Category: news

Science reporter, BBC News

Oetzi was killed by an arrow wound to the shoulder an autopsy suggests

Oetzi, the 5,000 year old “Iceman” found in the Italian Alps, may have been ceremonially buried, archaeologists claim.

An autopsy showed that Oetzi had been murdered, dying of an arrow wound.

While this is not disputed, a new study suggests that months after his death, Oetzi’s corpse was carried to the high mountain pass where it was found.

The discovery site therefore may not be a murder scene after all, but a burial ground.

The new study, led by Professor Luca Bondioli of the National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnology in Rome and his US-Italian team, is published in the journal Antiquity.

Oetzi was discovered on the alpine border between Italy and Austria in 1991.

Although thought at first to be the corpse of a modern climber, scientists later proved that the mummified body was more than 5,000 years old.

An autopsy in 2001 further showed that he had been killed by an arrow wound to the shoulder.

Dead and buried

In the new study, researchers produced a detailed map of where the corpse and artefacts were found.

Based on guesses about how the artefacts had dispersed down slope over time, they inferred that the body had originated on a rock platform nearby. They argued that this was a later burial site, and not the original scene of his murder.

This “burial theory” may explain some perplexing facts about Oetzi.

For example, analysis suggests he died in the spring because the pollen of plants that bloom at that time of year is found in his gut. However, pollen within the ice suggests that the corpse was deposited in the late summer.

Professor Bondioli and his team say that these facts makes most sense if the body was deliberately carried to its site of discovery many months after death.

This suggests a burial.

Professor Bondioli elaborated: “Oetzi must have been a very important person to be taken to this high mountain pass for burial. Perhaps he was some sort of a chieftan.”

Not bullet proof

However, Professor Frank Ruehli of the University of Zurich, the medical doctor who performed the original autopsy, is not totally convinced by the burial theory.

He remarked: “The left arm of the corpse is in a weird position. This must have happened at the time of death.”

“If Oetzi was a chieftan, why did his people not move the twisted arm into a more natural position?” he told BBC News. “This would be expected in the burial of an important person”.

Also somewhat sceptical is Dr Wolfgang Muller of Royal Holloway University of London. He studied the chemistry of Oetzi’s teeth and bones to track his migration route through the Alps.

“It’s an interesting new interpretation but it’s not bullet proof,” he said. “However, if Oetzi was buried they must have carried the body a long way because the nearby villages would have been at a low altitude.”

While much remains to be learned about the enigmatic Iceman – as the mummified corpse has been dubbed – one thing is certain: This famous mummy will remain the subject of intense speculation and new research for decades to come.

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Guidelines stress doctors should discuss treatment with their patients

Doctors with religious beliefs are less likely to take decisions which could hasten the death of those who are terminally ill, a study suggests.

The survey of nearly 4,000 doctors found those with a strong faith were also less likely to discuss end-of-life treatment options with their patient.

The London University research urges greater acknowledgement of how beliefs influence care.

Doctors and campaigners described the findings as “concerning”.

Dr Clive Seale of Barts and the London School of Medicine analysed 3,733 responses from doctors practising in a wide variety of fields, with a particular focus on those who worked in palliative care and with the elderly.

The General Medical Council, which regulates the profession, says that while doctors should start from the assumption that life should be prolonged, this should not be at any cost.

While it is illegal to give drugs with the deliberate intention of ending someone’s life, doctors may administer morphine or other medication to relieve pain or distress which may have the effect of shortening life – so-called deep sedation.

The GMC also advises that discussions surrounding end-of-life care, including issues such as tube-feeding, hydration and resuscitation, which can all cause avoidable distress, be started with those who are terminally ill well in advance of their dying days.

Those who described themselves as very or extremely non-religious were about 40% more likely to sedate than religious doctors, the study in the Journal of Medical Ethics reported.

Being very or extremely religious was also associated with significantly fewer discussions of decisions with patients around treatment at the end of life.

More than 12% of the doctors surveyed described themselves as very or extremely religious, compared with just over 6% of the UK general population – as documented in the last national survey of attitudes.

However one in five described themselves as very or extremely non-religious, slightly higher than the general population.

The UK medical population differs in ethnic profile from the population as a whole, with a higher proportion of doctors from South Asian backgrounds.

The survey showed that specialists in the care of the elderly were more likely to be Hindu or Muslim than other doctors, while palliative care doctors were slightly more likely to be white and Christian.

The British Medical Association said: “Decisions about end-of-life care need to be taken on the basis of an assessment of the individual patient’s circumstances – incorporating discussions with the patient and close family members where possible and appropriate.

“The religious beliefs of doctors should not be allowed to influence objective, patient-centred decision-making. End-of-life decisions must always be made in the best interests of patients.”

Professor Mayur Lakhani, chair of the National Council for Palliative Care, said he was concerned by the findings of the paper.

“Core training in palliative care should be mandatory for all doctors to ensure consistency of decision-making, based on best practice and current evidence.

“Decisions must be taken in partnership with people approaching the end of life and those close to them.

Dr Ann McPherson of the charity Dignity in Dying added that while there was growing awareness of the need to put patients’ wishes first, the research indicated there was “still some way to go”.

“The fact that some doctors are not discussing possible options at the end of life with their patients on account of their religious beliefs is deeply troubling.

“Whilst entitled to their beliefs, doctors should not let them come in the way of providing patient-centred care at the end of life.”

David Praill, chief executive of Help the Hospices said the findings highlighted “the maze of complex moral and legal dilemmas that doctors can face when caring for patients at the end of life”.

“Doctors need support to ensure that they have the information, skills and confidence necessary to make the best end of life care decisions with their patients.”

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The Ministry of Justice has begun a review of its legal aid system

Legal aid should be scrapped for almost all civil compensation cases, a right-wing think tank has argued.

The Adam Smith Institute said the current system and no-win no-fee deals were biased towards claimants and offered “dubious value for money”.

It said the UK’s “compensation culture” encouraged people to make claims effectively risk-free.

Ministers said no-win no-fee deals had made justice more accessible, but high costs were now of “serious concern”.

The Adam Smith Institute (ASI) called for the launch of a new system within the no-win no-fee framework, which included a cap on the costs recoverable from unsuccessful defendants.

‘Fundamentally flawed’

Executive director Tom Clougherty said: “The current system of civil litigation in the UK is unfairly stacked in favour of claimants.

“We need to address the risk-free, compensation culture and the excessive costs it brings with it.

“The reforms we’ve proposed will save the taxpayer money while also ensuring a system of funding access to justice that is simple, robust and fair.”

The ASI report said the UK’s over-generous legal aid system was “fundamentally flawed” as the bias in favour of claimants encouraged speculative litigation.

It called for a cap on lawyers’ success fees and so-called after-the-event (ATE) premiums – insurance taken out on the risk of paying opponent’s legal costs.

It argued that capping costs would also deter claimants from bringing weak, low-risk cases, while preserving access to justice in the absence of civil legal aid.

The Ministry of Justice said it had announced the start of a “fundamental” look at the legal aid system to “innovate” and provide value for money.

A spokesman said no-win no-fee style arrangements had played a role in giving access to justice to a range of people.

But he added: “High costs under the existing arrangements have now become a serious concern.

“We will be consulting on how to achieve significant costs savings, whilst still enabling those who need access to justice to obtain it.”

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Patricia Bardon was found dead in her Belfast home

A woman who was murdered was found dead in her home on the day she was due to get married.

The body of Patricia Bardon was discovered at her flat in Elm Court off Donegall Pass in South Belfast on Monday, her 51st birthday.

A man was arrested and remains in police custody.

PSNI Detective Chief Inspector John McVea said they want to know where Ms Bardon was in the days leading up to her death.

The PSNI wants to speak to anyone who saw her or spoke to her anytime between Friday 21 August and Monday 23 August.

The cause of death has not been released.

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The miners are being supplied with glucose and rehydration tablets

The 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground have been told they may not be rescued for several months, the country’s health minister has said.

Jaime Manalich said the miners, trapped 700m below ground since 5 August, had reacted calmly, AFP news agency said.

Officials had delayed breaking the news out of concern for their mental well-being.

A special exercise and recreation programme is being set up to keep the men fit during their long wait.

They will also need to be in shape to be pulled up the 66cm (26 inches) wide shaft that is being bored to rescue them.

That may take up to four months to complete.

“We were able to tell them… they would not be rescued before the Fiestas Patrias [Chile’s Independence Day on 18 September], and that we hoped to get them out before Christmas,” AFP quoted Mr Manalich as saying.

Although they took the news calmly, he said, “a period of depression, anguish and severe malaise” was possible.

The miners had earlier urged every effort be made to free them by Independence Day.

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The BBC’s Gideon Long says parts for a massive drill are arriving on site

The leader of the crew of trapped miners pleaded with Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera to get them “out of this hell”.

The president assured them they had not been abandoned. He told reporters the men would be out by Christmas.

The miners were trapped when the main access tunnel collapsed at the San Jose mine in Copiapo, about 725km (450 miles) north of the capital, Santiago.

They are located 7km (4.5 miles) into the winding copper and gold mine, where they are sheltering in a 50 sq m side-chamber off one of the main passages.

Days of growing despair turned to jubilation on Sunday when rescuers made contact with the miners via a probe lowered into the mine.

The health minister said the surface team wanted the trapped miners to set up routines, entertain themselves and attempt to simulate day and night.

“The space they’re in actually has about two kilometres [1.24 miles] of galleries to walk around in,” said Dr Jaime Manalich.

“We’re hoping to define a secure area where they can establish various places – one for resting and sleeping, one for diversion, one for food, another for work.”

The US space agency Nasa has been called upon for its expertise keeping astronauts alive and well on long missions in confined spaces.

The miners, who spent 17 days surviving on emergency supplies designed for a couple of days, have been receiving glucose and rehydration tablets lowered down a narrow shaft.

Other supplies included small lights, eye patches and medicine. Anti-depressants would be included with the supplies, the health minister said.

An intercom cable has been dropped to them for communications.

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Speaking publicly for the first time since his divorce, Tiger Woods said it is a sad time in his life

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Government security spokesman Alejandro Poire said the bodies had been found in a room

Mexican officials investigating the death of 72 people found murdered at a ranch in the north of the country say they were migrants trying to reach the United States.

They say the 58 men and 14 women had come from South and Central America.

Their bodies were found on Tuesday, after a shoot-out between suspected drug traffickers and security forces.

One of the surviving migrants told police the group had been kidnapped and killed by an armed gang.

The unnamed witness told Mexican officials that he had come from Ecuador, while others in the group were from countries including El Salvador, Honduras and Brazil.

He said the migrants were shot after refusing to work for the gang. He had been injured but managed to escape and alerted marines at a nearby checkpoint.

The military sent troops to investigate. When they arrived, the gang reportedly opened fire.

The victims’ identities and nationalities have not been confirmed, but at a news conference officials said they had been in contact with various embassies.

Alejandro Poire, from Mexico’s National Security Council, condemned the killings.

“This is an extremely serious and absolutely outrageous event which demands the unanimous condemnation from society and authorities,” the government security spokesman told journalists.

The marines had found the bodies in a room, some piled on top of each other, he said.

The BBC’s Julian Miglierini in Mexico City said the deaths highlight the two biggest challenges facing Mexico – the struggle against the drugs trade and illegal migration.

Miguel Molina, a Mexican affairs analyst, told the BBC that migrants from South and Central America are a frequent target for criminal gangs.

“They carry fairly large amounts of cash with them, in order to pay for the transport and every expense they need to make to reach the border,” he said.

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Mexico’s ambassador in London Eduardo Medina-Mora tells Newsnight the problem is a global issue

“All the drug cartels operating in Mexico also have a role to play in the kidnappings of illegal immigrants and otherwise regular people.”

Tamaulipas state – where the incident occurred – has been the scene of fierce fighting between the Zetas and Gulf cartels.

In recent months an increasing number of mass graves have been discovered in various parts of the country.

In June, police recovered 55 bodies from an abandoned mine near Taxco, in Guerrerro state.

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The report cites attacks by US-based or financed Jewish, Muslim and Irish-nationalism terrorists

Whistle-blowing website Wikileaks has published a CIA memo examining the implications of the US being perceived as an “exporter of terrorism”.

The three-page report from February 2010 says the participation of US-based individuals in terrorism is “not a recent phenomenon”.

The memo cites several cases of alleged terrorist acts by US residents.

An official played down the report from the CIA’s so-called Red Cell, saying it was “not exactly a blockbuster paper”.

The Red Cell was set up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to offer an “out-of-the-box” approach and “produce memos intended to provoke thought rather than to provide authoritative assessment”, the CIA website says.

CIA spokesman George Little said: “These sorts of analytic products – clearly identified as coming from the Agency’s ‘Red Cell’ – are designed simply to provoke thought and present different points of view.”

The report, which highlights attacks by US-based or US-financed Jewish, Muslim and Irish-American terrorists, questions how foreign perceptions of the US could change with continued attacks.

“Much attention has been paid recently to the increasing occurrence of American-grown Islamic terrorists conducting attacks against US targets, primarily in the homeland. Less attention has been paid to homegrown terrorism, not exclusively Muslim terrorists, exported overseas to target non-US persons,” the report says.

The memo, titled What If Foreigners See the United States as an ‘Exporter of Terrorism’?, concludes that if the US is perceived by other nations as an “exporter of terrorism”, those countries may be less willing to co-operate with the US in the detention, transfer and interrogation of future suspects.

Wikileaks on 23 July published 76,000 secret US military logs detailing military actions in Afghanistan, an act the US authorities described as highly irresponsible.

The website now says it will release 15,000 further sensitive documents, once it has completed a review aimed at minimising the risk that their publication could put people’s lives in danger.

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Reporter, BBC News

Lost vision could be restored by synthetic corneas made in the lab

Corneas made in the laboratory have markedly improved the sight of 10 Swedish patients with significant vision loss.

Produced entirely from synthetic collagen, the implants offer the tantalising possibility for a replacement to human donor tissues.

The custom-made corneas work by prompting regeneration of the nerves and cells in the eye.

This is the first time vision has been restored in this way.

Our ability to see depends on the cornea, the transparent layer that covers the pupil, iris and front of the eye. Made entirely of collagen, it refracts light to focus images on the retina.

Damage to the cornea is the second biggest cause of blindness worldwide, affecting nearly 10 million people.

In countries where tissue banking is possible, corneal damage and disease is treated by implanting human donor corneas. But there is a worldwide shortage.

The “biosynthetic” implants were made from a synthetic version of human collagen designed to mimic the cornea as closely as possible. Fibrogen, the company that made the implants used yeast and human DNA sequences to create the custom corneas.

Diseased tissue was removed from the corneas of 10 patients and replaced with the implants. They were then followed for two years after surgery to monitor how well the implants were incorporated into the eye.

In six of the patients, vision improved from about 20/400 to 20/100 which means they could see objects four times further away than before the operation.

Sight was restored in all 10 patients who received the artificial implants. However, a number of the patients needed additional assistance from contact lenses.

They were all on the waiting list in Sweden to receive human donor grafts. Dr May Griffith, professor of regenerative medicine at Linkopings University in Sweden was one of the authors of the two year study. She told BBC News she was surprised by its success.

“Our goal was actually just to test the safety of these corneas in humans so the improvement in vision was a real bonus for us.”

The success of the implants is down to their ability to allow tissues in the eye to regrow. “The patients’ own cells and nerves that grow back into this prefabricated scaffold recreate a cornea which resembles normal healthy eye tissue.So essentially it’s stimulating regeneration.”

(L) Biosynthetic cornea 24 hours after surgery showing the sutures holding the cornea in place. (R) 2 years after surgery the implant stays transparent and healthy

The patients all recovered their sight as well as if they had received human donor corneas. In some respects, recovery of the eye was better than when compared to a human graft.

“Nerve regeneration was faster in all patients than it would have been if they had received a human graft.” Professor Griffith told BBC News.

The patients did not experience any problems of rejection of the implant and they did not need long term immune suppression. Both are serious side effects associated with the use of human donor corneas.

Because the cornea is responsible for controlling light that enters the eye it needs to be transparent so has no blood supply. It gets its oxygen from tear fluid. All the biosynthetic corneas were able to produce normals tears as well as becoming sensitive to touch.

Prosthetic corneas made from synthetic plastic are already used for patients who have previously had unsuccessful donor grafts but these can be difficult to implant and can cause infection, glaucoma and detachment of the retina.

The authors are keen to stress this is only an initial clinical study on 10 people but are optimistic about its potential once further clinical trials are done.

The research is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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Tiger Woods: ‘It’s a sad time in our lives’

Tiger Woods’ ex-wife has said she never suspected him of cheating on her, and went “through hell” after finding out about his affairs.

In an interview with People magazine, Elin Nordegren denied claims that she had hit him with a golf club, and said she had tried to save their marriage.

Revelations about his affairs emerged after he crashed his car last November.

The golfer said he was sad about their divorce, which was finalised on Monday, and wished Ms Nordegren the best.

They had been married for six years.

In her interview with People, Ms Nordegren denied media allegations that she had hit the golfer when she found out about his affairs.

“There was never any violence inside or outside our home. The speculation that I would have used a golf club to hit him is just truly ridiculous,” she said.

At the time of the crash, Mr Woods had said his wife had used a golf club to smash one of the car windows and get him out of the vehicle.

She told the magazine: “I did everything I could to get him out of the locked car. To think anything else is absolutely wrong.”

In a news conference on Wednesday, Mr Woods admitted that it was a sad time in their lives, and his mistakes had doomed their marriage.

“My actions certainly led us to this decision. I’ve certainly made a lot of errors in my life and that’s something I’m going to have to live with,” he told journalists in a pre-tournament briefing.

“You don’t ever go into a marriage looking to get divorced. That’s the thing – that’s why it is sad. I wish her the best in everything.”

Soon after the crash in November, several women came forward and claimed they had had affairs with Mr Woods.

In February, he publicly apologised and admitted that he had been unfaithful to Ms Nordegren, a former model.

“I’m so embarrassed that I never suspected – not a one,” she said in the interview.

“For the past three-and-a-half years, when all this was going on, I was home a lot more with pregnancies, then the children and my school.

“I’ve been through hell. It’s hard to think you have this life, and then all of a sudden – was it a lie?”

She also said she had “not watched one minute of golf”.

Mr Woods also admitted his mind had not been on the golf.

“As far as my game and practising, that’s been secondary. We’re trying to get our kids situated to our new living conditions and how that’s going to be,” he said.

Ms Nordegren did not disclose details of the financial settlement in the divorce, but US media reports have suggested that she will receive more than $100m (£64.4m).

Mr Woods is the world’s richest sportsman, though he lost the support of several major sponsors, including AT&T and Gatorade, following news of his affairs.

The couple married in October 2004 in Barbados and have a three-year-old daughter, Sam, and a 19-month-old son, Charlie.

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Science correspondent, BBC News

The supercomputer simulates how gas behaves when two galaxies merge

The colossal black holes at the centres of galaxies probably formed shortly after the Big Bang, a study suggests.

Some of these behemoths are billions of times more massive than our Sun.

Supercomputer simulations indicate the conditions for the birth and growth of these giants could have been set in play by the merger of galaxies when the cosmos was just a few hundred million years old.

The research, by Lucio Mayer and colleagues, is published in Nature.

The team’s modelling found that the collision and union of two early galaxies could produce an enormous disc of rotating gas, and that this disc could become unstable and fall in on itself in rapid time.

The simulation showed gas with a mass equivalent to hundreds of millions of Suns accumulating in a small region of space in just a few thousand years after the merger.

And the properties of this cloud meant it could gravitationally collapse at high speed into a black hole, perhaps directly without going through any transient phase in which a star is formed first – the familiar route.

Even a “seed” hole of a few hundred million solar masses could then go on to become a billion-solar-mass hole in very short order by continuing to accumulate gas, the modelling found.

Today, enormous black holes seem to lie at the centres of most large galaxies. Although these objects cannot be seen directly, their existence is betrayed by nearby stars whose high velocities can only be explained if they are being pulled along by something with an immense gravitational attraction.

Understanding how these supermassive black holes came into being and how they evolved is a major question in astrophysics.

“There is an amazing correlation between black holes and their galaxies,” observed Professor Marta Volonteri from the University of Michigan.

“Every time you look in a galaxy for a [supermassive] black hole, you find it; and the mass of the black hole is typically a 1,000 times less than the mass of the galaxy.

“How has such a great correlation been established? How is it possible they knew so well about each other throughout these past 13 billion years? So, we really want to know how the black holes started and how they grew with time,” she told BBC News.

Professor Volonteri was not part of the team which did the modelling but the originator of the theory tested in the Nature-published research.

Professor Mayer said the new study had major consequences for the apparent size relationship between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies.

It challenged the idea galaxies grew in a hierarchical fashion, in incremental steps in which gravity pulls small masses together to form progressively larger structures, University of Zurich scientist added.

“If we are right, one expects that [in the early Universe] there will be no clear relation as in the present-day Universe, since the black holes would be already very massive (because they form in only a few hundred thousand years after galaxy collisions) while the galaxies still have to grow a lot until the present time.

“New data are beginning to show that maybe this is what is happening,” Professor Mayer told BBC News.

“This, of course, would distinguish our model from the old one in which small seed black holes are formed first from the collapse of primordial stars and then slowly grow to the present sizes.(In this case, galaxies and massive black holes grow in parallel; while in our case, black holes grow much faster than galaxies.)”

[email protected]

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The ‘biofuel cells’ work by borrowing technology from living cells

Battery-like “biofuel cells” could in the future run on an energy drink or even vegetable oil, says a researcher.

A prototype cell has been described at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in the US.

The idea makes use of mitochondria, the power stations that in most living cells turn food into energy.

While applications may be far in the future, the work is a milestone in the integration of parts of a living cell into an electronic device.

Shelley Minteer of St Louis University in Missouri, US, said the devices could in the future replace disposable batteries in some applications.

Dr Minteer has been part of a wider research effort that is borrowing some of nature’s tricks for energy production.

Typically this involves the breaking down and rebuilding of molecules in a form that can be used by cells. That process unleashes electrons along the way – electrons that can be corralled and become electricity.

Until now, the efforts of Dr Minteer and her collaborators have focused on the use of enzymes, molecules that are expert at breaking down particular “fuel” molecules such as methanol or glucose.

But the new effort makes use of one of the living cell’s tiny constituent parts known as mitochondria.

These are a whole ensemble of enzymes working together to convert a range of “fuel” molecules into a form that cells can directly use.

“In order to be able to completely consume a fuel… you need a whole series of enzymes, anywhere from three, for something simple, to 22 for something like glucose, and you need to get these enzymes to work together,” Dr Minteer told BBC News.”The mitochondria channel the fuel from enzyme one directly to enzyme two and so on; they do this metabolism far more efficiently than we do by putting a soup of enzymes down on the electrode.”

The demonstration device has only been used with simple fuels made of a single type of molecule, as the enzyme approaches have required until now. But future efforts will aim to make the cells work with more familiar sources of energy.

“Mitochondria can break down a wide variety of fuels,” Dr Minteer explained.

“That means it can handle fuel mixtures that you might see in, say, an energy drink or a protein shake.”

‘New domain’

The work remains firmly at the experimental stage, and the researchers are working to change the materials used in the biofuel cells to make them produce more power.

However, the biofuel cell application may not be the most relevant focus, said Plamen Atanassov, director of the Center for Emerging Energy Technologies at the University of New Mexico.

Professor Atanassov told BBC News that the work was a “seminal achievement for biotechnology to be able to introduce [cell parts] into technical devices, especially in the context of energy harvesting,” but conceded that “whether it will have an immediate practical application remains to be seen”.

He said that “with all the acceleration that technology advances give us, things don’t happen overnight”, observing that it was a full 50 years between the first demonstration of a standard fuel cell and the Gemini space missions that first used them.

“The main contribution for this work is in the fundamental bridging of biotechnology and nanotechnology,” he explained.

“It ultimately may lead to the introduction of a whole new domain of fuels that we would never otherwise be able to tap.”

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Food labels such as “natural” and “pure” are confusing shoppers, according to a survey. But even more misunderstood are the E numbers that populate ingredient lists, says Stefan Gates, who set out to see if additives are as bad as is often assumed.

“Start Quote

At lunch I downed several frozen pizzas, then veered dangerously from Pot Noodle to UHT squirty cream”

End QuoteStefan GatesFood writer

Why would anyone do something as irresponsible as try to overload on sweeteners, flavourings, emulsifiers and preservatives, when food additives are a byword for culinary evil?

In Europe, these are given E numbers; in the United States and elsewhere, the full name is increasingly listed on food labels.

Yet how many consumers would believe that such additives may actually be good for us? The boom in organic and natural foods in recent years betrays our trust in nature over science. Yet a survey by Which? magazine has found terms such as “natural”, “fresh”, “pure” and “real”, which readily appear on the front of food packaging, are confusing consumers because they are largely unregulated.

Conversely, it is the additives tucked way in the small print of a product’s ingredients list that are heavily regulated. And when you look at clinical rather than anecdotal evidence, and speak to clinical dieticians, it appears these are actually good for us – and many seem to be very good for us indeed.

This flies in the face of popular perception, so I decided to use myself as a nutritional and medical guinea pig. A lot of fine and expensive foods are made using Es as preservatives, including the best wines (E220 – sulphur dioxide) and the finest hams (E252 – potassium nitrate).

But posh nosh isn’t synonymous with additives in the way convenience food is.

So I stocked up on fizzy drinks, ready meals, sweets, frozen pizzas, crisps, battered onion rings, hot dogs (in bread rolls, ready to zap), packet soups and instant noodles for my e-binge. I also laid in a fair amount of salami and ham, partly because of the preservatives E250 and E252, and partly because if I’m poisoning myself, I might as well eat something I love.

The sweets contained a rainbow of colours, the pizzas a hodgepodge of emulsifiers, stabilisers and preservatives, and the crisps boasted a gallimaufry of flavour enhancers. And the instant soup? A melange of pretty much every E number under the sun.

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Red or white? How food colouring fooled wine buffs

Are these actually bad for you? Words like “preservative”, “emulsifier” and “stabiliser” sound bizarre and scary for something you put in your mouth. But lemon juice is an antioxidant preservative, also known as E330 (citric acid), egg yolk is emulsifier E322 (lecithin) when added to oil to make mayonnaise, and stabilisers include E460, or cellulose, which comes straight from plants.

And the E numbered nitrate and nitrite preservatives in bacon, ham and sausages, linked to bowel cancer by the World Cancer Research Fund? Removing these would increase the risk of food poisoning caused by botulism, a virulent pathogen all but eradicated from our food, not least because a natural version – saltpetre – has been used for centuries.

Then started the eating of the Es. My kids kindly made me some very colourful jellies for breakfast, then poured me a vast bucket of cereals, which contained vitamins such as E101 (vitamin B2) and E170 (calcium carbonate), a nutritional calcium supplement.

I washed this down with a yoghurt drink containing E410 – locust bean gum, added for dietary fibre – and snacked on a steady intake of Wotsits and Monster Munch – both shaped corn snacks – Pringles and prawn cocktail crisps.

By 10am I’d eaten enough for a whole day and felt bilious and shameful – but undeterred. At lunch I downed several frozen pizzas, then veered dangerously from Pot Noodle to UHT squirty cream. I then ate a few chocolate bars.

In the evening I was reduced to liquidising food in a blender to get it down. I necked chicken poppets mixed with battered onion rings, and dessert was a smoothie of cheesecake, chocolate milkshake and crisps – a surprising tasty combo.

By the end of the day I felt like a balloon of slurry on the verge of bursting. I’d eaten 50 different E numbers, but have I eaten enough to poison myself?

MSG (E621) is demonised, but those sensitive to it may also react to glutamate in broccoli…

No, said my GP, Dr Jonty Heaversedge, who explained that the basic toxicology principle for safe consumption was a 100-fold safety margin.

Scientists work out how much of any E number an animal can eat on a daily basis before having any ill effects, divide that by 10 (in case humans are more sensitive than animals) and then divide by 10 again, just to be safe.

Many Es are so safe there is no acceptable daily intake (ADI) level – this is the case for 32 of my 50 Es. Others have strict ADIs, although these limits aren’t indicated on food packaging. Of E202, the preservative potassium sorbate, for instance, you can eat up to 25mg for each kg of your body weight.

Despite my greed, I only reached 50% of my ADI on two out of all the Es I have eaten – annatto, or E160b, a natural yellow dye used in foods such as cheesy crisps, fish fingers and pastry, and E250, sodium nitrite, a cured meat preservative. On the latter, I was way over – up to 704% of the acceptable daily intake if all the ham, bacon and salami I’d eaten contained the maximum possible levels.

So, had I overdosed? Yes, but not on E numbers.

… or in Parmesan and cheddar cheeses

Dr Heaversedge wasn’t worried about my E consumption, not even sodium nitrite (remember that 100-fold safety margin). What he was horrified by was the fact I’d eaten 418% of my recommended daily allowance of fat, 500% of my salt RDA and 218% of my sugar RDA. So the biggest nutritional culprits in my binge came in purely organic form and had no E numbers.

Our fear of additives can be dangerous – it belies the much bigger nutritional implications of unbalanced diets, food poisoning, physical inactivity and dietary disorders. You shouldn’t eat too many E numbers, but then you shouldn’t eat too much of anything – remember, there’s cyanide in apples, but they’re still good for you.

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The BBC’s Hugh Sykes says there is a suggestion of al-Qaeda involvement

At least 50 people have been killed in a series of apparently co-ordinated bomb attacks across Iraq.

The deadliest killed 19 people in the southern city of Kut. Several blasts hit Baghdad, including a suicide bombing in which 15 died.

There were also attacks in other major cities. Officials blame al-Qaeda.

Correspondents say the violence highlights fears about the stability of Iraq ahead of the formal end of US combat operations next week.

Almost all of Wednesday’s attacks targeted security forces.

In Baghdad, the suicide car bomb hit a police station in the Qahira district in the north-east of the city killing 15 people, most of them police.

Police and hospital officials said 58 people were wounded in the explosion, which left a crater 3m (10ft) wide and caused houses to collapse, trapping people inside.

“We woke up to the sound of this powerful explosion that shook the area,” resident Abu Ahmed, 35, told the Associated Press news agency.

“I searched for victims in the destroyed houses, and evacuated seven dead children and some women.”

Elsewhere in the capital, smaller explosions killed at least four people and injured many others.