Science | The Guardian

Flash of light visible for hundreds of miles was an exceptionally bright meteor, say expertsA huge fireball dashed across the skies of western Japan, shocking residents and dazzling stargazers, though experts said it was a natural phenomenon and not an alien invasion.Videos and photos emerged online of the extremely bright ball of light visible for hundreds of miles shortly after 11.00pm local time (1400 BST) on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Why evolutionary theory should be applied to peacocks, politics, iPhones and quite a lot in betweenNobody expected the Spanish Inquisition, but then again no one could have predicted the giraffe, the iPhone or JD Vance. The laws of physics don't demand them; they all just evolved, expressions of how (for better or worse) things happened to turn out.Ecologist Mark Vellend's thesis is that to understand the world, physics and evolution are the only two things you need". Evolution, here, refers in the most general sense to outcomes that depend on what has gone before. Thus the world can be divided into things that are inescapable and things that are contingent, depending on circumstances. In the terminology he borrows from evolutionary biologist Graham Bell, the study of physical necessity is the first science"; that of historical contingency the second. So, the periodic table of 90 or so natural elements, which are inescapable given the laws of physics, would fall under the first science. Dung beetles and vice presidents, which aren't, fall under the second. Continue reading...

Triggerplants in particular live up to their name with a rapid response when touch-sensitive stamen are nudgedFlowers are surprisingly touchy, especially their male parts, the stamens, with hundreds of plant species performing touch-sensitive stamen movements that can be endlessly repeated. Insects visiting Berberis and Mahonia flowers to feed on nectar get slapped by stamens that bend over and smother pollen on to the insect's face or tongue. This unwelcome intrusion scares the insect into making only a short visit, so the flower avoids wasting its nectar and pollen. The insect then finds another flower where it brushes the pollen off on receptive female organs and cross-pollinates the flower.An insect landing on the flowers of the orchid Catasetum gets a violent reception - whacked by a pair of sticky pollen bags shooting out at such great speed the insect gets knocked out of the flower with the pollen bags glued to its body. Continue reading...

With the number of very hot days rising as well as average temperatures, more and more animals are vulnerable. But while some species can adapt, others are seeing huge population declinesThe residents of Tecolutilla, Mexico, knew the heatwave was bad when they heard the thuds. One by one, the town's howler monkeys, overcome with dehydration and exhaustion, were falling from the trees like apples, their limp bodies smacking the ground as temperatures sizzled past 43C (110F) in spring last year.Those that survived were given ice and intravenous drips by rescuers. At least 83 of the primates were found dead in the state of Tabasco, though local veterinarians estimated hundreds throughout the region probably perished. Continue reading...

American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children as young as six months and up to 23 months get the shotThe American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is urging that children as young as six months and up to 23 months receive the Covid-19 vaccine - a position that diverges from the current federal guidance given by the Trump administration's health agencies.The AAP released its updated childhood immunization schedule, which outlines recommendations for vaccines against Covid-19, influenza and RSV for individuals under 18. Continue reading...

Deaths from short-term exposure to fine particulates spewed by forest fires underestimated by 93%Choking smoke spewed by wildfires is far more dangerous than previously thought, a new study has found, with death tolls from short-term exposure to fine particulates underestimated by 93%.Researchers found that 535 people in Europe died on average each year between 2004 and 2022 as a result of breathing in the tiny toxic particles known as PM2.5 that are released when wildfires rage. Continue reading...

Hot summer also causing trees to shed their leaves as concerns raised over food gap' for wildlife in autumnAutumn is the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness", according to the poet John Keats - but anyone hoping for a glut of blackberries this September may be sorely disappointed.In many parts of the UK brambles have been bursting with fruit since mid-summer, with some now bearing only shrivelled berries. And it is not the only hallmark of autumn that appears to have come early: trees are dropping their leaves, apples are ripe and acorns are hitting the ground. Continue reading...

Amid collapse of global pollution treaty, scientists highlight environmental factors causing fertility crisisAction must be taken to curb the use of plastic additives linked to plummeting sperm counts, a leading reproductive scientist has warned, as splits over chemical regulation contributed to the collapse of a crucial treaty on plastic pollution.Across the world, sperm counts have been declining at a rate of about 1% a year for the past 50 years, and human fertility has been diminishing at a similar rate, studies have shown. Continue reading...

The solutions to today's teasersEarlier today I set you three puzzles from Tasty Japanese Morsels in Recreational Mathematics. Here they are again with solutions.1. Squid game Continue reading...

Results of studying cocoa bean fermentation in Colombia could pave way to manipulate flavour, say researchersWhether you enjoy an aromatic bar with notes of caramel or something less fancy, chocolate can have many tastes. Now researchers say they have shed fresh light on a key ingredient that could open the door to new flavours.They claim to have unpicked how and why the bacteria and fungi involved in the fermentation of cocoa beans influence the flavour of chocolate. Continue reading...

This really fun space rock' is only the third interstellar object to be observed. Where is it heading and can stargazers see it?An object that came from outside our solar system is hurtling towards the sun at roughly 61km (38 miles) a second.First detected in July, this visitor from outer space - known as 3I/Atlas - is only the third known interstellar object to have been observed, after Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. Continue reading...

Brain food from the land of the rising sumsUPDATE: Solutions are hereJapan is a world puzzle superpower. Its grid logic puzzles - like Sudoku, Kakuro, KenKen and many more - are played across the world by millions every day.The country also has its own culture of mathematical puzzles, nurtured by the Academy of Recreational Mathematics, Japan, which was founded in 1979. Continue reading...

The celestial triangle will take place in the constellation of Gemini, beside bright stars Castor and PolluxThere is an exquisite gathering of celestial objects to look out for this week when a beautifully slender crescent moon forms a triangle with the planets Jupiter and Venus, close to the bright stars Castor and Pollux.The chart shows the view looking east-north-east from London at 04:00 BST on the morning of 20 August. The celestial grouping will take place in the constellation of Gemini, the twins. Adding to the splendour, the majestic constellation of Orion, the hunter, will be rising to the east. Continue reading...

They helped create the modern world but are dangerously overused. How can we harness them sustainably?In 1954, just a few years after the widespread introduction of antibiotics, doctors were already aware of the problem of resistance. Natural selection meant that using these new medicines gave an advantage to the microbes that could survive the assault - and a treatment that worked today could become ineffective tomorrow. A British doctor put the challenge in military terms: We may run clean out of effective ammunition. Then how the bacteria and moulds will lord it."More than 70 years later, that concern looks prescient. The UN has called antibiotic resistance one of the most urgent global health threats". Researchers estimate that resistance already kills more than a million people a year, with that number forecast to grow. And new antibiotics are not being discovered fast enough; many that are essential today were discovered more than 60 years ago. Continue reading...

Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh

Groundbreaking footage shows surprisingly invasive' process and may help to improve infertility treatmentsA human embryo being implanted into a uterus has been pictured in real time and in 3D footage for the first time by a team of scientists.It shows images of an embryo implanting into a synthetic uterus, demonstrating how the process occurs naturally. Continue reading...

Critics say Jay Bhattacharya's comments on so-called failure of mRNA vaccines to earn public trust' are astounding'When the director of the National Institutes of Health this week said funding for the development of mRNA vaccines - the backbone of Covid vaccines - was being wound down because they had failed to earn public trust", it was met, publicly and privately, with exasperated incredulity.Critics say few have done more than Jay Bhattacharya and other top health officials in the Trump administration to sow doubts about public health institutions and, by extension, the value of the vaccines that saved millions of lives around the world. Continue reading...

Healthy fungal networks help trees and plants grow, making them key to successful reforestation. The only problem? Almost nothing is known about this subterranean ecologyEven in midsummer, the ancient hazelwoods on the Hebridean island of Seil are cool and quiet. Countless slanted stems of hazel support a thick canopy, which blots out the sun and blankets everything below in a sort of fairytale darkness", says Bethan Manley, a biologist at the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (Spun).Moss and lichen coat branches threaded with honeysuckle, forming a great dome above you, adds David Satori, a researcher at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Continue reading...

Stigma around mifepristone is stopping studies, experts in reproductive health claim in Lancet opinion pieceA drug used in medical abortions could help prevent women at high risk of breast cancer from developing the disease, according to an international group of doctors and scientists.However, stigma" around mifepristone is stopping pharmaceutical companies from investigating its potential as a new treatment doctors could offer to reduce the risk of breast cancer, they say. Continue reading...

US president is pushing an end run around' on safeguards, risking harm to wildlife, air and water, attorney saysA draft executive order from Donald Trump that aims to largely exempt space launches from environmental review is viewed as a gift to commercial space industry players such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others who have long targeted the regulations.But its central components may be illegal and the US president is trying to do an end run around" the law, said Jared Margolis, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, which has litigated environmental issues around launches. Continue reading...

MSF charity calls situation beyond urgent' as thousands seeking refuge from war rely on contaminated waterThe worst cholera outbreak in years" has killed at least 40 people in the last week in Sudan, according to the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.Overwhelmed medical centres are resorting to treating patients on mattresses on the floor, MSF said, as the country's two-year civil war aids the spread of the disease. Continue reading...

Experts warn of undermining environment that fostered foundations of artificial intelligence as federal agencies hitThe Trump administration released America's AI Action Plan" last month with the goal of expanding US dominance when it comes to AI in order to maintain a global edge, especially over China.But Donald Trump's cuts to scientific research funding through federal agencies - including the National Intitute Health, the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Nasa - will undermine that goal and threaten the research environment that fostered the foundations of AI, experts in the field said. Continue reading...

Europe is suffering from another heatwave as deadly temperatures of up to 44C hit the continent and wildfires blazed across the Mediterranean. To find out why Europe is heating faster than anywhere else, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian's Europe environment correspondent, Ajit Niranjan, and to Adam Taylor, professor of anatomy at Lancaster University, to find out how we can try to stay cool as the temperature risesClips: ITV News, France 24 Continue reading...

Companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin may be able to forgo reviews required under National Environmental Policy ActDonald Trump is looking to relax environmental rules for commercial spaceship companies. In an executive order titled Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry" that he signed on Wednesday, he said it's imperative to national security that the private rocket-ship industry increase launches substantially" by 2030.That would mean, according to the executive order, that those companies may be able to forgo the environmental reviews that are required under the National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa). Private space companies are required to obtain launch permits from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). And, as part of that process, companies are subject to review under Nepa. Continue reading...

Research also suggests the medication lowers risks of substance misuse, transport accidents and criminalityAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder medication is linked to significantly lower risk of suicidal behaviours, substance misuse, transport accidents and criminality, according to a study of the wider outcomes of treatment.The research, based on the medical records of nearly 150,000 people in Sweden, suggested that the drugs could have meaningful benefits beyond helping with the core symptoms of ADHD. Continue reading...

Lifestyle factors such as drinking and smoking could contribute to increased severity of obstructive sleep apnoeaLetting your hair down at the weekend might be a well-known recipe for a hangover, but researchers say it might also increase the severity of a common sleep disorder.Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) involves complete pauses in breathing or partial reductions in airflow that arise because muscles in the back of the throat relax, causing the airways to narrow or close. It is more common in groups such as older people and people who are overweight or obese. Continue reading...

Ahead of the second Maha report, grassroots Defend Public Health warns that everything HHS is doing is horrifying'A grassroots organization of health professionals has released a report outlining major health challenges in the US and calling for the removal of Robert F Kennedy Jr from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).The report from Defend Public Health, a new organization of about 3,000 health professionals and allies, is an attempt to get ahead of misinformation and lack of information from health officials. Continue reading...

Scientist says new species described from 25-million-year-old fossil found in Victoria was a gnarly whale I wouldn't want to get in the water with'Small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless" is how scientists have described a new species of ancient whale, from a 25-million-year-old fossil found on Victoria's surf coast.This early species, called Janjucetus dullardi, was an extremely unusual animal, said Dr Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute. Continue reading...

The gunman who killed four people in the building of NFL's New York headquarters asked for his brain be studied for CTE. Neuroscientist Chris Nowinski on what happens nextShortly after news broke that a shooter had breached the New York City skyscraper where the NFL is headquartered and killed four people before turning the gun on himself, Chris Nowinski was called to duty.A former Harvard football player and professional wrestler turned neuroscientist, Nowinski helped establish the Unite Brain Bank at Boston University. It is the world's largest repository of brain samples dedicated to the study of CTE - or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive neurodegenerative disease linked to repetitive hits to the head and concussions. Some 1,600 brains have been examined there, with Nowinski helping to facilitate donations. Continue reading...

Today, Rayvon Stewart's model is celebrated as a symbol of the Caribbean's growing science and technology talent poolWhen the Jamaican university student Rayvon Stewart invented a workable model for a door handle that could disinfect itself after every touch, it was hailed as a potential gamechanger for hospitals, hotels and other businesses, with promising implications for controlling the spread of disease, particularly during pandemics like Covid-19.Speaking at a recent product launch, Alison Drayton, assistant secretary-general of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), a 15-member bloc of Caribbean countries, described the invention as a meaningful solution" for the region and a life-saving design that fits our reality". Continue reading...

Scientists received 735m in grants in 2024 after UK rejoined programme as associate member post-Brexit

Maple, a springer spaniel, is part of a project at a Michigan university focused on risk factors affecting the bees' healthOne dog in Michigan hasn't been content with merely belonging to the species famously known as man's best friend. She has strived to be bees' best friend, too.Maple, a springer spaniel aged nine, is earning news headlines by helping Michigan State University (MSU) researchers identify bacteria that is harmful for bee colonies. Continue reading...

Each year researchers at UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology mark National Science Week with a photography contest to see who can snap the best image. Here are some of this year's entries Continue reading...

Yearly spectacle, most visible in northern hemisphere, is caused by Earth passing through debris of ancient cometIt is time for stargazers to dig out the deckchairs to try to enjoy what is considered to be one of the best meteor showers of the year.The Perseids are expected to peak on the night of 12 August, although they have been active from mid-July and will continue to be visible for a further couple of weeks. Continue reading...

For many of us, slathering on sunscreen to protect our skin in the summer months is a no-brainer. But recently social media has been awash with influencers airing their concerns about the potential dangers of this seemingly innocuous product. So is there anything to the claims that sunscreen is toxic? To find out, Madeleine Finlay is joined by the Guardian's science editor, Ian Sample. He explains where the science stands on the safety of sunscreen and what we can do to protect our skin all year roundAs influencers spread toxic' claims, what is the truth about sunscreen?Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

Excrement contains nutrients needed for crop growth and a new source of them could cut farming's huge CO2 outputCharcoal made from human waste could help solve fertiliser shortages as well as reduce pollution and energy use, a study has found.Biochar is a form of charcoal made from organic matter treated at high heat, which is often used on farming soil as a fertiliser. The process also removes carbon from the atmosphere, making it a useful carbon sink. Continue reading...

The decision by the US health and human services secretary to remove mRNA research funding is ill-informed and dangerousScience is not black and white. It's more complicated and more exciting. It's a constant process of exploration. An adventure into the unknown. Scientists come up with theories about what might be going on, and then test them. They don't always get it right. Far from it. But inch by inch, testing, failing and trying again, they makeprogress.Robert F Kennedy Jr, during Senate confirmation hearings for the role of secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), seemed to get that. Those who feared what a vaccine sceptic might do in that role breathed again. I'm going to empower the scientists at HHS to do their job and make sure that we have good science that is evidence based ... I'm not going to substitute my judgment for science," he said.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Non-mRNA jab targeting common mutations in pancreatic and bowel cancers could lower risk of relapseAn off-the-shelf vaccine has shown promise in preventing the return of pancreatic and colorectal cancer, researchers have revealed.Cancer vaccines have been the subject of promising research in recent years. The NHS in England has been trialling various jabs in patients through the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP). Continue reading...

The avian flu virus is now just one mutation away from easier transmission among humans. Donald Trump's health chief is a grave risk to world health

Cherry tomato-sized space rock that pierced roof and hit floor of metro Atlanta home is 20m years older than EarthA cherry tomato-sized fireball that crashed through the roof of a metro Atlanta house in June was a meteorite 20m years older than Earth, a scientist has determined.In a news release on Friday, the University of Georgia planetary geologist Scott Harris said that he arrived at that conclusion after examining 23 grams of fragments from a meteorite that were provided to him after the space rock pierced a man's home and dented its floor in the Henry county community of McDonough. Continue reading...

Shower peaks on the night of 12 to 13 August, when in ideal conditions as many as 100 meteors an hour can be seenThe Perseid meteor shower is widely regarded as the best of the year but better than that, it is happening this week.Active from mid-July until the end of August, the shower peaks on the night of 12 to 13 August, when it can be possible to see as many as 100 meteors an hour streaking across the sky in all directions from the radiant point. From more urban environments, expect an average of as many as one a minute. Continue reading...

Experts on condition affecting millions of people in UK give cautious welcome to findings but say more research neededBlowing into a conch shell could help tackle the symptoms of a sleep disorder that affects millions of people across the UK, according to a study.Conch blowing, also known as shankh blowing, is an ancient ritual that involves breathing in deeply and exhaling into the spiral-shaped shell. Continue reading...

Will the University of Edinburgh confront its dark past? Severin Carrell reportsThe University of Edinburgh has released a report examining its 400-year history and its connections to slavery, colonialism and the development of scientific racism.The Guardian's Scotland editor, Severin Carrell, explains to Nosheen Iqbal how these findings will lead to a lot of soul-searching about how this centre of the Scottish Enlightenment should now be understood. Continue reading...

Actor who portrayed commander in 1995 Oscar-winning film says Lovell dared to go to places most wouldn't goLate Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell has received a tribute from Tom Hanks, the actor who brought him to life in an Oscar-winning movie and said he had gone places most wouldn't dare.There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to places we would not go on our own," Hanks said of Lovell in a heartfelt Instagram tribute post published after the astronaut's death was announced on Friday. Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy." Continue reading...

American astronaut and commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission who dramatically brought the crew back to EarthJust after 9.20pm, Houston time, on Monday 13 April 1970, Jim Lovell, who has died aged 97, looked out of the left side window of Odyssey, the command module of the Apollo 13 lunar mission. Caught in the sunlight was what looked like smoke, which Lovell believed, correctly, was oxygen. It was pouring out of the service module, the technological core of the spacecraft.Lovell and his fellow crew members, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, were 205,000 miles from Earth. Thirteen minutes earlier, a muffled explosion had rocked Apollo 13 and Lovell now realised that we were in serious trouble" and, unlike Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, or Apollo 12's Pete Conrad and Alan Bean, he would never fulfil his life's ambition to walk on the moon. Continue reading...

Yes, they can be hard to spot - but this find highlights how little we know about creatures crucial to our ecosystem

Aalborg zoo points to importance of mimicking natural feeding, but critics say its campaign devalues petsAfter a Danish zoo posted a reminder of its long-running programme allowing people to donate their healthy, small pets to be gently euthanised" and fed to predators, reaction poured in from across the globe.But beyond the battleground playing out on social media - where some protested against the idea of using pets as prey and others praised the zoo's efforts to drum up a practical food supply - some were swift to point out that the zoo was simply laying bare the reality of keeping carnivores in captivity. Continue reading...

Email obtained by Guardian says Pfizer was told approval may not be granted, meaning Moderna may have to fill gapPfizer's Covid vaccine for young children may not be renewed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this fall, prompting Moderna to fill possible gaps in supply, according to an email obtained by the Guardian.The move would pull the only remaining Covid vaccine for all children under five from the market. Continue reading...

Nasa hails Lovell for saving 1970 moon mission from potential tragedy' and safely returning crew to EarthJames Jim" Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 who helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering, has died. He was 97.Lovell died on Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois, Nasa said in a statement. Continue reading...

Academic study suggests devices cannot differentiate between someone being overworked and being excitedThey are supposed to monitor you throughout the working day and help make sure that life is not getting on top of you.But a study has concluded that smartwatches cannot accurately measure your stress levels - and may think you are overworked when really you are just excited. Continue reading...