Vetenskapsnyheter

<p>Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome is underdiagnosed and inconsistenly managed, according to Nice</p><p>Up to 4 million women with irregular periods should be investigated for polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, according to new <a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10436/documents">NHS guidance</a>.</p><p>PMOS, previously known as polycystic ovarian syndrome, is believed to affect <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/polycystic-ovary-syndrome">up to 13% of reproductive age women</a>, the World Health Organization estimates.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/01/women-with-irregular-periods-should-be-checked-for-pmos-nhs-says">Continue reading...</a>

<p>How much do our genes determine about our lives, and could they influence traits like risk-taking, antisocial behaviour or even violence? <strong>Ian Sample</strong> talks to <strong>Kathryn Paige Harden</strong>, a behavioural geneticist and professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin who studies how genetic factors shape human behaviour. In her book Original Sin she explores how nature and nurture combine to influence our likelihood of committing crimes, and asks whether the ‘cause’ of our actions matters for how we think about culpability</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2026/jun/30/nature-nurture-genes-bad-behaviour-full-story-podcast">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Researchers think people with greater muscle density in torso area, who are also less likely to die prematurely, are those who exercise more</p><p>People with strong chest and back muscles are less likely to have a heart attack or die prematurely, analysis using artificial intelligence suggests.</p><p>Researchers led by the University of Edinburgh used AI to examine hospital scans of 1,722 patients, aged mostly in their 50s, who had chest pain.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/30/strong-chest-back-less-likely-heart-attack-analysis">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Drug-resistant bacteria are no longer confined to hospital settings but are spreading into communities in every country</p><p>Why should a <a href="https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/bacterial-stis-reach-record-highs-europe-congenital-syphilis-cases-nearly-double">surge in sexually transmitted infections</a> (STIs) in Europe be a concern across Africa or for people who don’t consider themselves to be at risk? Because it points to a bigger problem: the ease with which drug-resistant infections are now spreading, and not just in hospitals but within the community too.</p><p>The speed and scale at which people travel and interact in our interconnected world is increasingly helping to drive this, allowing drug-resistant pathogens to move rapidly through populations and across the world – including between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the burden is often greatest and surveillance more limited.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/30/sexually-transmitted-infections-europe-world-drug-resistant-bacteria-amr">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC has hardly been out of the news since April when President Trump vowed to have it renovated, and painted ‘American flag blue’ by 4 July. Despite the pool being stripped, cleaned, coated and refilled, within days the algae that has plagued it for decades was back. To find out why these blooms happen, what makes them so difficult to tackle and what Trump could try next, Ian Sample hears from co-host Madeleine Finlay, and from Dr Linda May, a freshwater ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology.</p><p><em>Clips: Sky News Australia, Reuters, Global News</em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2026/jun/30/reflecting-pool-algae-science-trump-podcast">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Underwater expedition by Florida-based team supports possible therapeutic use of bacterial toxins from sea squirts</p><p>Researchers at a Florida university say bacterial toxins produced by tiny marine organisms they have studied in Antarctica could become an effective treatment for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.</p><p>A team from the University of South Florida (USF) recently returned from a six-week expedition to one of the world’s remotest regions in which they collected samples of ascidians, invertebrates known as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/sea-squirt">sea squirts</a> that thrive in the icy waters.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/29/sea-squirt-melanoma-treatment-research">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Spot this large constellation with differing classical backstories as moon sits squarely in ‘teapot’ of Sagittarius</p><p>This week we will look for another large but faint constellation: Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer. One of the original 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century, it sits in the sky on the opposite side to Orion, the hunter. The chart shows the view looking south from London at 11pm BST on 29 June 2026.</p><p>Although the view will remain essentially unchanged all week, on this particular evening a nearly full moon sits squarely in the teapot asterism of Sagittarius, the archer.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/29/starwatch-ophiuchus-the-serpent-bearer-straddling-the-celestial-equator">Continue reading...</a>

<p>It’s tempting to treat overwhelm with clever fixes – but that might be part of the problem</p><p>According to my Instagram feed, I am not doing enough. Not spending enough, not saying enough, not taking enough care. I feel more sure of this than anything. And it’s bringing out an irrationality I’m not proud of: one afternoon, in between screengrabs of masked men snatching civilians from their homes, videos of wellness influencers evangelising “anti-trauma” hip stretches, and carousels of political action items disguised as catchy memes, I am served a targeted ad for a “Don’t Talk to Me About AI or I’ll Kill Myself” crochet pattern; and even though I have never crocheted anything in my life, I find myself looking up the materials to get started … on Etsy to avoid supporting any big, Maga-oriented corporations.</p><p>It’s overwhelming, this general pressure, palpable not only on social media but throughout the larger culture: today’s most urgent issues, from technological end times to tight hips, can only be solved by squeezing as much into the day as humanly possible.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/28/what-if-doing-more-isnt-always-the-answer">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Committee will meet in July to discuss peptides now sold in gray market despite limited evidence of safety and efficacy</p><p>Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon hold a meeting about whether to ease restrictions on access to some research peptides, a group of drugs with a zealous following and thin evidence to support them.</p><p>If restrictions are eased, US compounding pharmacies would be able to produce and fill prescriptions for Americans – a change that would effectively legalize a thriving gray market.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/26/fda-peptide-restrictions">Continue reading...</a>

<p>House committee seeks records after two agency scientists were charged over undeclared samples</p><p>The US <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/house-of-representatives">House</a> committee on energy and commerce is “<a href="https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/06_16_2026_Letter_to_Dr_Bhattacharya_126e3cb0c8.pdf">examining concerns</a>” about the National Institutes of Health after two NIH scientists were charged with allegedly smuggling <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/monkeypox">mpox</a> into the United States and misleading investigators.</p><p>Federal law enforcement alleges that Dr Vincent Munster, 53, a Dutch national and chief of the virus ecology section at the NIH’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Montana, and Claude Kwe, 38, a research fellow from Cameroon, transported vials containing monkeypox, now known as mpox, into the country without declaring them to customs and then “lying about it”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/26/mpox-congress-scrutiny-nih">Continue reading...</a>

<p>International experts able to work in ocean midwater off Brazil at near-record speeds thanks to cutting-edge tech</p><p>A marine biology expedition in international waters off the coast of Brazil has discovered 31 new species in just two weeks.</p><p>The researchers believe the speed at which the species were found and identified may be a record, in part because of the cutting-edge tech designed and built by the science and engineering team. For the first time on board a ship, the researchers were able to observe the living 3D cellular structure of microbial life thanks to a new technological breakthrough nicknamed the Squid.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/26/marine-expedition-uncovers-31-new-species-two-weeks-brazil">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Julie Elie worked out how zebra finches announce who they are, what they are doing and use individual signatures</p><p>A scientist who decoded the dictionary that a bird uses to communicate has won a $100,000 prize for making progress towards a world in which humans can talk to the animals – without being met with a blank response.</p><p>Dr Julie Elie at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded the 2026 Coller-Dolittle prize for two-way interspecies communication after working out the 11 core calls in the zebra finch vocabulary and their meanings.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/26/human-animal-communication-step-closer-scientist-wins-prize-for-decoding-birdsong">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC will have to be drained again. Donald Trump has blamed vandalism for the failure to keep the water “American flag blue”. But what if this small body of water is proof that the president can’t outrun the truth?</p><p>Jonathan Freedland speaks to Arwa Mahdawi about why this project, which has cost the taxpayer millions, is proving to be such an embarrassing failure for a man obsessed with image</p><p><em>Archive: AP, Reuters</em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/audio/2026/jun/26/trump-lincoln-memorial-reflective-pool-vandalism-podcast">Continue reading...</a>

<p>5.6-magnitude California tremor, 7.2-magnitude temblor in Japan and two quakes in Venezuela all struck within hours</p><p>A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck a rural part of northern <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/california">California</a> on Wednesday. Hours later, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the northern coast of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/japan">Japan</a> and two powerful earthquakes rocked <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/venezuela">Venezuela</a> in a devastating mass casualty event.</p><p>The tremors happened in the span of eight hours, prompting online speculation over whether they were related.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/25/three-recent-powerful-earthquakes-not-related">Continue reading...</a>

<p>In a chilling new book, theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli says we’re back on the brink – and this time, leaders chronically lack the nous of Kennedy and Khrushchev. So why is he against rearming?</p><p>Should European members of Nato be rearming in the face of the Russian threat? And if not, I ask Carlo Rovelli, why not? The Italian theoretical physicist seems a good person to answer these questions since his timely new book, 85 Seconds to Midnight, is subtitled A Physicist’s Argument against Rearmament.</p><p>Rovelli, 70, brown eyed, genial, with enviably luxuriant grey locks, removes his glasses before answering. “The idea of the Russian military being a threat to Europe is ridiculous. Russia can’t even get to Kyiv! A few years ago, Russia had 4% of the world’s military spending and Nato had 40%.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/25/armageddon-physicist-carlo-rovelli-nuclear-apocalypse">Continue reading...</a>

<p>How much do our genes determine about our lives, and could they influence traits like risk-taking, antisocial behaviour or even violence? Ian Sample talks to Kathryn Paige Harden, a behavioural geneticist and professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin who studies how genetic factors shape human behaviour. In her book Original Sin she explores how nature and nurture combine to influence our likelihood of committing crimes, and asks whether the ‘cause’ of our actions matters for how we think about culpability</p><p><strong><a href="https://guardianbookshop.com/original-sin-9781399604338/">Order Original Sin from the Guardian bookshop</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/jun/25/nature-or-nurture-can-genes-shape-our-behaviour-podcast">Continue reading...</a>

<p><strong>Jenny Kleeman</strong> investigates ‘Biotech Barbie’ Cathy Tie, the controversial entrepreneur hoping to revolutionise human reproduction by letting parents edit their embryos</p><p>Meet Cathy Tie: serial entrepreneur, self-described “Biotech Barbie”, and the woman aiming to revolutionise reproduction by using Crispr to edit human embryos.</p><p>Beneath the tech-startup polish lies a provocative mission: to take the biological lottery out of the hands of nature and place it into the hands of parents.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2026/jun/25/the-dawn-of-the-designer-baby-podcast">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The company has just a few hundred satellites in low Earth orbit but has state backing and is already reportedly negotiating with dozens of countries</p><p>Elon Musk’s Starlink has long dominated the satellite internet industry, but a Chinese government-backed project is aiming to challenge its position.</p><p>SpaceSail has just a few hundred satellites in low Earth orbit compared with Starlink’s 10,000-plus. But the company says it now has enough satellites to begin its first commercial application, is scaling up at speed, and is reportedly negotiating with dozens of countries to provide satellite internet coverage.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/25/china-spacesail-rival-elon-musk-starlink-space-satelites-low-earth-orbit">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Perseverance identifies organic carbon molecules in rocks on riverbed that carried water billions of years ago</p><p>Nasa’s Perseverance rover has detected complex carbon molecules in Martian rocks that are already in the spotlight for bearing potential signatures of ancient microbial life.</p><p>Measurements taken by the rover’s Sherloc instrument identified organic carbon in mudstones from the Bright Angel outcrop as it trundled along Neretva Vallis, a dried-up river that carried water into the planet’s Jezero crater billions of years ago.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/24/nasa-rover-detects-potential-signatures-ancient-microbial-life-mars">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Previously hidden text revealed without unrolling scroll discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour</p><p>The surviving part of an ancient scroll that was burnt to a crisp when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago has been virtually unwrapped and read with help from artificial intelligence.</p><p>Researchers uncovered 20 columns of previously hidden text covering more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically unrolling the scroll. The work discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour and dates to the second or late-third century BC.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/24/ai-read-papyrus-scroll-burnt-vesuvius-eruption">Continue reading...</a>

<p>The glittering image, taken by the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope, heralds a new age of planetary discovery</p><p>The dazzling sight of more than 60m stars at the heart of Earth’s galaxy has been captured by a space telescope designed to reveal the mysterious dark forces that shape the universe.</p><p>Astronomers used the European Space Agency’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jun/30/euclid-telescope-3d-map-cosmos-space-probe-european-space-agency-dark-universe">Euclid telescope</a> to capture the largest, most detailed image ever taken of the visible light pouring from the centre of the Milky Way. The telescope’s camera is rare in being sensitive enough to separate individual stars in the crowded region known as the galactic bulge.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/24/stars-galactic-bulge-milky-way-euclid-telescope">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Researchers assessed likelihood gas was produced during creation of Alps, Pyrenees and Baetic mountains</p><p>Hydrogen gas is anticipated to play a central role in phasing out fossil fuels, particularly in industries that are proving more challenging to decarbonise, such as chemical production, shipping and steelmaking. But producing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/hydrogen-power">hydrogen</a> synthetically is energy intensive and costly. In order for the hydrogen economy to take off, we need to find reliable natural sources of this gas. Could it be hidden in the mountains?</p><p>Researchers used plate tectonic simulations to investigate the Pyrenees, Alps and Baetic mountain ranges to assess if their mountain-building processes were likely to have resulted in hydrogen being produced and stored. Their findings, published in the <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JB033255">Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth</a>, showed that the Alps and Pyrenees could be strong natural hydrogen exploration sites.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/24/mountains-unlock-hydrogen-gas-study">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Matriarchal groups in east and west exhibit distinct click patterns, used to form social structures</p><p>From “Howdy” to “G’day”, English – like other languages – is rich in dialects. Now researchers have found sperm whales on different sides of the Mediterranean show similar variations in their vocalisations.</p><p>Sperm whales communicate vocally using sequences of short clicks called codas. However, the rhythmic pattern of these clicks, known as the dialect, can differ between different matriarchal groups.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/24/sperm-whale-dialects-detected-mediterranean">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Curtin University researchers use innovative techniques to date three-billion-year-old impact crater in Western Australia’s Pilbara region</p><p>A meteorite that struck Earth three billion years ago left behind a “smoking gun” – evidence of the world’s oldest impact crater in a remote part of Australia.</p><p>Ancient rocks in Western Australia’s Pilbara region record the event, which occurred during the Archean eon, a period 4 to 2.5 billion years ago, when tectonic plates were beginning to form and early life emerging.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/24/worlds-oldest-meteorite-strike-pilbara-western-australia">Continue reading...</a>

<p>Kent Kiehl convinced the US legal system he can find violence in prisoners’ brains. His theories have been since used by defense lawyers – with grave consequences for prisoners</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jun/23/scientist-us-legal-system-violence-brain">Continue reading...</a>