Musicians and scientists armed with synths and electrodes are plugging in to mushrooms and cacti to encourage humans to reconnect with the EarthTo musician Tarun Nayar, mushrooms sound squiggly and wonky. Nayar’s “organismic music” project Modern Biology has only been active since last summer but, with his videos of mushrooms making calming ambient soundscapes, he’s already racked up more than half a million TikTok followers and 25m views.The electronic artist and former biologist hangs out in mushroom circles, spending summers in the northern Gulf Islands of British Columbia with the Sheldrake brothers: Merlin, the author of the bestselling Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures, and producer-songwriter Cosmo. So it seems only natural that he would begin foraging mushrooms – not to eat, but to listen to. Continue reading...

Brutal heatwave in India and Pakistan also certain to have been exacerbated by global heating, scientists sayThe massive and deadly floods that struck South Africa in April were made twice as likely and more intense by global heating, scientists have calculated. The research demonstrates that the climate emergency is resulting in devastation.Catastrophic floods and landslides hit the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape on 11 April following exceptionally heavy rainfall. Continue reading...

Nice recommends alternative to injections or surgery for treating non-cancerous growths in wombThousands of women in England and Wales with fibroids are to be offered a new tablet to ease their symptoms as an alternative to injections or surgery.Fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the womb. About one in three women develop them at some point in their life. They most often occur in those aged between 30 and 50. Continue reading...

Regulator expected to consent to import of hormone replacement pills and patches from FranceExtra supplies of hormone replacement therapy products could be shipped to the UK from France and Poland as soon as next week, a major manufacturer has said after crisis meetings were held to address the nationwide shortage.Tina Backhouse, the general UK manager at Theramex, which makes about a dozen HRT drugs, including Bijuva pills and Femseven patches, said the company needed special permission to bring in products from France that were not licensed in the UK. Theramex’s products are mainly made in Germany, and some are only licensed in other European countries. Continue reading...

Researchers at the University of Florida planted thale cress in harsh lunar dirt returned by Apollo 11 astronautsFor the first time, scientists have grown plants in soil from the moon collected by Nasa’s Apollo astronauts.Researchers had no idea if anything would sprout in the harsh moon dirt and wanted to see if it could be used to grow food by a new generation of lunar explorers. The results stunned them. Continue reading...

Thale cress seeds survived but grew more slowly than those planted in volcanic ash, developing stunted rootsThe prospect of growing crops on the moon has edged a little closer after researchers nurtured plants – some more successfully than others – in lunar soil for the first time.Scientists planted thale cress seeds in moon dust brought back by three Apollo missions and watched them sprout and grow into fully fledged plants, raising the potential for astronauts to farm off-world crops. Continue reading...

Event Horizon telescope captures image giving a glimpse of the turbulent heart of our galaxyAn image of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way has been captured, giving the first direct glimpse of the “gentle giant” at the centre of our galaxy.The black hole itself, known as Sagittarius A*, cannot be seen because no light or matter can escape its gravitational grip. But its shadow is traced out by a glowing, fuzzy ring of light and matter that is swirling on the precipice at close to the speed of light. Continue reading...

While the $4tn global wellness industry bends over backwards to sell us dubious detox products, there is an accessible, easy, and free way to genuinely rid our bloodstreams of toxinsAmong all the toxins in the Pandora’s Box of chemical pollutants that humans have released upon the world, PFAS are particularly disturbing.PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are nicknamed “forever chemicals” for their ubiquity, persistence and toxicity. They are used in household items including non-stick pans, waterproof fabrics, and microwave popcorn bags, and can contaminate water, air, soil, crops and animal products. They accumulate in the blood, bones and tissues of living things and do not degrade. PFAS impair human immune systems, making us more susceptible to diseases – even those we’ve been vaccinated against. Researchers associate the chemicals with liver disease, obesity, thyroid disorders, and certain cancers, among other health problems. These observations generally pertain to the relatively few PFAS we have researched, including PFOA and PFOS; PFAS belong to a massive family of chemicals, thousands of them unstudied and potentially harmful.Adrienne Matei is a freelance journalist Continue reading...

Despite Omicron worries, England has fared no worse than other nations that kept restrictions in place

Renowned primatologist ‘had a laugh’ at the idea she’d be surrounded by models wearing Australian bamboo fabric brand Boody

A study suggests lunar cycles can heat or cool the globe by 0.04C – enough to affect climate change modellingThe moon does influence the temperature here on Earth, although the old belief that frost is more likely during a full moon is unfounded.New research by Prof Ed Hawkins and colleagues at the University of Reading looks at the regular 18.6-year cycle during which the moon’s orbital plane shifts in relation to the Earth’s equator. This cycle has been known since prehistoric times, and can be observed by slight changes in where the moon rises and sets. The cycle affects tides and how warm water from the surface of the ocean mixes with colder water below. This in turn influences how rapidly the sea absorbs heat. Continue reading...

It’s estimated that a million women in the UK could have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – but according to the ADHD Foundation, 50–75% of them do not know they have it. Going without a diagnosis can impact someone’s education, employment and physical and mental health. So why are women being left behind? Madeleine Finlay speaks to Jasmine Andersson about her experience of getting a late diagnosis, and Prof Amanda Kirby on why the condition is so often missed in women and girls. Continue reading...

Research on Wuhan patients reveals effects of long Covid, with 11% still not having returned to workMore than half of people hospitalised with Covid-19 still have at least one symptom two years after they were first infected, according to the longest follow-up study of its kind.While physical and mental health generally improve over time, the analysis suggests that coronavirus patients discharged from hospital still tend to experience poorer health and quality of life than the general population. The research was published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Continue reading...

One of the best-known public intellectuals of the pandemic gives her account of two years that shook the worldProfessor Nabila Sadiq was only 38 when she died of Covid-19. Unable to find a hospital bed in her native India, which had been overwhelmed by the virulent new Delta variant, her heart-rending Twitter messages pleading for help were picked up around the world. The story clearly hit home with the Scottish public health expert Professor Devi Sridhar, who is around the age Sadiq was and whose family are of Indian heritage. As she writes poignantly in her new book: “She would have lived had she been in Scotland, like me”.Accidents of geography are arguably a key theme of Sridhar’s book, an ambitiously wide-ranging study of a global pandemic with the emphasis firmly on the global. As she points out, individuals’ fates were too often determined by where they happened to have been born: living through the pandemic in Vietnam or Kerala was not like living through it in Britain. The refreshing twist in her tale, however, is that often it was countries from whom we are not used to taking public health lessons that got it right while a complacent west messed up. Continue reading...

Hawksbill turtles often travel circuitous routes for short distances – one swam 1,306km to reach an island just 176km away

The so-called Queen’s speech | Animal-to-human transplants | Parliamentary seating | Dress sense | Teaspoon treatIf the Queen doesn’t write her own speech and is no longer able to read it (Report, 9 May), isn’t it time to stop the charade and call things by their accurate names? The prime minister disguises his autocratic powers under the royal prerogative. If it’s his speech, let’s say so and stop pretending the monarch has anything to do with it. We must sever the monarchy from the political system: a democratic imperative that is centuries overdue.

Chance of stillbirth reduced by 15%, researchers find, after examining studies and trials that enrolled 117,552 womenDoctors have stressed the importance of Covid vaccinations for pregnant women after a major review found the shots were not only safe, but reduced the risk of stillbirth by 15%.Researchers at St George’s, University of London, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists analysed 23 published studies and trials that enrolled 117,552 pregnant women vaccinated against Covid, to assess the safety of the shots. Continue reading...

India and Pakistan have experienced their hottest April in 122 years. Temperatures are nearing 50C. Such extreme heat dries up water reservoirs, melts glaciers and damages crops. It’s also deadly.

Tensions rise again as lockdowns grind on and the city’s population tire of strict zero-Covid policy

UK-based team finds antibodies peaked higher after fourth jab given after gap of more than six months than after thirdA fourth dose of a Covid vaccine can ramp up the body’s immune defences beyond the peak achieved after a third dose, research suggests.A second booster – often a fourth dose of a Covid vaccine – is currently offered in the UK to those aged 75 or over, people living in care homes for older people, and those over the age of 12 who are immunosuppressed. Continue reading...

Chinese researchers say interim trial results suggest approach could be important for those with advanced tumoursAn experimental cancer therapy that infuses designer immune cells into patients has shown early promise in a clinical trial by shrinking tumours in the digestive system.Interim results from the first phase of the clinical trial found that the tumours in nearly half – 48.6% – of the 37 patients treated so far reduced in size after the therapy. Continue reading...

The ‘little ice age’ of the 14th to the 19th centuries brought cold winters to Europe and unusual weather globally. Studying how humans adapted could be valuableIn early February 1814, an elephant walked across the surface of the Thames near Blackfriars Bridge in London. The stunt was performed during the frost fair, when temperatures were so cold that for four days the top layers of the river froze solid. Londoners promptly held a festival, complete with what we might now call pop-up shops and a lot of unlicensed alcohol.Nobody could have known it at the time, but this was the last of the Thames frost fairs. They had taken place every few decades, at wildly irregular intervals, for several centuries. One of the most celebrated fairs took place during the Great Frost of 1683-84 and saw the birth of Chipperfield’s Circus. But the river in central London has not frozen over since 1814. Continue reading...

Analysis: EU and US pharma giants’ intellectual property rights stop poorer countries accessing vital medication – despite WTO claims of progressThere is still a long way to go before South Africa and other developing countries can manufacture Covid vaccines and treatments quickly and without paying the huge charges demanded by the big US and European drug companies.Last week, the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced that the 180-member trade forum had taken a step towards a patent waiver that would allow developing countries to make the drugs they need – including vaccines, tests, and treatments – for as long as five years, without payments to pharma giants such as Pfizer. Continue reading...

Startup Clerkenwell Health hopes to help make UK a world leader in psychedelics researchEurope’s first commercial facility for psychedelic drug trials is to open in London, with the goal of making the UK a global leader in psychedelics research and innovation.The British startup Clerkenwell Health aims to begin trials in its central London facility in August, initially focusing on the use of psilocybin to help people deal with the anxiety associated with a diagnosis of terminal illness, and to support them through their end-of-life care. Continue reading...

The author of Quiet again bangs the drum for the world’s sensitive souls, but her unflagging earnestness is depressingly short of nuance and humourNow then, on a scale of 0 to 10: do you seek out beauty in your everyday life? Do you know what CS Lewis meant when he described joy as a “sharp, wonderful stab of longing”? Do you react intensely to music or art or nature? Are you moved by old photographs? Do you experience happiness and sadness simultaneously?If your answer is emphatically yes to these and similar questions in Susan Cain’s Bittersweet Quiz (I came to a jarring halt at the one about being perceived as an “old soul”), then you will score highly and qualify as a “true connoisseur of the place where light and dark meet”. You are not sanguine (robust, forward-leaning, ambitious, combat-ready, tough), but bittersweet – and to be bittersweet means to be sensitive, creative and spiritual, with a “tendency to states of longing, poignancy and sorrow; an acute awareness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world”. Bittersweet, writes Susan Cain with her startling sincerity, means the transformation of pain into “creativity, transcendence and love”. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: It might feel like the pandemic is over, but is it too early to pretend the virus has disappeared? Nimo Omer speaks with the Guardian’s Hannah Devlin to find out

The moon passes through the shadow of the Earth next weekend, begins at 0232 BST on 16 MayThis is advance notice of a total lunar eclipse that takes place next weekend. A total lunar eclipse is when the moon passes through the shadow of the Earth.It happens in several stages, the first being the penumbral phase. This begins at 0232 BST on 16 May. The penumbral eclipse means that although most of the sun’s light is blocked, some rays can still reach the moon. It creates a subtle darkening effect that can easily go unnoticed. Continue reading...

Dr Julia Baines of Peta argues that advanced computer modelling and engineered human and plant tissues are far more accurate than these experimentsPeta scientists have consistently warned that animal-to-human transplants risk transmitting dangerous viruses, so the news that a pig virus may have contributed to the death of David Bennett, the world’s first human recipient of a pig heart, was sadly predictable (Man who received landmark pig heart transplant died of pig virus, surgeon says, 6 May).After the Covid-19 pandemic, which has killed almost 200,000 people in the UK, the public has little appetite for experimenters’ tinkering that potentially exposes the population to viruses that mutate as they jump from species to species. Humane research methods and treatments for cardiovascular disease, including advanced computer modelling and engineered human and plant tissues, are proving far more accurate than these trial-and-error experiments on animals. Continue reading...

Giandomenico Iannetti, a pain expert at UCL, angrily denies that his research suggests foetuses can feel pain before 24 weeksA University College London scientist has accused lawyers in the US of misusing his groundbreaking work on the brain to justify the dismantling of Roe v Wade, the landmark ruling that legalised abortion nationally in America.Giandomenico Iannetti said his research, which used imaging to understand the adult brain’s response to pain, had been wrongly interpreted to make an anti-abortion argument. Continue reading...

Their world-weary attitude deceives others into believing they’re better at their jobs than they areBeing cynical about other people’s motivations – assuming that everyone acts only out of self-interest – is all the rage these days. But, let’s be honest, people who are universally cynical are also tiresome and dull. No one wants a colleague, let alone a friend, who can’t really trust you because they think everyone’s out for themselves.Excellent ammunition for tackling this epidemic of cynicism comes via great new research that examines the perceived and actual competence of people who are more or less cynical. Continue reading...

A survey of the global response to coronavirus draws together fascinating data but fails to construct a compelling narrative about the spread of the virusAt the end of her wide-ranging analysis of the pandemic, Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, Guardian columnist and Good Morning Britain contributor, raises the dark question of whether Covid-19 will “be the spark for the third world war”.Written before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sridhar’s book is the story of a global crisis that has since been supplanted, at least in the headlines, by another global crisis. This is the problem with writing about still unfolding events – it’s easy to look out of date. Continue reading...

Scientists at Sheffield University have found a novel way of guiding anti-tumour viruses to their targetScientists are developing magnetically guided microscopic projectiles that can be injected into patients’ blood to attack breast, prostate and other tumours.The project – led by researchers at Sheffield University – builds on progress in two key medical fields. The first involves viruses that specifically attack tumours. The second focuses on soil bacteria that manufacture magnets which they use to align themselves in the Earth’s magnetic field. Continue reading...

The WHO has spoken but even its huge new report will not settle arguments about pandemic strategiesNational Covid death rates are, inevitably, political. How could they not be when they are viewed as evidence for good or bad government on matters of life or death? How did the UK fare compared with, say, Germany? Should both countries have been more like Sweden? However, when new data arrives, far from settling arguments over which pandemic mitigation strategies worked best, it tends to further inflame disagreements or harden pre-existing positions.So it is with the much-anticipated report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Covid-associated deaths, released last week. The WHO estimates that around 15 million additional people died because of the pandemic in 2020-2021, about 2.7 times higher than officially recorded deaths. Continue reading...

The Yale scientist explains her research into biological and chronological age – and why she’s joined a $3bn startup funded by the likes of Jeff BezosIt can be said we have two ages: a fixed chronological age based on when we were born and a malleable biological age – the age at which our body is functioning, which can be affected by our lifestyle choices. Dr Morgan Levine designs tools that measure the latter. In her new book, True Age, she argues that we should regularly measure our own biological age – giving us information we could use to monitor, and even gain control over, our own individual ageing process. Levine, 37, is an assistant professor of pathology and epidemiology at Yale University’s school of medicine. This June she will join Altos Labs, a new $3bn (£2.2bn) anti-ageing biotech startup whose funders are said to include Jeff Bezos.What got you interested in the science of biological ageing?

The renowned immunologist remains as upbeat about jabs – and UK life science – as he was in the depths of the pandemicSir John Bell, the Canadian immunologist, is a familiar sight to locals along the stretch of the Thames near his home in Wallingford, just outside Oxford, where he and his wife can often be seen rowing in a double scull.During the pandemic, Bell’s voice became familiar to millions of radio listeners too. As news broke that a viable Covid-19 vaccine was on its way, following successful trials by Pfizer and BioNTech, Bell was asked on BBC Radio 4 whether the world would now return to normal. His response was an emphatic “yes, yes, yes”. His words not only lifted spirits: they moved markets. Continue reading...

Oxford University’s Sir John Bell says sharp fall in death rate due to existing vaccines allows for a change in prioritiesIt is questionable how much longer current Covid-19 vaccines will be used as they have largely done their job in preventing mass deaths, and scientists should focus on developing a vaccine that stops transmission of the virus, according to leading scientist Sir John Bell.The huge success of Covid vaccines in countries able to get them has led to sharp declines in deaths and severe disease from the virus, even though the latest Covid variant, Omicron, has spread rapidly. Continue reading...

It’s never going to be fun, but it can be healthy – and facing up to it is always better than hidingDr Tracy Dennis-Tiwary was a professor of psychology, immersed in research – evaluating which mental health treatments worked and why – when she first became aware of an uptick in anxiety. This was some 15 years ago in New York City. ‘I work closely with practising clinicians and I remember one of them saying, ‘I’m seeing all these parents and kids coming in and they’re talking about anxiety the way we used to talk about stress,’’ she says. ‘Everything is about anxiety.’Back then, Dennis-Tiwary believed treatments would make a difference. ‘I thought we were going to claw this back, but the opposite happened.’ Instead, that uptick became an avalanche. Today, anxiety disorders are the most common mental health issues in the US, affecting 30% of adults. In the UK, prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications have almost doubled over the past 15 years, with a sharp rise among the under-25s (in the US, says Dennis-Tiwary, prescriptions have quadrupled). In 2021, a survey of 8,000 children led Oxford University Press to name anxiety as the ‘word of the year’. Continue reading...

Research focuses on rich, white populations, while indigenous peoples may have different views of natureSpending time in the great outdoors is good for your mental health, according to a growing body of research. For example, getting out and about in forests and parks has been shown to increase happiness and alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. But are the benefits universal?A review paper notes that most studies in this field look at rich, white, western populations, and scientists say this results in an incomplete picture of the health benefits. Continue reading...

David Bennett died two months after groundbreaking surgery in which a genetically modified pig’s heart was transplanted into himThe 57-year-old patient who survived two months after undergoing a landmark pig heart transplant died of a pig virus, his transplant surgeon announced last month.In January, David Bennett, a handyman who suffered from heart failure, underwent a highly experimental surgery at the University of Maryland medical center in which doctors transplanted a genetically modified pig’s heart into him. Continue reading...

With optimal viewing conditions this year, the annual event is set to peak on 7 May with viewing opportunities until 11 May

Eating vegan for 12 weeks also led to lower blood sugar levels in overweight people or with type 2 diabetesVegan diets can help people who are overweight or have type 2 diabetes lose weight and lower their blood sugar levels, research suggests.A meta analysis showed that adhering to a vegan diet over three months reduced body weight by about 4.1kg (9lb) on average compared with control diets, and cut blood sugar levels. There was little or no effect on blood pressure or levels of cholesterol or triglycerides, a type of fat. Continue reading...

There have always been charlatans offering a cure for ageing, and cheap travel and lax laws have made it even easier for themEvery year millions of people cross borders to undergo medical treatments that are either unavailable in their home country or too expensive. For many, this is a last resort to ease the pain of a debilitating disease or defy a terminal diagnosis; for others the goals are purely cosmetic. But in the past few years a new type of “medical tourist” has emerged: those seeking to radically extend their lives.There are more older people than ever before – and more people in search of longevity. In the UK, people over the age of 65 made up 19% of the population in 2019, a jump of 23% from 2009, in a period when the total population only increased by 7%. And recent advancements in the science of ageing have given them hope that they don’t have to go so gently into that good night after all.The Price Of Immortality by Peter Ward (Melville House, £20). To support The Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Clinical trial seems to show Dupuytren’s disease reversed by rheumatoid arthritis drugResearchers have hailed a breakthrough in the treatment of a common, incurable disease that causes hand deformities by bending the fingers firmly into the palm.A clinical trial at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities found that a drug used for rheumatoid arthritis appeared to drive Dupuytren’s disease into reverse when used early on, a result described as a potential “gamechanger” for patients. Continue reading...

With the virus rampant despite jabs, trials are underway to create intranasal vaccines to block infections from the bodyThe roaring success of Covid vaccines – in countries able to obtain them – has led to deaths and severe disease from the infection plummeting even as the virus evolved to sidestep immunity and rip through populations more swiftly.But while the rapid development of Covid shots ranks as the finest achievement of the pandemic, scientists are not done yet. In a small number of labs around the world, teams are taking on a problem that cannot be ignored: that the virus remains rampant in the face of mass immunity. Continue reading...

From hot flushes and flooding to memory problems and depression, for many the menopause can be both distressing and debilitating. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can alleviate some of these symptoms by boosting levels of hormones that wane as women get older. But the UK is experiencing an acute shortage of certain HRT products, leaving some without the medication they need.Madeleine Finlay hears from Guardian reader Sara about the impact of HRT shortages on her life, and speaks to science reporter Nicola Davis about why demand isn’t being met and what’s being done to fix the problem Continue reading...

Trial seems to add to body of evidence about health risks of not getting enough sleep or poor quality sleepPoor sleep may undermine attempts to maintain weight loss, research has suggested.Millions of people who are overweight or obese manage to lose weight every year. But many often then face a struggle to keep the pounds creeping back. Continue reading...

With Australia’s Covid cases per capita among the highest in the world, new antivirals such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio as well as intravenous treatments like sotrovimab are offering some hope for the severely ill, elderly and immunocompromised. However Australia’s peak body for GPs says some people at greatest risk of dying from Covid are being prevented from accessing these treatments.Medical editor Melissa Davey breaks down what Australia’s high case numbers and deaths mean, how these new treatments work, and the barriers to accessing them.Read more: Continue reading...

Studies of ischaemic stroke patients open up possibility of treatments to prevent condition and improve recoveryScientists have identified specific groups of gut microbes that could increase or decrease someone’s risk of suffering the most common type of stroke. The research, presented at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) in Lyon, France, adds to growing evidence that alterations in the gut microbiome could play a role in cardiovascular disease.Previous studies have suggested that certain microbes may influence the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the arteries, and that the gut microbiomes of stroke patients differ from those of healthy controls. Continue reading...

Davina McCall documentary highlights benefits and postcode lottery of previously rejected utrogestanA sought-after hormone replacement therapy is being reassessed for use in Scotland as the TV presenter and menopause campaigner Davina McCall revealed a postcode lottery in its prescription across the UK.Amid an ongoing supply crisis of HRT products, McCall spoke to specialists about the benefits of utrogestan, a “body identical” micronised progesterone, which is derived from plants, in her Channel 4 documentary Sex, Mind and Menopause, broadcast on Monday. Continue reading...

Cambridge scientists say robot is capable of ‘tasting’ and checking whether balance of flavours is rightThe culinary robots are here. Not only to distinguish between food which tastes good and which doesn’t, but also to become better cooks.A robot chef designed by researchers at Cambridge University has been trained to taste a dish’s saltiness and the myriad of ingredients at different stages of chewing – a process imitating that of humans. Continue reading...