This week in numbers
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women have been selected to run the world's most remote post office and gift shop and count penguins in Antarctica. The team, Clare Ballantyne, Mairi Hilton, Natalie Corbett and Lucy Bruzzone, all from the UK, were chosen from 6000 applicants to manage the site at Port Lockroy, on Goudier Island. They will spend five months without running water or a flushing toilet.
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gold coins have been discovered in Israel. Among other treasures, archaeologists found the pure gold coins, dating from the Byzantine Empire. Each weighs about 170g, and features emperors Phocas (602-610AD) and Heraclius (610-641AD). Experts believe they were hidden during the Muslim conquest of the area in around 635.
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A handwritten letter from Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck to his teenage son offering advice on love is being auctioned in Boston. Dated Nov 10, 1958, the two-page letter tells 14-year-old Thomas: “If you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.”
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scientists were jointly awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing a way of “snapping molecules together” that can be used to explore cells, map DNA and design drugs that can target diseases such as cancer more precisely. Americans Carolyn Bertozzi and K. Barry Sharpless, and Danish scientist Morten Meldal were cited for their work on click chemistry that works “sort of like molecular Lego”.
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Nasa has sent the first Native American woman into in space. Marine Colonel Nicole Mann, 45, is one of four astronauts set to spend 150 days at the International Space Station.
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Australia wants to cut its high rate of plant and animal extinctions to zero. A 10-year plan is committed to conserving 30 per cent of the country’s landmass, up from 22 per cent and an increase of 61 million hectares. 110 threatened species and 20 habitats will be prioritised. Among the animals identified for protection are the King Island scrubtit, the brush-tailed rock wallaby and the growling grass frog.