Guardian
Viewpoint: Billionaires’ quest for immortality raises prickly questions about pathologizing old age
Welcome to the era of immortalists: scientists, dreamers and – crucially – billionaires, who want us to think of age ...
Why is it so hard to keep the pounds off after losing a lot of weight?
According to the University of Michigan, about 90% of people who lose significant amounts of weight, whether through diets, structured ...
Lab grown coffee could cut deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, but may also upend the lives of poorer plantation workers
The coffee industry is both a contributor to the climate crisis and very vulnerable to its effects. Rising demand for ...
Genius dogs? Some exceptional pups can learn the names of more than 100 toys
[A] study of six “genius dogs” has advanced our understanding of dogs’ memories, suggesting some of them possess a remarkable ...
As climate disruptions escalate, CRISPR gene editing could create animal breeds resistant to disease, droughts and heatwaves
“It is every bit as important that we use the enormous power of gene editing to create breeds of animals ...
Deadly viruses that target chickens can spill over into humans. Gene editing is a solution — if activists don’t block rollout
Diseases such as avian flu trigger the culling of millions of birds each year. But that need not be the ...
‘Sweeping genetic differences under the rug does not make inequality go away’: Genes found to significantly influence educational achievements
Kathryn Paige Harden argues how far we go in formal education – and the huge knock-on effects that has on ...
‘Bold, aggressive, athletic and sociable’: Here are the many ways squirrels have human-like personality traits
Animal researchers in California have discovered human-like personality traits in squirrels that anybody watching one raiding nuts from a bird ...
Why did humans develop sophisticated language skills while our ancestral cousins, chimpanzees, did not? Studying childbirth could provide clues
Did a “grammar module” just pop into our ancestors’ brains one day thanks to a random change in our DNA? ...
Hsam: The genetic mystery of photographic memory
Genuinely “photographic” memories are exceptionally rare. Also called highly superior autobiographical memory (Hsam), this ability is only verified by one ...
AI ushers in new path towards sustainable, no-till farming: Robot weedkillers
Other than engine sounds, the robots are almost silent and each one can destroy 100,000 weeds an hour, according to ...
Finding ‘invisible DNA’ floating in the air opens doors to detecting and protecting rare wildlife
DNA is in the air – literally. It is wafted around by all the Earth’s creatures, and now scientists have ...
Can the clean meat revolution address agriculture’s ecological challenges?
For a cutting-edge biotechnology, cellular agriculture is actually a fairly straightforward process. It begins with stem cells, usually harvested from ...
Malaria-transmitting mosquitoes wiped out in successful cutting-edge gene drive trial
Scientists have successfully wiped out a population of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes by using a radical form of genetic engineering to render ...
Lab-grown meat dilemma: Sustainable alternatives to livestock farming held back by patents, reluctance to share research and lack of government support
[M]any technological, social, and economic hurdles remain before our supermarkets are filled with a variety of cultured cutlets. To surpass ...
Reckoning with lingering sluggishness from ‘pandemic brain’
Beginning in the spring of last year, with the first lockdown, I’d often get distracted and overwhelmed, then lose the ...
UN’s ambitious biodiversity plan puts ‘regenerative agriculture’ at the forefront
Eliminating plastic pollution, reducing pesticide use by two-thirds, halving the rate of invasive species introduction and eliminating $500bn (£360bn) of ...
Irony of a stronger immune system: Why women are less likely to be infected with the coronavirus — yet more likely to get ‘long COVID’
There are many ways in which Covid-19’s effect on women may differ from its effect on men. Overall, women resist ...
Genome sequencing every British baby at birth? UK public shows cautious support for early screening program
While some genetic testing is available before birth, it is currently only offered in newborns in certain cases… But proponents ...
How the human brain resembles drug dealers in Albuquerque
David Eagleman, 50, is an American neuroscientist, bestselling author and presenter of the BBC series The Brain, as well as ...
Despite breakthroughs in understanding why we age, slowing the inevitable is proving impossible
Backed by governments, business, academics and investors in an industry worth $110bn (£82.5bn) – and estimated to be worth $610bn ...
‘No-kill meals’ made from lab-grown meat promise huge environmental and ethical benefits. What are the downsides?
We have pescatarians, vegans, flexitarians, locavores and of course vegetarians. But what’s the word for those of us who make ...
‘Not designer babies’: IVF-based mitochondrial replacement therapy on cusp of Australia legalization despite Catholic opposition
In Australia, about one child a week is born with a severe form of mitochondrial disease. Most young children diagnosed ...
How California is teaming up with conservation groups to rescue the western monarch butterfly from extinction
Monarch butterflies, known for their distinctive orange and black pattern, once flocked to California in the millions, spending the winter ...
Brain scans show how LSD works to unlock the brain and treat depression
By comparing scans of the brain on LSD versus placebo… researchers found that the drug reduced the amount of energy ...
‘Humans developed complex belief systems around death’: 78,000-year old gravesite marks oldest human burial in Africa
Archaeologists have identified the oldest known human burial in Africa during field work that uncovered the remains of a child ...
Viewpoint: What’s causing an explosion in incidents of Parkinson’s disease? Do household products play a role?
[Ray] Dorsey, a neurologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center and author of Ending Parkinson’s Disease, believes a Parkinson’s ...
