Staggeringly simple, tormentingly toughToday's puzzle is a classic - one of the most celebrated, perhaps, of all time.The T-puzzle Continue reading...

Autumnal equinox arrives in northern hemisphere this week, but we must wait a few more days for the equiluxSo that's it for the summer. The season comes to a close for us in the northern hemisphere this week on 22 September as we enter the autumn.The moment is marked by the autumnal equinox, which is the moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator, moving south, and the days become shorter than the nights. The exact moment this happens is 19:19 BST on 22 September and it is caused by the movement of Earth along its orbit, gradually tilting the northern hemisphere away from the sun. Continue reading...

Research shows most patients can read extra lines on eye test charts after twice-daily treatmentDoctors have developed special eye drops for people with longsightedness that could replace the need for reading glasses or surgery.Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have presbyopia, which is when the eyes find it difficult to focus on objects and text up close. Glasses or surgery can usually resolve the problem but many find wearing spectacles inconvenient and having an operation is not an option for everyone. Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers' questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsMust what goes up always come down? Sadia, via emailSend new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Continue reading...

Laura Marie is one of six research volunteers preparing to spend 378 days inside Nasa's Mars Dune Alpha in HoustonIt sounds like the premise of a new reality show: take four strangers, isolate them in a 3D-printed Martian habitat for more than a year, and watch them tackle equipment failures, communication delays and attempts to grow vegetables. In fact, it is a scientific simulation - and for the first time a British pilot is among those training for the mission.Laura Marie, who was born in the UK and is now a pilot for a regional airline in the US, beat about 8,000 applicants to become one of six research volunteers who are preparing to spend 378 days inside the 158-sq-metre (1,700 sq ft) Mars Dune Alpha habitat at Nasa's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Continue reading...

My novel explores the consequences of extreme longevity. Meanwhile, Putin and Xi are pondering immortality in real lifeI was in bed scrolling on my phone when I read the headline: Hot mic catches Xi and Putin discussing organ transplants and immortality. It took me a long time to get to sleep after that. Not yet, I thought. I pride myself on my prescience, but I wasn't ready for the future I had imagined to arrive so soon.Since 2017, I've been thinking about the implications of longevity research, sketching out possible futures - the shifts in society, the complications and subcultures. This year I published the result of my thought experiment, Who Wants to Live Forever, a speculative literary novel. It follows Yuki and Sam, a couple at a crossroads at the same time that a new drug, called Yareta - which extends the human lifespan by 200 years and preserves youth - becomes available. Sam takes it, Yuki doesn't, and the novel follows the fallout as the world changes around them. The story ends in 2039. Naively, considering the billions being poured into longevity research by the likes of Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos and Bryan Johnson (subject of this year's Netflix documentary Don't Die), I thought that was how long it might take for my fiction to become reality.Hanna Thomas Uose is a writer and strategist. She is the author of Who Wants to Live Forever Continue reading...

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days Continue reading...

Kennedy is unfit to be our nation's leading public health official because he rejects the fundamental principles of modern scienceSince taking office, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the health and human services department (HHS), has undermined vaccines at every turn. He has dismissed the entire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel, narrowed access to life-saving Covid-19 vaccines, filled scientific advisory boards with conspiracy theorists and fired the newly appointed CDC director for refusing to rubber-stamp his actions.But his rejection of vaccines is only part of the problem. Secretary Kennedy is unfit to be our nation's leading public health official because he rejects the fundamental principles of modern science. Continue reading...

Sanofi's market access chief urges ministers to come up with a roadmap to raise spending on new treatments

Judges have announced the winning images from the Royal Observatory Greenwich's annual competition. The photographs will be exhibited at the National Maritime Museum in London from Friday Continue reading...

DNA analysis of endemic specimens in museums finds 79% of ant populations in Pacific archipelago are shrinkingIsland-dwelling insects have not been spared the ravages of humanity that have pushed so many of their invertebrate kin into freefall around the world, new research on Fijian ant populations has found.Hundreds of thousands of insect species have been lost over the past 150 years and it is believed the world is now losing between 1% and 2.5% a year of its remaining insect biomass - a decline so steep that many entomologists say we are living through an insect apocalypse". Yet long-term data for individual insect populations is sparse and patchy. Continue reading...

Court declined preliminary injunction in case brought by scientists seeking to halt purge of more than 1,600 grantsThe Trump administration can go ahead and purge more than 1,600 research grants issued by National Science Foundation (NSF) worth more than $1bn, after a judge declined to grant a preliminary injunction in a case brought by a coalition of organizations representing thousands of scientists.The NSF is the premier federal investor in basic and cutting-edge science and engineering, which until Trump's second term enjoyed bipartisan support, with the agency's independent review process revered globally as the gold standard. Continue reading...

Creatures favour front arms for most tasks, study suggests, despite fact all eight arms are capable of all actionsWhile some humans find they have two left feet on the dancefloor, octopuses manage to coordinate eight highly flexible arms across a host of behaviours, from foraging to den-building, or moving around the seafloor.Now researchers say they have completed the most comprehensive study of its kind, not only identifying the actions and small motions involved in different types of movements, but revealing that - like primates, rodents and fish - the cephalopods prefer to use particular limbs for certain tasks. Continue reading...

Comments by former professor of medicine at Oxford follow scrapping of planned London research centreSir John Bell, a prominent scientist who brought business and government together during the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, has warned that other big pharmaceutical companies will stop investing in the UK, after the US drugmaker MSD's decision to scrap its planned 1bn London research centre.Bell, a former regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, told Today on BBC Radio 4 that he had spoken to several chief executives of large companies in the past six months and that they were all in the same space. And that is: they're not going to do any more investing in the UK." Continue reading...

People attempting to obtain vaccine report major hurdles amid new limitations brought in by Trump health secretaryThe first deployment of updated Covid shots under the Trump administration has been plagued by access issues and misinformation amid confusion and chaos at US health agencies.People attempting to get the vaccines say they have struggled to understand eligibility requirements, book appointments, process insurance claims, battle misinformation from pharmacists and obtain prescriptions from their doctors in some states. Such hurdles will disproportionately affect people of color and low-income people, experts say. Continue reading...

Nasa dismisses theory by Harvard astronomer who suggested an object from beyond the solar system could be a relic from a distant civilizationSkywatchers at Nasa have discounted a Harvard astronomer's hypothesis that a rare interstellar object hurtling through our solar system is a relic from a civilization in another celestial neighborhood, and could potentially be dire for humanity".Avi Loeb, head of Harvard University's Galileo Project, which searches for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, raised eyebrows by suggesting in a scientific paper in July that Comet 3I/Atlas, set for a close pass with Mars next month, could be artificially made. Continue reading...

Weather forecasting was still banned under the 1735 Witchcraft Act when the Met Office was founded in 1854Forecasting the weather used to be less scientific and more magical, to the point that practitioners could be accused of witchcraft.The mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy of Alexandria drew up tables of planetary motions in the second century. Ptolemy was a notable pioneer in astronomy, but went too far in his conclusions about planets influencing our atmosphere. He devised a complex set of calculations to determine their supposed effects on the weather, in a branch of astrology known as astrometeorology. Continue reading...

The fertility rate in England and Wales has fallen for the third year in a row - a trend mirrored across the world, with two-thirds of the global population now living in countries with below-replacement-level fertility. In the second episode of a two-part series, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dean Spears, assistant professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr Jennifer Sciubba, chief executive of the Population Reference Bureau, to ask whether declining birth rates are really something to worry about - and how societies can adapt to a future with fewer children.

Move comes amid escalating anti-China rhetoric under Donald Trump's administrationNasa has begun barring Chinese nationals with valid visas from joining its programs, underscoring the intensifying space race between the the US and China.The policy shift was first reported by Bloomberg News and confirmed by the US government agency. Continue reading...

New blow to UK's key life science sector as industry body says country is losing ground on investment and researchThe US drugmaker Merck has scrapped a 1bn London research centre and is laying off 125 scientists in the capital this year, in a big blow to the UK's important life science sector.Keir Starmer's government has described life sciences as one of the crown jewels of the UK economy" and the previous Conservative government had vowed to turn the country into a global science and technology superpower" by 2030. Continue reading...

Saturn will be highly visible all September and scientists say gazing at planets and stars lets us see the biggest picture'It has baffled minds as great as Galileo's, inspired composers and fuelled sci-fi fantasies, but while Saturn will be on show all September, is anyone watching?The ringed gas giant will be highly visible in the night sky all month, reaching its brightest on the 21st when Earth will sit directly between Saturn and the sun, a configuration known as opposition. Continue reading...

Surface spots and nodules on rocks in ancient river valley are described in new study as potential biosignatures'Unusual features found in rocks on Mars may be the handiwork of ancient microbial life that eked out an existence on the red planet billions of years ago.The rocks were spotted by Nasa's Perseverance rover as it trundled along Neretva Vallis, an ancient river valley that was carved into the landscape by water flowing into the Jezero crater in the planet's distant past. Continue reading...

When in distress, babies produce chaotic wails which have pronounced effects on humans, including changes in facial temperatureThe cry of a distressed baby triggers a rapid emotional response in both men and women that is enough to make them physically hotter, researchers say.Thermal imaging revealed that people experienced a rush of blood to the face that raised the temperature of their skin when they were played recordings of babies wailing. Continue reading...

Evidence of millions of animal bones at sites in West Country and Surrey points to age of feasting'These days, revellers converge on the West Country from all parts of the UK and beyond to take part in the wonderful craziness of the Glastonbury festival.It turns out that at the end of the bronze age - also a time of climatic and economic crisis - the same sort of impulse gripped people. Continue reading...

More than 1,000 patients to take part in trial to see if the approach leads to faster and more reliable diagnosesDoctors have launched a clinical trial of a 100 blood test for Alzheimer's disease in the hope of transforming diagnosis of the devastating condition in the NHS.More than 1,000 patients with suspected dementia are being recruited from memory clinics across the UK to see whether the test leads to faster and more reliable diagnoses and better care for those found to have the disease. Continue reading...

Part of airport was evacuated and 21 people fell ill but police found no sign of any hazardous materialPolice were called to Heathrow late on Monday afternoon when 21 people fell ill in Terminal 4. Initial reports suggested a hazardous material could be involved and part of the airport was evacuated. But when the emergency services conducted a thorough search, no trace of any adverse substance was found.A source within the Metropolitan police subsequently suggested the event could be something quite different - a case of mass hysteria. And some experts agree. Continue reading...

The fertility rate in England and Wales has fallen for the third year in a row. It is a story that is being repeated all over the world, with two thirds of the global population now living in countries with below replacement level fertility. Low fertility rates have become a talking point on the political right, with Elon Musk claiming that population decline is an existential threat to the future of humanity. But for others, the timescales involved are too vast to start worrying about now. So how should we be thinking about population decline? In episode one of a two-part series, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dean Spears, assistant professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin, and to Dr Jennifer Sciubba, president and CEO of the Population Reference Bureau, to find out what has happened to global birth rates, and how governments are trying to tackle the fallClips: PBS, NBC, ForbesSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

From Covid misinformation to climate denialism, understanding the divergent paths of Australia and the US can help us fight the powerful forces that threaten our worldAs two scientists who lived through Australia's black summer bushfires and the Covid-19 crisis in the United States, we have seen firsthand how science in modern societies is under siege from an even more insidious antiscience virus" of weaponised disinformation that undermines our ability to confront these crises.There are five primary, interconnected forces behind the assault on science and reason. We call them the five Ps": the plutocrats, the petrostates, the pros (eg paid promoters of anti-science), the propagandists and - with important exceptions - the media. Together they have generated a perfect storm of antiscientific disinformation that now threatens humanity. Continue reading...

The pair will be visible on the eastern horizon soon after sunset before tracing the Pisces constellationAn almost full moon glides close to Saturn this week, forming a pleasant conjunction in an otherwise unremarkable patch of the sky.The chart shows the view looking east-southeast from London at 22:00 on 8 September 2025. The moon's visible hemisphere is just over 98% illuminated, and at 16 days old it is just past full and so is beginning its waning gibbous phase. Continue reading...

Visible from Australia, across Asia and western Europe, a blood moon has been captivating stargazers. This marvel is caused when the Earth shades the moon from direct solar light, causing the moon to appear red.

Visible from Australia, across Asia, to western Europe, a blood moon has been captivating stargazers. This marvel is caused when the Earth shades the moon from direct solar light, causing the moon to appear red Continue reading...

For people with lower levels of the enzyme required to metabolise clopidogrel, aspirin remains the better option - a personalised approach is required, write Dr Ronnie Ramlogan, Dr Dimitri Gagliardi, Dr Luigi Venetucci, Dr Abisope Akintola, Dr Cinzia Dello Russo and Prof Sir Munir PirmohamedYour article (Doctors find drug that is better than aspirin at preventing heart attacks, 31 August) is of great interest. It cites a study that proposes replacing aspirin, the cornerstone of antiplatelet therapy for individuals at high risk of heart attacks and strokes, with clopidogrel. We must point out, however, that clopidogrel does not work uniformly across individuals. Although mentioned in the Lancet publication, it was only lightly considered in the Guardian article.Clopidogrel is a prodrug. To work, it needs to be metabolised by a liver enzyme that varies in the population because of variations in the CYP2C19 gene. Most individuals have normal" or supra-normal" levels of the enzyme and clopidogrel works as expected. However, intermediate metabolisers" activate clopidogrel less efficiently and poor metabolisers" struggle to activate clopidogrel at all. For these people, clopidogrel may not provide enough protection against heart attacks or strokes. Continue reading...

Russian leader's claim that people can get younger' through repeated organ transplants has raised eyebrowsPerhaps it was the extravagant display of deadly weaponry that prompted Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin to mull on mortality at this week's military parade in Beijing.It was more banter than serious discussion, but with both aged 72, the Chinese president and his Russian counterpart may feel the cold hand on the shoulder more than Kim Jong-un, the 41-year-old North Korean leader who strolled beside them. Continue reading...

The satellite will turn deep red as the Earth passes between the sun and the moon at about 7.30pm on SundayA rare total lunar eclipse blood moon" will be visible from the UK on Sunday night for the first time since 2022.The moon is expected to turn a deep, dark red as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, casting its shadow across the lunar surface. Continue reading...

As scientific institutions and truths come under attack in the US, how well protected is Australia against the assault on science and facts?

Russian leader was caught musing about immortality with Xi Jinping but his fascination with long life is nothing newIt was the stuff of Bond villains. Two ageing autocrats, their younger ally in tow, ambled down a red-carpeted ramp before a military parade in Beijing when a hot mic picked up a question that seemed to be on their minds: how long could they keep going - and, between the lines, might science allow them to rule for ever?With advances in technology, Russia's Vladimir Putin assured Xi Jinping via his translator that human organs can be constantly transplanted, to the extent that people can get younger, perhaps even immortal". Continue reading...

Device could replace deep brain stimulation and may also help with Tourette syndrome, Alzheimer's and depressionAn ultrasound helmet" offers potential new ways for treating neurological conditions without surgery or other invasive procedures, a study has shown.The device can target brain regions 1,000 times smaller than ultrasound can, and could replace existing approaches such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treating Parkinson's disease. It also holds potential for conditions such as depression, Tourette syndrome, chronic pain, Alzheimer's and addiction. Continue reading...

West Australians should get particularly good views, but the eclipse will be visible from the whole country given favourable weather

Shift from fossil fuels could lower deaths from particle pollution in some states by 19% in five years, study findsEfforts to improve the climate could reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution in the US by about 6,000 people a year by 2030, according to a study. If action is not taken, the situation is predicted to worsen. This is because of a growing and ageing population who are more vulnerable to the impacts of air pollution, resulting in nearly 13,000 increased air pollution deaths in 2030 compared with 2015.The research, led by Princeton University, looked at pollution sources and population. These revealed health gains from climate actions across every US state and, more locally, in nearly every US county. Continue reading...

Airborne particles cause toxic clumps of proteins in brain that are hallmarks of Lewy body dementia, study indicatesFine-particulate air pollution can drive devastating forms of dementia by triggering the formation of toxic clumps of protein that destroy nerve cells as they spread through the brain, research suggests.Exposure to the airborne particles causes proteins in the brain to misfold into the clumps, which are hallmarks of Lewy body dementia, the third most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Continue reading...

Jean Innes says it is time for new chapter' at AI research body, after staff revolt and government calls for changeThe chief executive of the UK's leading artificial intelligence institute is stepping down after a staff revolt and government calls for a strategic overhaul.Jean Innes has led the Alan Turing Institute since 2023, but her position has come under pressure amid widespread discontent within the organisation and a demand from its biggest funder, the UK government, for a change in direction. Continue reading...

British founder of Quantinuum doubles value of stake with excitement growing over technology's transformative potential'A British quantum computing entrepreneur has doubled the value of his stake in the business he founded to $2bn (1.5bn), after the company achieved a $10bn valuation in its latest fundraising.Ilyas Khan, 63, is the founder of Quantinuum, a UK-US firm that announced on Thursday it had raised $600m as investor interest builds in the cutting-edge technology. Continue reading...

Psychologists have traditionally believed we become less curious as we age, but recent research has shown that curiosity actually becomes more targeted and specific in our later years. To find out why this happens, and how maintaining broad curiosity into older age can help keep our brains young, Madeleine Finlay hears from Dr Mary Whatley, an assistant professor of psychology at Western Carolina University, and Dr Matthias Gruber, of Cardiff University's Brain Imaging CentreSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

Review says ministers have only small chance' of wiping out bovine tuberculosis by 2038 without more investmentLabour can end the badger cull but only with a Covid-19 style focus on testing and vaccinating, the author of a government-commissioned report has said.Ministerial plans to stop the shooting of the animals can be achieved but at a cost to the Treasury, the report warns. Continue reading...

Researchers say low- and no-calorie sweeteners appear to affect thinking and memory in middle ageSweeteners found in yoghurts and fizzy drinks can damage people's ability to think and remember, and appear to cause long-term harm" to health, research has found.People who consumed the largest amount of sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharin saw a 62% faster decline in their cognitive powers - the equivalent to their having aged 1.6 years, researchers say. Continue reading...

Study finds scrollers are more prone to piles than those who go to the lavatory without phonesPeople who take a mobile phone to the loo should keep to a two TikTok limit, according to doctors who found that toilet scrollers are more prone to haemorrhoids than phoneless lavatory-goers.Those who sit on the throne with a phone spend far more time on the toilet than others, with longer stints linked to a greater risk of developing the bulging anal veins known as haemorrhoids or piles. Continue reading...

President says national security operations in space will be based in state he won comfortably, reversing Biden decisionDonald Trump made his first public appearance in a week on Tuesday to announce that the US Space Command (Spacecom) headquarters, which is tasked with leading national security operations in space, would be in the Republican stronghold of Alabama.Flanked by Republican senators and members of Congress at a White House news conference, Trump said Huntsville, Alabama, would be the new location of the space command. The move reverses a Biden administration decision to put the facility at its current temporary headquarters in Democratic-leaning Colorado. Continue reading...

Director general of Cern in the 1980s who went on to establish the Sesame laboratory in JordanThe German physicist Herwig Schopper, who has died aged 101, was director general of Cern, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, from 1981 to 1988, overseeing the laboratory's first Nobel prize-winning discovery and paving the way to another. It was thanks to Herwig's tenacity that the laboratory laid the foundations - literally - for what would become the Large Hadron Collider.On his retirement in 1989, Herwig embarked on a second career, applying his experience of international science to the field of diplomacy. Working closely with Unesco, he played a key role in establishing the Sesame laboratory in Jordan: a new Cern to sow seeds of peace in a troubled region. Continue reading...

When things are grim, the promises made by the wellness industry sound very appealing. I worry about how vulnerable this has made meOrdinarily, I'm a sensible person - at least part-time. A journalist, an asker of questions, a checker of sources. Historically, a big fan of research.But three years into a debilitating chronic illness, I am willing to try anything to get well. Even things that would have once made me roll my eyes. Chromotherapy, sound baths, mushroom extract. Reiki, leg compression boots, strategic humming. Continue reading...

The unprecedented find has shifted archaeological understanding about the first civilisations in the AmericasArchaeologists in Peru have discovered a multicoloured three-dimensional wall that could date back 4,000 years, in an unprecedented find that has shifted archaeological understanding about the first civilisations in the Americas.The centrepiece of the three-by-six metre wall carving is a stylistic depiction of a large bird of prey with outstretched wings, its head adorned with three-dimensional diamond motifs that visually align the south and north faces of the mural. It is covered with high-relief friezes and features designs painted in blue, yellow, red and black. Continue reading...