Science Weekly
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Science Weekly
Twice a week, the Guardian brings you the latest science and environment news
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100 years on Earth: celebrating David Attenborough’s birthday
To celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s centenary, Madeleine Finlay catches up with natural history writer Patrick Barkham, who has met the celebrated p...
Hantavirus explained: how does it spread and who is most at risk?
Three people have died after an outbreak of hantavirus onboard a cruise ship travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde. The World Health Organization sa...
‘Historic breakthrough’: could the fossil fuel era be coming to an end?
The transition towards renewable energy received a boost last week when representatives from 57 countries met in Santa Marta, Colombia, for a world-fi...
Sub-two-hour marathon, spooky houses explained and why is UK health in decline?
Madeleine Finlay sits down with co-host and Guardian science editor Ian Sample to talk through three eye-catching stories from the week, including the...
What is a food intolerance, and how do you know if you have one?
Social media is awash with content about food intolerances and the symptoms to look out for. But figuring out whether you actually have one, and what’...
Muons, massive waves and restored sight: the winners at the ‘Oscars of science’
Madeleine Finlay sits down with science editor Ian Sample to hear about some of the winners of the Breakthrough Prize, which held its ceremony in LA l...
Mythos: are fears over new AI model panic or PR?
Earlier this month the AI company Anthropic said it had created a model so powerful that, out of a sense of responsibility, it was not going to releas...
The surprising value of boring chats, ‘super El Niño’ and Alzheimer’s evidence reviewed
Madeleine Finlay sits down with co-host and science editor Ian Sample to discuss three eye-catching stories from the week, including a review into the...
Helium: the invisible gas that powers AI, and why it’s in short supply
Alongside the oil and gas stranded in the strait of Hormuz is another commodity vital to today’s economy: helium. It is a critical element in all kind...
Everything you need to know about Artemis II so far
This week Artemis II’s four-astronaut crew broke Apollo 13’s distance record, becoming the humans to travel the farthest from Earth. Now on their way...
Can we eradicate a second human disease?
The number of human cases of guinea worm, a painful and debilitating tropical illness, fell to a record low of just 10 last year, according to the Car...
Sauna and cold plunge: where does the evidence stand?
Saunas and cold plunge pools are popping up everywhere in the UK, bringing fiery heat and icy cold to a beach, city farm or park near you. Their users...
Does going to the moon still matter?
If all goes to plan, Artemis II, Nasa’s mission to return humans to the moon, will launch this week. The mission will mark the farthest that humans ha...
Transporting the most expensive and volatile substance on Earth
A box the size of a filing cabinet was lifted by crane, slowly moved and placed very carefully in the back of an unassuming lorry earlier this week. W...
What sets human consciousness apart from AI?
Why is it like something to be ourselves and how do physical processes create our subjective experience? These questions get to the heart of the knott...
Off Duty: The Crime
On the evening of 29 December 2011, police officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. Th...
Meningitis explained: who is most at risk?
Over the weekend, news emerged of an outbreak of meningitis among university and school students in Kent in south-east England. The outbreak has kille...
What’s behind the injectable peptide craze?
Grey-market injectable peptides – a category of substances with obscure, alphanumeric names such as BPC-157, GHK-Cu, or TB-500 – have developed a devo...
Exercise and brain function, hedgehog hearing, and can AI change our minds? – podcast
The Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, talks to Madeleine Finlay about three eye-catching science stories from the week, including a study that ex...
Was Iran really building a nuclear weapon?
Among the many justifications Donald Trump has presented for the US and Israel attacking Iran has been the supposedly imminent threat posed by its nuc...
Will China own the green energy future?
The conflict in the Middle East has sent energy prices soaring, and for countries that import a high proportion of their fuel, it’s a reminder of the...
Does Trump want to wage an AI-powered war?
In the past three months, Donald Trump’s White House has reportedly used AI twice to effect regime change – once in its capture of Venezuela’s preside...
Can degrowth save the climate?
Since the 1960s, global GDP has been rapidly rising and living standards have reached record highs. But something else has been rocketing up too – car...
The truth about fat, and its complex role in our health
For a long time fat was seen simply as an inert yellow substance wrapping around our bodies, but now that’s changing. Scientists are beginning to unde...
Psychedelics for depression, dart frog poison and why do we have chins?
Madeleine Finlay sits down with science editor Ian Sample and science correspondent Nicola Davis to discuss three eye-catching stories, including the...
Should we really all be taking magnesium supplements?
Testimonials about the beneficial health effects of magnesium supplements abound online, with influencers claiming that a daily pill can help with eve...
What bots talk about when they think humans aren’t listening
In late January a new social media site took a certain corner of the internet by storm. Moltbook was conceived as a space where AI assistants could le...
Jeffrey Epstein and the scientists
The release of the latest batch of documents relating to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has shed further light on his close relationship...
‘Everything is quagga mussel now’: can invasive species be stopped?
On a recent trip to Lake Geneva in Switzerland, biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston witnessed the impact of one of the planet’s most potent invasive s...
Why are women turning to testosterone?
Just like men, women are increasingly being told by online influencers that the classic symptoms of middle age could be down to low testosterone. In t...
Are men being misled over testosterone?
If TikTok influencers are to be believed, testosterone, or T, is the answer to everything from fitness frustrations and fatigue to low libido. But doc...
Has the world entered an era of ‘water bankruptcy’?
Last week, a UN report declared that the world has entered an era of ‘global water bankruptcy’ with many human water systems past the point at which t...
How positivity affects health, the rise of scabies and bovine intelligence
The Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, talks to Madeleine Finlay about three eye-catching science stories from the week, including a study that su...
Is your body really full of microplastics?
Studies detecting microplastics throughout human bodies have made for alarming reading in recent years. But last week, the Guardian’s environment edit...
The surprising science of dreams and nightmares
Ian Sample puts listeners’ questions on dreams and nightmares to Dr Michelle Carr, director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory in Montreal’s Centre f...
How to sleep well in 2026
Ian Sample puts listeners’ questions on sleep to Dr Allie Hare, consultant physician in respiratory and sleep medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospita...
Our science predictions for 2026
Last year was full of unexpected science news, from the discovery of a new colour, to the interstellar visitor 3I/Atlas passing by our solar system, a...
Crude appeal: why Trump wants Venezuela’s oil
The US capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday left many people wondering why? Donald Trump hinted at an answer when he clai...
Revisited: the real science of weight loss
Kevin Hall spent 21 years at the US National Institutes of Health and became known globally for his pioneering work on ultra-processed foods. In April...
Revisited: do medicinal mushroom products actually work?
More of us are turning to products containing mushroom extracts, with the medicinal fungi market worth billions of pounds. Promises of mental and phys...