Science | The Guardian

Island's mineral and resource wealth is result of mountain building, rifting and volcanic activity over 4bn yearsAs recent manoeuvres over Greenland have made plain, this mostly ice-covered island contains some of the greatest stores of natural resources in the world, with huge volumes of oil and gas, rich deposits of rare-earth elements and rocks bearing gems and gold. So why did all the planetary goodies end up here?Writing in The Conversation, the geologist Dr Jonathan Paul from Royal Holloway, University of London, explains how this mineral and resource wealth is tied to the country's geological history over the past 4bn years. Greenland is a bit of a geological anomaly, with land that has been pummelled in three different ways: mountain building, rifting and volcanism. Continue reading...

Last week, a UN report declared that the world has entered an era of global water bankruptcy' with many human water systems past the point at which they can be restored to former levels. To find out what this could look like, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian's diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, who has been reporting on Iran's severe water crisis. And Mohammad Shamsudduha, professor of water crisis and risk reduction in the department of risk and disaster reduction at University College London, explains how the present situation arose and what can be done to bring water supplies back from the brinkEra of global water bankruptcy' is here, UN report saysClimate crisis or a warning from God? Iranians desperate for answers as water dries up Continue reading...

Researchers say artificial intelligence system matches human expert classification about 90% of the timeExperts have created an app that uses artificial intelligence to identify dinosaurs from the footprints left behind after they stomped across the land tens of millions of years ago.When we find a dinosaur footprint, we try to do the Cinderella thing and find the foot that matches the slipper," said Prof Steve Brusatte, a co-author of the work, from the University of Edinburgh. But it's not so simple, because the shape of a dinosaur footprint depends not only on the shape of the dinosaur's foot but also the type of sand or mud it was walking through, and the motion of its foot." Continue reading...

My mother, Barbara Hurman, who has died aged 100, was an archaeologist specialising in the identification and illustration of finds - the items disinterred during the course of excavations.She worked on a number of sites for the Bucks Museum, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, the Milton Keynes Archaeological Unit, the Department of the Environment and the Museum of London, and in her late 70s completed four summer seasons as the finds supervisor and ceramic analyst on Nottingham University's excavation of the Roman site at Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. Continue reading...

Traditional bodybuilding advice has been to push workouts to the point of failure, and that soreness is an indicator of effectiveness. But recent studies show there's another wayUntil pretty recently, the conventional wisdom about building muscle was that it worked via a system you might think of as tear and repair" - the idea being that working out causes microtears in the muscle fibres, which trigger the body's repair processes, encouraging the muscles to come back bigger and stronger.That's why many old-school trainers will tell you that there's no gain without pain, and why a lot of bodybuilding advice includes increasingly byzantine ways of pushing your biceps and triceps to the point where you can't do another repetition: the more trauma you can cause, the thinking goes, the more swole" you can become. Continue reading...

Seven sisters constellation's brightest members will be hidden from view for about an hourOn the night of 27 January, the moon passes in front of the Pleiades star cluster, temporarily hiding (occulting) some of its brightest members from view.The Pleiades, also known as the seven sisters, lie about 440 light years away in the constellation Taurus, the Bull. They are one of the most recognisable structures in the winter sky. The stars were all born from the same giant cloud of molecular gas. Although in time they will be dispersed through the galaxy, at only 100m years old, they remain a relatively tight-knit community of stellar siblings. Continue reading...

Researchers observed the primates switching social groups and passing information on where to find the ripest fruitSpider monkeys share tips about where to find food by changing their social groups in a clever system for sharing insider knowledge", research has shown.They were observed to frequently switch subgroups of three or more individuals in a way that enabled them to share information about the location of fruit trees and timing of when they would ripen. Continue reading...

Bennell-Pegg tells ceremony in Canberra she hopes to use award to inspire young people to chase their dreams

Better regulation and enforcement urged before launch of oral treatments, which criminals are likely to try to exploitExperts are warning that fake weight-loss treatments could become more prevalent as tablet forms of the medications, currently available only via injections in the UK, are launched.They say stronger regulation and enforcement are needed to prevent fraudsters from cashing in on tablets which will be easier to counterfeit. Continue reading...

Why do some people age better than others? Five extraordinary individuals - who scientists are studying - share their tipsLajuana Weathers is determined tobe the healthiest version of herself. She starts each day with a celery juice, is always trying to increase her step count, and meditates daily. Weathers is also 89years old. And she has no plans to slow down. Iwake up in the morning and feel blessed that I have another chance at a day of life," says the grandmother of six, and greatgrandmother of six more, who lives in Illinois in an independent living facility for seniors. I look at my life as a holistic entity, and in that life is my physical, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. I have to take care of all of those. That's what I like about the ageing process. All the clutter of raising children is out and Ican concentrate on the wellness of me."Weathers is a superager. This isn't a self-proclaimed label, but one backed up by science - she is part of the SuperAging Research Initiative at the University of Chicago. To qualify for the study, you have to be over 80 years old and have memory performance that's at least as good as the average 50- to 60-year-old. There are about 400 superagers enrolled across North America. Continue reading...

Despite US pushback, officials in west Africa say controversial hepatitis B study on pause amid ethics concernsUS health officials insisted it was still on. African health leaders said it was cancelled. At the heart of the controversy is the west African nation of Guinea-Bissau - one of the poorest countries in the world and the proposed site of a hotly debated US-funded study on vaccines.The study on hepatitis B vaccination, to be led by Danish researchers, became a flashpoint after major changes to the US vaccination schedule and prompted questions about how research is conducted ethically in other countries. Continue reading...

Researchers found a new way to filter and destroy Pfas chemicals at 100 times the rate of current systemsNew filtration technology developed by Rice University may absorb some Pfas forever chemicals" at 100 times the rate previously possible, which could dramatically improve pollution control and speed remediations.Researchers also say they have also found a way to destroy Pfas, though both technologies face a steep challenge in being deployed on an industrial scale. Continue reading...

US aerospace tech company reportedly held talks last year over private share sale that values business at $800bnElon Musk's SpaceX is reportedly lining up four Wall Street banks to help the company list on the stock market as investors prepare for an expected rush of US tech listings.SpaceX is considering Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for leading roles in an initial public offering, according to the Financial Times and Reuters. Continue reading...

Fetal tissue has been used to advance research into diabetes, Alzheimer's, infertility and vaccinesThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) will no longer fund research that uses human fetal tissue obtained from elective" abortions, the world's biggest public funder of biomedical research announced on Thursday.The ban marks the latest, and most dramatic, effort by the Trump administration to end research that uses fetal tissue from abortions - a goal that anti-abortion advocates, who oppose the research, have sought for years. In 2019, during Donald Trump's first term in office, the NIH stopped funding internal research that involved the tissue and implemented a review committee to evaluate research proposals from scientists outside the government. Joe Biden ended that policy in 2021. Continue reading...

Researcher points to medicalisation of masculinity' after investigating how men's health is being monetised onlineIf you're not waking up in the morning with a boner, there's a large possibility that you have low testosterone levels," an influencer on TikTok with more than 100,000 followers warns his viewers.Despite screening for low testosterone being medically unwarranted in most young men, this group is being aggressively targeted online by influencers and wellness companies promoting hormone tests and treatments as essential to being a real man", a study published in the journal Social Science and Medicine has found. Continue reading...

OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and Stripe are rumoured to be among ten of the biggest companies considering IPOsYou've probably heard of unicorns" - technology startups valued at more than $1bn - but 2026 is shaping up to be the year of the hectocorn", with several US and European companies potentially floating on stock markets at valuations over $100bn (75bn).OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and Stripe are among the big names said to be considering an initial public offering (IPO) this year. Continue reading...

The Guardian's science editor, Ian Sample, talks to Madeleine Finlay about three eye-catching science stories from the week, including a study that suggests positive thinking can boost immune response. Also on the agenda is the mysterious rise of scabies in the UK, and the discovery that cows are more adept with tools than previously knownClips: The Morning ShowPositive thinking could boost immune response to vaccines, say scientists Continue reading...

Deployment will serve data centers, governments and businesses, jumping into market dominated by SpaceXJeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin on Wednesday announced a plan to deploy 5,408 satellites in space for a communications network that will serve data centers, governments and businesses, jumping into a satellite constellation market dominated by Elon Musk's SpaceX.Deployment of satellites is planned to begin in the last quarter of 2027, Blue Origin said, adding the network will be designed to have data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth". That speed, possible with the satellites' planned optical communications, is extreme by consumer standards and would make the network key for data processing and large-scale government programs. Blue Origin said the network would be meant to serve a maximum of roughly 100,000 customers. Continue reading...

Joe Yates, Prof Philip J Landrigan, Prof Jennifer Kirwan and Prof Jamie Davies respond to an article on doubts raised about studies on microplastics in the human bodyWhile it may be a belated Christmas present for the petrochemical industry, your article (A bombshell': doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body, 13 January) was less surprising to the scientific community, where constructive debate around microplastic detection in humans has been ongoing for some time. Such debate is entirely normal - and essential - for scientific inquiry.New and novel methods must be tried, tested, critiqued, improved and tried again. Science is incremental and gradual - unlike the uncapped production and pollution of plastics, which contain thousands of hazardous chemicals. Decades of robust evidence demonstrates the harms that theseinflict on people and planet. Continue reading...

Archaeologists say stencil painted with ochre in limestone cave on Muna Island was created at least 67,800 years agoThe faded outline of a hand on a cave wall in Indonesia may be the world's oldest known rock art, according to archaeologists who say it was created at least 67,800 years ago.The ancient hand stencil was discovered in a limestone cave popular with tourists on Muna Island, part of south-eastern Sulawesi, where it had gone unnoticed between more recent paintings of animals and other figures. Continue reading...

She set the record for most spacewalk time by a woman and spent nine months at the International Space StationSuni Williams, one of two Nasa astronauts whose 10-day test flight mission turned into a nine-month odyssey on the International Space Station (ISS), has retired from the US space agency.The 60-year-old former navy captain left in December after 27 years with Nasa, according to a press release from the agency on Tuesday. Jared Isaacman, the agency's new administrator, praised her as a trailblazer in human spaceflight". Continue reading...

Aurora lights shimmering over Earth were filmed on camera by Russia's space agency Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov from the International Space Station. The phenomenon is caused by solar storms emitting high-speed charged particles colliding with gases in Earth's atmosphere. The most common colour seen during this display is green, although other colours such as pink and red are sometimes visible as well.'During yesterday's strongest storm in two decades, there was plenty of red glow. It felt as if we were literally sailing inside that light,' Kud-Sverchkov wrote on his Telegram channel on 20 January Continue reading...

Veronika's improvised grooming device has caused great surprise - but that tells us more about humans than cowsI have a farmer friend who regularly regales me with colourful stories of her cattle. Take the time when a beef cow called Noisette used her tongue to pull back the catch on the door of her pen so she could steal cattle nuts from the nearby feed bin. Or the time when she did it again, not to let herself out, but seemingly to stand back and watch as her freed compatriots mooched around and caused mayhem."Where others see a herd of cows standing around looking bored, my friend sees a soap opera, with characters and plot twists. Cows, she tells me, learn quickly, bore easily and have an indefatigable penchant for mischief.Helen Pilcher is a science writer and the author of Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction Continue reading...

A study of Arabidopsis thaliana plants found that plants growing together activated genes to protect themselves, while isolated plants did notPlants growing close to each other can warn each other about stresses in their lives.Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants were grown on their own or crowded so close together they were touching each other. When all the plants were then stressed with intense light, the isolated plants suffered severe damage, but the crowds of plants were able to cope with the stress. In fact, it just took an hour for the crowded plants to switch on more than 2,000 of their genes that were involved in protecting against a host of different stresses; in contrast, the isolated plants showed little sign of any extra gene activity. Continue reading...

Overuse and pollution must end urgently as no one knows when whole system might collapse, says expertThe world has entered an era of global water bankruptcy" that is harming billions of people, a UN report has declared.The overuse and pollution of water must be tackled urgently, the report's lead author said, because no one knew when the whole system could collapse, with implications for peace and social cohesion. Continue reading...

Trial involving 4,000 children will explore impact on mental health, sleep and time spent with friends and familyA pioneering investigation into the impact of restricting social media access for children in the UK has been announced as politicians around the world consider action on the issue.In December, Australia became the first country to ban under-16s from social media, with governments in other countries, including the, coming under pressure to do the same. Continue reading...

British Museum hails record-breaking year for archaeological discoveries - thanks largely to metal detectoristsA hoard of pennies linked to Harold II and most likely buried on the eve of battle in 1066, a rare Roman vehicle fitting, and a group of early medieval objects are among the archaeological finds and treasure discovered in Britain in 2024.It was a record-breaking year for archaeological and treasure finds in Britain, with the highest number recorded in a single year - thanks in large part to metal detectorists. Continue reading...

The spectacular aurora australis, also known as the southern lights, may be visible as far north as Victoria and New South WalesA severe' solar storm, which is being monitored by the National Emergency Management Agency, could make auroras visible in Australia as well as cause disruptions to the power grid.

Studies detecting microplastics throughout human bodies have made for alarming reading in recent years. But last week, the Guardian's environment editor, Damian Carrington, reported on major doubts among a group of scientists about how some of this research has been conducted.Damian tells Ian Sample how he first heard about the concerns, why the scientists think the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives, and where it leaves the field. He also reflects on how we should now think about our exposure to microplasticsClips: Vox, Detroit Local 4 Continue reading...

For three weeks, I wore stickers on my skin supposed to address all sorts of conditions. Are they a panacea, problem or performance?This morning, I woke up feeling a little groggy. My go-to remedy is usually a coffee and cold-water face plunge, followed by a compulsive phone scroll. But today called for something more, so I unpeeled a small, yellow energy" patch the size of a walnut, popped it on to my upper arm and hoped for the best.The patch (12 for 30) contains - so the packaging says - vitamins B5, B3 and a microdose" of caffeine. It is made by Kind Patches, which is one brand in an increasingly crowded market of wellness stickers that claim to treat everything from lack of sleep to period pains to pimples. They are coin-sized, and often come in TikTok-friendly shades of sunflower yellow and peachy orange: you may have seen a teenager sporting a star-shaped one on their face to treat spots, or influencers patting blue magnesium ones on their wrists before bed. Continue reading...

Major disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field may make northern lights visible far more south than usualThe aurora could be visible across Canada and much of the northern tier of US states on Monday night, and possibly even further south, following a major disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field, a forecast shows.The forecast, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's space weather prediction center, comes amid intense geomagnetic and solar radiation storms, said Shawn Dahl, service coordinator at the center. Continue reading...

Alien lifeforms | Power of prayer | Corned beef | Remembering birthdays | Celebrity old-age homeYour article (Nasa moon rocket creeps to its launchpad in preparation for astronaut flight, 18 January) quotesthe crew commander of ArtemisII, Reid Wiseman: They are so fired up that we are headed back to the moon. They just want to see humans as far away from Earth as possible." I imagine that most of Earth's lifeforms would agree.

The answers to today's puzzlesEarlier today, I set you these three geometrical puzzles. Here they are again with solutions.1. Bonnie Tiler Continue reading...

People picturing positive experiences found to produce more antibodies, hinting at future clinical potentialPositive thoughts may boost the immune system according to research that points to a connection between the mind and our body's natural defences.Scientists have found people who used positive thinking to boost activity in the brain's reward system responded better to vaccination, with their immune systems producing more antibodies than others after having the shot. Continue reading...

Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in different ways - something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzeesScientists have been forced to rethink the intelligence of cattle after an Austrian cow named Veronika displayed an impressive - and until now undocumented - knack for tool use.Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker from a small town in Carinthia near the Italian border, keeps Veronika as a pet and noticed that she occasionally played with sticks and used them to scratch her body. Continue reading...

Study links rapid growth of ocean macroalgae to global heating and nutrient pollutionScientists have warned of a potential regime shift" in the oceans, as the rapid growth of huge mats of seaweed appears to be driven by global heating and excessive enrichment of waters from farming runoff and other pollutants.Over the past two decades, seaweed blooms have expanded by a staggering 13.4% a year in the tropical Atlantic and western Pacific, with the most dramatic increases occurring after 2008, according to researchers at the University of South Florida. Continue reading...

Earth's satellite will be visible in conjunction with the ringed planet as twilight gives way to darknessA slender crescent moon slides past Saturn this week, offering a rewarding conjunction. It will be the perfect way to start your evening, a little quiet contemplation of the night sky as the evening twilight gives way to full darkness.The chart shows the view looking south-west from London at 18:00 GMT, although the pair will have been visible from the moment dusk begins to gather. Continue reading...

A return to nuclear power is at the heart of Japan's energy policy but, in the wake of the 2011 disaster, residents' fears about tsunamis, earthquakes and evacuation plans remainThe activity around the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant is reaching its peak: workers remove earth to expand the width of a main road, while lorries arrive at its heavily guarded entrance. A long perimeter fence is lined with countless coils of razor wire, and in a layby, a police patrol car monitors visitors to the beach - one of the few locations with a clear view of the reactors, framed by a snowy Mount Yoneyama.When all seven of its reactors are working, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa generates 8.2 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power millions of households. Occupying 4.2 sq km of land in Niigata prefecture on the Japan Sea coast, it is the biggest nuclear power plant in the world. Continue reading...

Exclusive: DNA test means patients could be offered most effective treatment first, boosting their chances of beating the diseaseScientists have developed a simple DNA blood test that can predict how well patients with breast cancer will respond to treatment.More than 2 million people globally each year are diagnosed with the disease, which is the world's most prevalent cancer. Although treatments have improved in recent decades, it is not easy to know which ones will work best for which patients. Continue reading...

These microscopic mites, which burrow under your skin and cause ferocious itching, are incredibly hard to get rid of - and cases in the UK have soared. What is causing the outbreak, and is there anything we can do about it?Louise (not her real name) is listing the contents of a bin liner she has packed with fresh essentials in case of emergency. Clothes, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, a teddy ... Although it should be two teddies," she re-evaluates, quickly. I can hear her trying to quell her panic.A diehard survivalist preparing for catastrophe? Actually, a beleaguered 44-year-old mother recovering from scabies - an itchy rash caused by microscopic mites that burrow under human skin. Far-fetched as it sounds, emergency evacuation is exactly what she, her partner and children (six and four) resorted to in November in a desperate bid to beat the bugs. She is now on tenterhooks in case they return. Continue reading...

The food, beauty and pharmaceutical industries poison our self-image. GLP-1 drugs will only make them richer - and strengthen the hold they have over usFifty years ago, I started thinking about the demand for women to look a certain way and the rebellions against the narrow ways in which we were supposed to display (and not display) our bodies. For a while, there was a conversation about the strictures. Some young women refused to conform. Some women risked being in the bodies they had rather than embodying the dominant images of being Madonna or the whore. But troubled eating abounded, even if it wasn't always visible, stoked by the food and diet industries and their bedfellows in the beauty and fashion industries. These industries targeted appearance as crucial to girls' and women's identity and their place in the world.Today, a new kind of troubled eating is stalking the land, entirely induced by the new GLP-1 weight-loss drugs produced by pharmaceutical companies and promoted by their willing agents on social media. It is totally understandable that people want relief from obsessive and invasive thoughts about their bodies and food. The explosion of GLP-1 drugs has provided a kind of psychological peace for many who feel less frightened of their appetites.Susie Orbach is a psychotherapist, psychoanalyst and social critic. She is the author of many books, including Bodies and Fat Is a Feminist Issue Continue reading...

First journey around moon with astronauts in more than 50 years could blast off in FebruaryNasa's giant new moon rocket has moved to the launchpad in preparation for astronauts' first lunar fly-around in more than half a century. The trip could blast off in February.The 98-metre (322ft) rocket began its 1mph (1.6km/h) creep from Kennedy Space Center's vehicle assembly building at daybreak. The trek of 4 miles took until nightfall. Continue reading...

Or will they have you in pieces?Today's puzzles are all geometrical, and all from the mind of the UK's most enduring and eloquent popular maths writer, Ian Stewart.1. Bonnie Tiler Continue reading...

Newly appointed Cambridge professor says feat would accelerate scientific knowledge by an order of magnitudeDark, hungry and inescapable: black holes are often portrayed as the ultimate cosmic villains.But now astronomers are preparing to capture a movie of a supermassive black hole in action for the first time, in observations that could help reveal another side to these elusive - and perhaps misunderstood - space objects. Continue reading...

After traumatic events we look for reminders of humanity's good, and flashes of courage from ordinary people become symbols of hope. But it can be hard to wear the hero's crown

Artemis II mission could launch on 6 February, sending astronauts on a 685,000-mile journeyNasa is preparing to roll out its most powerful rocket yet before a mission to send astronauts around the moon and back again for the first time in more than 50 years.The Artemis II mission is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida as early as 6 February, taking its crew on a 685,000-mile round trip that will end about 10 days later with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Continue reading...

Virunga park ranger says babies are well cared for by mother Mafuko but high infant mortality makes first weeks criticalIt was noon by the time Jacques Katutu first saw the newborn mountain gorillas. Cradled in the arms of their mother, Mafuko, the tiny twins clung to her body for warmth in the forest clearing in Virunga national park, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).Katutu, head of gorilla monitoring in Virunga, has seen dozens of newborns in his 15 years as a ranger. But, he tells the Guardian, even he was touched by the sight of the fragile infant males, who face serious obstacles if they are to become silverbacks one day. Continue reading...

Taking drug in pregnancy does not raise chances of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability, gold standard' review findsTaking paracetamol in pregnancy does not increase the chance that the child will be autistic, or have ADHD or an intellectual disability, a gold standard" review of the evidence has found.The findings debunk Donald Trump's claims last September that the painkiller causes autism, which were condemned by medical, women's health and scientific organisations around the world. Continue reading...

$1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent diseaseThe controversial US-funded study on hepatitis B vaccines among newborns in Guinea-Bissau has been halted, according to Yap Boum, a senior official at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The study has been cancelled," Boum told journalists at a press conference on Thursday morning. Continue reading...