Why the NHS is using maggots as treatment

The NHS is using maggots to clean wounds and help combat antibiotic resistance. The maggots are put into teabags that are placed on wounds, where they feast on the dead tissue, all the while oozing antimicrobial molecules to destroy bacteria. The larvae’s “healing abilities” were discovered during the First World War, said The Times, when surgeons realised that troops whose wounds became infested with maggots healed faster than others.

University ponders how to chat with aliens

A team at the University of St Andrews is researching how we could interpret alien messages. “One of the big debates is, if we get a signal do we respond?” said Dr John Elliott, co-ordinator of the team. While some scientists think we should be friendly, others feel that replying would just tell wicked aliens where to come to colonise us. “This isn’t resolved at all,” Elliott said. “Something like this would be very, very high impact,” he added.

‘Crude’ Rembrandt imitation turns out to be genuine

An oil sketch dismissed as a “crude imitation” by Rembrandt has been revealed to be the real deal, said The Guardian. Although the Raising of the Cross, from the 1640s, was long thought to have been the work of a follower of Rembrandt, the Bredius museum in The Hague, where the sketch is on display, has concluded that it was in fact painted by the Dutch master. “I am convinced that this is a Rembrandt,” said Johanneke Verhave, who restored the work.

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