Vetenskapsnyheter

<p>Pioneering and controversial geneticist who was one of the first to sequence the human genome, in part by using his own DNA</p><p>At the international BioVision conference in Lyon in February 2001, the geneticist Craig Venter performed a remarkable piece of scientific barnstorming. Human beings possess far fewer genes than science had ever realised, he announced. We have about 30,000, far lower than previous estimates of 100,000.</p><p>Such lack of heritable material showed people are not prisoners of their genes but are shaped primarily by environmental influences, he added. “We simply do not have enough genes for this idea of biological determinism to be right,” said Venter, who has died aged 79. “The wonderful diversity of the human species is not hard-wired in our genetic code. Our environments are critical.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/14/craig-venter-obituary">Continue reading...</a>

<p>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</p><p>Can you tell if someone is lying?</p><p>Close your eyes. You’re already twice as good as you were before.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/14/hidden-secret-to-spotting-a-liar-voice-inflections">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Two mothers fought British bureaucracy to obtain lifesaving cannabis medicines for their children. But most patients are having to go private – at huge cost<br></p><p>In the summer of 2012, Britain was in a festive mood. It was the year of the queen’s diamond jubilee and the London Olympics, and the country was celebrating. But for former hairdresser Hannah Deacon and her young family in Warwickshire, it was a summer of ambulances, hospital wards and doctors rushing in and out of emergency rooms.</p><p>Eight months earlier, Deacon had given birth to a healthy baby boy named Alfie. The early months of his life had been challenging for her and her partner, Drew, as they are for any first-time parents, but by the summer, Alfie was sleeping and feeding well, and it felt like the family was settling into the new rhythm. However, one night the couple woke up to find their baby’s little body gripped by a paralysing seizure.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/may/14/after-a-hard-fought-victory-to-legalise-medical-cannabis-in-the-uk-why-is-it-still-so-hard-to-access">Continue reading...</a>

<p>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 documents relating to UFOs, and a study looking at the link between taking part in cultural activities and slower biological ageing</p><p><em>Clips: News Nation</em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2026/may/14/hantavirus-update-pentagons-ufo-files-can-art-slow-biological-ageing-podcast">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Molar found in Siberia features deep hole that appears to show earliest known evidence of dental treatment</p><p>Neanderthals used stone drills to treat cavities almost 60,000 years ago in what is the earliest known evidence of dental treatment.</p><p>The single molar, which was unearthed in a cave in southern Siberia, features a deep hole that appears to have been created using a sharp, thin stone tool during the lifetime of the tooth’s owner.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/13/neanderthals-stone-drills-treat-cavities-tooth-siberia-dentist">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Researchers say rise not inevitable and it is important to unpick what is behind differences in obesity trends</p><p>A continuing rise in obesity around the world is not inevitable, research suggests, with rates in some countries levelling off or potentially in decline.</p><p>Researchers say focusing on what has been described as a global epidemic of obesity hides large variations in trends across different countries, sexes and age groups.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/13/obesity-trends-levelling-off-falling-study">Continue reading...</a>

<p>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</p><p>Valerie Fridland writes in her new book, Why We Talk Funny: the Real Story Behind Our Accents, that humans instinctively use accents to categorize those around us. “We learn to recognize other people as being like us through the way that they sound,” Fridland says. It happens early: studies suggest small children, when choosing friends, favor those who share their accent.</p><p>In <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/01/kids-accents">one study</a>, for instance, five- and six-year-olds were shown pairs of kids on a computer screen, one with a local Canadian accent and one with a British accent. Asked who they wanted to be friends with, they picked the kid with the local accent – even though they lived in Toronto and are exposed to a huge range of accents every day.</p><p>Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/13/valerie-fridland-linguistics-accents">Continue reading...</a>

<p>As an astronomer, I had witnessed many celestial phenomena. But nothing prepared me for those few minutes in 2017 when the world fell silent</p><p>I have never driven with more determination than when rushing away from Shelby Park in Nashville. We had reached Davidson Street when my husband shouted: “There! There’s sunlight!” I skidded into a car park of a printing company with barely any time to spare. We jumped out of the car, put on our dark glasses, and looked at the quickly disappearing sun. It was surrounded by clouds, but a tiny sliver of light was still shining. This was 1.27pm on 21 August 2017. We had travelled all the way from London to Tennessee to experience the Great American Eclipse – an astronomical phenomenon I had never seen before.</p><p>As an Italian-born astronomer, I had always felt at a bit of a disadvantage. I have a doctorate in astrophysics, focused on collisions between galaxies. I have seen many celestial phenomena – comets, planetary alignments, fireballs, galaxies, northern lights – but not a total solar eclipse.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/may/13/a-moment-that-changed-me-i-saw-my-first-total-solar-eclipse-and-its-beauty-shook-me-to-my-core">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Rather than bribery, or hiding carrots under ketchup, the key may be to expose foetuses to healthy flavours</p><p>It is an age-old battle with small children that most parents will recognise: please, please, eat your vegetables.</p><p>Some will read them books <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxF45T51W9E">with titles such as The Boy Who Loved Broccoli</a>. Others have been known to smother veg in tomato ketchup, or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2025/oct/11/getting-kids-eat-veg-curbing-screen-time-parenting-hacks-that-actually-work">mix avocado and fruit with Greek yoghurt and call it icecream</a>. Or resort to plain bribery.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/13/children-eat-vegetables-starts-in-womb-researchers-suggest">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Data shows orforglipron could in future avoid need to take other long-term medications for diseases associated with obesity</p><p>A daily pill could help people keep weight off and stop them needing other long-term medications, scientists behind landmark new trial data have suggested.</p><p>The researchers said orforglipron could help prevent more than 200 diseases associated with obesity and could be prescribed to prevent lower levels of overweight tipping into obesity.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/12/daily-orforglipron-pill-can-help-people-maintain-weight-loss-after-they-come-off-jabs-trial-shows">Continue reading...</a>

<p>All the protocols that health experts like me look for have been followed. But outbreaks on cruise ships are notoriously hard to control</p><ul><li><p>Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh</p></li></ul><p>Hantavirus: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/12/who-head-warns-countries-prepare-more-hantavirus-cases">the disease</a> you wish you’d never heard of, as visions of the Covid pandemic flash through your head. I’ve seen lots of breathless coverage and some bizarre takes on social media, so I imagine many people are confused as to what’s going on.</p><p>Let me start by saying that this isn’t the Covid pandemic – only Covid was Covid. Previous hantavirus outbreaks have been contained (although none were on a cruise ship). So, for now, the risk to the general public is low – colleagues and I are still carrying on as normal and watching to see whether new infections arise outside the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/11/mv-hondius-passengers-from-hantavirus-cruise-ship-enter-isolation-facility-in-wirral">original cruise ship group</a>. Those new infections would be the key step-change determining whether we see further spread and higher-risk public health alerts – or whether we’re at the end of this outbreak.</p><p>Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, and the author of <a href="https://guardianbookshop.com/how-not-to-die-too-soon-9781405975513/">How Not to Die (Too Soon)</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/12/hantavirus-outbreak-risk-general-public-cruise-ship-group">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Social media is awash with clips of people paying to be ‘bathed’ in sound. But what’s the science behind the practice?</p><ul><li><p>Read more in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/series/antiviral">Antiviral series</a></p></li></ul><p>I, for one, am partial to a bath: what’s not to love about a dim room, candles and nary an electronic device in sight?</p><p>But a wellness trend that has emerged in recent years makes soaking in tepid water seem quaint: increasingly, people are paying to be “bathed” in sound.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/12/sound-bath-what-is-it-does-it-work-music-meditation-relaxation-nervous-system-science">Continue reading...</a>

<p>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 bark of a West African shrub, that has shown some promise in relieving the long term effects of traumatic brain injury. Madeleine Finlay talks to journalist Mattha Busby about podcaster Joe Rogan’s role in the story, what else is behind the President’s interest in psychedelic research, and what the order will change in practice for scientists and researchers</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/23/trump-psychedelic-drugs-order">‘Can I have some, please?’: has Trump opened the door to a psychedelic future?</a></strong></p><p>Support the Guardian: <a href="http://theguardian.com/sciencepod">theguardian.com/sciencepod</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2026/may/12/trump-is-backing-psychedelic-research-heres-why-podcast">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The Food and Drug Administration commissioned the research and received the answer, but is not releasing it</p><p>Last week, the New York Times and the Washington Post reported yet another troubling case of data suppression at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Studies of millions of vaccine recipients were completed by career scientists, peer-reviewed and accepted by working pharmacovigilance journals; after political appointees declined to sign off, they were withdrawn. The agency commissioned the work and received the answer, but is not releasing it.</p><p>In October, FDA scientists were directed to withdraw two Covid-19 vaccine safety studies that had already been accepted by the journals Drug Safety and Vaccine. In February, top officials declined to sign off on submitting Shingrix safety abstracts to a major drug-safety conference. The Covid studies were not small. One examined the records of 7.5 million Medicare beneficiaries for 14 pre-specified adverse outcomes after 2023–2024 Covid-19 vaccination, using a self-controlled case-series design with follow-up of up to 90 days. Only one signal – anaphylaxis at roughly one per million Pfizer-BioNTech doses – exceeded statistical noise. A second examined 4.2 million recipients aged six months to 64 years for more than a dozen outcomes; it identified the rare febrile-seizure and myocarditis signals already on the label. The Shingrix safety analysis confirmed the elevated but low Guillain-Barré risk that has been on the package insert for years.</p><p>Robert B Shpiner is a clinical professor of medicine (pulmonary and critical care) and associate professor of neurosurgery (neurocritical care) at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he has practiced critical care for more than 40 years</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/12/fda-vaccine-safety">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Research from UCL suggests visiting art galleries or museums, singing and painting can help improve health outcomes</p><p>Singing, painting or visiting a gallery or museum helps people age more slowly, according to the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/innovateage/advance-article/doi/10.1093/geroni/igag038/8669801">latest study</a> to link taking an active interest in art and culture with improved health.</p><p>The findings are the first to show that both participating in arts activities and attending events, such as viewing an exhibition, lead to people staying biologically younger.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/12/arts-cultural-engagement-linked-slower-pace-biological-ageing-ucl-research">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The answers to today’s pronunciation puzzles</p><p>Earlier today I set you these two word puzzles. Here they are again with solutions.</p><p><strong>1: Pronounced the same, spelt differently.</strong></p><p>(Second option) (Switch back and forth)</p><p>(Suitable) (Commandeer)</p><p>(Satisfied) (Components)</p><p>(Conference attendee) (Assign)</p><p>(Price reduction) (Disregard)</p><p>(Way in) (Enrapture)</p><p>(Incorrect) (Disabled)</p><p>(60 seconds) (Tiny)</p><p>(In attendance) (Give)</p><p>(Fruit and vegetables) (Generate)</p><p>(Deny) (Rubbish)</p><p>(Distress) (Surprise victory)</p><p>Alternate</p><p>Appropriate</p><p>Content</p><p>Delegate</p><p>Discount</p><p>Entrance</p><p>Invalid</p><p>Minute</p><p>Present</p><p>Produce</p><p>Refuse</p><p>Upset</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/11/did-you-solve-it-i-say-tomato-you-say-tomato">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Pronunciation puzzles</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/11/did-you-solve-it-i-say-tomato-you-say-tomato">UPDATE: Answers can be read here</a></p><p>A homonym is a word that has the same pronunciation as, or is spelt identical to, another word with a different meaning.</p><p>For example, the letter “a” has the homonym “eh”.</p><p>(Second option) (Switch back and forth)</p><p>(Suitable) (Commandeer)</p><p>(Satisfied) (Components)</p><p>(Conference attendee) (Assign)</p><p>(Price reduction) (Disregard)</p><p>(Way in) (Enrapture)</p><p>(Incorrect) (Disabled)</p><p>(60 seconds) (Tiny)</p><p>(In attendance) (Give)</p><p>(Fruit and vegetables) (Generate)</p><p>(Deny) (Rubbish)</p><p>(Distress) (Surprise victory)</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/11/can-you-solve-it-i-say-tomato-you-say-tomato">Continue reading...</a>

<p>After five years of deliberation the global south has forced the question that defined the Covid crisis: who will get the vaccines?</p><p>The Covid-19 pandemic did deep and lasting damage to the international political system. Countries in the global south are keenly aware that the established order let them down. They <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10247888/#:~:text=Instead%20of%20COVAX%2C%20donations%20became,%2C%202022%2C%20June%2025).">received vaccines</a> later, in smaller numbers and <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj-2022-070650">often at a higher price</a> than rich countries, resulting in <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9878283/">avoidable death and suffering</a>, and extended <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114762">economic malaise</a>. Last week, a coalition of those countries made their displeasure known by continuing to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/may/05/talks-stall-on-who-pandemic-treaty-global-response-disease-outbreaks">stonewall negotiations</a> on the vaunted pandemic preparedness treaty of the World Health Organization (WHO), sending a clear message that when the next crisis arrives, they will not accept the same status quo.</p><p>An international treaty is sorely needed. But five years into negotiations, it is clear that the western backers of this plan, <a href="https://www.iai.it/en/publications/c05/eu-and-pandemic-treaty-agenda-setter-troubled-deal-maker">especially in Europe</a>, have consistently presented it as a fait accompli, while&nbsp;avoiding the most basic and obvious political impasse before them.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/10/the-guardian-view-on-the-who-pandemic-treaty-the-wests-fantasy-negotiations-have-put-the-world-at-risk">Continue reading...</a>

<p>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 has been on Earth, and how his programming has reflected his growing commitment to highlighting the devastating impacts of the climate crisis on nature and biodiversity</p><p><em>Clips: BBC, PBS </em></p><p>Support the Guardian: <a href="http://theguardian.com/sciencepod">theguardian.com/sciencepod</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2026/may/07/100-years-on-earth-celebrating-david-attenborough-birthday-podcast">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The photographer Eric Lusito takes us on a scientific journey through space and time in a book on Soviet scientific institutes</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2026/may/03/symbols-of-soviet-science-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The solution to today’s puzzle</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/27/can-you-solve-it-are-you-as-s-s-smart-as-a-snake#comments">Earlier today</a> I asked you this slippery question. Here it is again with the solution.</p><p><strong>Snakes in a cage</strong></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/27/did-you-solve-it-are-you-as-s-s-smart-as-a-snake">Continue reading...</a>

<p>This puzzle has bite</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/27/did-you-solve-it-are-you-as-s-s-smart-as-a-snake">UPDATE: S-s-solution up here</a></p><p>Did you hear about the snake that liked maths?</p><p>I’m sure you did – it’s one of the oldest jokes in the book.*</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/27/can-you-solve-it-are-you-as-s-s-smart-as-a-snake">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The Artemis II, and the four astronauts aboard the Orion space capsule, splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday night, with all four astronauts in good health. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch of Nasa, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen, have just become the first humans to travel to the moon, and return to Earth safely, since the crew of Apollo 17 in December 1972</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/10/artemis-ii-landing-return-moon-mission">‘Just the beginning’: Artemis II crew splashes down after record-breaking moon flyby</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2026/apr/11/artemis-ii-splashdown-in-pictures">Artemis II splashdown! – in pictures</a></p></li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2026/apr/11/astronauts-back-on-earth-artemis-ii-crew-splashes-down-after-record-breaking-moon-flyby-video">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The world watches on as astronauts on the 10-day Artemis II mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off California on Friday</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/10/artemis-ii-landing-return-moon-mission">‘Just the beginning’: Artemis II crew splashes down after record-breaking moon flyby</a></p></li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2026/apr/11/artemis-ii-splashdown-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>

<p>As the Artemis II mission enters flight day nine, the crew spoke about inspiring the next generation and 'working on something big for the good of everyone' ahead of their return to earth. The crew, made up of three US astronauts and a Canadian, embarked on humanity's first crewed lunar voyage in more than half a century. The 10-day flight around the moon and back will mark the second mission of Artemis, successor to the Apollo program of the cold war era</p><p></p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/09/artemis-crew-nasa-return"><strong>Artemis II crew to return home as Nasa lays out steps for safe splashdown</strong></a></p></li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2026/apr/10/artemis-ii-crew-on-inspiring-the-next-generation-and-unifying-humanity-video">Continue reading...</a>