Women and older adults most likely to suffer dog walking injuries such as finger and wrist fractures, research saysWalking your dog may be good for you and your canine companion, but research shows it can also be dangerous.While the health benefits are numerous - encouraging increased activity levels and physical exercise, improving cardiovascular health and weight - researchers found that being pulled on the lead increases the risk of falls and injuries. Continue reading...

The Winston Red, one of only 24 red diamonds of more than one carat publicly recorded, is on display in Washington DCRed diamonds are some of the rarest gems on the planet: only 24 stones of more than one carat (200 milligrams) have been publicly recorded.Now, one of the finest red diamonds - the Winston Red - has gone on public display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. Continue reading...

Ever since Pluto was demoted from planet to dwarf planet in 2006, astronomers have been wondering whether Neptune really is the most distant planet from the sun. Now, a new telescope could uncover what lies in the farthest reaches of the solar system. The Vera C Rubin Observatory released its first images this week, and soon the world's most powerful digital camera will be pointing across the whole of the night sky. Scientists are hopeful that if planet nine exists, the telescope will find it within its first year of operation. Ian Sample is joined by Dr Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science, to find out how Pluto lost its planetary status, why scientists think there could be another super-Earth, and why planet nine has been so hard to findClips: BBC, NBC, CBCFirst images of distant galaxies captured by ultimate' telescope Continue reading...

Researchers say satellites may be at risk and impact could create a spectacular meteor shower in the skiesIf a giant asteroid smashes into the moon in 2032 it could send lunar debris hurtling towards Earth, researchers have said, posing a risk to satellites but also creating a rare and spectacularly vivid meteor shower visible in the skies.Asteroid 2024 YR4 triggered a planetary defence response earlier this year after telescope observations revealed the city killer" had a 3% chance of colliding with Earth. Continue reading...

The answers to today's problemsEarlier today I set five logic problems. Here they are again with solutions.A questionable planet Continue reading...

Genetically modified E coli used to create painkillers from material produced from plastic bottlesBacteria can be used to turn plastic waste into painkillers, researchers have found, opening up the possibility of a more sustainable process for producing the drugs.Chemists have discovered E coli can be used to create paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, from a material produced in the laboratory from plastic bottles. Continue reading...

Stunning pictures from Vera C Rubin observatory in Chile released at start of 10-year survey of cosmosSpectacular views of distant galaxies, giant dust clouds and hurtling asteroids have been revealed in the first images captured by a groundbreaking telescope that is embarking on a 10-year survey of the cosmos.The stunning pictures from the $810m (595m) Vera C Rubin observatory in Chile mark the start of what astronomers believe will be a gamechanging period of discovery as the telescope sets about compiling the best view yet of the universe in action. Continue reading...

Questions about questionsUPDATE: You can read the answers here.For readers who answered yes", you are correct.For readers who answered no", you are also correct. Continue reading...

Watching the night sky, the time it takes for light from these celestial objects to reach Earth is vastly differentFollowing last week's conjunction between Regulus and Mars, the moon now gets in on the act. This meeting of a star, a planet and a moon takes place on 29 June. The chart shows the view looking west from London at 22:15 BST that day.Red planet Mars has moved on from its close pass of blue-white star Regulus, giving enough space for a waxing crescent moon to slip in between them. The moon will be 4.7 days old, and heading towards its first quarter (half-moon) phase. Just over 22% of its visible surface will be illuminated. Continue reading...

This summer will mark 80 years since the attacks stunned the world. Today, every one of the crew members who carried out the bombings is dead. Here, one of the last writers to interview them reopens his filesIt was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining on the buildings. Everything down there was bright - very, very bright. You could see the city from 50miles away, the rivers bisecting it, the aiming point. It was clear as a bell. It was perfect. The perfect mission."I'm sitting in a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco opposite the navigator of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6August 1945. The year is 2004, and Theodore Dutch" Van Kirk, aged 83, has agreed to be interviewed for a book I'mwriting for the 60th anniversary of that fateful mission. Van Kirk informs me, with the trace of a smile, that this will probably be the last interview in his life. Continue reading...

Newborns will have whole genome sequencing to enable personalised healthcare that predicts and prevents illnessEvery baby in England is to have a DNA screening to avoid fatal diseases and receive personalised healthcare as part of the government's 650m investment in DNA technology, it has been reported.Within a decade, every newborn will undergo whole genome sequencing, which assesses the risk of hundreds of diseases and is expected to form part of the government's 10-year plan for the health service. Continue reading...

Knowledge trumps popularity in the long haul of trying to be influential, researchers sayWhen it comes to social climbing, it's not who you know, or how many people you know, it's about knowing who knows whom, research suggests.Experts studying social connections made by first-year university students say those who ended up with the most influence were not necessarily the most popular, but those who had a good idea, early on, about who belonged to which clique or community. Continue reading...

My friend and former colleague David Hopkinson, who has died aged 89, was director of the Medical Research Council's human biochemical genetics unit at University College London from 1976 until its closure in 2000.Hoppy, as he was universally known, had joined the unit at its inception in 1962 because in an earlier, more junior, position he had been one of the first medical scientists to describe molecular differences in human enzymes, long before DNA sequence differences were known about. Continue reading...

The Golden Record - launched in 1977 on the Voyager space probes - contained everything from Chuck Berry to Chinese dialects and the sound of humpback whales. But what would we put on it today?It's almost 50 years since one of the strangest records ever made was launched - not into the pop charts but into the farthest reaches of outer space. Known as the Golden Record, this 12-inch, gold-plated copper disc was an album compiled by astronomer Carl Sagan featuring everything from classical music and spoken-word greetings to the sounds of nature and a blast of Chuck Berry's Jonny B Goode. Humans could enjoy it, of course, but they weren't the target audience. Rather, a copy was placed on Voyager 1 and 2, the two space probes launched in 1977, in the hope that they would one day be discovered and listened to by an alien life form.The Golden Record came with various diagrammatic instructions on how to play it correctly. But as to what aliens might make of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto, the sounds of humpback whales and a greeting in the Chinese dialects Wu, we will never know. Both Voyager probes are still intact, currently hurtling through the Kuiper belt in interstellar space, but we are likely to lose contact with them in around a decade's time. This means we will miss the Golden Record's first realistic chance of being discovered - when it's expected to pass within 1.6 light years of the star Gliese 445 in 40,000 years' time. Continue reading...

An unprecedented planetary-scale seismic event caused the earth to vibrate for nine days straight back in 2023, but the reason why was unclear. Scientists initially had more questions than answers, labelling the event an unidentified seismic object and undertook a mammoth scientific collaboration across multiple countries and institutions to get to the bottom of what really happened. Josh Toussaint-Strauss looks into the mystery at the heart of this scientific investigation

One of Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets exploded during a routine test in Texas. The Starship 36 suffered 'catastrophic failure and exploded' at the Starbase launch facility according to the Cameron County authorities. Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, is central to Musk's long-term vision of colonisingMars. This is the latest setback, with SpaceX betting that its 'fail fast, learn fast' ethos will eventually pay off Continue reading...

False claims obstructing climate action, say researchers, amid calls for climate lies to be criminalisedRampant climate misinformation is turning the crisis into a catastrophe, according to the authors of a new report.It found climate action was being obstructed and delayed by false and misleading information stemming from fossil fuel companies, rightwing politicians and some nation states. The report, from the International Panel on the Information Environment (Ipie), systematically reviewed 300 studies. Continue reading...

Starship 36 was preparing for 10th test flight from Texas when it underwent catastrophic failure' while on standOne of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starships has exploded during a routine test in Texas, authorities said, in the latest setback to the billionaire's dream of turning humanity into an interplanetary species.The Starship 36 underwent catastrophic failure and exploded" at the Starbase launch facility shortly after 11pm on Wednesday (0400 GMT Thursday), a Facebook post by the Cameron County authorities said. Continue reading...

Exploration of Bahamas seabed will be first time notorious New Providence hideout has been searchedPirates of the Caribbean is a $4.5bn swashbuckling film franchise and Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham are among marauding buccaneers who have captured imaginations over the centuries.But almost nothing is known about the life and times of actual pirates. Continue reading...

More of us are turning to products containing mushroom extracts, with the medicinal fungi market now worth billions of pounds. Promises of benefits to mental and physical health have seen its popularity spill over from wellness influencers to the shelves of Marks & Spencer - but is there any scientific evidence behind these claims?Ian Sample chats to Madeleine Finlay about the appeal of mushroom drinks and supplements, and hears from the mycologist Prof Nik Money on what we really know about how fungi can affect our minds and bodies Continue reading...

Volatile weather patterns may be altering taste of juniper berries - a key botanical in the spirit - scientists sayThe flavour of a gin and tonic may be impacted by climate change, scientists have found.Volatile weather patterns, made more likely by climate breakdown, could change the taste of juniper berries, which are the key botanical that give gin its distinctive taste. Continue reading...

Production of staple crops projected to fall by as much as 120 calories per person per day for every 1C of heatingSome of our critical staple crops could suffer substantial" production losses due to climate breakdown, a study has found, even if farmers adapt to worsening weather.Maize, soy, rice, wheat, cassava and sorghum yields are projected to fall by as much as 120 calories per person per day for every 1C the planet heats up, according to new research in Nature, with average daily losses that could add up to the equivalent of not having breakfast. Continue reading...

Experts find link between compulsive use of social media, phones and video games and mental health problemsTeenagers who show signs of being addicted to social media, mobile phones or video games are at greater risk of suicidal behaviour and emotional problems, according to research.A study, which tracked more than 4,000 adolescents for four years, found that nearly one in three reported increasingly addictive use of social media or mobile phones. Those whose use followed an increasingly addictive trajectory had roughly double the risk of suicidal behaviour at the end of the study. Continue reading...

Television documentary producer and director who collaborated with Brian Cox on Wonders of the Solar SystemThe television producer and director Michael Lachmann, who has died aged 54 in a mountaineering accident in the French Alps, helped to turn the former pop musician and particle physics professor Brian Cox into a TV presenter known for bringing science documentaries into a new age. Lachmann also took the pig farmer Jimmy Doherty around the world to explore the pros and cons of GM foods, and made thought-provoking programmes on great scientists and the space race.His skill in popularising science without dumbing down included placing Cox inside a derelict Rio de Janeiro jail for a sequence in the 2011 BBC Two series Wonders of the Universe. Cox sprayed chemical element symbols on the walls, and Lachmann had the building dramatically blown up. The four-part series attempted to answer the question: What are we and where do we come from?" In Stardust, the episode directed by Lachmann, he and Cox travelled not only to Brazil, but also to Kathmandu and Chile, to reveal the origins of humans in distant stars. Continue reading...

Giant groundsels are superbly adapted to upland environments where temperatures can plunge to -20CThe common groundsel is a weedy plant often seen on waste ground and roadsides, growing up to about 40cm (16in) tall. But on mountains in east Africa relatives of the groundsel can grow up to 9 metres (30ft) in height. One of these giant groundsels is Dendrosenecio kilimanjari, which only grows high up on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and looks like something from another world - a woody trunk that can branch out like a candelabra, sprouting a large inflorescence atop each branch.Other Dendrosenecio species grow on other mountains, all superbly adapted to the harsh upland environments where temperatures can plunge as low as -20C (-4F) in biting winds. Their thick stems are insulated by jackets of dead and withered leaves, they use an antifreeze agent to prevent ice forming in their tissues, and at night their leaves sleep", folding up to help keep the plant warm. Rainfall can be scarce and the giant groundsels store water in the pith of their stems. As a result of their spartan existence, they can grow extremely slowly. Continue reading...

Study suggests role of male parents may be under-appreciated in some primate speciesIf male baboons were subject to the same kind of cultural commentary as humans, the phrase deadbeat dads" might be called for, such is the primate's relatively limited involvement in raising their young.But a study suggests that even their little effort might go a long way, with female baboons who experience a stronger relationship with their fathers when young tending to live longer as adults. Continue reading...

Information stolen from US company included details of 150,000 British residents including family treesThe genetic testing company 23andMe has been fined more than 2.3m for failing to protect the personal information of more than 150,000 UK residents after a large-scale cyberattack in 2023.Family trees, health reports, names and postcodes were among the sensitive data hacked from the California-based company. It only confirmed the breach months after the infiltration started and once an employee saw the stolen data advertised for sale on the social media platform Reddit, according to the UK Information Commissioner's Office - which levied the fine. Continue reading...

The popularity of healing' through psychedelics is fueling exploitation of Indigenous peoples and threatening biodiversity in EcuadorIn the world of the Ecuadorian Amazon, humans, plants and animals are relatives, and ancient stories reflect real ecological relationships and Indigenous knowledge rooted in profound connections to the land. But one of those connections - ceremonial medicine known as hayakwaska - is now marketed as a mystical shortcut to healing and enlightenment. Behind the scenes of these healing retreats" lies a deeper story of cultural erasure, linguistic distortion and ongoing colonisation masked as wellness.The global popularity of ayahuasca" has given rise to a new form of spiritual tourism that romanticises and distorts Indigenous cultures. This growing industry fuels the exoticisation of Indigenous peoples, turning our languages, practices and identities into consumable fantasies for outsiders. Sacred rituals are stripped of context, spiritual roles are commercialised, and even the names of the plants are misused, reducing complex cultural systems into simplified, marketable experiences. Continue reading...

Patients in real world shed less weight than in clinical settings and may benefit more from bariatric surgeryPeople using weight loss jabs shed far fewer pounds in the real world than in clinical trials, researchers have found.Jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, which contain the drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide respectively, have transformed the treatment of obesity, with studies suggesting the former can help people lose up to 20% of their body weight after 72 weeks of treatment. Continue reading...

Anne Wojcicki made $305m bid for firm, which has lost customers since declaring bankruptcy, with backing of Fortune 500 company23andMe's former CEO is set to regain control of the genetic testing company after a $305m bid from a non-profit she controls topped a pharmaceutical company's offer for it in a bankruptcy auction.Last month, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals agreed to buy the firm for $256m, topping a $146m bid from Anne Wojcicki and the non-profit TTAM Research Institute. The larger offer prompted Wojcicki to raise her own with the backing of a Fortune 500 company, according to the former executive. The deal is expected to close in the coming weeks after a court hearing currently scheduled for 17 June, the company said on Friday. Continue reading...

Four booths hidden from view, prompting fury from Israel's defence ministry and visiting US Republicans

Celestial objects will be separated by less than a degree and the colour difference between them will be strikingLook into the western sky this week to see an eye-catching conjunction between Mars and Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, the lion. The chart shows the view from London at 2300 BST on 16 June 2025.The pair of celestial objects will be separated by less than a degree, less than twice the apparent diameter of the full moon. This means that as well as being an easy spot with the naked eye, they are close enough to fit into the same field of view when viewed through binoculars. Although they will move further apart as the week continues. Continue reading...

Combination of two targeted drugs found to produce better outcomes and was more tolerable than chemotherapyA groundbreaking UK-wide trial has found a chemotherapy-free approach to treating leukaemia that may lead to better outcomes for some patients, with the results being hailed as a milestone".Led by researchers from Leeds, results from the Flair trial, which took place at 96 cancer centres across the UK, could reshape the way the most common form of leukaemia in adults is treated, scientists said. Continue reading...

Ride was the first US woman in space - but a National Geographic documentary looks at how she was forced to hide her queerness to succeedA week before Sally - a documentary about the first American woman to fly into space - landed at the Sundance film festival in January, Nasa employees received emails informing them how Donald Trump's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) rollbacks would take effect.Contracts and offices associated with DEI programs were to be terminated. Staff were given Orwellian instruction to inform the government of any attempt to disguise inclusion efforts in coded or imprecise language". In the weeks to follow, Nasa would take back its promise to send the first woman and person of color to the moon's surface. Meanwhile, employees are reported to be hiding their rainbow flags and any other expressions of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, allegedly because they were instructed to do so though Nasa denies those claims. Continue reading...

Chartered spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary's first astronauts in decades delayed indefinitelyA chartered spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary's first astronauts in decades has been delayed indefinitely because of leak concerns at the International Space Station.The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) said on Thursday that it had postponed the Axiom Mission 4 to the ISS to monitor the cabin pressure on the Russian side of the orbiting lab before accepting visitors. Officials stressed that the seven astronauts currently at the space station were safe and that other operations up there would not be affected. Continue reading...

An immensely readable dive into the predictive processing' hypothesis, our best guess as to how the mind really worksThe process of perception feels quite passive. We open our eyes and light floods in; the world is just there, waiting to be seen. But in reality there is an active element that we don't notice. Our brains are always filling in" our perceptual experience, supplementing incoming information with existing knowledge. For example, each of us has a spot at the back of our eye where there are no light receptors. We don't see the resulting hole in our field of vision because our brains ignore it. The phenomenon we call seeing" isthe result of a continuously updated model in your mind, made up partly ofincoming sensory information, but partly of pre-existing expectations. This is what is meant by the counterintuitive slogan of contemporary cognitive science: perception is acontrolledhallucination".A century ago, someone with an interest in psychology might have turned to the work of Freud for an overarching vision of how the mind works. To the extent there is a psychological theory even remotely as significant today, it is the predictive processing" hypothesis. The brain isaprediction machine and our perceptual experiences consist of our prior experiences as well as new data. Daniel Yon's A Trick of the Mind is just the latest popularisation of these ideas, but he makes an excellent guide, both as a scientist working at the leading edge of this field and as a writer of great clarity. Your brain is a skull bound scientist", he proposes, forming hypotheses about the world and collecting data to test them. Continue reading...

Vulnerable grassland birds listen in to the social rodents warning of the many threats both species facePrairie dogs bark to alert each other to the presence of predators, with different cries depending on whether the threat is airborne or approaching by land.But their warnings also seem to help a vulnerable grassland bird. Continue reading...

As a companion to the Guardian's Missing in the Amazon podcast, global environment editor Jon Watts goes in search of answers to the question Dom Phillips was investigating when he was murdered: how can we save the Amazon?In the final episode of a three-part series, Jon encounters a radical new view of the Amazon's history being uncovered by archaeologists. Far from an uninhabited wilderness, the rainforest has been shaped by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Jon finds out how their expert knowledge could be harnessed to secure the Amazon's futureListen to Missing in the AmazonSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

Groundbreaking observations map chaotic patchwork of magnetic activity, said to be key to understanding how sun's field flipsThe sun's uncharted south pole has been revealed for the first time in striking images beamed back from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft.The joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Nasa mission swooped below the planetary plane and, for the first time, captured the sun's mysterious polar regions. The groundbreaking observations also mapped a chaotic patchwork of magnetic activity at the sun's pole that scientists say is key to understanding how the sun's field flips roughly every 11 years. Continue reading...

By slashing time and cost of restoration, technique could be used on paintings not valuable enough for traditional approachThe centuries can leave their mark on oil paintings as wear and tear and natural ageing produce cracks, discoloration and patches where pieces of pigment have flaked off.Repairing the damage can take conservators years, so the effort is reserved for the most valuable works, but a fresh approach promises to transform the process by restoring aged artworks in hours. Continue reading...

Researchers identify new species named Khankhuuluu mongoliensis from skeletons unearthed in MongoliaTyrannosaurs might evoke images of serrated teeth, massive bodies and powerful tails, but their most recent ancestor yet discovered was a slender, fleet-footed beast of rather more modest size.Experts say the new species - identified from two partial skeletons - helps fill a gap in the fossil record between the small, early ancestors of tyrannosaurs and the huge predators that evolved later. Continue reading...

Prototype is able to detect small concentrations of the toxic substance in alcoholic drinks or on someone's breathAustralian researchers have developed a prototype methanol breathalyser" capable of detecting small concentrations of the toxic substance in alcoholic drinks or on someone's breath.Methanol poisoning is a problem that affects thousands of people every year, killing 20-40% of victims, according to Doctors Without Borders. In November, Australian backpackers Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, along with British lawyer Simone White, were among six tourists to die in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos. Continue reading...

As a companion to the Guardian's Missing in the Amazon, Jon Watts, global environment editor, goes in search of answers to the question Dom Phillips was investigating when he was murdered: how can we save the Amazon?In episode two, Jon meets the people trying to make sure the rainforest is worth more standing than cut down - from a government minister attempting to establish Brazil's bioeconomy' to a startup founder creating superfood supplements and a scientist organising night-time tours hunting for bioluminescent fungi. Jon explores new ways of finding value in the forest and asks whether they will be enough to secure its future survivalListen to Missing in the AmazonSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

Users of Ozboneviz site can spin and zoom 3D scans of bones and skeletons. Scientists hope it helps disprove the myth that marsupials are less evolved Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton's free Clear Air newsletter hereThe skeleton of Australia's supremely weird southern marsupial mole has a distorted skull that looks like a god rammed it into a mountain side on its day of creation", says Vera Weisbecker.It is one of 189 Australian mammals in a new public database of 3D scans of bones and skeletons where users can spin the mole's skeleton around, zooming in and out, to marvel at its oddness. Continue reading...

Experts say thick slabs of cloud in YSES-1 system could consist of mineral dust and iron, which would rain downShould humans ever venture to a particular planet that circles a sun-like star in the constellation of the fly, they would do well to keep an eye on the weather.The thick slabs of cloud that blot the planet's skies are mostly made from mineral dust, but astronomers suspect there may be iron in them, too, which would rain down on the world below when the clouds break. Continue reading...

Australian researchers hope test is a game-changer' for diagnosing those following a strict gluten-free dietCoeliacs may soon no longer need to eat large amounts of gluten - the very thing suspected of making them sick - to get an accurate diagnosis.Australian research published on Tuesday in the journal Gastroenterology showed a blood test for gluten-specific T cells had a high accuracy in diagnosing coeliac disease, even when no gluten was eaten. Continue reading...

As a companion to the Guardian's Missing in the Amazon, the global environment editor Jon Watts goes in search of answers to the question Dom Phillips was investigating when he was murdered: how can we save the Amazon?In episode one of a three-part series, Watts explores what's at stake if we fail to act in time. He hears about the crucial role of the rainforest for South America and the global climate, and looks back at how cattle ranching came to dominate and destroy huge swathes of the forest - pushing it to a dangerous tipping point todayListen to Missing in the AmazonSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

Scientist accused months ago of shipping material, described as related to worms, to University of Michigan labA Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the US at the Detroit airport, the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material, authorities said on Monday.The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms that requires a government permit. Continue reading...

Critics had claimed that plan announced in May exposed complex of desert etchings to impact of informal miningPeru's government has abandoned a plan that reduced the size of a protected area around the country's ancient Nazca Lines, after criticism the change made them vulnerable to the impact of informal mining operations.Peru's culture ministry said on Sunday that it was reinstating with immediate effect the protected area covering 5,600 sq km (2,200 sq miles), that in late May had been cut back to 3,200 sq km. The government said at the time the decision was based on studies that had more precisely demarcated areas with real patrimonial value". Continue reading...

Over the last decade, Colombia's city of eternal spring' has embarked on an ambitious effort to restore greenery to public parks, transit corridors and even high-rises Continue reading...