Pure Science

The Guardian

It is hardly a surprise that outbreaks can occur and experts say many of the factors involved are not easy to change It was a voyage that promised such stuff as dreams are made of, yet within weeks the Atlantic expedition of the MV Hondius...

The Guardian

Experts say slashed funding and growing misinformation are some of the greatest challenges facing public health The hantavirus outbreak, while unlikely to spark the next big pandemic, is shining a spotlight on the ways public health has...

The Guardian

The person was onboard the MV Hondius, the center of the outbreak that has claimed three lives Canadian officials said on Saturday that a test for one of the four Canadians currently quarantining in British Columbia after being exposed to...

The Guardian

Researchers say daily exposure to cold activates brown fat and could help speed up body’s burning of calories Wearing an ice vest or taking daily cold showers could help people lose weight, according to researchers. Despite the growing...

The Guardian

In antiquity, women were considered the more sexual sex – hornier, more libidinous and lust-fuelled than men. Why did that perception change? All across the world, you will probably have read, people are having less sex. In Britain and the...

The Guardian

Although blood test reduces deaths by two for every 1,000 men screened, many could face unnecessary treatment Screening for prostate cancer with a blood test can save men’s lives, but the “absolute benefit is small” and many men could face...

The Guardian

Pioneering and controversial geneticist who was one of the first to sequence the human genome, in part by using his own DNA At the international BioVision conference in Lyon in February 2001, the geneticist Craig Venter performed a...

The Guardian

You may think you know when someone’s trying to deceive you, but there’s a clever trick very few people are aware of – one that has eluded AI and Traitors contestants alike Can you tell if someone is lying? Close your eyes. You’re already...

The Guardian

Madeleine Finlay sits down with co-host and science editor Ian Sample to discuss three eyecatching stories from the week, including an update on hantavirus. Also on the agenda is the Pentagon’s release of a tranche of never before seen...

The Guardian

Two mothers fought British bureaucracy to obtain lifesaving cannabis medicines for their children. But most patients are having to go private – at huge cost In the summer of 2012, Britain was in a festive mood. It was the year of the...

The Guardian

Molar found in Siberia features deep hole that appears to show earliest known evidence of dental treatment Neanderthals used stone drills to treat cavities almost 60,000 years ago in what is the earliest known evidence of dental treatment....

The Guardian

A new book by linguistics professor Valerie Fridland, who was raised in Memphis by parents with French accents, explores the power behind the way we speak Valerie Fridland writes in her new book, Why We Talk Funny: the Real Story Behind...

The Guardian

My husband Peer Bork, who has died unexpectedly aged 62, was a bioinformatician with a remarkable ability to identify new directions in science and carry out world-class research to push them forward. During his career, he progressed from...

The Guardian

Researchers say rise not inevitable and it is important to unpick what is behind differences in obesity trends A continuing rise in obesity around the world is not inevitable, research suggests, with rates in some countries levelling off...

The Guardian

As an astronomer, I had witnessed many celestial phenomena. But nothing prepared me for those few minutes in 2017 when the world fell silent I have never driven with more determination than when rushing away from Shelby Park in Nashville....

The Guardian

Rather than bribery, or hiding carrots under ketchup, the key may be to expose foetuses to healthy flavours It is an age-old battle with small children that most parents will recognise: please, please, eat your vegetables. Some will read...

The Guardian

Data shows orforglipron could in future avoid need to take other long-term medications for diseases associated with obesity A daily pill could help people keep weight off and stop them needing other long-term medications, scientists behind...

The Guardian

Photographers search for dark skies in the most remote landscapes to find places where the galaxy shines with extraordinary clarity. They share not only their breathtaking results but also their methods, trials and adventures • Stargazing...

The Guardian

The behavioural cue of ‘flexible self-protection’ is a way to establish whether an animal feels pain, scientists say Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here Get our breaking news email, free...

The Guardian

My father, Robert Smith, who has died aged 92, was a pharmacologist and professor at St Mary’s medical school in London (now part of Imperial College) whose work helped shape thinking on people’s differing responses to drugs – genetically,...

The Guardian

Social media is awash with clips of people paying to be ‘bathed’ in sound. But what’s the science behind the practice? Read more in the Antiviral series I, for one, am partial to a bath: what’s not to love about a dim room, candles and...

The Guardian

All the protocols that health experts like me look for have been followed. But outbreaks on cruise ships are notoriously hard to control Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh Hantavirus: the...

The Guardian

The Food and Drug Administration commissioned the research, received the answer, and is not releasing it Last week, the New York Times and Washington Post reported yet another troubling case of data suppression at the Food and Drug...

The Guardian

Decades-long campaign powered by patient perspectives results in switch from PCOS – a name that caused confusion and undue suffering – to PMOS • What is PCOS, what are the symptoms and treatment, and why is it being renamed PMOS? • ‘I...

The Guardian

Cockrow Bridge in Surrey will open in the coming weeks to provide wildlife, including lizards and insects, with the ability to move between fragmented habitats When James Herd moved near to Wisley Common 17 years ago, the heathland nature...

The Guardian

After a series of deaths on the beaches of Brittany, one bereaved family set out to prove the foul-smelling bloom was to blame When her phone rang at around 5pm on 8 September 2016, Rosy Auffray was still at work. It was one of her...

The Guardian

Last month President Trump signed an executive order designed to fast track both research and access to psychedelic drugs as treatments for mental health illnesses. The most prominent in the order was ibogaine, a drug derived from the root...

The Guardian

Research from UCL suggests visiting art galleries or museums, singing and painting can help improve health outcomes Singing, painting or visiting a gallery or museum helps people age more slowly, according to the latest study to link...

The Guardian

The answers to today’s pronunciation puzzles Earlier today I set you these two word puzzles. Here they are again with solutions. 1: Pronounced the same, spelt differently. (Second option) (Switch back and forth) (Suitable) (Commandeer)...

The Guardian

Pronunciation puzzles A homonym is a word that has the same pronunciation as, or is spelt identical to, another word with a different meaning. For example, the letter “a” has the homonym “eh”. (Second option) (Switch back and forth)...

The Guardian

Situated between the much brighter Leo and Libra, Virgo is well placed for observation in the northern spring months The constellation of Virgo, the virgin, is particularly well placed for observation during the northern spring months....

The Guardian

After five years of deliberation the global south has forced the question that defined the Covid crisis: who will get the vaccines? The Covid-19 pandemic did deep and lasting damage to the international political system. Countries in the...

The Guardian

With the help of citizen scientists, researchers studying rare humpback ‘jaw-gaping’ believe the move could be a social display On the coast of Western Australia, a humpback whale is “pirouetting”, sweeping its pectoral fins through the...

The Guardian

After embarking on a trial of CAR T-cell therapy, actor Sam Neill announced he is cancer-free. Researchers are enthusiastic the therapies could be a major weapon in the battle against cancer Follow our Australia news live blog for latest...

The Guardian

With the war on Iran, Ukraine, AI and climate breakdown increasing the likelihood of a nuclear war, the clock stands closer to midnight than ever before. So who decides how many seconds we have left – and can we buy ourselves more time?...

The Guardian

My prank demonstrated how our minds can adversely affect our health, and scientists are increasingly showing that negative thoughts can produce very real symptoms For his last birthday, I gave my husband a monthly beer box subscription....

The Guardian

Water minister Rose Jackson calls drying in Gwydir region ‘devastating’ as bill passes upper house Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here Water flows to parched New South Wales wetlands...

The Guardian

Man, 69, is in intensive care in Johannesburg, while expedition guide Martin Anstee, 56, receiving care in Netherlands What is hantavirus? Two Britons who were medically evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship are improving, global...

The Guardian

Quashed studies, halted publications and canceled research threaten damage to public health, critics say Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email A series of high-profile and under-the-radar decisions by US health agencies have...

The Guardian

Specimen from 1983 lay forgotten at Natural History Museum until recently, when spotted by a volunteer and identified as new genus He has lizards, bats, frogs, weevils, flatworms, snails and spiders named after him. But now Sir David...

The Guardian

Powerful radar system is providing new data on city’s subsidence, which experts hope will draw more attention to it Walking into Mexico City’s sprawling central Zócalo is a dizzying experience. At one end of the plaza, the capital’s...

The Guardian

To celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s centenary, Madeleine Finlay catches up with natural history writer Patrick Barkham, who has met the celebrated presenter. They explore how the natural world has changed in the century that Attenborough...

The Guardian

Scientists suggest algae could be embedded within biosensors that glow when toxins detected in the environment The captivating blue glow emitted by a sea-dwelling species of algae has been harnessed by scientists in the US to make...

The Guardian

Finding would explain why type of stroke affecting about 35,000 a year in UK is not as responsive to some medication The cause of a type of stroke that affects about 35,000 people across the UK each year has been uncovered by researchers...

The Guardian

Janine Roebuck, from London, says she no longer considers herself deaf after double cochlear implants restored hearing An opera singer who hid her deafness for more than 30 years has described “life-changing” surgery that has the potential...

The Guardian

Serious side-effects from vaccines were rare, scientists found in studies funded by US taxpayer money The US Food and Drug Administration has blocked the publication of several studies that found Covid-19 and shingles vaccines to be safe,...

The Guardian

Participants took 25mg of psilocybin, reporting deeper psychological insight and better wellbeing a month later A single dose of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, can induce anatomical changes in the brain, according to...

The Guardian

Three people have died after an outbreak of hantavirus onboard a cruise ship travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde. The World Health Organization says that a total of seven cases – two confirmed by laboratory testing and five suspected –...

The Guardian

Chats with AI bots have convinced evolutionary biologist but most experts say he is being misled by mimicry When Richard Dawkins met Claudia it was like a whirlwind romance. Over three days last week, a conversation bounced between the...

The Guardian

Finalisation of pact governing global response to disease outbreaks delayed as talks on how to share benefits stall A key deadline to finalise a global pandemic treaty has been missed by negotiators, prompting warnings that the world...