“Trump’s shuttering of the National Center for Atmospheric Research is Stalinist….”
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Accessed on 27 December 2025, 1522 UTC.
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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.com).
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This is the latest in the relentless purge of climate researchers who refuse to be co-opted by the fossil fuel industry The Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin would no doubt have understood and even appreciated the latest attack by the Trump administration on climate researchers and their work. The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, is to be dismantled after more than 50 ye
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Texas governor among those to call for expanded access to ibogaine, said to help with treating veterans with PTSD For half a century, psychedelics largely belonged to the cultural left: anti-war, anti-capitalist, suspicious of the church and state. Now, one of the most politically consequential psychedelic drugs in the US – ibogaine – is being championed by evangelical Christians, Republican gove
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Our circadian cycle doesn’t just affect our sleeping and waking, but our motivations, mood, behaviour and alertness. Whether you are a lark or an owl, here’s how to recognise your own rhythm • Sign up here to get the whole series straight to your inbox It’s easy to hate clocks. Their unstoppable forward churn wakes us up and shames us for running late. They are a constant reminder that every enjo
Yesterday
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Wintering Well boxes to counter effects of low light on mental health are ‘super popular’, says island librarian “Boxes of light” are being used to help people who struggle with low winter mood while living in one of Scotland’s darkest communities as part of a wider research initiative to support the million-plus sufferers of seasonal affective disorder across Britain. Residents of the Orkney Isl
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Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we look at how the struggle to adapt to a dangerously warming world has become a test of global justice The record-breaking 252mph winds of Hurricane Melissa that devastated Caribbean islands at the end of October were made five times more likely by the climate crisis. Scorching wildfire weather in S
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These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close Inside a large greenhouse at the University of Kansas, Professor Liz Koziol and Dr Terra Lubin tend rows of sudan grass in individual plastic pots. The roots of each straggly plant harbor a specific strain of invisible soil fungus. The shelves
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Surgeon leading xenotransplantation trial aimed at solving shortage of human organs says edits can lessen risk of rejection A leading surgeon behind a clinical trial of transplanting pig kidneys into living humans has said they could one day be superior to those from human donors. Dr Robert Montgomery, the director of NYU Langone’s Transplant Institute, said the first transplant of the trial had
Dec 25, 2025
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We can share images and sounds, so why not smells? Dr Kate McLean-MacKenzie hopes her new atlas will make scents Christmas may be associated with the aromas of oranges and mince pies but our towns and cities also boast special scents during the rest of the year. Now, one researcher is publishing an atlas attempting to capture these quirky “smellscapes”. Dr Kate McLean-MacKenzie, a designer and re
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Exclusive: Scientists find a way to forecast hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which affects millions worldwide Scientists are developing a simple blood test to predict who is most at risk from the world’s most common inherited heart condition. Millions of people worldwide have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease of the heart muscle where the wall of the heart becomes thickened. It is caused
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Sarah Harper says society must create new ways of living and working amid potential ‘silver economy’ Concerns over an ageing population are overblown and society should learn to celebrate and capitalise on its “massive cohort of healthy, active, older, creative adults”, a leading population expert has said. While pundits and pressure groups have raised concerns over falling fertility rates , high
Dec 24, 2025
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Psychologists have typically believed that we become less curious as we age, but recent research has shown curiosity actually becomes more targeted and specific in our later years. In this episode from September, Madeleine Finlay hears from Dr Mary Whatley, an assistant professor of psychology at Western Carolina University, and Dr Matthias Gruber of Cardiff University’s Brain Research Imaging Ce
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Flame retardants commonly used in furniture are linked to serious health issues, including cancer and thyroid disease Removing old furniture made with flame retardants from people’s homes can significantly reduce the amount of the toxic chemicals in blood, a new 10-year, peer-reviewed study by California regulators and public health groups has found. The drop that researchers found was a “super b
Dec 23, 2025
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Researchers share the easy ways to uncover moments of festive discovery, proving you don’t need a lab coat to experiment this Christmas Christmas may seem like a time for switching off and suspending disbelief but there are plenty of ways to introduce a little science into the celebrations. We asked experts for their top home experiments to challenge friends and family. Continue reading…
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Richard Fishacre used his knowledge of light and colour to argue against ‘fifth element’ theories of the day About 800 years ago, Richard Fishacre, a Dominican friar at the University of Oxford, challenged the scientific thinking of the day, using his understanding of the behaviour of light to show that stars and planets are made of the same elements as found on Earth. Though he faced heavy criti
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Scientists working for government breed biological control agents in lab to take on species choking native wildlife Crayfish, weevils and fungi are being released into the environment in order to tackle invasive species across Britain. Scientists working for the government have been breeding species in labs to set them loose into the wild to take on Japanese knotweed, signal crayfish and Himalaya
Studying chemical chatter as tiny balls of cells embed could shine a light on early pregnancy and glitches that lead to miscarriage Researchers have created the lining of a womb in a dish, which promises to shed light on the mysterious early stages of human pregnancy and the glitches that can lead to miscarriage and medical complications. In laboratory experiments, early-stage human embryos donat
Dec 22, 2025
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Our 20 favourite pieces of in-depth reporting, essays and profiles from the year Victor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism. But while his literary peers have faced censorship and fled the country, he still sells millions. Has he become a Kremlin apologist? Continue reading…
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Scientists are beginning to understand that ageing is not simply a linear process and we age, according to recent research, in three accelerated bursts: at about 40, 60 and 80 years old. In this episode from July, Ian Sample talks to Stanford University’s Prof Michael Snyder, who explains what the drivers of these bursts of ageing could be, and how they might be counteracted Scientists find human
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Biologist says specimen filmed by a Victorian fisher is ‘unusual’, but not a rare albino as some had wondered Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Cody Stylianou thought he saw a huge trout. But, skimming just below the surface, it was moving differently than a fish would. The creature surfaced and, amazed, the Victori
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The answers to today’s problems Earlier today I set you the following set of numerical challenges to celebrate the arrival of 2026. Auld lang signs Five 9s Six 8s. Six 7s. Six 6s. Four 5s. Six 4s. Four 3s. Four 2s. a partridge in a pair tree. (Only joking) Continue reading…
South coast most likely to see snowflakes, though a full festive blanketing has been unlikely for decades now While ongoing showers might suggest this Christmas will be a washout, experts say a wintry snap is on its way and some areas of the UK might even have a white Christmas. According to the Met Office, high pressure is building – meaning that, while some areas may experience showers, many wi
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As number of lunar satellites soars, sites will be marked out where defunct hardware can be crash-landed Patches of the moon are destined to become spacecraft graveyards where dead lunar satellites and other defunct hardware can be crashed into the ground, far away from sites of cultural and scientific importance, researchers say. The number of satellites circling the moon is set to soar in the n
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Researchers have realised the records are a ‘goldmine’ to study changes in environmental conditions Yangang Xing had never heard of organ-tuning books, but his colleague Andrew Knight often played the pipe organ at churches as a teenager. When the pair, who are researchers at Nottingham Trent University, set out to study how environmental conditions in churches had changed over time, Knight expla
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From HIV to TB, scientists and doctors made breakthroughs in treatment and prevention of some of the world’s deadliest diseases With humanitarian funding slashed by the US and other countries, including the UK, this year’s global health headlines have made grim reading. But good things have still been happening in vaccine research and the development of new and improved treatments for some of the
Dec 21, 2025
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The year ahead in numbers UPDATE: Read the solutions here As we say goodbye to 2025, let’s delight in its numerical charms one final time. The year was unique this century as being a square number. 44 2 = 1936 45 2 = 2025 46 2 = 2116 Five 9s Six 8s. Six 7s. Six 6s. Four 5s. Six 4s. Four 3s. Four 2s. a partridge in a pear tree. (Only joking) Continue reading…
Patient watchers should wrap up warm to witness one of nature’s subtler events on night of 22 to 23 December If the Geminids whetted your appetite for meteor showers, then you are in luck. This week it is the turn of the Ursids. Admittedly, they are nowhere near as plentiful as the Geminids, producing a maximum of just 10 meteors an hour, but there is a unique satisfaction to witnessing one of na
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Survey adds to experts’ concern about addiction risk and highlights support for plan to ban sales to under-18s One in eight teenagers aged 14 to 17 have used nicotine pouches, a survey has found, adding to health experts’ concern about their growing popularity. Users hold the small sachets, which look like mini-teabags and are often flavoured, in their mouths to enjoy the release of the nicotine
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Cutting-edge therapies exist, but the market cannot deliver them cheaply. Britain must build NHS capacity so that cures become collective goods, not expensive products Just a small fraction of our 20,000 genes can cause disease when disrupted – yet that sliver accounts for thousands of rare disorders . The difficulty is: what can a doctor do to treat them? In a common condition such as type 2 dia
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The commercialisation of the cosmos is already underway, and our current laws aren’t fit for purpose If there is one thing we can rely on in this world, it is human hubris, and space and astronomy are no exception. The ancients believed that every