How a super El Niño could trigger global famine
emerald_media/Shutterstock Extreme heat and drought could damage harvests and worsen global food insecurity this summer. Climate scientists, agricultural experts and policymakers warn that a super El Niño could tip vulnerable populations towards famine. El Niño is a climate phenomenon in the Pacific that affects weather patterns globally. Rare “super” El Niños generate exceptionally intense warming […]
Lipoedema: the painful condition too often dismissed as obesity
Manual lymphatic drainage is sometimes used for lipoedema, but evidence for its usefulness remains limited. DuxX/Shutterstock For many women with lipodoema, the diagnosis comes after years of being told the same thing: eat less, more more. The problem is that the fat accumulating around their hips and legs isn’t responding to diet or exercise, because […]
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is associated with higher risk of suicide – here’s how we hope our new tool will help
PMDD is often misdiagnosed or under-diagnosed. Prostock-studio/ Shutterstock Every month, between 3% and 8% of women and people assigned female at birth will experience debilitating emotional, cognitive and sometimes physical symptoms in the week or two before menstruation. This condition, known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), is a severe mood disorder that has a significant […]
A pill helps you keep weight off after you come off weight-loss jabs – new study
Weight-loss injections, such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, have transformed how we treat obesity. Around 1.6 million adults in Great Britain have used weight-loss drugs in the past year, with the vast majority of patients buying these drugs privately. The issue with these weight-loss drugs is that, despite their success in shedding weight while patients are […]
Fish can pass Pfas safety limits one chemical at a time, but cocktail effects reveal a bigger unseen risk – new study
Kristof Goovaerts/Shutterstock Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (Pfas), often called “forever chemicals”, are now found almost everywhere scientists look. They have been detected in rivers, oceans, wildlife, food and even human blood. These synthetic chemicals have been used since the 1950s in products ranging from waterproof clothing and non-stick cookware to firefighting foams and food packaging. […]
Chelsea football club must find its feet after a very expensive Premier League season
photoyh/Shutterstock Chelsea FC losing the 2026 FA Cup final 1-0 to Manchester City will have been disappointing for the club’s fans. But perhaps the result was not hugely surprising, as the London club hasn’t had a brilliant season on the pitch. Off the pitch, you could argue it’s been even worse. Moments of anguish have […]
Drug shortages continue to be a problem in the UK – yet strengthening supply chains alone won’t solve this issue
Zhenny-zhenny/ Shutterstock The UK continues to experience shortages of many common prescription drugs, despite efforts to strengthen supply chains. Drugs for ADHD, epilepsy, GLP-1s for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, as well as ramipril (which is used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure), have all faced supply shortages since the end of […]
Ancient tooth proteins suggest ‘Homo erectus’ may have left a genetic legacy in people today
For most of the 20th century, the model of human origins was a tree: with the trunk dividing into branches, and then twigs. Each species of human relative (hominin) was a neat, single branch. As an undergraduate, I was taught that Homo sapiens was one of these branches that emerged in Africa, spread across the […]
Why indie sleaze feels nostalgic – even for people who never lived it
Scrolling through social media, it feels as though “indie sleaze” never went away. Grainy flash photography, smudged eyeliner and a soundtrack of early 2000s indie music are once again dominating feeds. This revival is more of a reworking than a straightforward comeback. Today’s indie sleaze – exemplified in the music video for Charli XCX’s new […]
Trump’s ‘cordial’ Beijing trip has not changed superpower rivalry
Donald Trump’s appraisal of his recent state visit to China was, typically, positive and self-regarding. At the end of the trip, the US president told reporters that it had achieved “a lot of good” and “fantastic trade deals” had been signed. He concluded that a lot of different problems were settled “that other people wouldn’t […]