The reason you love a dark roasted coffee, a hoppy beer or a sweet cola could be the way it makes you feel rather than its taste, a new study finds.

Scientists have long believed that variations in our taste genes dictated our preference for bitter or sweet drinks.  But researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, say they found that it actually come from genes related to the psychoactive properties of these beverages.  This means we actually make our beverage choices based on the mental reward rather than whether we think it tastes good.

For the study, published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, the team categorized beverages in two groups: bitter-tasting and sweet-tasting.  The bitter group included beer, coffee, grapefruit juice, liquor, red wine and beer.  The sweet group included artificially sweetened beverages like diet sodas, non-grapefruit juices such as orange juice, and sugar-sweetened beverages like soda.

Researchers recruited 336,000 people from the UK Biobank study, a long-term study on how genetic predisposition and environmental exposure contributes to the development of disease.  Participants recalled what they ate and drank over a 24-hour period and answered questionnaires.

The team found that the adults made their choices based more on mental reward rather than taste.  For example, people may like the way stimulants, such as caffeine, found in coffee and sodas, wakes them up or causes a euphoric feeling.  Or people may enjoy the calming, anxiety-reducing effects caused by ethanol found in alcoholic beverages.

Lead author Dr Marylin Cornelis, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University said: 'The genetics underlying our preferences are related to the psychoactive components of these drinks.  People like the way coffee and alcohol make them feel.  That's why they drink it.  It's not the taste.'

Researchers did find one gene variant, however, that was associated with sugar-sweetened drinks.  The FTO gene has been linked to obesity, but the team found that people with the variant in the gene that lowered the risk of obesity also preferred sugar-sweetened beverages.

Dr Cornelis said: 'It's counterintuitive.  FTO has been something of a mystery gene, and we don't know exactly how it's linked to obesity.  It likely plays a role in behavior, which would be linked to weight management.'

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Listening to higher quality music improves our mental well-being and physical health, a survey has found.

More than 3,000 people across seven European countries revealed that people who listen to audio for two hours or more a day are happier than those who don't.   People who listened to music for three or more hours a day also claim it is more essential than coffee, sex, or TV.

Better quality sound, it found, makes the music feel more emotional than went it comes from a lower quality source.  Professor Daniel Müllensiefen, music psychologist at Goldsmith's College, University of London, said: 'High sound quality has a significant correlation to stronger positive emotions, a richer musical experience and general happiness.  It is also exciting to note that this is apparently not a culturally influenced effect, since there were hardly any differences in the results between the individual countries.'

People in the UK, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, France, Denmark and Sweden answered an online survey by Sonos assessing how sound affected their lives.  Over half of respondents (58 per cent) said music reveals more about a person than their political leaning, while 46 per cent say musical preferences could change the way they think of a politician.

People also see music as a key way of viewing people, with three quarters of people saying they feel an instant connection to people who like the same music.

Music is also crucial for many people in reducing stress levels.  Thirty-eight per cent of people reported feeling stress-free while listening to music, despite only five per cent of people saying they have a stress-free life.

What we choose to listen to also varies hugely in different regions, with people in the UK preferring podcasts.  EU listeners prefer podcasts about culture, crime, science and medicinal topics while Britons prefer shows oriented on music, TV, film and comedy.

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Scientists have already begun preparations for an asteroid flyby a decade away.  Asteroid Apophis, named for the serpentine Egyptian god of chaos (also known as Apep), will whizz past Earth on April 13, 2029 at a distance of just 31,000 kilometers from the surface.  That is as close as some of the satellites currently orbiting our planet, NASA notes.

While researchers have all but ruled out the possibility of the 340-meter object slamming into Earth, the close shave will present a unique opportunity to study an asteroid in detail; most others that come this close are much smaller.

Marina Brozović, a radar scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who works on radar observations of near-Earth objects (NEOs) said: ‘The Apophis close approach in 2029 will be an incredible opportunity for science.  We’ll observe the asteroids with both optical and radar telescopes.  With radar observations, we might be able to see surface details that are only a few meters in size.’

It’s expected to make its closest approach just before 6 p.m. EDT, when it will be over the Atlantic Ocean.  According to NASA, however, it will be visible in the sky hours before this point.

Apophis will first appear in the night sky over the southern hemisphere, making itself known to viewers on the east coast of Australia.

It will then travel westward to reach the equator by early afternoon before crossing over the United States by around 7 p.m.

The massive space rock will be traveling so fast, it will traverse the full width of the moon in less than a minute, NASA says.  While 31,000 kilometers might sound far away, the space agency says it’s rare for an object of this size to come so close.

Thankfully, the chances of an impact are extremely slim.  Despite initial calculations that put the chances of a 2029 collision at 2.7 per cent, scientists have further refined its orbit and now say they've ruled out the possibility of an impact for the upcoming approach, and estimate the risk sits at ‘less than 1 in 100,000 many decades from now.’

The approach will, however, have an effect on Apophis.  ‘We already know that the close encounter with Earth will change Apophis’ orbit, but our models also show the close approach could change the way this asteroid spins, and it is possible that there will be some surface changes, like small avalanches,’ said Davide Farnocchia, an astronomer at JPL’s Center for Near Earth Objects Studies (CNEOS), who is co-chairing the April 30 session on Apophis with Brozović.

Scientists are meeting recently at the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in College Park, Maryland to discuss the close approach and plan how they’ll make the most of this rare scientific opportunity.

Paul Chodas, director of CNEOS said: ‘Apophis is a representative of about 2,000 currently known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs).  By observing Apophis during its 2029 flyby, we will gain important scientific knowledge that could one day be used for planetary defense.’

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Pet owners are being warned that close affection with their dogs and cats may be life-threatening.  Treating them like a human by giving kisses or cuddles could spread drug-resistant bugs through saliva, scientists fear.

Psychologists quizzed scores of pet owners and discovered many are unnecessarily asking vets to give out antibiotics.  Bacteria can become drug resistant when people, or animals, take incorrect doses of antibiotics or if they are given out too easily.  This means bugs that strike pets could eventually develop resistance, and be passed onto humans who are too affectionate.  But the psychologists behind the study warn the behaviours are 'so deeply treasured they are unlikely to be amenable to change'.  The researchers have now offered tips to help reduce the risk, with advice such as not kissing pets on the mouth.

Glasgow Caledonian University experts, led by health psychologist Adele Dickson, interviewed 35 pet owners for the study.  All owners had pets that had been treated with antibiotics, for the study published in the journal Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine.

Dr Dickson, the owner of a two-year-old golden retriever, said: 'This close contact could potentially put adults, children and the pets themselves at risk of transferring bugs that are resistant to antibiotics through saliva.  I would also advise any open wounds be covered so there's no risk of transferring anything from skin to skin. '

Despite the findings, Dr Dickson said that the risk is low and that owners do not have to stop enjoying an affectionate relationship with their pet.  She urged people to adopt small changes that can reduce the risk of building life-threatening resistance to antibiotics.  These include a discussion with vets and GPs about if the need for antibiotics is necessary, and making sure pets eat from their own bowls.

Other steps include avoiding kissing pets on the mouth, not letting them lick the mouth and nose and washing hands after stroking animals.  Dr Dickson said: 'The biggest take-home message to pet owners from this study is to think twice about whether your pet, you, your children or other family members actually need antibiotics.  Many pet owners told us they felt a sense of guardianship and protection towards their pet when it became ill and they would specifically ask for antibiotics to reassure themselves that they were helping but it's actually doing more harm than good if they are not necessary.'

She added: 'I know how important that affectionate relationship between the owner and their pet is to both mental and physical health and well-being.  I'm not saying pet owners need to stop showing affection for their companion animals because we know from our research and from speaking to 23 British dog, cat and rabbit owners who shared their stories that these behaviours are so deeply treasured they are unlikely to be amenable to change.'

Three cats and a dog in the UK were found to carry bacteria 'armed' with a gene that can drive resistance to a last-ditch antibiotic, scientists said in April.  Public Health England feared the 'resistant gene' - known as optrA - could spread between bacteria found in animals and their owners.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the world is heading for a 'post-antibiotic' era.

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Glaciers will melt away in half of the Natural World Heritage sites where they currently exist if global greenhouse gases emissions continue unchecked.  This is the finding of experts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and ETH Zurich, who made the first global study of World Heritage glaciers.

Even in a low-emission future, eight sites will still lose their glaciers by the end of the century, the researchers found.  In any case, 33–60 per cent of the ice volume currently found in Natural World Heritage sites in 2017 will be gone by the year 2100.  Natural World Heritage sites are currently home to some of the Earth's most iconic glaciers — including Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier, Nepal's Khumbu Glacier and Switzerland's Great Aletsch Glacier.

In their study, the researchers combined computer modelling with a global inventory to assess glaciers presently found on World Heritage sites and predict how they will likely change over the 21st Century.  From this, the researchers collated the first ever register of the glaciers covered by the UNESCO World Heritage list, comprising 19,000 glaciers in total.

Glaciers are currently present in 46 of the 247 Natural World Heritage sites.  Should greenhouse gas emissions continue largely unchecked, researchers found that 21 of the 46 currently ice-covered Natural World Heritage sites would lose their glaciers by 2100.

The researchers found that many iconic landscapes within the World Heritage sites will be altered by rising temperatures.

Home to some of the largest glaciers on the Earth, Argentina's Los Glaciares National Park is predicted to lose around 60 per cent of its current ice volume by the turn of the century.

In Europe, the small glaciers in the Pyrénées – Mont Perdu site are expected to completely disappear as soon as 2040.

The researchers also found that, in North America, over 70 per cent of the glacier ice found in Canada's Rocky Mountain Parks, the Olympic National Park in Washington State and the Glacier National Park will be lost by 2100.  This will occur even if carbon dioxide emissions are radically reduced.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Te Wahipounamu Park — which presently contains 75 per cent of the country's glaciers, including the Franz Josef and Fox Glacier — will lose from 25 up to 80 per cent of its current ice volume by the end of the century.

Glaciers are vital for both ecosystems and societies located across the globe.  IUCN World Heritage Programme director Peter Shadie said: 'Losing these iconic glaciers would be a tragedy and have major consequences for the availability of water resources, sea level rise and weather patterns.  This unprecedented decline could also jeopardise the listing of the sites in question on the World Heritage list.  States must reinforce their commitments to combat climate change and step up efforts to preserve these glaciers for future generations.'

Study author Jean-Baptiste Bosson, who is a member of the IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas, said: 'To preserve the iconic glaciers found in World Heritage sites, we urgently need to see significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.  This is the only way of avoiding long-lasting and irreversible glacier decline and the related major natural, social, economic and migratory cascading consequences.  This study on glacier decline further emphasises the need for individual and collective actions to achieve the mitigation and adaptation aspirations of the Paris Agreement on climate change.'

In November 2017, an IUCN report concluded that climate change is the fastest growing threat to Natural World Heritage sites.  The number of such sites challenged by climate change has doubled between 2014 and 2017.

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Earth’s Future.

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In the U.S., coal-fired power is running out of steam as renewable energy is poised to eclipse the amount of energy produced by coal plants.

A report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), has projected that as of April 2019, power derived from hydro, biomass, wind, solar and geothermal, will generate more energy than traditional coal-powered plants.   Should that occur, it would mark a first for the renewable energy sector.

IEEFA says the trend could potentially extend into the month of May, in a promising signal for renewable energy adoption.  This trend will happen sporadically throughout the next several years, says the IEEFA, as renewable energy becomes cheaper and the world's attention focuses on mitigating the effects of carbon-fueled climate change by turning away from fossil fuels.

Growth in both solar and wind power has been particularly stark with the former producing 48 times more electricity than it did a decade ago due to cheaper equipment and government incentives.

Though renewable energy is aided in its displacement of coal by a seasonal dip in the resource's usage - coal plants typically decrease output in Spring as energy consumption decelerates and some plants shut down for maintenance - the positive trend is significant, especially when factoring in a struggling coal industry.

Coupled with a rise in renewables has been a diametric trend of declining coal consumption.  Last year, coal hit a nearly 40-year low in terms of proportional usage in the U.S.  Coal has fallen out of favor in part due to decreasing costs of natural gas.  In 2016, coal was dethroned as the America's fuel of choice by natural gas, a feat aided in part by a thriving hydro-fracking industry that continues to pump abundant fossil fuels out of the Bakken Oil Shale in North Dakota.  The decline has continued even despite renewed interest from President Donald Trump in reinvigorating the coal industry.

Even with the rapid ingress of renewable energy, solar, wind, and hydroelectric still constitute a relatively small portion of U.S. production.  According to the Energy Information Administration, renewable energy supplies about 11 per cent of America's energy while fossil fuels supply 80 per cent.

With the decline of coal, however, more players in the fossil fuel industry are transitioning to renewable energy in hopes of ensuring their futures both economically and otherwise.

In March, Excel energy - a $30 billion company that generated half of its energy using coal - announced that it will close a quarter of its plants and aim to produce zero-carbon energy by 2050 according to CNN.

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If you are concerned your partner might be cheating on you, look closely at his face.  A man's face may display clues on whether he has been unfaithful or stolen someone else's partner.  However, researchers found, women's faces do not provide any signs of infidelity.

When 751 men and women were shown pictures of male faces in a study, almost one in five were able to predict if that man would cheat or get together with someone in a relationship.

It helps women be wary of potential partners who are least likely to help raise a family.  Men, meanwhile, benefit from knowing those peers who may be planning to steal their wife or girlfriend.

The predictions were not always right but came in above the odds of getting it right through chance.  The key clue seems to be masculinity, as men with manly faces are more likely to pursue no-strings sex and have multiple partners.  Perhaps surprisingly, however, better looking men were no more likely to steal someone else's partner.

The study, from the University of Western Australia, states: 'From an evolutionary perspective, there are significant reproductive costs associated with having an unfaithful partner.  Both sexes risk losing valuable resources or even one's mate to a competitor.  In addition, men also risk being cuckolded and investing their resources in a genetically unrelated child.'

Our caveman past may be to blame for our ability to identify an untrustworthy man.  At that time, men needed to spot rivals so they were not providing scarce food and protection to children fathered by another man instead of their own.  Cavewomen might have lost an important partner if his head was easily turned and he ran off with someone else.

To test if we have indeed evolved to spot untrustworthy men, researchers presented people with 100 photographs of men.  They were asked to rate them on a 10-point scale for being 'unfaithful'.  The pictures were of men who had already provided information on their past infidelity.

The study results show both men and women successfully singled out those men who were untrustworthy with a success rate better than chance.  Among individuals, 14 to 18 per cent got it right with above-chance accuracy.

Photographs of the men's faces had previously been rated by other people for their masculinity, attractiveness and trustworthiness.  The results show that men and women were more likely to judge men with masculine faces as being unfaithful, and that this was likely to be correct.

The study states: 'Male masculinity signals men's tendency to adopt short-term mating strategies, with more masculine men having more sexual partners and having more positive attitudes towards uncommitted sex and multiple matings.'

It has been suggested that more attractive men are more likely to cheat, as other women will try to 'lure' them away.  But the study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, did not find that to be the case.  How 'untrustworthy' someone's face appeared was also not found to be important.

Researchers also asked men and women to predict how likely women in photographs were to be unfaithful, but they did not manage to do this.  That may be because women with feminine faces are not thought to be more likely to cheat, so any facial clues are less obvious.

The study did not find people could judge men's faces with high accuracy however, and the study concludes that 'we should not rely on our first impressions to make diagnostic judgment of unfaithfulness in everyday situations.'

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Lightning does indeed strike the same place twice, according to scientific research that has identified a new feature in the weather phenomenon.

Dutch experts used a new radio telescope called the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) to examine lightening strikes in more detail than ever before.  The telescope helped them to identify 'needle' structures inside the channels through which electrical charges flow during a lightening strike.   Leftover charges not released during the first lightening strike are stored in these needles and can trigger a second strike through the same channel, they found.

Researchers from the Groningen University in The Netherlands used LOFAR, which is made up of thousands of antennas spread across northern Europe, to make the finding.  LOFAR'S antennas are connected with a central computer through fibre-optic cables, which means they can operate as a single unit.  The telescope has been developed primarily for radio astronomy observations.  But their frequency range also makes it suitable for lightning research.

Discharges of electrical charge, which cause a lightening flash produce bursts in the VHF (very high frequency) radio band.  Professor Olaf Scholten, a physicist at the university, said: 'The reason why the needles have never been seen before lies in the "supreme capabilities" of LOFAR.  This finding is in sharp contrast to the present picture, in which the charge flows along plasma channels directly from one part of the cloud to another, or to the ground.'

Lightning occurs when strong upward drafts in the air generate static electricity in large and dense rainstorm clouds.  Parts of the cloud become positively charged and others negatively charged.  When this charge separation is large enough a violent discharge of electricity happens - also known as lightning.

A single flash cannot get rid of all the charged electrons flowing through lightening channels in one go.  Some remain stored inside structures that have been identified by scientists as 'needles'.

First author Dr Brian Hare, a member of Prof Scholten's lab, added: 'These needles can have a length of 100 metres (330ft) and a diameter of less than five metres (16ft) - and are too small and too short-lived for other lightning detection systems.  These data allow us to detect lightning propagation at a scale where, for the first time, we can distinguish the primary processes.  Furthermore, the use of radio waves allows us to look inside the thundercloud, where most of the lightning resides.'

It was already known a large amount of VHF emissions is produced at the growing tips of the negative channels.  The positive ones occur along the channel - not the tip.

The scientists developed a new algorithm for LOFAR data, allowing them to visualise the VHF radio emissions from two lightning flashes.  The antenna array and the very precise time stamp on all the data allowed them to pinpoint the emission sources with unprecedented resolution.

Professor Scholten said: 'Close to the core area of LOFAR, where the antenna density is highest, the spatial accuracy was about one metre.'

Furthermore, the data obtained was capable of localising 10 times more VHF sources than other three-dimensional imaging systems, with a temporal resolution in the range of nanoseconds.  This resulted in a high-resolution 3D image of the lightning discharge.

Professor Scholten: 'The VHF emissions along the positive channel are due to rather regularly repeated discharges along previously formed side channels, the needles.  These needles appear to drain the charges in a pulsed manner.'

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Nature.

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Boston Dynamics' robots can do more than just walk, jump and climb stairs.  In a new video, the company demonstrated just how powerful its Spotpower robot dogs have gotten, as a pack of them are shown pulling a truck across a parking lot.  All it takes is ten of the advanced robots to drag a vehicle that's in neutral gear.

Boston Dynamics noted that the robots were able to haul the truck at an approximately 1 degree angle uphill, though it doesn't say what the distance was or the duration of the haul.  That said, it still signifies a remarkable feat for the robot dogs, which were first introduced in 2017 as a four-legged nimble robot.

Boston Dynamics noted that its robot dogs are so advanced that they're now being rolled off the production line and will be available for a range of applications soon.  The company didn't specify just how the Spotpower will be put to work, but previous suggestions have included deployment in warehouses, disaster relief situations or even security purposes.  It's also unclear what the robots will be priced at or when they'll launch.   It comes as Boston Dynamics has said it hopes to have the Spotpower available for purchase by sometime this year.

A video shared by the firm last October showed the robot being put to use in the workplace.  In it, the firm said Spot autonomously navigated two construction sites in Tokyo and used a 'specialized payload for surveying work progress.'

Spot is just less than three feet tall and has 3D vision, as well as 17 joints to help it move nimbly.

Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said earlier this year that he hopes Spot can be used in a variety of industries, including construction, delivery, security and home assistance.  Raibert also denied skeptics' beliefs that his firm's robots would one day be used to kill - insisting that they're more likely to take on the role of servant in the future.

Raibert said: 'We think about that, but that's also true for cars, airplanes, computers, lasers.  Every technology you can imagine has multiple ways of using it.  If there's a scary part, it's just that people are scary.  I don't think the robots by themselves are scary.'

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Microplastics can be carried along for miles by the wind, travelling efficiently through the atmosphere to reach the remotest of regions, a shock new study has found.

It is known microplastics can travel long distances via waterways, depositing fibres from human clothing, but little research has looked at their transport through the air.

A study of the air on a remote mountain in the French Pyrenees showed that significant amounts of microplastics were being deposited daily into the atmosphere from locations almost 60 miles away.

Plastic pollution on Earth is set to double by 2030, threatening wildlife and human health and microplastics are being increasingly found in remote areas of our planet.  Previously, microparticles have shown up in the Arctic, where the process of freezing and melting sea ice transports plastic particles.  They were recently found in the Forni mountain glaciers in Switzerland, confirming the widespread contamination of natural resources.

Evidence exists for microplastics being transported by air are also available, but mostly for dense megacities such as Dongguan in China and Paris in France.

Few studies have been carried out in remote regions where there is little human interference.  In the current study, scientists from Edinburgh analysed samples collected over five months taken from the air around various remote regions.  They found, on average, 249 fragments, 73 films and 44 fibres, were being deposited every day per square metre.

Employing a technique known as air mass trajectory analysis, the researchers calculated that the microplastics had been transported over a distance of 59 miles (95km).

The scientists say their findings show that microplastics can reach and affect remote, sparsely inhabited areas through atmospheric transport.  The process of freezing and melting sea ice in the Arctic makes it a particularly good transporter of plastic particles.  Even larvaceans found in the sea have been shown to provide a pathway for transporting microplastics into deep-sea food webs.

Recent expeditions to collect samples in the Arctic found record levels of microplastics and fragments that included polyethylene, nylon, polyester and cellulose acetate.  High levels of paint and nylon particles were also obtained.

Environmental charity WWF International has warned plastic waste in the oceans could reach 300 million tons in just over a decade.  That would double the amount of plastic in the ocean, which took more than half a century to build up between 1950 and 2016.  Almost a third of all plastics produced, or 104 million tons annually, will find their way into the oceans and natural world.

The full report of the study was published in Natural Geosciences.

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