The 2026 Tour de France has been the hottest ever. Norwegian-method pioneer and Uno-X Mobility coach Olav Aleksander Bu reveals how Nordic athletes have been learning to beat the heat
Vetenskapsnyheter
<p>The first person has been treated with a highly anticipated new gene therapy that aims to turn back the clock on ageing cells. The trial is aimed at retinal cells, with the hope that encouraging them to behave as if they were young again could improve sight in the affected patients. If it proves to be safe, it could open the door to a whole raft of therapies based on the emerging field of cellular rejuvenation. To understand more about this cutting edge research, Madeleine Finlay hears from science editor Ian Sample and from John Knoepfler, professor of cell biology and human anatomy at the university of California, Davis.</p><p><a href="https://theguardian.com/sciencepod">Support the Guardian</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2026/jul/16/can-a-world-first-gene-therapy-reverse-ageing-podcast">Continue reading...</a>
Temperatures are set to fall by several degrees in some areas, including parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
In this New Scientist CoLab podcast, experts from global life sciences leader Cytiva explain the hidden, high-stakes science of purification that is required to close the gap between drug discovery and the pharmacy shelf.
Scientists describe "amazing feeling" to look into the face of an animal that so few people knew existed.
Low levels of replicating Epstein-Barr viruses might be the main driver of the autoimmune condition multiple sclerosis. This may mean that targeting them would be as effective as suppressing the immune system, with fewer side effects
New Scientist reporter Karmela Padavic-Callaghan combines memoir and science writing to great effect in their first book, Entangled States
There is much to like in Janet Jones's look at horse "language" and the equine mind, A Horse's World, but beware unexpected issues, says Christa Lesté-Lasserre
<p>The new species, <i>Colobus congoensis</i>, may already be endangered</p>
A black colobus monkey from a remote part of the Congo Basin rainforest, known locally as likweli, is thought to be severely threatened by poaching
The brine-formed meteorite that crashed into a New Jersey roof in 2024 could teach us about how life first arrived on Earth.
<p>Case numbers of this parasite-caused illness have exploded in the last week. An expert explains how to try and stay safe</p>
Share trading in Elon Musk’s rocket company has been volatile since it went public a month ago.
Feedback has been spending far too much time reading the latest output of entirely made-up research studies from the Journal of Imaginary Research
Why don’t dogs look up when a low-flying plane or helicopter passes overhead? I’ve never seen one do this. And what changes will occur on Earth as the moon moves further away from us?
<p>A new breakthrough pushes the limits of randomness, bringing a decades-old mathematical mystery closer to resolution</p>
The impact of high humidity on top of high temperatures is often underappreciated, but most of us aren't prepared for such extreme conditions, which will become more common with global warming
This week's cartoon from Twisteddoodles
Tom Gauld's weekly cartoon
Some expert weigh in on this issue, which turns out to be much more complicated than it looks
How many of the 118 known elements in the periodic table could we permanently delete without any ill effect on our lives? (continued)
Guy Cox Sydney, Australia
Previous correspondent Mike Follows is far too stingy in his list of elements essential for life. The mnemonic CHOPKINS CaFe, mighty good – carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), iodine (I), nitrogen (N), sulphur (S), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe) and magnesium (Mg) – teaches us the essential elements for plant growth, to which we also have to add sodium and chloride (no salt on the table in this cafe?). Magnesium, by the way, is required for chlorophyll, which enables photosynthesis to take place.
But there are essential trace elements we humans also need in small quantities – copper, cobalt, selenium, manganese, molybdenum, zinc. Now we are up to 19 elements.
Silicon isn't just useful for computer chips, it is vital for many organisms, most obviously diatoms – aquatic algae with silica skeletons – and sponges. Getting somewhat left-field, some ascidians (sea squirts) need vanadium.
Correspondent Eric Kvaalen mentions that polonium is useful for killing people and there is one famous case of that (the 2006 murder of prominent Russia critic Alexander Litvinenko).
Silicon isn't just useful for computer chips, it is vital for many organisms, most obviously diatoms and sponges
But that isn't the only use of polonium. Back when photography wasn't digital, one of my prized possessions was an anti-static brush that had a strip of polonium behind the hairs to neutralise the static created by brushing when cleaning film. They probably went off the market after that assassination!
Colin NicholsonStockport, Greater Manchester, UK
It is indeed interesting to consider which elements we can do without, but we have to be careful. I find it fascinating that evolution has come up with very different strategies in various phyla for the transportation of oxygen an…
The crew was rescued after the close call. Meanwhile, wildfires in Canada have left Toronto under a haze and sent smoke drifting towards several major US cities.
<p>There is no majority support for use of gene editing on non-life-threatening conditions, writes <strong>Tom Lichy</strong> of the British Deaf Association</p><p>Your editorial (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/05/the-guardian-view-on-gene-edited-humans-darker-uses-must-be-acknowledged-alongside-medical-ones">The Guardian view on gene-edited humans: darker uses must be acknowledged alongside medical ones, 5 July</a>) offers welcome support to those expressing concern about the lack of public dialogue on gene-edited humans. These concerns are exacerbated when some scientists view the use of germline editing to eradicate hereditary conditions as inevitable.</p><p>The new polling for the Progress Educational Trust reported in your editorial indicates that the UK public agrees with the use of gene editing to correct life‑threatening genetic conditions. No such majority supports use for conditions such as deafness which are not remotely life-threatening.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jul/15/deaf-people-excluded-from-gene-editing-debate">Continue reading...</a>
<p>Pioneering American aviator who was the oldest woman to fly into space aged 82 in 2021</p><p>As an aviator, Wally Funk, who has died aged 87, was a trailblazing pioneer for women, breaking barriers for eight decades of a remarkable career. “Aviation has been my whole life; I eat and breathe it,” she said in her 2020 memoir, Higher, Faster, Longer (written with Loretta Hall).</p><p>She earned her pilot’s licence as a teenager, at 20 was the US military’s first female flight instructor, in 1971 became the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) first female flight inspector, and three years later was the first woman instructor for the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB). But hanging over these accomplishments was her unfulfilled dream of becoming an astronaut.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jul/15/wally-funk-obituary">Continue reading...</a>
A mathematical analysis suggests that the notion of agency, which is a prerequisite for consciousness, cannot be purely quantum in nature