Science | The Guardian

Junk speak, like junk food, encourages verbal littering. It has to be one of the worst things about life in Britain I live in the Norfolk countryside, and what irritates me most about living here is the deluge of litter that gets thrown out of car windows in the lane outside my house. It is always from junk food outlets, so the question arises as to which way round things are: does junk food turn…

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Doctors say therapy that genetically modifies person’s T-cells could offer cure for chronic autoimmune disease Five lupus patients in England are in remission after being treated with a revolutionary therapy that genetically modifies their own cells, in a medical breakthrough that could offer people a cure, doctors have said. CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy involves removing a type…

A daily pill can double survival time in patients with the world’s deadliest cancer, according to the results of a clinical trial that experts are saying is a gamechanger and one of the biggest breakthroughs in decades. To find out more about how daraxonrasib works and how life-changing it could be for patients, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Prof Naureen Starling, consultant medical oncologist at th…

Nasa revealed the crew for its Artemis III mission in Houston on Tuesday, the next step in the US space agency’s plan to eventually land astronauts on the moon. The announcement came two months after Artemis II’s record-breaking trip around the moon that surpassed the maximum distance achieved by Apollo 13. Nasa’s Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas and the European Space Agency’s Luca P…

Researchers believe the same pair of birds have been mating and nesting in the unusual spot in the Daintree Rainforest for 15 consecutive years Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast It started by chance – but it should have come as no surprise that two ospreys would pick a hi-tech research facility to make their home. James Cook University’s 47-metre tall crane towers over …

While many dinosaurs were wiped out when a colossal asteroid struck Earth 66m years ago, one group survived: birds. Prof Steve Brusatte, a palaeontologist at the University of Edinburgh, has written a new book, The Story of Birds, tracing the evolution of our feathered friends from their dinosaur origins. He joins science correspondent Nicola Davis to discuss how scales first became feathers, how…

In today’s newsletter: ​Researchers are giving us new insights into early detection and treatments, but with access to life-saving care remaining uneven patients still have a long road ahead Good morning. Israel has returned fire on Iran following a wave of missile strikes, the first attacks between the two countries since April’s ceasefire, despite Donald Trump reportedly urging Benjamin Netanya…

With the Bundibugyo strain of the disease spreading across the DRC and Uganda, scientists and researchers are trying to find rapid solutions There is no vaccine or treatment available for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola that is spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, but this week three vaccine developers were awarded $60m (£45m) in emergency funding as the race to halt…

Light from nearly 4m galaxies measured as it twisted and travelled through intergalactic space Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A cosmic map of magnetic fields – the largest ever produced – could help scientists delve into one of the major and most mysterious forces in the universe. A global team led by Australia’s…

Humans have been wondering why we sleep for thousands of years. Is sleep’s purpose rest and relaxation, memory consolidation or maybe cognitive processing? In the last 15 years, scientists have discovered another possible explanation – waste disposal. In 2012 neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard’s lab discovered that the brain has its own cleaning process, the glymphatic system, which clears away unh…

Pat Brogan preparing to walk his daughter down the aisle after trial of treatment designed to stop disease from hiding • Smart drug that strips cancer cells of ‘invisibility cloak’ can shrink tumours by 30%, trial shows One of the first patients to benefit from a pioneering smart drug that appears to melt away the “invisibility cloak” that can shield cancer cells from treatment is Pat Brogan, fro…

Karen Bonham was part of successful trial for genomic test that determines which women with breast cancer can safely avoid chemotherapy Groundbreaking genomic test could spare millions of breast cancer patients chemotherapy A landmark study shows millions of women with breast cancer could skip chemotherapy thanks to a genomic test that determines who needs the treatment and who doesn’t. The rando…

Last month at Beijing’s half marathon, a robot named Lightning beat the human world record by nearly seven minutes. It’s the latest in a string of AI-powered milestones that have got people wondering whether robots are about to enter our everyday lives, just as chatbots have. And the country leading the charge is China, where the government has pledged to invest more than £100bn in robotics over …

Two scientists have described the bright fireball, crackling noise and sonic boom of the impact 66m years ago What would it have been like to have lived through the meteorite impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 66m years ago? Writing in the Conversation , Michael Benton, of the University of Bristol, and Monica Grady, of the Open University, describe in vivid detail how it might have felt. The fi…

Home red-light therapy devices have exploded in popularity as masks, body wraps and mittens promise to reduce wrinkles, redness and even acne. But do the claims stack up, and what other benefits are scientists investigating? Ian Sample hears from his co-host, Madeleine Finlay, and the consultant dermatologist Dr Jonathan Kentley. Kentley explains how the potential benefits of red light were disco…

Because we define dates based on the stars, the full moon on 31 May will be the second one of the calendar month This week’s full moon is a blue moon. The term does not describe the colour of the moon, but instead arises from the way we define our calendar in reference to the stars rather than the moon. The moon takes almost a month to circle our planet. The exact time is 29.5 days but if we were…

The US supreme court has preserved nationwide access to mail-order abortion pills – for now. As Carter Sherman explains, the fight to protect this medication is far from over, as a nationwide, near-total abortion ban could be on the horizon. Carter speaks with Dr Angel Foster, co-founder of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, who reveals how the legal battle over abortion pills …

Sink or swim? | Deep vision | Sacrificial candidate | Diverting days out Sir Christopher Ball telling people their future longevity is in their own hands and to stop blaming others ( Report, 20 May ) is akin to telling a drowning man to pull himself together and swim, without asking what were the circumstances that put him in the water in the first place. Life and longevity is a complex issue and…

Strict restrictions on Americans with exposure to Ebola and hantavirus highlight officials’ previous rhetoric on public health measures The US is imposing strict restrictions on American travelers who have been exposed in dual Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks in ways that experts say could run counter to their legal rights and affect who will volunteer in future public health crises globally. The l…