove his girlfriend with because it was roasting in the oven.

Honorary Mention: Freezing Begins Before Conception

It’s fitting that so many of the turkeys that end up on Thanksgiving tables end their journey thawing from a deep freeze. It’s how all of them began, as well: frozen as semen. According to the (very comprehensive) paper “The history of artificial insemination: Selected notes and notables,” artificial insemination is used 100 percent of the time for turkey breeding because of “the ease of collecting poultry semen, and proximity of hens on large breeding farms” and also because “mating is difficult.” Whatever the reasons, it certainly brings a turkey's life full circle.

14 science and tech breakthroughs we're thankful for this year

Climate changing 'too fast' for species

Tropical species are thought to be particularly vulnerable Image copyright Thinkstock
Image caption Tropical species are thought to be particularly vulnerable

Many species will not be able to adapt fast enough to survive climate change, say scientists.

A study of more than 250 plants and animals suggests their ability to adapt to changes in rainfall and temperature will be vastly outpaced by future climate change.

Amphibians, reptiles and plants are particularly vulnerable, according to US researchers.

And tropical species are at higher risk than those in temperate zones.

Some animals might be able to move geographically to cope with rising temperatures, but others live in isolated areas where they cannot move, such as in nature reserves or on mountains or islands.

Ecologists analysed how quickly species had changed their climatic niches (the conditions where they can survive) over time, and how these rates compared with __that of global warming.

They analysed 266 populations of plants and animals, including insects, amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles.

Rates of change in climatic niches were much slower than rates of projected climate change, by more than 200,000 fold for temperature (on average), they said.

"Overall, our results show __that rates of climatic niche change among populations of plants and animals are dramatically slower than projected rates of future climate change," said Tereza Jezkova and John Wiens, of the University of Arizona.

Double jeopardy

Mammals and birds might be better placed to survive than amphibians and reptiles, because they had the ability to regulate their own body temperatures, said Dr Wiens.

And, while some species might be able to move to higher latitudes or elevations to survive, "for a lot of organisms, that is not an option".

"It's a double jeopardy of climate change and habitat destruction," he told BBC News.

The research is published in the journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

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Seven totally safe science discussion topics for Thanksgiving dinner

This Thursday, many of us will gather with the people in our lives for whom we're grateful. But as much as we may love each other, sometimes we don't see eye-to-eye on politics, relationships, religion, gender, sexuality, fashion, money, dogs, or even the very nature of reality. So instead of arguing over how the government should spend tax dollars or whether your cousin has too many facial piercings, let's talk about science. We've compiled a list of seven science topics from this year __that (hopefully) won't start an argument. (We make no guarantees, though, since we all know Aunt Linda is a world-class know-it-all.)

Now you can buy a tiny microscope made of paper

Stanford physicist Manu Prakash creates inexpensive versions of high-tech devices in order to make science more accessible. But his most famous invention—a pocket-size microscope made from folded paper and called the Foldscope—has been surprisingly hard to come by. Until now.

Prakash and his team just launched a Kickstarter campaign __that allows anyone to reserve a foldable microscope kit of their very own for $15, or to reserve a 20-pack of scopes for $20. Although the components for each device cost only 57 to 97 cents (depending on the magnification of the lenses), the extra cost will help cover additional scientific tools for the kit, such as microscope slides, tweezers, pipettes, and even a journal for observations. And larger payments will allow backers to donate Foldscopes to schools and communities all over the world. The goal: give millions of people access to the durable, portable, and affordable scientific device.

The paper microscopes have been around for a couple years now, but this campaign aims to distribute them to a much larger number of people. In theory, anyone should be able to assemble a Foldscope in ten minutes—the template and materials are published online—but in practice, making the origami folds from scratch requires finicky printing, die-cutting, and creasing __that make the project difficult for novices. While the team has provided pre-prepared Foldscopes to beta testers, they only shipped 50,000 units. In 2017, they hope to ship 1 million.

So if you want to get your hands on a paper microscope, your best bet is to become a backer. And you'll also have the satisfaction of knowing that you're helping send microscopes to aspiring scientists all over the world.

Is this the PM's 'white heat' of technology moment?

Sad Scientist Image copyright Halfpoint

In 1963, Harold Wilson gave a speech at the Labour Party Conference, telling his audience __that if the country was to prosper, a "new Britain" would need to be forged in the "white heat" of a scientific revolution.

It was one of the most memorable speeches in British politics.

With Theresa May now pledging, at the CBI conference, a big increase in funding for scientific research and development, is this another "white heat of technology" moment?

The scientific community is one of the main beneficiaries of the UK's membership of the EU, and stands to lose out in a post-Brexit world.

Britain receives £850m in research funds from the EU each year. Full membership of one of the main EU funding programmes requires free movement of labour. British universities employ 30,000 scientists with EU citizenship.

There have already been reports of UK scientists losing out in EU grant applications and of EU citizens not taking up posts in UK universities because of the uncertainty around funding and the residency status of EU citizens following the referendum result in June.

If Theresa May's CBI announcement of £2bn for research is truly new money and depending on the strings attached - this intervention could go a long way to cancelling out any potential financial cost of Brexit. It would not on its own, however, make up for the possible loss of collaborations with EU scientists following Brexit.

Within days of becoming Prime Minister, Mrs May wrote to senior scientists to say __that she wanted to ensure a positive outcome for science in negotiations to leave the European Union.

A few weeks later, the Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, said that the government would underwrite EU research funds obtained before the UK leaves the EU.

So there is not much more the government could have done to reassure the scientific community in the early days following the referendum result.

Greatest strengths

Now, research leaders want the warm words of the summer turned into firm commitments as the autumn chill of an uncertain future sets in. On the face of it they seem to have precisely that.

The President of the Royal Society, Venki Ramakrishnan, cautiously welcomed the government's announcement of the additional money for research.

He said: "Science and innovation are among the UK's greatest strengths and are key to our future. By placing them at the heart of our industrial strategy the prime minister is setting out a progressive vision for a country where the fruits of knowledge can spur economic growth and improve people's lives. We look forward to seeing further details of the government's plans."

But the scientific community's concern is not just about the money. Free movement of labour enables UK institutions to attract the best scientists from Europe. And the EU research funding system - which requires full members to allow free movement - enables collaborations with researchers from some of the leading labs in Europe.

The prime minster said on Monday that she was committed to attracting the brightest and best researchers to the UK, but this could not be done without reducing overall numbers of people migrating to the UK - an indication that she may be willing to allow some form of free movement of scientific labour or possibly a simplified visa system for researchers.

UK research is among the best in the world. Without the free movement of European scientists, the concern is that this great national resource, which enriches the country and benefits the economy, will slowly be diminished just as other nations are boosting their research efforts.

Image copyright JIC
Image caption Chinese scientists are working with researchers in Norwich to assess the medicinal properties of plants as part of a new push to develop research collaborations

At a recent meeting of the Foundation for Science and Technology at the Royal Society, senior scientific leaders were advised against complaining too much.

The former science minister, Lord Willetts, was not quite that blunt as he tactfully told them that unless they were seen to adopt a more constructive approach they would be in danger of being regarded as a privileged elite, putting their own self-serving interest ahead of the wishes of many people in the country.

Smart lobbying

He gently urged them to be as smart with their lobbying as they are with their research and to play the government's game. As a first step, he said, the science community should make every effort to set up new collaborations with research groups outside Europe.

One of the government's top political priorities is to demonstrate that the country can thrive post-Brexit, so there is plenty of money and enthusiasm from ministers for projects with institutions in the US, China and Commonwealth countries.

Lord Willetts suggested that if researchers try their best to seize the new opportunities Brexit presents, two things might happen. First, they might be pleasantly surprised and get to be involved in some really good, well-funded science. Second, according to the wily Lord Willetts, they would receive a more sympathetic hearing from government for the concessions they are seeking over Brexit.

Chief among these is an exemption for researchers from restrictions on free movement - both from the EU and from other parts of the world. If the research leaders cannot get free movement for scientists then they will seek a simpler, faster and less bureaucratic visa system for them. And the university sector wants to take student numbers out of the immigration figures - because if foreign student numbers are cut, British universities receive less money.

But any relaxation on immigration would be at odds with the government's stated aim of reducing numbers.

One chink of hope for many in the scientific community is that the government's much heralded industrial strategy might come to their rescue. No-one knows quite what the strategy is - so at the moment it is whatever anyone wants it to be.

Image copyright ska.ac.za
Image caption Scientists are advised to seek more research collaborations outside the EU, such as its leading role with the Square Kilometre Array - which will deploy huge fields of antennas across Africa and Australia

Scientific leaders want it to be something that provides the political cover for government to be more flexible on immigration and a means by which they can get a huge cash injection.

A vibrant research base, they are telling ministers, could be the engine to the high-tech, high-skills economy that Mrs May has said she wants post-Brexit Britain to be. It would also present the optimistic narrative the government is seeking.

More money

So emboldened by the possibility of research being at the heart of the industrial strategy, four of the UK's national science academies and the Campaign for Science and Engineering (Case) have called for the government and UK industry to make up for the possible loss of EU funding.

They also asked them to nearly double the amount of public and private money spent on research. The academies and Case want an increase from the current 1.7% of GDP to 3% by 2025. This would bring British R&D spending in line with Germany and increase the UK's annual combined public and private research spending from around £30.6bn to £52bn.

Such a boost in funding would be transformative, according to Naomi Weir of Case.

"It would boost confidence for inward investment, drive growth in the economy, see the creation of high-quality jobs and increase our capacity to tackle national and global challenges in health, energy and the environment," she said.

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PM signals £2bn a year science funding increase

Theresa May Image copyright PA
Image caption After her CBI speech, Mrs May went on a tour of the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridge

Prime Minister Theresa May has unveiled plans to invest an extra £2bn a year in science by 2020.

The promised money will be for emerging fields of research in which the UK excels, such as robotics, artificial intelligence and biotech.

The investment is part of an industrial strategy the government is developing __that aims to create and back economic "winners".

Mrs May made the commitment at a speech to the CBI.

Our competitors aren't standing still. They are investing heavily in research and development
Theresa May, Prime Minister

She told business leaders __that she wanted the UK to be "the global go-to place for scientists, innovators and tech investors".

She cautioned though that although she wanted Britain to continue to attract the brightest and the best scientific talent, it could only continue to do so by bringing immigration down to "sustainable levels".

"Today, Britain has firms and researchers leading in some of the most exciting fields of human discovery. We need to back them and turn research strengths into commercial success," she said.

"That means not only investing more in research and development, but ensuring we invest that money wisely, supporting technologies and sectors that have the potential to deliver long-term benefits for Britain."

The president of the Royal Society, Prof Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, described the announcement as "very welcome".

"This sends out a strong signal to the rest of the world that Britain is determined to be a leading innovative country".

An influx of money on its own won't be sufficient in itself. We need to hire the best talent. Hopefully, a lot of that will be home-grown. But there is no substitute for attracting the best in the world so we can be the best in the world
Prof Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, President, Royal Society

But he said he was concerned that the tighter immigration rules that could be imposed after Brexit would hamper UK research: "An influx of money on its own won't be sufficient in itself if we are to make the best use of this money," he told BBC News.

"We need to hire the best talent. Hopefully a lot of that will be home-grown. But there is no substitute for attracting the best in the world so we can be the best in the world."

There has been a freeze in science spending since 2010. This was seen as a good settlement by the scientific community when the spending of other parts of government was heavily cut in response to the economic crises created by the financial crash of 2008.

But the freeze has meant a gradual erosion in the science budget because of inflation. And this has happened at a time when many other countries have greatly increased their investment in research.

"Our competitors aren't standing still. They are investing heavily in research and development," said Mrs May.

"So in the Autumn Statement on Wednesday, we will commit to substantial real-terms increases in government investment in R&D - investing an extra £2bn a year by the end of this Parliament to help put post-Brexit Britain at the cutting edge of science and tech."

Mrs May also announced a new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to direct some of the additional money to address what she described as Britain's "historic weakness" in turning its great world-leading science into commercial success.

The Prime Minister also indicated that there would be tax breaks to encourage firms to invest in research.

"Since 2010, we have made the research and development credit more generous and easier to use - and support has risen from £1bn to almost £2.5bn a year.

"Now we want to go further, and look at how we can make our support even more effective - because my aim is not simply for the UK to have the lowest corporate tax rate in the G20, but also a tax system that is profoundly pro-innovation."

Dr Sarah Main, director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, said she was "impressed" by the announcement.

"The science community has been waiting to see what the leadership of the government has to say about science and engineering and our future. And this could not be better, coming directly from the Prime Minister. We are seeing a very clear signal of intent that she sees science and engineering being a very big part of our future."

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Science & Environment

Business

Autumn Statement: Here's the trick

Chancellor Philip Hammond at 10 Downing Street Image copyright Reuters

Philip Hammond has a difficult trick to pull off this week. On the one hand - come clean: the government's not keeping its promises on the public finances.

On the other hand - convince us: the government is serious about the public finances.

The government was elected with three promises at the heart of its economic plans. Cap welfare spending. Reduce public sector debt as a proportion of the economy, starting last year. And get into surplus, so its income exceeded its spending, by 2019/20 - staying there unless growth dipped under 1%.

The score so far: Promises: nil. Reality: three. As the Institute for Fiscal Studies points out, the government broke its promise to cap welfare spending last year - when it reversed its decision to make deep cuts to tax credits for working families.

Debt piling up

Then it broke its debt promise. The Office of Budget Responsibility's already confirmed public sector net debt won't be falling this year from its current level of £1.63 trillion - or 84% of the value of the economy (as measured by Gross Domestic Product).

Next week the OBR's expected to confirm it will rise not only this year but every year for the next three.

The welfare promise was honoured more in the breach than the observance. Welfare spending has continuously bust through the government's cap, not least because the government keeps spending more in real terms on pensions (which rose 2.9% last time in spite of inflation of less than 1%). No austerity there.

Those promises were enshrined in law - apparently to make it more embarrassing for any government __that dropped them. Yet Philip Hammond ditched promise number three almost as soon as he walked into 11 Downing Street, at very light political cost. Far from attracting opprobrium, it was largely welcomed as pragmatic.

Taxing problem

Image copyright Getty Images

While Brexit has done far less immediate economic damage than the Treasury and others predicted, the tax receipts nevertheless aren't rolling in as quickly as hoped.

At the last Budget, the economy was expected to grow at an increasingly rapid clip, drawing in tax revenues for the Exchequer to bring the deficit down.

The economy's expected to slow next year as inflation bites.

If __that forecast is right, tax revenues will be further impaired, forcing the Chancellor to borrow more to make up the shortfall between his income and what he's spending - £84bn more over the next five years, according to analysis by the low-to-middle income think tank the Resolution Foundation.

At the last Budget the government was projected to be raking in £10bn more in taxes than it was spending by 2019/20 - a surplus. But now it's expected to be £15 billion in deficit.

Interesting choice

Mr Hammond's keen for the government to retain an air of 'fiscal credibility' - not least because without it, the pound might fall further.

That leaves him with an interesting choice. He could switch to a promise more easily realised - such as promising to spend less than his income on day-to-day expenditure like benefits and civil service wages but allowing borrowing for investment.

Or he could keep the promises as aspirations for the future - but ditching the deadlines. And as anyone who has tried to diet, give up smoking or phone their parents more often knows, promises are far easier to keep without deadlines. As St Augustine said: "Oh Lord make me pure. But not yet."

Autumn Statement 2016: Financial upheaval ahead for families

Cash and cards Image copyright PA

Some experts are predicting a "quiet" Autumn Statement - but significant upheaval for family finances is already coming down the line.

The freeze on major benefits, which continues until 2020, may bite harder as inflation is set to accelerate - driving up the cost of living.

Tax changes are planned but are yet to be put in place.

Chancellor Philip Hammond may decide to bring forward some of those moves and delay or reverse others.

Tighter belts

The main working age benefits and tax credits were frozen in cash terms for four years from April 2016. That includes entitlements such as jobseeker's allowance and income support.

That income freeze could coincide with an acceleration in inflation, adding pressure to those on low incomes.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the falling value of the pound since the Brexit vote will push prices about 2.6% higher than would have otherwise been the case.

Yet, there is some relief on the way for some squeezed working families.

The government has already promised to raise the amount people can earn before they are subject to income tax.

Known as the personal allowance, it is currently set at £11,000 and it has already been announced __that it will go up to £11,500 in April 2017. The Conservatives have promised to raise this to £12,500 by 2020-21.

And there's speculation __that on Wednesday the chancellor may bring forward that new threshold.

For the least-well-off families, changes to National Insurance might be more helpful.

There are calls for a raise in the threshold at which national insurance is paid - currently £8,060 for individuals.

Tom McPhail, of Hargreaves Lansdown, said that would be "a more useful intervention".

Better-off households are also in line for a tax boost. The Conservatives have pledged to raise the threshold at which people start paying the higher rate of tax to £50,000 by 2020-21.

At present it is £43,000 and will go up to £45,000 in April next year. In Scotland, where the devolved administration led by the SNP has some control over income tax, the higher threshold will be £43,387 - an inflation linked rise.

Top-up savings

Another major policy already in place for next April is the introduction of the Lifetime Individual Savings Account (LISA).

Investors must be aged between 18 and 40 to open one of these new products. They can save up to £4,000 a year, and the government will add a 25% bonus. Over a lifetime, savers have the potential to earn a bonus of up to £32,000, plus any investment return on top.

However, savers keep the bonus only if they use the money to buy their first home, or are over the age of 60. If neither criteria is met, there is a heavy withdrawal charge.

There has been some pressure on the chancellor to delay the introduction of LISAs, with critics including from former pensions minister Ros Altmann, but there is no sign of that as yet.

Other changes already announced are:

  • The start of a gradual process in April 2017 allowing people to pass on property to their descendants free from some inheritance tax
  • Any family which has a third or subsequent child born after April 2017 will not qualify for Child Tax Credit, which can be more than £2,000 per child. This will also apply to families claiming Universal Credit for the first time after April 2017
  • A sugar tax on soft drinks, expected by about 2018
  • From September 2017, parents working more than 16 hours a week and earning less than £100,000 a year will be able to claim an additional 15 extra childcare hours
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There has been considerable debate over the future of pensions tax relief. The chancellor may be tempted to change the annual or lifetime allowance of pension contributions that are free of income tax, currently £40,000 and £1m respectively.

Accountants are calling for stability from the chancellor, given the significant changes to taxes and benefits in recent years, alongside the administrative workload that comes with Brexit.

Among the appeals is a plea to delay the shift for small businesses from annual tax returns to quarterly returns made online.

"The new Making Tax Digital (MTD) reforms for SMEs should be deferred to relieve additional burdens on business while the economy fluctuates," said Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at the ACCA accountancy body.

Tina Riches, national tax partner at accountancy group Smith and Williamson, said: "Individuals and businesses need a clear picture of where the tax system is going, not another period of jumping back and forth.

"Much complexity has arisen from governments making ad hoc changes, without adequate consultation, to try and deal with political whims. These changes have then, due to not being properly targeted or failing to receive adequate consultation, had unintended consequences and needed further alterations or have given rise to significant administrative burdens."

Autumn Statement: What is it?

Chancellor Philip Hammond Image copyright Getty Images

The Autumn Statement is the second of the two big economic statements made by the government every year - the first being the Budget which happens in the Spring.

This year's Autumn Statement takes place on Wednesday, 23 November at about 12:30 GMT (after Prime Minister's Questions).

What's the point of it?

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, will update MPs on the government's taxation and spending plans, based on the updated economic projections provided by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) - a body set up in 2010 to provide independent economic forecasts.

The OBR publishes its estimates for the country's economic growth and the government's finances as soon as the chancellor finishes making his speech.


How is it different from the Budget?

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Image caption Ken Clarke was the last chancellor to enjoy a tipple at the dispatch box

Good question. Traditionally, the Autumn Statement has outlined economic projections and broad departmental spending allocations, while the Budget largely dealt with taxation plans.

In recent years __that distinction has become blurred and some taxation plans are now also announced in the Autumn Statement, but we don't learn fine details, such as duties on alcoholic drinks or cigarettes.

There is one key difference when it comes to refreshment. The chancellor is allowed to enjoy an alcoholic drink during the presentation of the Budget, but not during the Autumn Statement.

However since the 1990s, when Ken Clarke enjoyed a whisky at the dispatch box, chancellors have stuck to mineral water during the Budget.

We'll have to wait until next spring to see if Philip Hammond follows __that tradition of restraint.


When was the Autumn Statement first introduced?

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Image caption Denis Healey delivered the very first version of the Autumn Statement

In 1975 an act of Parliament made it a duty for the government to publish two economic updates a year. The first such forecast was made in 1976, by the then-Chancellor, Denis Healey.

The first reference to an Autumn Statement seems to be in 1982, although it was also frequently referred to as the Spending Round.

Under the last Labour government it was called the Pre-Budget Report - George Osborne changed the name back to the Autumn Statement in 2010.


So what is the chancellor going to say?

We won't know for sure until he gets up in front of Parliament at about 12:30 GMT (after Prime Minister's Questions) on Wednesday, 23 November.

Many think he will find extra funds for investment in roads, bridges, railways and other infrastructure projects.

He is also under pressure to find more money for the NHS and social care.

But finding extra cash will be a problem. Forecasts for growth are likely to be lowered from the predictions made in the Budget. That will cut projections for tax income and give him less money to play with.

Most easy spending cuts have already been made, so the chancellor will probably have to raise borrowing to fund any extra spending.

Autumn Statement: Views from around the UK

These are uneasy times for British businesses. While recent data has shown a robust economy, a slowdown in growth is being forecast for next year.

Uncertainty over Brexit has weakened the pound, which has been great for exporters but has made imported goods and raw materials more expensive.

The BBC has been speaking to businesses from across the UK, finding out how their bosses are feeling and what they would like to see from the Autumn Statement on Wednesday, 23 November.


Optimism in Scunthorpe

Image caption Shay Eddy's steel firm is expanding

In Scunthorpe Shay Eddy, the managing director of SC4 Steel which supplies the construction industry, is feeling optimistic.

"We're certainly in a better position than we were 12 months ago.

"We invested at the bottom of the cycle, we ordered a new machine that's just been commissioned now. We've just committed to another machine and we're looking at expanding and exporting starting January next year."

But like other businesses, he wants to know more about the UK's future relationship with Europe.

"More clarity would be ideal because uncertainty is no good for anybody, but we can't expect the government to tip their hand as to what they are going to be negotiating with," he says.


Exporter angst in Banbury

Image caption This Banbury tool firm is worried about where skilled staff will come from

Norbar Torque Tools, based in Banbury, is one of Oxfordshire's best known exporters. As 35% of its sales go to mainland Europe the firm is closely watching the Brexit debate.

"The single most important thing for exporting companies like us is __that the government negotiates access to the single market on favourable terms," says commercial director Catherine Rohl.

She is also worried about the supply of skilled workers. "It is a concern, particularly here in Banbury where unemployment is very low. And if it is going to be more difficult to recruit from across the EU in future, then __that becomes even more difficult."

She says the chancellor can help with that with more support for training, education and apprenticeships in science and engineering subjects.


Worcester - 'more support for R&D'

Image caption Nick Grey would like extended tax breaks for investment in R&D

Nick Grey is the founder and chief executive of Gtech, a Worcester-based firm that makes cordless vacuum cleaners and garden tools.

He would like the chancellor to support research and development by extending tax breaks for investment in R&D.

"It's a good incentive, it's reasonably generous. Don't take it away definitely, and a bit more would be welcome," he says.


South Wales - 'invest in infrastructure'

Image caption A £200m road building project in South Wales has created 180 jobs

In South Wales construction giant Costain is working on a £200m road project that involves building 16 structures, 12km (7.5 miles) of retaining walls and moving 2.5 million tonnes of soil and rocks.

Bruce Richards, who is managing the project, says that 70% of the contracts involved have been awarded to firms in South Wales, creating 180 jobs in the process.

"We believe the government understands the importance of investment in infrastructure. We hope in the Autumn Statement that way of thinking will continue," he says.


Northern Ireland - hopes for 'dramatic stimulus'

Image copyright Belfast City Council
Image caption Northern Ireland's construction industry is only just recovering from the financial crisis

Northern Ireland was one of the regions hardest hit by the financial crisis, with around a third of all jobs in the construction industry lost after 2008.

"The construction sector in Northern Ireland was very dramatically hit by the recession. I'm pleased to say now that we're starting to see a more fragile recovery," says Ray Hutchinson, managing director of Gilbert Ash, a construction firm that is building a new Marriott Hotel in Belfast.

However, his company is focusing on the south-east of England where growth is stronger.

Mr Ash says that "a number" of projects have been paused as clients weigh up the implications of Brexit.

"We will be looking to the chancellor to increase spending on infrastructure," he says. "Certainly that could have a very dramatic economic stimulus on the entire economy in the UK."