Overweight young adults may have poorer episodic memory – the ability to recall past events – than their peers, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge, adding to increasing evidence of a link between memory and overeating.

Almost all of our genes may be influenced by the food we eat, according to new research published in the journal Nature Microbiology. The study, carried out in yeast – which can be used to model some of the body’s fundamental processes – shows that while the activity of our genes influences our metabolism, the opposite is also true and the nutrients available to cells influence our genes.

Researchers have found that glacial erosion and melting ice caps both played a key role in driving the observed global increase in volcanic activity at the end of the last ice age. 

A bewildering physics problem has apparently been solved by researchers, in a study which provides a mathematical basis for understanding issues ranging from predicting the formation of deserts, to making artificial intelligence more efficient.