Dear Science: Tedious telegrams, cancer cures & puzzling pigments

Today in Dear Science, Ximena, Will and Reuben get down to the nitty gritty of some intriguing stories with AUT’s Allan Blackman. Allan takes us back in time to 1858 when Queen Victoria sent the first official transatlantic telegram to US President James Buchanan. We get into the nuts and bolts of the debate around alternative medicine, talking about a new study that finds cancer patients who turn to alternative treatments are 2.5 times more likely to die. Finally, Allan tells us about how art historians may be shocked to find out that a pigment used in analysing the legitimacy of historic artwork may have been incorrectly identified up until now.