Science | The Guardian

Award-winning rose varieties are being retired due to changing garden conditions and evolving pestsThink of the quintessential English garden and a rose will invariably spring to mind. Their sweet scent and plush petals have long been prized by gardeners, but now some of the most beloved varieties are being retired by growers due to climate breakdown and pests.Though their use in gardens is thought to have originated in China and Iraq, for hundreds of years they have been a prize bloom across England. And the undisputed king of rose-growing in the past six decades has been David Austin, who died in 2018 but whose roses fill gardens all over the country with their colour and intoxicating smell. His company, which is still going, has said it is to retire some of its most well-loved species because they are no longer practicable to grow. Continue reading...

San Casciano dei Bagni’s fortunes expected to change after opulent Etruscan-Roman sanctuary foundSince she was a child, Martina Canuti has been venturing down the steep hill flanking the Tuscan town of San Casciano dei Bagni, known by residents as “the sacred mountain”, to take a dip in the two ancient hot springs famed for their therapeutic benefits.Little did she know that just a few metres away lay a sanctuary built by the Etruscans in the second century BC, containing a trove of treasures that could now reverse the fortunes of this relatively isolated town of 1,400 inhabitants near Siena. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Gamma-ray burst from colliding stars unexpectedly gave way to day-long sight of hypermassive bodyAn “overweight” neutron star has been observed by astronomers, who say the mysterious object confounds astronomical theories.The hypermassive star was produced by the merger of two smaller neutron stars. Normally such collisions result in neutron stars so massive that they collapse into a black hole almost instantaneously under their own gravity. But the latest observations revealed the monster star hovering in view for more than a day before it faded out of sight. Continue reading...

My ears blocked and I felt something unimaginable – I wished I could hear them!Overall, I don’t have too many positive things to say about the coronavirus thus far. When I caught Covid for the first time in August this year, it was gastro Covid (not as fun as it sounds), and I spent weeks with constant nausea and vomiting, simultaneously scared of and hoping for death. During that time, I must admit, I still couldn’t really see many silver linings. But against all odds, a bright side emerged. To understand this miraculous turnabout, you must first understand a condition I have called misophonia.The word “misophonia” literally means “hatred of sound”, which might give the sleuths among you a clue. I first heard of misophonia about five years ago when my mother sent me an article, saying, “This explains everything about you since you were a weird child!” At about 13, I stopped being able to eat dinner at the table with my family, due to the scraping of cutlery on plates, the slurping of drinks, and the three growing brothers madly shovelling food into their gaping maws (in my defence, yuck). The timing was consistent with the (still minimal) research – something hinky started going on with my neuro-physiological system for some reason, and my brain and body started being triggered by certain sounds and movements. I was also becoming a lesbian, but I think that was unrelated. Continue reading...

Giant rocket, designed to withstand winds of 85mph, will remain on launchpad, with new launch date set for 16 NovemberThe imminent arrival of Tropical Storm Nicole in Florida has prompted Nasa to further delay its first crew-capable moon mission in half a century, although mission managers say they are comfortable leaving the multibillion-dollar Artemis spacecraft on its coastal launchpad.The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule are designed to withstand winds of up to 85mph, officials say, above those currently predicted for the rare late-season Atlantic cyclone that was set for an early Thursday landfall on Florida’s east coast south of the Kennedy space center. Continue reading...

A key goal of governments around the world is economic growth – continually increasing production and consumption to keep GDP rising. But can our economies grow on a rapidly warming planet with finite resources? According to a recent UN report, the only way left to limit the worst impacts of the climate crisis is a “rapid transformation of societies”.In our third Cop27 special, Ian Sample speaks to ecological economist Tim Jackson about the myth of eternal growth, other ways to think about progress and prosperity, and what an economic system in balance with our planetary system might look likeArchive: The Independent, Evening Standard Continue reading...

Research on lead poisoning suggests countries could face an explosion of people seeking support for dementiaLead exposure during childhood may lead to reduced cognitive abilities in later life, meaning people experience symptoms of dementia sooner, data suggest.The study, one of the first to investigate the decades-long consequences of lead poisoning, suggests countries could face an explosion of people seeking support for dementia as individuals who were exposed to high lead levels during early life progress into old age. Continue reading...

Scientists suggest octopuses propel material as part of den cleaning, but also in interactions and with purposeThey hunt alone, are prone to a scrap, and even cannibalise one another. And octopuses appear to have another antisocial arm to their behaviour: they hurl jet-propelled clouds of silt, algae and even shells.Researchers studying Octopus tetricus, the common Sydney octopus, have filmed the cephalopods gathering debris in their front arms and web and jet-propelling it away from their body using water ejected from their siphon – the latter having been shifted between their rear arms for the purpose. Continue reading...

It’s on course to guzzle half the world’s carbon budget, so why are governments so afraid to discuss it?There are just two actions needed to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown: leave fossil fuels in the ground and stop farming animals. But, thanks to the power of the two industries, both aims are officially unmentionable. Neither of them has featured in any of the declarations from the 26 climate summits concluded so far.Astonishingly, the sectors themselves are seldom mentioned. I’ve worked through every final agreement produced by the summits since they began. Fossil fuels are named in only six of them. Just one hints at using less overall: the others propose only to improve efficiency (which, as we have known since the 19th century, can often paradoxically increase fossil fuel use), attempt technical fixes or, in the case of last year’s agreement in Glasgow, phase down “unabated” coal burning, while saying nothing about reducing oil or gas. Not one of them suggests extracting less. If fossil fuels are removed from the ground, they will be used, regardless of governments’ vague declarations about consumption. Continue reading...

If the H5N1 virus jumps into the human population and more dangerous strains emerge, it could set off a new pandemicLockdowns are a horrible experience, but fortunately one that is in the past now. Unless, that is, you’re a domestic bird in Britain. Since 7 November, a UK directive has instructed all farmers to keep their birds indoors as part of a stringent measure to stop the spread of avian flu, or the H5N1 virus. This measure is intended to avoid infection of domestic birds from wild birds, and will result in tens of millions of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys being brought inside for the foreseeable future. We’ve also seen island birds affected, resulting in the shutdown of human visitors to the Isle of May in Scotland for five weeks, among other measures.Avian flu is known as one of the most infectious diseases: the R number, which was often discussed for the spread of Covid-19, can be as high as 100 for avian flu, meaning one bird can infect as many as 100 others. And the past few months have seen exponential spread of the virus, with Britain and Europe hit especially hard. A lab in Surrey that tests samples says it has seen a 600% increase in cases in the past three months.Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh Continue reading...

We are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.This week, from 2019: Human activity has transformed the Earth – but scientists are divided about whether this is really a turning point in geological history Continue reading...

Timeless fret over hygiene picked out on engraved Bronze age comb from ancient kingdom of JudahIt’s a simple sentence that captures the hopes and fears of modern-day parents as much as the bronze age Canaanite who owned the doubled-edged ivory comb on which the words appear.Believed to be the oldest known sentence written in the earliest alphabet, the inscription on the luxury item reads: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.” Continue reading...

American crew and technicians in UK for historic mission find persistent rain and wind ‘interesting but fun’They are used to operating in extreme temperatures at their home base in the Mojave desert but American crew and technicians who are in the UK for a historic space mission are facing a very different challenge – the persistence of the Cornish rain and wind.Asked what the issues were in organising a space adventure from the far south-west of Britain, launch director Deenah Sanchez immediately flagged up the Cornish climate. “Honestly, getting used to the weather. In southern California we have extreme heat. Our systems are designed to take heat, humidity. Here it’s different.” Continue reading...

Fossil named Maximus unearthed in South Dakota rated one of most complete T rex skulls ever foundA Tyrannosaurus rex skull discovered in South Dakota is expected to sell for between $15 and $20m (£13m-£17m) when it is auctioned next month in New York, Sotheby’s has said.The 76m-year-old skull, nicknamed Maximus, is being sold by an anonymous seller at a live auction on 9 December. Continue reading...

A selection of images of the ‘beaver moon’. According to Nasa this is the final total lunar eclipse until March 2025, and was visible in North and Central America, Asia, Australia, the Pacific islands and parts of South America Continue reading...

Active ingredient of magic mushrooms still classified as having no medical value, despite clinical successDraconian licensing rules and a lack of public funding are holding back the emerging field of psychedelic medicine in the UK, leading scientists have warned after the release of groundbreaking results on the use of psilocybin to treat depression.The latest clinical trial found that a single dose of the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, combined with psychotherapy, helped alleviate depression in nearly a third of patients with severe depression. The finding follows other promising results suggesting that psychedelic drugs could be used in treating conditions including anxiety, PTSD, addiction and anorexia. Continue reading...

Guardian Australia picture editor Carly Earl explains the dos and don’ts of photographing the moon. Tuesday night’s total lunar eclipse will be the last one visible from the region until 2025.

As world leaders began to gather at Cop27 yesterday, speeches began on the main stage in Sharm el-Sheik. Presidents and prime ministers spoke of the need to rapidly reduce carbon emissions and the horrendous impacts of climate breakdown. But, if previous years are anything to go by – these words may not turn into concrete actions. Instead, indigenous and community groups are leading the charge on saving the planet.Madeleine Finlay speaks to Nina Lakhani about the need for climate justice, and hears from activist Nonhle Mbuthuma about her fight to protect South Africa’s Wild CoastArchive: UN Climate Change Continue reading...

Women with triple negative breast cancer will gain access to pembrolizumab after deal with its manufacturerWomen with a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer have been given access to a “potentially life-saving” drug after NHS bosses struck a deal with its manufacturer.Up to 1,600 women a year will be able to get pembrolizumab, which has the potential to leave some of those who take it completely free of cancer, NHS England said. Continue reading...

Moon will take on a red hue as light reaching it passes through dust in the Earth’s atmosphere

Fifteen-week-old Hope found to have no sex organs, possibly because of rare development failureA homeless kitten has stunned vets at a UK animal charity, being the first cat they have seen that is neither male nor female.Hope, a 15-week-old tabby and white cat, was originally thought to be female when it was admitted to the Cats Protection rescue centre in Warrington, but vets found no external sex organs. Continue reading...

World-first pilot in England helps identify those who could be offered statins, who would otherwise be ‘invisible’ to NHSGPs in the north of England have used predictive genetic tests to identify people most at risk of heart disease in the world’s first pilot of the technology.The NHS study, called Heart, offered genetic tests to nearly 1,000 people aged 45 to 64, in the hope of better predicting their risk of developing cardiovascular disease over the next 10 years. Continue reading...

Neuroscientists show clubbers move more to very low frequencies, even though they are not consciously detectableWhen it comes to getting into the groove on the dancefloor, it really is all about the bass, researchers have found.Scientists say when very low frequency (VLF) sound was introduced during a live electronic music event, gig-goers moved more even though they could not hear the frequencies. Continue reading...

The dramatic vanishing of polar ice sheets will cause catastrophic sea level rise that will threaten cities, according to a major new studyThe climate crisis has pushed the planet’s stores of ice to a widespread collapse that was “unthinkable just a decade ago”, with Arctic sea ice certain to vanish in summers and ruinous sea level rise from melting glaciers now already in motion, a major new report has warned.Even if planet-heating emissions are radically cut, the world’s vast ice sheets at the poles will continue to melt away for hundreds of years, causing up to three metres of sea level rise that will imperil coastal cities, the report states. The “terminal” loss of sea ice from the Arctic during summers could arrive within a decade and now cannot be avoided, it adds. Continue reading...

Fireball – ‘like a flaming basketball’ – seen in sky around the time rancher’s home destroyed north-east of SacramentoA northern California man has claimed that his home was destroyed by a meteorite on Friday, after several witnesses reportedly saw a ball of light descending from the sky.“I heard a big bang. I started to smell smoke and I went on to my porch and it was completely engulfed in flames,” local rancher Dustin Procita, whose home was destroyed, told the local television news station KCRA. Continue reading...

Total eclipse to be visible in North America, Asia and the Pacific, but Africa, Middle East and Europe will have to wait until 2025The moon is set to pull off a disappearing act on Tuesday, and those who miss it will have to wait three years for another chance to see something like it again.A total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout North America before dawn on Tuesday, giving those further west the best view. In Asia, Australia and the rest of the Pacific, it will be visible after sunset. Continue reading...

Happiness might seem like a noble goal – but striving for it can be counterproductiveWho doesn’t want to be happy? At the end of the day, you might think, it’s happiness that matters most – it’s the reason for everything we do. This idea goes back to classical antiquity. According to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, whatever we pursue in life – “honour, pleasure, reason, and every virtue” – we choose “for the sake of happiness” since happiness “is the end of action”. Around this all-consuming aim we’ve built a multibillion-dollar industry: self-help.Not that there haven’t been critics. “Humanity does not strive for happiness,” the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche quipped, “only the English do.” He was making fun of utilitarians like Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, for whom the point of morality is to achieve the greatest happiness for all. The irony is that Mill, too, had doubts about the pursuit of happiness. As he saw, the craze for contentment threatens to subvert itself. Continue reading...

Frustration growing at delays that leave some unable to take up prestigious posts for up to seven months

For those whose cultural backgrounds incline towards passive aggression, this self-preservation tactic is almost too naturalThere is a technique for dealing with hostile people that maps almost exactly on to the British national character. Do you know about this? I only recently discovered it, lagging behind followers of therapy Instagram and those seeking urgent strategies to survive the holiday season. It is called – with due deference to how Alan Partridge this sounds – “grey rocking”. But it might as well, for its evasive politeness, be called the “up to a point, Lord Copper” approach to neutralising aggressors.If you’ve ever smiled blandly in the face of someone you violently dislike; if you’ve ever done a flat, “oh, wow”, or “right” to everything they say; if you’ve ever given the sketchiest details when they ask what you’re up to – then, along with millions of other Britons, you have probably been unwittingly grey rocking it like a pro. Continue reading...

Earth will be directly between the sun and Uranus this week, making our solar system’s seventh planet appear brighter than usualIt is time to try glimpsing the seventh planet, Uranus, with the naked eye. It will certainly not be easy and could well take a few attempts over the next week but it is possible.To help ensure success, take a pair of binoculars with you. Uranus hovers at the limits of naked eye visibility but this week it gets a small boost. It will be at opposition, when the planet is exactly 180 degrees away from the sun, as seen from Earth. To achieve this configuration, Earth must be directly between Uranus and the sun, meaning that we will be closer to the planet than at any other time in the year. This helps make Uranus appear brighter. It is still a tough challenge though. Continue reading...

World first clinical test could be good news for people with rare blood groups and those who need frequent transfusionsLaboratory grown red blood cells have been transfused into volunteers in a world first clinical trial that could help revolutionise treatments for patients with sickle cell disease and thalassemia.The manufactured blood cells were grown from stem cells from donors, which in future could allow donor blood to be expanded into much larger volumes for transfusion. The trial is studying the lifespan of the lab grown cells compared with infusions of standard red blood cells from the same donor. Continue reading...

She was with me through tough times and I craved her presence after she’d gone. Getting her memorialised was the best way I could keep her with meI am a proud Cat Lady. When my beloved Siamese of 16 years died in 2020, I realised immediately that I couldn’t live productively without a cat. I was 41 and had had her since I was 24, my entire adult life until that point. I not only mourned Lilu, but I craved the endorphin hit of feeling fur against my skin. The comforting way she’d walk across me in my sleep, waking me multiple times in the night, more so towards the end, than my very young children. I longed for the affection she offered my ankles as I filled her bowl, the endless hours I’d spent alone as a writer with her next to me, curled up in a ball, ready for me to bury my face into her when the frustration of a blank page became too much to bear.I missed keeping her alive, which was one of the things I was most proud of in my whole life. I’d have done anything for that cat, often sacrificing my own need for food for hers when I was in my 20s and broke. I have lost people in my life and sadly know grief and its vicious claws very well, but Lilu dying was different. The world had not lost someone, I had. I felt quite isolated. The words “it was just a cat” were what I feared people were saying behind my back when I couldn’t stop talking about it, no matter how hard I tried. Continue reading...

Wrinkled skin, painful muscles, aching joints – collagen is being marketed by the supplement industry as the answer to many of the problems of ageingOf all the 20,000 or so different proteins in the human body, there is one that dominates more than any other. Without it, our cells would simply collapse in on themselves, our skeleton and blood vessels would disintegrate and we would be little more than blobs of shapeless tissues.This vital component is collagen, a molecule that defines our existence in a multitude of ways that most of us are blissfully unaware of. According to some research, nearly a third of the proteins in humans and other mammals are composed of 28 different types of collagen, from type I collagen, which is found in skin, to type II collagen, which is found in cartilage. Continue reading...

Do bones and teeth found in Sussex share characteristics with Neanderthal fossils from northern Spain?They are the oldest human fossils ever found on British soil. Excavated 30 years ago at Boxgrove, in West Sussex, the leg bone and teeth of an early human species were subsequently dated as being around 480,000 years old.Other finds made at Boxgrove also revealed these ancient men and women were hunting horses, deer and perhaps even rhinos and butchering them. Crucially, they were doing so with sophisticated stone tools long before the appearance of Homo sapiens - though the exact identity of these individuals remained a puzzle. Continue reading...

The theoretical physicist and martial arts expert has written a new book that uses magic and wizardry as a portal to engage people with the important but overlooked field of condensed matterFelix Flicker is a theoretical physicist working on the quantum underpinnings of matter. Born in Devon, he studied at Oxford, the Perimeter Institute in Ontario, Canada, and Bristol University, where he completed his PhD. Now a physics lecturer at Cardiff University, he is also a kung fu teacher and former British champion of shuai jiao (Chinese wrestling). Flicker, 35, has just published his first book, The Magick of Matter: Crystals, Chaos and the Wizardry of Physics, exploring the often overlooked field of condensed matter physics, which underlies our modern world.What prompted you to write this book?

They are the images that made us sit up and take notice. As world leaders gather for Cop27, these pictures prove that global heating isn’t a distant possibility – it’s already hereFor a week in July 2018, a giant 100m-tall iceberg loomed over a tiny village on the west coast of Greenland. Villagers were evacuated, and the world watched in suspense: if a chunk of the 10m-tonne iceberg had broken apart or “calved”, it would have caused a tsunami and obliterated the settlement of Innaarsuit. Eventually, it drifted away from the shore – but as glaciers melt, we can expect to see more masses of ice breaking off and floating dangerously close to land. Continue reading...

I’ve always been a fussy eater. Could an expert show me a life beyond the kids’ menu?Is anyone more reviled than fussy eaters? Exclude the obvious candidates (murderers, estate agents, Piers Morgan) and it seems unlikely. It’s unfortunate that an era in which half the population identify as “foodies” has coincided with one in which the other half are convinced that eating wheat, gluten or nightshades will result in certain spiritual death. Worse still are people who swerve entire food groups on the basis of bizarre childhood whims that should have been abandoned with their teddy bears. I should know, I am one of them.My diet is comfortably one of the top three most annoying things about me, and I say that as someone whose signature karaoke song is a 10-minute Taylor Swift epic about Jake Gyllenhaal losing her scarf. A non-exhaustive list of foods that I have never eaten includes lettuce, onions, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes (unless in a sauce or ketchup), mushrooms, eggs of any kind … I could go on. Continue reading...

New study, carried out using tiger sharks in the Bahamas, extends total known global seagrass coverage by more than 40%Tiger sharks are notoriously fierce. The huge animals, which can grow to more than 16ft, are ruthless predators and scared of absolutely nothing – recent research found that while other shark species fled coastal waters during strong storms, tiger sharks “didn’t even flinch”.But recently they have a new role that could help burnish their reputations: marine scientists. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Findings add weight to view that decreased serotonin response could play an important role in depressionScientists claim to have found the first direct evidence that people with depression have a reduced capacity for releasing serotonin in the brain.The findings from a brain-imaging study reignite a debate within psychiatry over the so-called serotonin hypothesis of depression and challenge the conclusions of an influential review published in July that found “no clear evidence” that low serotonin levels are responsible. The latest work, led by scientists at Imperial College London, suggested that people with depression have a decreased serotonin response. Continue reading...

Lucy Ward on the roles played by Edward Jenner and Thomas Dimsdale in the development of inoculation against diseaseYour article on challenge trials raises fascinating questions, as the world seeks to address the risk of new pandemics (Should we give people diseases in order to learn how to cure them?, 31 October). It refers to Edward Jenner, who did indeed “challenge” his patient James Phipps, the eight-year-old boy he had test-inoculated with cowpox (the process that would become known as vaccination), by subsequently having him inoculated with live smallpox to ensure he was immune to the disease. However, by the time he did so in 1796, the latter technique was a widely used and highly successful procedure which, conducted safely by experienced practitioners, had a negligible risk.Arriving in Britain from Turkey in 1721, and used for centuries in India, China and parts of Africa, inoculation involved giving healthy individuals a minute dose of smallpox virus via a scratch on the skin, leading to a mild dose of the disease and then lifelong immunity. Thomas Dimsdale, the Essex-born Quaker physician featured in my book The Empress and the English Doctor, reported having inoculated about 6,000 patients with just one death at the time he went to St Petersburg to treat Catherine the Great and her son. The empress underwent the procedure in 1768 to show her subjects how safe it was. Continue reading...

Huge chunk of Long March 5B rocket launched four days previously re-enters atmosphereA hefty chunk of the massive rocket used to deliver the third module of China’s Tiangong space station has fallen back to Earth uncontrolled, triggering the closure of some of Spain’s airspace and leading to hundreds of flight delays.Four days after blasting off from southern China, a large part of the Long March 5B (CZ-5B) rocket broke up as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the south-central Pacific ocean at 10.01 UTC, according to European and US space authorities. Continue reading...

The fascinating story of two Nasa rovers that ended up spending 15 years on Mars verges into cloying territoryDusty, colder than cold, 142m miles away from the sun, Mars isn’t the most hospitable of environments. Nor is it the most universally compelling of film settings. Not everybody, after all, wants to go on a space odyssey, let alone one whose protagonists are robotic vehicles. Ryan White, the director of a feelgood documentary about a recent feat of American space exploration, came up with a solution: take a subject that is literally lifeless, and draw parallels – however improbable – to the human condition.Co-produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and narrated by Angela Bassett’s soothing voice, Good Night Oppy faithfully if somewhat cloyingly relays the story of a 1993 mission to Mars that was supposed to last for 90 days but ended up going for 15 years. Spirit and Opportunity, the marvelous machines at the heart of the movie, might look more like ostriches than people, with their long necks and camera eyes sitting on the sides of their boxy heads. But this is a film engineered to unleash swells of connection and emotion, and part of that involves presenting the rovers as adorable and quirky 5ft 2in humans. Continue reading...

Experiment finds electrical charge can alter size of water droplets and cause them to ‘explode’Gloomy foggy days are frequent in November, but there’s not a lot we can do about them. Or is there? A new experiment has shown that zapping clouds with electrical charge can alter droplet sizes in fog or, potentially, help a constipated cloud to rain.Last year Giles Harrison, from the University of Reading, and colleagues from the University of Bath, spent many early mornings chasing fogs in the Somerset Levels, flying uncrewed aircraft into the gloop and releasing charge. Their findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters, showed that when either positive or negative charge was emitted, the fog formed more water droplets. Continue reading...

Insecticide-resistant newcomer caused unprecedented urban outbreak in Ethiopia and can survive the dry season, scientists sayScientists are warning that the invasion of an insecticide-resistant mosquito could change Africa’s “landscape of malaria” after research showed it caused an unprecedented urban outbreak in Ethiopia.An investigation into a steep rise in cases in the Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa during a dry season this year identified the mosquito as the cause of the outbreak. Scientists say it is the strongest evidence to date that it could prompt surges of malaria in areas typically less affected by the disease. Continue reading...

On Sunday, world leaders, negotiators and industry representatives will begin to arrive in Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt for Cop27, the UN’s climate change conference. A UN report set the stage for talks last week, stating that there is “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place” and that progress on limiting global temperature rises has been “woefully inadequate”. So will governments take the opportunity to press ahead with their promises or could the conference live up to accusations of greenwashing?In the first of five special episodes covering Cop27, Madeleine Finlay hears from Guardian Australia’s climate and environment editor Adam Morton about what’s happened since Cop26, our current path to catastrophic heating and what’s likely to be on the agenda over the next two weeksArchive: WION, BBC News, DW News Continue reading...

A masterclass in cell function that will leave you in awe of biologyCells build organisms from the ground up, and therefore to choose to write about them is to give oneself permission to explore almost any aspect of the living world. They are “a life within a life” as Siddhartha Mukherjee puts it in his latest book, which takes advantage of that licence to offer a comprehensive account of basic biology, alongside a history of the many great minds that have helped us to see beyond widespread misconceptions to scientific truth.This is not just about clear-cut successes: alongside the stories of diligent scientists, there are intriguing tales of the many eccentrics whose contributions were vital to the transformation of medicine. As such, this is a book filled with missteps, arguments and prejudices. It almost made me feel sorry for my scientific colleagues, painstakingly working away in labs, trusting that systematic hard work is all that is required to achieve a big breakthrough. Continue reading...

Research could help explain how virus got so out of control this year, while also refining efforts to combat itBritish researchers have identified evidence of “considerable” transmission of monkeypox in the few days before symptoms of the virus emerge.If replicated, the finding would upend received wisdom about how the virus spreads. It could help explain how monkeypox, which causes sometimes excruciatingly painful lesions, got so out of control this year, while also refining efforts to combat it. Continue reading...

Nearly third of patients on largest trial using psychedelic compound went into rapid remissionThe psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms can help alleviate severe depression when combined with psychotherapy, according to a trial that raises hopes for people failed by existing antidepressants.Nearly a third of patients with severe depression went into rapid remission after a single 25mg dose of psilocybin followed by therapy sessions, which aimed to help patients identify causes and potential solutions to their depression, researchers said. Continue reading...

Broken by my parents’ divorce, I was all too ready to be remade by Margaret and her circle. But the ‘training’ was brutal and demeaningIt’s 1994, I’m in a school gym, 16 years old, examining the intersecting lines for basketball, badminton and tennis because it feels less confusing to stare at the floor than watch the spectacle unfolding in front of me. A woman, who I think is very old but who is probably in her 30s, is sweating and yelling: “I am sex. I love fucking.” People are clapping, cheering, telling her she is beautiful. She hollers at the ceiling, thrusting her pelvis. I feel repulsed. Nothing is more gross to a teenager than an adult thrusting, especially in public.I had ended up there because I was depressed after my parents’ bitter divorce. I had stopped going to school, spent all day in bed, mainly in tears. Around then, an old friend of my mum’s from the 60s – whom I will call Margaret – resurfaced. They revived their friendship, and Margaret started helping my mum through the emotional fallout of her divorce. “Sarah might benefit from being trained,” she said. Continue reading...