Scientists are investigating whether reservoirs of virus ‘hiding’ in the body are contributing to long CovidSince the early days of the pandemic it has been clear some people shed genetic material from the virus in their stools for months after catching Covid-19. The findings were initially regarded as a curiosity, but there is mounting evidence to support the idea that persistent pockets of coronavirus – in the gut, or elsewhere – may be contributing to long Covid.Earlier this month, Prof David R Walt and colleagues at Harvard Medical School announced that they had detected Sars-CoV-2 proteins – most commonly the viral spike protein – in the blood of 65% of the long Covid patients they tested, up to 12 months after they were first diagnosed. Continue reading...

Professor says link to extreme weather sometimes overestimated but climate costs underestimatedClimate change is to blame for the majority of the heatwaves being recorded around the planet but the relation to other extreme events and their impacts on society is less clear, according to a study.“I think on the one hand we overestimate climate change because it’s now quite common that every time an extreme event happens, there is a big assumption that climate change is playing a big role, which is not always the case,” said Friederike Otto, a climate change and environment professor at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, who was one of the lead authors of the research. Continue reading...

From The Simpsons to QAnon via The Stepford Wives, the psychoanalyst’s absorbing study of mind control is part media studies, part political history Continue reading...

A new wave of scientists argues that mainstream evolutionary theory needs an urgent overhaul. Their opponents have dismissed them as misguided careerists – and the conflict may determine the future of biologyStrange as it sounds, scientists still do not know the answers to some of the most basic questions about how life on Earth evolved. Take eyes, for instance. Where do they come from, exactly? The usual explanation of how we got these stupendously complex organs rests upon the theory of natural selection.You may recall the gist from school biology lessons. If a creature with poor eyesight happens to produce offspring with slightly better eyesight, thanks to random mutations, then that tiny bit more vision gives them more chance of survival. The longer they survive, the more chance they have to reproduce and pass on the genes that equipped them with slightly better eyesight. Some of their offspring might, in turn, have better eyesight than their parents, making it likelier that they, too, will reproduce. And so on. Generation by generation, over unfathomably long periods of time, tiny advantages add up. Eventually, after a few hundred million years, you have creatures who can see as well as humans, or cats, or owls. Continue reading...

When the Guardian’s UK technology editor Alex Hern was contacted on Twitter to ask if he was involved in a new cryptocurrency called Tsuka, he assumed they just wanted him to buy it. He ignored the messages. But soon after Alex realised that, without knowing it, he was already involved. What happened next reveals a lot about the strange world of ‘shitcoins’ – cryptocurrencies with no reason for existence beyond buying low and selling high. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Alex Hern about his shitcoin saga, and how the lines can get blurred between a gamble and a scamArchive: CNBC, Sky News Australia, NBC News, Bloomberg Continue reading...

Prime minister asks disaffected Russian academics to defect to the UK alongside Ukrainian colleagues

The answers to today’s planetary perplexitiesEarlier today I set you the following problem, which was Elon Musk’s favourite interview question for engineers applying to work at SpaceX (according to his biographer Ashlee Vance).You’re standing on the surface of the Earth. You walk one mile south, one mile west and one mile north. You end up exactly where you started. Where are you? Continue reading...

UK studies will look into whether blood thinners may help people who have ongoing symptomsA possible link between blood clots and ongoing symptoms of Covid is under scrutiny by researchers in the UK.While Covid can cause a period of acute illness, it can also lead to longer-term problems. Research has suggested fewer than a third of patients who have ongoing Covid symptoms after being hospitalised with the disease feel fully recovered a year later. Continue reading...

The disease is a leading killer of under fives across Africa. But trials for a new vaccine suggest an end to the death toll could be in sightWhen Annah Kadhenghi had her first child last year, she named him Brighton Ushindi Baraka: baraka meaning “blessing” in Swahili, ushindi meaning victory. Last month, at the age of seven months, Brighton fought his first battle against an enemy that plagues millions of the world’s poorest: malaria.“His temperature was very high; he was vomiting. I took him to the hospital,” says Kadhenghi, a schoolteacher in Kilifi, eastern Kenya. Brighton defeated the mosquito-borne disease, and now sits contentedly at the weigh-in clinic at Kilifi county hospital. Continue reading...

The favourite interview question of the world’s richest manUPDATE: Solutions are now posted hereIn the early years of rocket company SpaceX, CEO Elon Musk liked to set job applicants the following problem:You’re standing on the surface of the Earth. You walk one mile south, one mile west and one mile north. You end up exactly where you started. Where are you? Continue reading...

Intestinal viruses such as rotavirus were found to be infectious for up to three days by attaching to microplastics, research showsDangerous viruses can remain infectious for up to three days in fresh water by hitchhiking on plastic, researchers have found.Enteric viruses that cause diarrhoea and stomach upsets, such as rotavirus, were found to survive in water by attaching to microplastics, tiny particles less than 5mm long. They remain infectious, University of Stirling researchers found, posing a potential health risk. Continue reading...

Often depicted as a set of scales, the zodiacal constellation is worth seeing in context between Virgo and ScorpiusThis week you can track down one of the fainter zodiacal constellations. Libra, the scales, is located in the southern celestial hemisphere, and so never rises that high in northern skies, but it is most visible from the northern hemisphere at this time of year.The chart shows the view looking south-west at midnight tonight. Although Libra will be visible all evening, it is worth waiting until midnight to see it in the correct context. It sits between the zodiacal constellations of Virgo, the virgin, to the west and Scorpius, the scorpion, to the east. Continue reading...

Successful launch from Arnhem Space Centre in Northern Territory marks agency’s first from a commercial spaceport outside US

Discovery in the Klondike ranks as the most complete mummified mammal found in the AmericasIt was a young miner, digging through the northern Canadian permafrost in the seemingly aptly named Eureka Creek, who sounded the alarm when his front-end loader struck something unexpected in the Klondike gold fields.What he had stumbled upon would later be described by the territory’s palaeontologist as “one of the most incredible mummified ice age animals ever discovered in the world”: a stunningly preserved carcass of a baby woolly mammoth thought to be more than 35,000 years old. Continue reading...

Anstisia biological group named after Marion Anstis, who wrote an acclaimed book on amphibians after retiring as a music teacher

Mitochondria are the body’s power plants, fuelling our cells. New research shows they play a role in many aspects of keeping us healthy – and could be the key to unlocking treatments for chronic diseases, including Parkinson’sAt Cambridge University’s MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Michal Minczuk is one of a growing number of scientists around the world aiming to find new ways of improving mitochondrial health. This line of research could help provide much-needed treatments for people with long Covid, as well as revolutionising our understanding of everything from neurodegenerative illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease to the ageing process.Mitochondria, tiny tube-shaped structures that are found in their hundreds, sometimes thousands, in nearly all of our cells, are best known as the body’s power plants, continuously converting the food we eat into ATP, a complex chemical that acts as a form of energy currency for cells. Without ATP, every one of our cells, from the brain to the muscles, would lack the fuel they need to keep churning away, and our organs would swiftly grind to a halt. Continue reading...

How the phrase ‘what God has willed has happened’ helped me shift feelings of jealousy towards admiration and respectI don’t feel envy very often and that isn’t because I don’t know anyone who is worthy of it. The people in my life are nothing short of brilliant. My friends and family are talented writers whose books and magazines I display proudly on my shelves. They are erudite psychologists, driven designers, artists and poets whose work moves me deeply. It is easy to celebrate their most recent successes, to which I say, “Mashallah.”Being raised Muslim, mashallah is an Arabic phrase that I use often, if not daily. Most commonly spelt as mashallah or mashaAllah, the most accurate way of representing the phrase in transliteration is ma sha Allah, which means, “What God has willed has happened.” In many cultures it is believed that saying mashallah protects a person against the evil-eye. Another way of looking at it is that it shifts the focus from potential envy to admiration, gratitude and respect. Continue reading...

Campaigners say they will seek judicial review amid fears delay could lead to loss of evidenceBoris Johnson is facing possible legal action over a delay to the start of the Covid-19 public inquiry, which campaigners fear could lead to evidence being destroyed.The prime minister pledged in parliament that the statutory inquiry into the UK’s handling of the pandemic, which has so far resulted in 196,977 fatalities with Covid on the death certificate, would begin by spring. But Downing Street has yet to finalise the terms of reference. Continue reading...

The woman who co-developed the AstraZeneca vaccine on reassuring doubters, her new book and having a baby penguin named after herDame Sarah Gilbert, 60, is a professor of vaccinology at Oxford’s Jenner Institute and author, with Catherine Green, head of Oxford University’s clinical biomanufacturing facility, of Vaxxers – a gripping narrative about developing the AstraZeneca vaccine that is wonderfully accessible and illuminating without dumbing down the science. She lives in Oxford with her husband and grownup triplets.Another wave of Covid-19 is reported to be on its way. To what extent are you able to anticipate what the virus will do next and prepare?

Experts divided on effectiveness of ECT and concerned by overuse in women and the elderlyIt is one of the most dramatic techniques employed in modern psychology. An electric shock is administered directly to the brains of individuals who are suffering from depression.But electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is controversial among some psychologists and is now the focus of a huge row – which erupted last week – over claims that it can trigger brain damage, that guidelines covering its use are weak and that it is used disproportionately on women and the elderly. Continue reading...

Rocket carrying instruments to study the evolution of the universe will be Nasa’s first launch from commercial port outside US

Health experts answer the key questions arising from the latest surge in infectionsBritain is now going through its third major wave of Covid-19 infections this year. According to the ONS Infection Survey released last week, about 1.7 million people in the UK are estimated to have been infected in the week ending 18 June, a 23% rise on the previous week. This follows a 43% jump the previous week. The figures raise several important questions about how the nation will fare in the coming months as it struggles to contain the disease. Continue reading...

The Oxford professor has studied our circadian rhythms for decades – and says much of what we think we know is wrongBorn in Aldershot in 1959, Russell Foster is a professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford and the director of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology. For his discovery of non-rod, non-cone ocular photoreceptors he received numerous awards including the Zoological Society scientific medal. His latest book – the first he has written without a co-author – is Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock, and How It Can Revolutionize Your Sleep and Health.What is circadian neuroscience?

This week, Marina Hyde on Boris Johnson’s ability to blame everything on anyone but himself (1m42s), musician Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim, on his mental health DJ classes (8m48s), Emma Beddington investigates whether winging it to the top really works (19m07s), and Imogen West-Knights looks at how the ‘mid-century millennial’ look took over our homes (33m03s) Continue reading...

We need synthetic fertilisers to produce enough food for the world’s population – there are no other alternatives yet

Team call in Michelin-starred restaurant to help crack challenge of mimicking texture of seafoodFrom plant-based meat that “bleeds” to milk grown in a lab, fake meats and dairy have come a long way in recent years. But there is another alternative that scientists are training their sights on, one with the most challenging texture to recreate of all: seafood.Scientists in Copenhagen are fermenting seaweed on fungi to develop the closest substitute for seafood yet, working with Alchemist, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant, to meet demand from diners for sustainable plant-based alternatives that are as good as – or better than – the real thing.

At 80 years old, the one-time Beatle offers a vision of optimism and empathy just as moving as the pageantry of the platinum jubileeA week has passed since Paul McCartney’s 80th birthday, and on Saturday he will play to a huge crowd at the Glastonbury festival. The great surge of reminiscence and celebration these two events have triggered – not least online, where millions of pictures, playlists and personal tributes have been shared – has felt like a rerouting of some of the feelings the public were encouraged to project on to the Queen’s platinum jubilee.But instead of flags, pageantry and a final connection to the second world war, McCartney’s big week has been all about rather different touchstones: the popular culture that he and the Beatles helped create in the 1960s, the fact that their music has endured, and the sense of optimism and empathy that has run through almost all his work, both with and without his three former colleagues. In times as uncertain and acrimonious as ours, these things inevitably mean a lot. Continue reading...

Experts worry about financial incentives for unnatural breeding methods without regulationCanine fertility clinics have boomed in the UK during the pandemic, experts have revealed, as calls grow for greater oversight of the industry.The clinics offer services ranging from artificial insemination to ultrasound scanning, semen analysis, progesterone testing and in some cases caesarean sections. Continue reading...

Space agency says daughter of entomologist sold samples from 1969 Apollo 11 mission that belonged to NasaNasa wants its moon dust and cockroaches back.The space agency has asked Boston-based RR Auction to halt the sale of moon dust collected during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that had subsequently been fed to cockroaches during an experiment to determine if the lunar rock contained any sort of pathogen that posed a threat to terrestrial life. Continue reading...

Animal thought to have been seeking place to lay egg in ruins of quake-hit home when Mount Vesuvius eruptedArchaeologists in Pompeii have discovered the remains of a pregnant tortoise that sought refuge in the ruins of a home destroyed by an earthquake in AD62 only to be covered by volcanic ash and rock when Mount Vesuvius erupted.The 14cm (5.5in) long Hermann’s tortoise and her egg were discovered during excavations of an area of the ancient city that, after being levelled by the quake, was being rebuilt for the construction of public baths, officials said Friday. Pompeii was then destroyed after the volcanic eruption in AD79. Continue reading...

First major analysis examines impact across 185 countries since first jab was administered in December 2020Covid vaccines cut the global death toll by 20 million in the first year after they were available, according to the first major analysis.The study, which modelled the spread of the disease in 185 countries and territories between December 2020 and December 2021, found that without Covid vaccines 31.4 million people would have died, and that 19.8 million of these deaths were avoided. The study is the first attempt to quantify the number of deaths prevented directly and indirectly as a result of Covid-19 vaccinations. Continue reading...

At about 1cm long, Thiomargarita magnifica is roughly 50 times larger than all other known giant bacteriaScientists have discovered the world’s largest known bacterium, which comes in the form of white filaments the size of human eyelashes, in a swamp in Guadeloupe.At about 1cm long, the strange organism, Thiomargarita magnifica, is roughly 50 times larger than all other known giant bacteria and the first to be visible with the naked eye. The thin white strands were discovered on the surfaces of decaying mangrove leaves in shallow tropical marine marshes. Continue reading...

If we can’t dramatically cut meat consumption then intensive ‘factory farming’ may be comparatively less risky, say authorsThe industrial farming of animals such as pigs, poultry and cattle to provide meat for hundreds of millions of people may reduce the risk of pandemics and the emergence of dangerous diseases including Sars, BSE, bird flu and Covid-19 compared with less-intensive farming, a major study by vets and ecologists has found.Despite reports from the UN and other bodies in the wake of Covid linking the intensive farming of livestock to the spread of zoonotic (animal-borne) diseases, the authors argue that “non-intensive” or “low-yield” farms pose a more serious risk to human health because they require far more land to produce the same amount of food. Continue reading...

500-year old structure, found in working-class area of Lima, thought to contain remains of society elitesScientists have unearthed an Inca-era tomb under a home in the heart of Peru’s capital, Lima, a burial believed to hold remains wrapped in cloth alongside ceramics and fine ornaments.The lead archeologist, Julio Abanto, told Reuters the 500-year-old tomb contained “multiple funerary bundles” tightly wrapped in cloth. Continue reading...

After wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone national park in 1995, researchers noticed some big ecological changes, leading to the regeneration of the landscape. It’s an argument used to justify the return of apex predators – but it’s increasingly being challenged. Phoebe Weston talks to Ian Sample about whether wolves really have the power to shape ecosystems, and what that means for the debate about bringing them back to the UKArchive: Good Morning Britain Continue reading...

Study of tiny parasites points to gene loss from adaptation putting them on dead-end evolutionary courseGliding through grease, and protected by our pores, tiny Demodex folliculorum mites lead a secretive life within our skin, only emerging at night to mate on our foreheads, noses and nipples. Successful as these sexual encounters are, their days as independent parasites may be numbered.The first ever genome sequencing study of these mites appears to have caught them in the process of transitioning to internal symbionts, entirely dependent on us for their existence. Eventually, this process may even lead to their extinction. Continue reading...

Scientists have designed a tiny robot fish that is programmed to remove microplastics from seas and oceans by swimming around and adsorbing them. Microplastics are the billions of tiny plastic particles which fragment from bigger plastic things used every day. They are one of the 21st century’s biggest environmental problems because once they are dispersed into the environment they are very hard to get rid of, harming the environment and animal and human health.

Disparities extend to lower chance of being named on patents and to areas such as healthcare where women dominateFemale scientists are less likely to receive authorship credit or to be named on patents related to the work they do compared with their male counterparts – including in fields such as healthcare, where women dominate – data suggests.This gender gap may help to explain well-documented disparities in the apparent contributions of male and female scientists – such as that of Rosalind Franklin, whose pivotal contribution to the discovery of the structure of DNA initially went unrecognised because she was not cited on the core Nature article by James Watson and Francis Crick. Continue reading...

Tiny self-propelled robo-fish can swim around, latch on to free-floating microplastics and fix itself if it gets damagedScientists have designed a tiny robot-fish that is programmed to remove microplastics from seas and oceans by swimming around and adsorbing them on its soft, flexible, self-healing body.Microplastics are the billions of tiny plastic particles which fragment from the bigger plastic things used every day such as water bottles, car tyres and synthetic T-shirts. They are one of the 21st century’s biggest environmental problems because once they are dispersed into the environment through the breakdown of larger plastics they are very hard to get rid of, making their way into drinking water, produce, and food, harming the environment and animal and human health. Continue reading...

A tour of the science, culture and history of bisexuality that ranges from the vehemently political to the charmingly weirdAccording to periodic reports in the media, bisexuality has been a brand-new fad since at least the 1890s. It was all the rage in 1974, for example, when the US magazine Newsweek discovered “Bisexual Chic: Anyone Goes”. A generation later, in 1995, the same magazine published a cover story declaring it “A new sexual identity”. In 2021, the Daily Telegraph parodied itself with a letter from an “Anonymous Dad” complaining about his bisexual daughter. “My daughter doesn’t like girls and boys, she likes boys”, he fumed. “But she says she is attracted to both to jump on another woke bandwagon, because for snowflake Gen Z, it’s trendy.” Like flares, student protest and hating your children’s taste in music, it seems bisexuality is always back in fashion. Criminal psychologist Julia Shaw’s book is an impassioned attempt to bring decades of serious academic research out of the shadows, to show that being bisexual is nothing new, it’s here to stay and is simultaneously less and more provocative than you think.As Shaw explains, the first use of the word in English was probably in 1892, in a translation of German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing’s book Psychopathia Sexualis. “The book was intended for clinical-forensic settings, and Krafft-Ebing wrote it in intentionally difficult language and with parts in Latin so that laypeople couldn’t read it.” There is a rich seam of nonfiction that translates impenetrable academese about interesting subjects into language that curious lay readers can understand, including this book with its juxtaposition of academic language and cute social media speak. Here, “penile plethysmography” rubs shoulders with “[my] adorable bi bubble” and a church minister “so sparkly gay that he is a bit of a local legend”. Continue reading...

Covid reinfections have become increasingly common, due to decline in antibodies and the evolution of the virusWith recent UK data suggesting that the BA.4 and BA.5 Covid variants are kicking off a new wave of infections, experts answer the key questions about reinfection and prevention. Continue reading...

Survey also finds younger generations far more in favour of designer babies than older people areMore than half the UK backs the idea of rewriting the DNA of human embryos to prevent severe or life-threatening diseases, according to a survey.Commissioned by the Progress Educational Trust (PET), a fertility and genomics charity, the Ipsos poll found that 53% of people support the use of human genome editing to prevent children from developing serious conditions such as cystic fibrosis. Continue reading...

Study may have solved paradox of the faint young Sun – which shone 20% less bright in Archean timesThe Sun shone 20% less brightly on early Earth, and yet fossil evidence shows that our planet had warm shallow seas where stromatolites – microbial mats – thrived. Now a study may have solved the “faint young Sun paradox”, showing that saltier oceans could have prevented Earth from freezing over during Archean times, 3bn years ago.We all know that the composition of the atmosphere (particularly the abundance of greenhouse gases) plays a crucial role in tempering Earth’s climate, but what about the composition of the oceans? To answer this question researchers used an ocean-atmosphere general circulation model to investigate the impact of salinity. They show that saltier oceans result in warmer climates, partly because the salt depresses the freezing point of seawater and inhibits sea-ice formation, but mostly because the greater density of salty water alters ocean circulation patterns and aids heat transport to the poles. 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 2018: Are you sitting comfortably? Many people are not – and they insist that the way we’ve been going to the toilet is all wrongRead the text version hereHow to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know Continue reading...

Pilot schools are recruiting instructors to meet demand for more sustainable and cheaper trainingPilot training schools in the UK are actively looking for instructors who can teach on electric-powered aeroplanes, as the surging price of fuel gives a boost to the country’s emerging zero-emissions market.The global electric aviation industry remains in its infancy, with the Slovenian-made Pipistrel Velis Electro, a two-seater training aircraft powered by lithium-ion batteries, only certified in the UK last year. Continue reading...

Fifth of people over 75 in England have not had fourth vaccine, raising concern as case rate rises againAround a fifth of people aged 75 and over in England have yet to have a fourth Covid jab, data suggests, leading to calls for a renewed push for vaccination of the vulnerable amid rising infections and hospitalisations.According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in the week ending 11 June an estimated one in 50 people in England had Covid – about 1.13 million people – a rise from 1 in 70 the week before. Upticks have also been seen in the rest of the UK, while hospitalisations are also rising. Continue reading...

We tax cigarettes and sodas because they’re bad for you. We should tax companies that put carcinogens in the environment​​Americans don’t agree on much of anything lately. Except taxes – who doesn’t hate taxes? And also cancer: everyone hates cancer.Maybe hating cancer was on President Joe Biden’s mind when, earlier this month, he shared plans to reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years – a lofty goal for his Cancer Moonshot program.Industrial facilities, like those identified in a recent ProPublica report analyzing five years of data from the Environmental Protection Agency. They spew cancer-causing chemicals into the surrounding air, often permeating economically vulnerable communities where people of color disproportionately live. There are chemical and manufacturing plants spewing these pollutants right next to schools and daycares. Typically, facilities will claim it’s too expensive to remediate.Agrochemical companies, including those responsible for the contamination of Nebraska’s surface and groundwater; a 2022 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center shows high numbers of pediatric cancer cases associated with watersheds tainted by chemicals in fertilizer and weedkiller. Nebraska’s pediatric cancer rate is the seventh highest in the country.Personal care product companies like Johnson & Johnson; in 2018, 22 women with ovarian cancer won a $4.69bn lawsuit against J&J (the award was later reduced to $2bn) for allegedly selling a baby powder containing cancer-causing asbestos for many years and covering it up. Classy.Jon Whelan is an entrepreneur and director of the environmental documentary Stink! Alexandra Zissu is a journalist, the author of six environmental health-related books, and a recent cancer mom. They’re both board members of Clean & Healthy New York Continue reading...

Our primitive brains summon up worst-case scenarios to protect us from danger. In today’s world, that can be debilitatingThe first day I returned to work after maternity leave, I walked to the office racked with a fear I knew to be highly unlikely: that our new, and loving, caregiver would push the stroller across the street at the precise moment a reckless driver ran the light. I imagined the sound of tires screeching, the sickening crunch. I started to sweat, and my heart rate quickened. And then, when I got to the office, I took a deep breath, told myself to pull it together, and did.What I was doing, I later learned, is common to new parents. In a heightened emotional state, you’re more prone to what psychologists call “catastrophizing”, or experiencing “intrusive thoughts” – imagining the worst-case scenario, however improbable it might be. They came at me full-throttle when I became a mother; according to studies, I’m not alone. By some estimates, more than 70% of new mothers have them. One close friend catastrophizes, but in reverse – once the danger has passed, once the baby has been released from the doctor with just a normal virus, not the dreaded MIS-C, she’ll sit with the fear of what could have happened.Sophie Brickman is a contributor to the New Yorker, the New York Times and other publications, and the author of Baby, Unplugged: One Mother’s Search for Balance, Reason, and Sanity in the Digital Age Continue reading...

Just a few years from now, herds of woolly ‘mammoths’ could be roaming the Siberian tundra. Are dodos and dinosaurs next for de-extinction?What Alida Bailleul saw through the microscope made no sense. She was examining thin sections of fossilised skull from a young hadrosaur, a duck-billed, plant-eating beast that roamed what is now Montana 75m years ago, when she spotted features that made her draw a breath.Bailleul was inspecting the fossils, from a collection at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, to understand how dinosaur skulls developed. But what caught her eye should not, the textbooks said, be there. Embedded in calcified cartilage at the back of the skull were what appeared to be fossilised cells. Some contained tiny structures that resembled nuclei. In one was what looked like a clump of chromosomes, the threads that bear an organism’s DNA. Continue reading...

They support an incredible array of biodiversity and may also be some of the world’s most effective carbon sinks. But vast swathes of seagrass meadows have been lost in the last century, and they continue to vanish at the rate of a football pitch every half hour. Madeleine Finlay makes a trip out of the Guardian office to visit a rewilding project in Hampshire. She speaks to marine biologist Tim Ferrero about the challenges of replanting seagrass meadows and what hope it offers. Continue reading...