Somosierra will be prime spot to view celestial alignment on 12 August, an event that poses logistical challengesLittle stirs in the mountains above Somosierra beyond the wind that lashes the flat peaks, the cows that graze on parched grass and the sun that beats down on the abandoned aerodrome where generations of glider pilots learned to ride air currents alongside squadrons of vultures and red kites.But all this stillness will disappear, albeit temporarily, on the evening of 12 August, when swathes of northern and eastern Spain and the Balearic islands experience a total solar eclipse, the likes of which has not been seen here for more than 120 years. Continue reading...

The administration is subjugating science to political imperatives, a major blow to US soft power and technological progressThe Trump administration is waging an unprecedented war on institutions devoted to research and higher learning. While plenty of countries have harmed universities by imposing neoliberal logics on academia - creating artificial markets in the name of spurring professors to be more productive - the Trumpist subjugation of all science to political imperatives has no equivalent in a democracy; if anything, it is reminiscent of Stalin's Soviet Union. The assault now also targets foreign students and any kind of international collaboration - a major blow to US soft power. Why are Trumpists engaging in what can only be described as an act of wanton self-injury?Project 2025's Russell Vought, the director of the office of management and budget, initiated the rule change that would make any federal grant subject to review by political appointees - including funds for science that so far have been allocated through judgment by first-rate fellow scientists. This measure would furnish Trumpists with a new weapon to threaten universities along the lines of: Nice medical school you have there - pity if something were to happen to it because your administration had failed to come into alignment with the president's priorities."Jan-Werner Muller is a Guardian US columnist and a professor of politics at Princeton University Continue reading...

This week's best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Study of accidents in England and Wales shows e-scooter riders three times more likely to suffer traumatic brain injury than bikersElectric scooter riders are three times more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries than motorcyclists, according to an analysis of accidents in England and Wales - which found women were particularly at risk of serious harm.Brain injuries accounted for more than a third of adult injuries on e-scooters, but riders also sustained more internal organ and blood vessel damage than did motorcyclists or pedal cyclists, the study found. Continue reading...

Sodium and lithium gas was detected in a plume thought to span tens of kilometres, created when part of a SpaceX rocket crashed into the lunar surfaceA telescope in Chile has captured evidence of the impact caused by part of a SpaceX rocket slamming into the moon while travelling at 8,690km/h (5,400mph).The European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope observed spectral lines" - a colourful illustration of sodium and lithium gas - in the plume of lunar dust stirred up by the impact. Continue reading...

Madeleine Finlay is joined by Ian Sample, Guardian science editor, to discuss three eye-catching science stories including an investigation that has identified four distinct types of thinker. Also on the agenda is the unprecedented cyclosporiasis outbreak in the US which has now been linked to two fatalities, and the funding cuts that threaten the iconic Jodrell Bank world heritage site, home to the Lovell telescopeClip: CSPANFour types of thinker have been identified. Which one are you? Continue reading...

Research suggests addressing risk factors for poor cardiovascular health between the ages of 45 and 65 could help reduce risk of cognitive declineScientists claim to have identified three health measures in middle age that can ward off dementia for more than a decade.Having normal blood pressure, no type 2 diabetes, and not smoking between the ages of 45 and 65 were associated with almost 13 additional years, on average, of dementia-free life, a study shows. Continue reading...

Highest-ever resolution pictures of our star could help show why its corona is millions of degrees hotter than its surfaceGolden bands and swirling vortices have been spotted on the sun in the most detailed images ever captured of the turbulent surface of our home star.Astronomers observed the sun with the Inouye solar telescope in Hawaii, the world's most powerful solar telescope, and saw new features smaller than 20km (12 miles) across in a magnetically active region close to a sun spot. Continue reading...

Scientists at a biotech company have used gene editing to create two hypoallergenic beagles that don't trigger allergiesMatt Walker couldn't pet a dog without sneezing - until he and other scientists used a gene editing technique to produce a hypoallergenic beagle named Bailey.Now, he can feed Bailey spoons of peanut butter while she lies on his lap and play fetch with her in Central Park. His allergies didn't go away: Bailey's saliva and hair no longer contain a key allergy-causing protein. Continue reading...

Four-tonne piece of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket believed to have hit lunar surface on Wednesday at 5,400mphA four-tonne piece of a discarded SpaceX rocket that has been floating in space since last year is believed to have unintentionally crashed into the moon at high speed, in a collision that posed no danger to Earth but was expected to blast out a new lunar crater.The object, the height of a five-storey building, was part of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched two commercial lunar landers, one from the US and one from Japan, towards the moon in January 2025. Continue reading...

Scientists find ruminants emit more of greenhouse gas individually than cows, although total contribution tiny compared with domesticated livestockWhen cows belch and fart they release methane, which is warming the planet, but how does this compare with the digestive gases emitted by wild animals? A new study shows that deer add the greatest amount of methane to the atmosphere, but compared with domesticated livestock their total contribution is minuscule.Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, which has been rising rapidly in recent years, but it is hard to pin down exactly where it is coming from. Like domesticated cows, wild ruminants such as deer, moose and llamas rely on bacteria to help them break down the fibrous plants they eat, releasing methane as they go. To understand how much methane wild ruminants release, Theresia Yazbeck, from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany, and colleagues used recent estimates of global wild animal populations and combined these with methane emission estimates based on body mass and diet. Continue reading...

Researcher says simpler writing by AI is easier to read and digest, but this does not mean human authors are obsoleteFrom Homer's Odyssey to Agatha Christie's crime fiction, humans have produced plenty of tales to grace the bookshelf. But research suggests artificial intelligence may now be providing some competition.In a study published in the journal Judgment and Decision Making, 1,682 adults were asked to read one of six short stories, three of which were written by humans and three by ChatGPT. Each AI story had a similar theme to one of the human-authored works. Continue reading...

Often sold as herbal' solutions for sexual prowess, research has found many supplements are cut with prescription medications that could harm the people who take them

Madeleine Finlay travels to the Rothbury estate in Northumberland, in north-east England. It's a piece of land that has been in the same family for 700 years, but now it has been put up for sale and the UK's Wildlife Trusts are trying to raise 30m to secure it intact. To find out what makes the area so special, Madeleine speaks to Katy Barke, the head of nature recovery for Northumberland Wildlife Trust. She also hears from Sam Turner, a professor of archaeology at Newcastle University, who is trying to work out how the land has been used across the centuries. This work will inform the strategy for nature recovery on the site. And Rosie Pearce, a farm liaison officer, explains how the project could bring more wildlife-friendly farming practices to the estate

Tiny, quivering spheres designed to feed and multiply raise prospect of artificial organisms to make drugs, food and fuelResearchers claim they are closer to creating life from scratch after building tiny, quivering blobs that use lab-made DNA to feed, grow and multiply in a dish.The synthetic cells were made from chemical compounds and are believed to be the first to demonstrate the complete cell cycle of growth, genetic replication and splitting to produce the next generation. Continue reading...

Some adults aged 65 and above will be able to get the drug for $50 through Medicare GLP-1, a temporary programKathryn, a retiree who worked in healthcare, has throughout her life experienced cyclical weight-loss, weight-gain".Every time that that has happened, it's been a little bit greater of the loss and the gain, which is really unhealthy," said the 66-year-old who lives in Denver, Colorado, and requested that only her first name be used. At her heaviest, the 5ft 1in woman weighed 220lbs (100kg). Continue reading...

Final vowel in words such as happy, baby and chilly varies clearly by social class across the cityPronunciation of the happy vowel" is one of the key indicators of social class in Mancunian accents, researchers have found.A sociolinguistic study, by Lancaster University and the University of Manchester, found that the final vowel in words such as happy, baby, chilly and city - known to linguists as the happy vowel" - varies clearly by social class across Manchester. Continue reading...

Researchers think people with greater muscle density in torso area, who are also less likely to die prematurely, are those who exercise morePeople with strong chest and back muscles are less likely to have a heart attack or die prematurely, analysis using artificial intelligence suggests.Researchers led by the University of Edinburgh used AI to examine hospital scans of 1,722 patients, aged mostly in their 50s, who had chest pain. Continue reading...

Drug-resistant bacteria are no longer confined to hospital settings but are spreading into communities in every countryWhy should a surge in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Europe be a concern across Africa or for people who don't consider themselves to be at risk? Because it points to a bigger problem: the ease with which drug-resistant infections are now spreading, and not just in hospitals but within the community too.The speed and scale at which people travel and interact in our interconnected world is increasingly helping to drive this, allowing drug-resistant pathogens to move rapidly through populations and across the world - including between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the burden is often greatest and surveillance more limited. Continue reading...

The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC has hardly been out of the news since April when President Trump vowed to have it renovated, and painted American flag blue' by 4 July. Despite the pool being stripped, cleaned, coated and refilled, within days the algae that has plagued it for decades was back. To find out why these blooms happen, what makes them so difficult to tackle and what Trump could try next, Ian Sample hears from co-host Madeleine Finlay, and from Dr Linda May, a freshwater ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.Clips: Sky News Australia, Reuters, Global News Continue reading...

Underwater expedition by Florida-based team supports possible therapeutic use of bacterial toxins from sea squirtsResearchers at a Florida university say bacterial toxins produced by tiny marine organisms they have studied in Antarctica could become an effective treatment for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.A team from the University of South Florida (USF), Desert Research Institute (DRI) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) recently returned from a six-week expedition to one of the world's remotest regions in which they collected samples of ascidians, invertebrates known as sea squirts that thrive in the icy waters. Continue reading...

Spot this large constellation with differing classical backstories as moon sits squarely in teapot' of SagittariusThis week we will look for another large but faint constellation: Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer. One of the original 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century, it sits in the sky on the opposite side to Orion, the hunter. The chart shows the view looking south from London at 11pm BST on 29 June 2026.Although the view will remain essentially unchanged all week, on this particular evening a nearly full moon sits squarely in the teapot asterism of Sagittarius, the archer. 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 conceptsIf an alien landed and asked you: What is this thing you call music?" what would you play for them? And why? Heather, KentPost your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday.Due to a production error, a new Notes & Queries question was not published on 24 May. Continue reading...

Experts hail daraxonrasib as gamechanger' for patients with advanced pancreatic cancerA daily pill can double survival time in patients with the world's deadliest cancer, according to the results of a clinical trial that experts are saying is a gamechanger" and one of the biggest breakthroughs in decades.Currently, there are few treatments for pancreatic cancer, and most do little or nothing to help. For decades, scientists have worked relentlessly trying to find clever solutions for a form of cancer that is often found late. More than half of patients are only diagnosed after it has spread. Continue reading...

Jab brought unprecedentedly strong responses' in patients whose disease had become resistant to chemotherapy and immunotherapyDoctors have hailed unprecedented" trial results that show a triple-action cancer jab can eradicate entire tumours in patients.In an international trial spanning 11 countries, the injection was offered to patients whose cancer had spread or come back and whose disease had failed to respond to other treatments. Continue reading...

Results presented at oncology conference in Chicago show Galleri test failed to reduce late-stage cancer diagnosesA blood test for more than 50 types of cancer that was billed as the holy grail of oncology has failed to achieve its main objective in a major clinical trial, according to data presented at the world's largest cancer conference.The goal of the study involving 142,000 NHS patients in the UK was to assess whether adding the multi-cancer early detection test Galleri to standard screening could shift diagnoses to earlier, more treatable stages. Continue reading...

The Canadian entrepreneur has always pushed the boundaries of gene editing, once attempting to turn horses into unicorns. Now she is set on modifying human embryos - something her controversial ex-husband was jailed for doingOn a Friday evening in late April, Cathy Tie, the Canadian serial entrepreneur and self-styled Biotech Barbie", is centre stage at New York City's famous Carnegie Hall, performing Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No 2 on a gleaming Steinway grand piano, accompanied by an orchestra. Her floor-length pink tulle gown shimmers with gold sequins; her dark hair cascades in waves over her caped shoulders. The music is passionate, but Tie's expression is impassive. Her eyes dart between the piano keys and the sheet music in a flurry of concentration, but the rest of her face is totally still. She isn't lost in the music; she's focused on the job.After the last notes ring out, Tie stands up and breaks into a tight smile and a brief bow before walking off stage, only to immediately return to receive the slightly awkward Happy Birthday sung by everyone in the orchestra and auditorium. This is Tie's 30th birthday party. She has hired Carnegie Hall to mark the occasion. And, as I discover at the cocktail afterparty, most of the people invited to this performance - including me - have either only just met Tie or don't know her at all. Continue reading...

A blue micromoon is a rare spectacle, though it's not as blue or as micro as you might imagineThis weekend the night skies will feature a rare spectacle - a blue micromoon. We take a look at what the phrase means and how to catch a glimpse of the event. Continue reading...

Findings add to growing efforts to explain why cancer rates are increasing among younger adults worldwidePoor sleep may be fuelling the global rise in under-50s being diagnosed with cancer, two large studies suggest.The number of younger people diagnosed with the disease has risen by almost 80% in three decades. Worldwide cases of early-onset cancer increased from 1.82m in 1990 to 3.26m in 2019, while cancer deaths among people in their 40s, 30s or younger rose by 27%. Continue reading...

Trial suggests patients with a low test score could be treated with hormone therapy alone with near-identical outcomes

Pioneering and controversial geneticist who was one of the first to sequence the human genome, in part by using his own DNAAt the international BioVision conference in Lyon in February 2001, the geneticist Craig Venter performed a remarkable piece of scientific barnstorming. Human beings possess far fewer genes than science had ever realised, he announced. We have about 30,000, far lower than previous estimates of 100,000.Such lack of heritable material showed people are not prisoners of their genes but are shaped primarily by environmental influences, he added. We simply do not have enough genes for this idea of biological determinism to be right," said Venter, who has died aged 79. The wonderful diversity of the human species is not hard-wired in our genetic code. Our environments are critical." Continue reading...

You may think you know when someone's trying to deceive you, but there's a clever trick very few people are aware of - one that has eluded AI and Traitors contestants alikeCan you tell if someone is lying?Close your eyes. You're already twice as good as you were before. Continue reading...

Two mothers fought British bureaucracy to obtain lifesaving cannabis medicines for their children. But most patients are having to go private - at huge cost

Madeleine Finlay sits down with co-host and science editor Ian Sample to discuss three eyecatching stories from the week, including an update on hantavirus. Also on the agenda is the Pentagon's release of a tranche of never before seen documents relating to UFOs, and a study looking at the link between taking part in cultural activities and slower biological ageingClips: News Nation Continue reading...

Molar found in Siberia features deep hole that appears to show earliest known evidence of dental treatmentNeanderthals used stone drills to treat cavities almost 60,000 years ago in what is the earliest known evidence of dental treatment.The single molar, which was unearthed in a cave in southern Siberia, features a deep hole that appears to have been created using a sharp, thin stone tool during the lifetime of the tooth's owner. Continue reading...

Researchers say rise not inevitable and it is important to unpick what is behind differences in obesity trendsA continuing rise in obesity around the world is not inevitable, research suggests, with rates in some countries levelling off or potentially in decline.Researchers say focusing on what has been described as a global epidemic of obesity hides large variations in trends across different countries, sexes and age groups. Continue reading...

A new book by linguistics professor Valerie Fridland, who was raised in Memphis by parents with French accents, explores the power behind the way we speakValerie Fridland writes in her new book, Why We Talk Funny: the Real Story Behind Our Accents, that humans instinctively use accents to categorize those around us. We learn to recognize other people as being like us through the way that they sound," Fridland says. It happens early: studies suggest small children, when choosing friends, favor those who share their accent.In one study, for instance, five- and six-year-olds were shown pairs of kids on a computer screen, one with a local Canadian accent and one with a British accent. Asked who they wanted to be friends with, they picked the kid with the local accent - even though they lived in Toronto and are exposed to a huge range of accents every day.Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan Continue reading...

As an astronomer, I had witnessed many celestial phenomena. But nothing prepared me for those few minutes in 2017 when the world fell silentI have never driven with more determination than when rushing away from Shelby Park in Nashville. We had reached Davidson Street when my husband shouted: There! There's sunlight!" I skidded into a car park of a printing company with barely any time to spare. We jumped out of the car, put on our dark glasses, and looked at the quickly disappearing sun. It was surrounded by clouds, but a tiny sliver of light was still shining. This was 1.27pm on 21 August 2017. We had travelled all the way from London to Tennessee to experience the Great American Eclipse - an astronomical phenomenon I had never seen before.As an Italian-born astronomer, I had always felt at a bit of a disadvantage. I have a doctorate in astrophysics, focused on collisions between galaxies. I have seen many celestial phenomena - comets, planetary alignments, fireballs, galaxies, northern lights - but not a total solar eclipse. Continue reading...

Nasa confirms meteor after residents reported hearing thunder-like noises about the time the fireball was visibleA suspected meteorite crashed into a home in suburban Houston on Saturday night, according to local residents and officials.Speaking to the local news outlet KHOU11 over the weekend, Spring area resident Sherrie James recalled the incident, saying: My grandson went to check and said there was a hole in the ceiling ... then I saw the rock, and I thought, That looks like a meteor.'" Continue reading...

Cosmologists and physicists come up empty handed when they attempt to pin down time. So what, exactly, is it?When was the last time you racedagainst an unforgiving clock? Perhaps you skipped breakfast, broke a sweat, shelled out for a taxi or missed time with your family. Many of us have become slaves to time, with huge portions of our day spent chasing appointments and deadlines. But what is this thing we're trying to beat?We tend to imagine time as incessant and non-negotiable, ticking by somewhere out in the world, impossible to slow or stop. Yet an emerging scientific picture is that such clock time" isn't a standalone, physical phenomenon at all. It's a mathematical tool or book-keeping device - useful for coordinating our interactions, but with no independent existence of its own. As with other key innovations, such as money, we can no longer get by without it. But I hope that debunking the myth of the clock can help us to focus on how life really progresses, and how much power we have to shape it. Continue reading...

Sightings in Varginha in 1996 have been dismissed as hoax, but saga continues to draw people from around worldThe skies over this far-flung coffee-growing hub went charcoal black, the heavens opened and one of Brazil's greatest mysteries was born.It really was something unique," recalls Marco Antonio Reis, a zoo director, who was at his ranch outside Varginha one stormy day in January 1996 when, he says, an otherworldly creature came to town. Continue reading...

On the evening of 29 December 2011, police officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a gang called the Spanish Cobras. For hours, under intense police questioning, they all said they did not do it. But that did not seem to matter.This is episode one of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian's Melissa Segura Continue reading...

This frightening outbreak is not yet over, and serves as a reminder of why plans to manage infectious diseases existThe public health measures taken in response to this month's meningitis outbreak in Kent so far appear to be working. Two young people have tragically died - one a sixth-former in Faversham, the other a student at the University of Kent. In the Canterbury area, where cases have been identified at four schools and two universities, thousands of lives have been disrupted and many people are understandably afraid. With 18confirmed cases, and 11 others being investigated, this is the largest cluster of UK cases in a generation.The genes of the meningitis B (MenB) strain of bacteria behind this outbreak are being examined in laboratories. In Kent, they appear to have caused septicaemia, or blood poisoning, as well as infection of the membranes that surround the brain and spinalcord. Scientists do not fully understand what causes meningococcal bacteria - which are present in one in 10 people's bodies without causing illness - to become invasive. Meningitis remains a mysterious as well as a frightening illness, due to its sudden onset and the risk of death.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Experts continue to analyse strain of MenB to understand whether it has become more likely to spread or cause diseaseThe Kent meningitis outbreak may have reached its peak after only two new cases were reported by officials on Friday.The UK Health and Security Agency said that as of 12.30pm on Thursday, there were 18 confirmed and 11 probable cases of meningitis linked to the Kent outbreak, taking the total number of people with the disease to 29. Of the confirmed cases, 13 were meningitis B. Continue reading...

Causes of meningitis, what the public health response has been, and how the situation differs from CovidThe deadly outbreak of meningitis in Kent has fuelled concerns about how far the disease will spread and seen the return of people wearing masks and queueing for vaccines. The scenes are reminiscent of the Covid crisis, but meningitis is very different. Here we look at how the outbreak has unfolded. Continue reading...

After series of delays, US space agency hopes to carry out first crewed flyby of the moon in more than half a centuryNasa has begun returning its towering SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to its Florida launch pad before a planned flyby of the moon, after completing necessary repairs.Artemis engineers began the manoeuvre, which can take up to 12 hours, at 8pm local time. The US space agency will then begin the final preparations before its next launch window opens on 1 April. Continue reading...

Discovery at Monte Verde puts north-to-south expansion theory back at centre of heated debate on continent's human historyA groundbreaking new study may have once again upended our understanding of human prehistory in the Americas.For years, the predominant theory of how humans arrived in the western hemisphere centred around the Clovis culture, which crossed the Beringia land bridge from Asia between 13,400 and 12,800 years ago, and spread south. Continue reading...

Researchers find snake metabolite that suppresses appetite of obese mice without some of side-effects' of GLP-1 drugsPythons follow the ultimate crash diet, swallowing an antelope in a single sitting and then going for months without eating. Now scientists have identified a molecule that appears to be crucial for this metabolic feat, and which they say could pave the way for a new class of obesity drugs.When the python metabolite, which spikes in their blood after eating, was given to obese mice, they shunned food and rapidly lost weight. The scientists said the molecule could have a similar effect to drugs such as Wegovy. Continue reading...

Research finds cockapoo, cavapoo and labradoodle dogs display more undesirable behaviours than breeds they derive fromThe UK has oodles of doodles but a study might offer paws for thought: researchers have found some of these designer crossbreed dogs show more behavioural problems than the pure breeds from which they derive.Crosses between poodles and other dog breeds have become increasingly popular in the UK, with research suggesting the trend is - at least in part - driven by the expectation such dogs will be hypoallergenic, healthy and good with children. Continue reading...

Drugs such as semaglutide may be useful for mental health conditions associated with diabetes, authors sayDiabetes drugs could prevent anxiety and depression from worsening, according to research.Type 2 diabetes affects more than 800 million people globally and research shows that those with the condition are about twice as likely to have depression as the wider population. Continue reading...