What does dirty air do to your skin?

It’s time for another edition of must-read science and technology stories for New Scientist. This week, I’m bringing you old coral, even older technology, and a video you will definitely want to check out. Before all that though, a warning for your skin.

Mounting evidence points to air pollution as a cause of eczema

If, like me, you live in a city, you are probably already aware about the health risks of breathing dirty air, from respiratory issues to heart conditions. Now there is another concern to add to list: eczema. Data from across the US shows that levels of pollutant particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less, known as PM2.5, are correlated with eczema cases – the more pollution, the more eczema rates increased .

World’s largest coral is 300 years old and was discovered by accident

A huge coral, larger than a blue whale, has just been discovered in the south-west Pacific. The expedition team originally thought that the object, measuring 34 by 32 metres, had to be a shipwreck, so they were surprised to realise they had actually stumbled across a centuries-old coral .

12,000-year-old stones may be oldest example of wheel-like tools

One of the great mysteries in the history of technology is who invented the wheel. It is impossible for us to actually know, of course, but we can trace the lineage of wheel-like tools that came before. Now, the earliest example seems to be pierced pebbles once used in hand-spinning whorls for creating textiles .

More from New Scientist

• Watch driverless cars do doughnuts.
• Our magazine cover story this week is about the growing problem of myopia , and what we can do about it.
• Get ready to celebrate the end of 2024 with our look back at the big stories of the year on 10 December.

Thanks for reading and do remember to share this newsletter with your network by hitting the repost button.

Jacob Aron, News Editor

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