Russian plague scare: an expert explains what we know so far – and why there’s no need to panic
The woman worked in an anti-plague research facility. PeopleImages/ Shutterstock A laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia, Russia, has died just days after falling ill with an undisclosed illness. While reports of suspected plague have been circulating in the media, Russia’s consumer health watchdog has described the illness as pneumonia of […]
French student riots: comparisons with 1968 will only serve the political extremes
The student demonstrations that have spread across France in recent weeks are not unprecedented. Indeed, commentators have been quick to point to comparisons with the events of May and June 1968, where, at their peak, more than 10 million students and workers took to the streets. In 1968, as now, there were legitimate reasons for […]
Energy price cap: the cost of your coffee could be about to go up
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock This autumn, the cost of gas and electricity for a typical UK household is expected to rise from £1,663 to £1,723 a year. The change, due to higher wholesale gas prices, will be easy enough to spot on a household bill. But those rising costs can also affect people in less obvious ways, through […]
Inside the industrial incinerators tasked with ‘respectful disposal’ of anatomical waste
Awkwardly smiling, a chemist at a waste site is telling me about industrially incinerating corpses. We are crammed into a claustrophobic funnel at the entry point to a rattling shed with high-vis-jacketed workers scurrying to and fro. The air smells oily and mechanical. With our voices lowered, the conversation is not flowing smoothly. There is […]
Tabis are so over – what the mainstreaming of the split-toe shoe says about how fashion loses meaning
Margiela’s Tabi boots. Creative Lab/Shutterstock The tabi shoe, a divisive style which features a cloven hoof-like split, has its origins in 15th-century Japan. In 1988, fashion designer Martin Margiela reimagined the split-toe silhouette for a high-fashion boot for his brand’s inaugural runway collection. While the style became synonymous with Margiela, because of its historic origins, […]
Parasitic worms could hold the key to treating immune system diseases – here’s what we know
Roundworms. MRAORAOR/Shutterstock.com For millions of years, parasitic worms have had to survive inside animals without being destroyed by their hosts’ immune systems. To do that, they have evolved remarkably effective ways of dampening the immune response. Scientists are now trying to understand those tricks and work out whether they could be turned into medicines for […]
Coolcations: tourism boom is taking a toll on chillier destinations
Coolcation destinations include places like Loch Katrina in the Scottish Highlands. ABO PHOTOGRAPHY/Shutterstock Rising numbers of visitors headed for destinations in northern Europe in the summer of 2026, seeking respite from the heat. For years, summer holidays in Europe have followed a familiar pattern: head south in search of sunshine. But climate change is beginning […]
Nobel prize in chemistry awarded for work on mirror-image molecules
Shutterstock AI generator The 2026 Nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to two researchers for their work on mirror-image molecules. Frances’s Henri Kagan and Japan’s Kensō Soai were announced as this year’s winners during a news conference in Stockholm. Some molecules, like amino acids, the building blocks of proteins in living beings, exist in […]
Zack Polanski’s Urdu video: multilingual campaigning is good for politics
The Holborn and St Pancras byelection takes place on October 8, in the London constituency vacated by former prime minister Keir Starmer. Labour might be hopeful of holding the seat, but the leader of the Green Party Zack Polanski is also on the ballot paper. During his campaign, Polanski addressed voters in English and in […]
The circumstances you grow up in are linked to how long you live
Eugen Thome/shutterstock Poorer people, on average, live shorter lives. This pattern can be seen even in wealthy countries with extensive welfare systems. In Norway, for example, 40-year-old men in the richest 1% could expect to live almost 14 years longer than those in the poorest 1%. In the US, the equivalent gap is nearly 15 […]