Short Science, October 26, 2014

Britons had far less gum disease in the Roman era than today, and oral health has seriously worsened despite the advent of toothbrushes and dentists, a study finds. A study of 303 skulls at the Natural History Museum, dating from the years 200 to 400 AD, found that only 5 per cent showed signs of moderate to severe gum disease (periodontitis), compared to around 15 to 30 per cent of adults nowadays. The study, led by a periodontist from King's College London, was published in the British Dental Journal. AFP

Scientists from around are trying to decide whether to call time on the Holocene epoch after 11,700 years and begin a new geological age called the Anthropocene - to reflect humankind's deep impact on the planet. For decades, researchers have asked whether humanity's impact on the earth's surface and atmosphere mean we have entered the Anthropocene, or new human era. The term was coined in the 1980s by ecologist Eugene Stoermer. The Anthropocene Working Group, an international interdisciplinary body of scientists and humanists, has until 2016 to come up with a proposal to submit to the International Commission on Stratigraphy, which will decide the issue. Reuters