Kratom Poisonings Soar in US as Experts Blame Synthetic Versions and Caution Against Bans
The CDC reports a 1,200% increase in kratom‑related poisonings over the past decade, a spike attributed mainly to the rise of synthetic 7‑hydroxymitragynine (7‑OH) products. Experts differentiate the relatively safe natural kratom leaf from the opioid‑like risks of 7‑OH, warning that blanket bans could deprive patients of a pain‑relief and recovery aid. Surveys show roughly half of kratom users rely on it for chronic pain and 40% for opioid‑use disorder recovery. Policymakers face pressure to regulate synthetics without curtailing access to the natural plant.
AI to Predict How Bowel Cancer Patients Will Respond to New NHS Drug
Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research in London and RCSI in Dublin unveiled PhenMap, an AI-driven platform that predicts which advanced bowel cancer patients will benefit from the NHS‑funded drug bevacizumab. The pilot study analyzed 117 European patients, integrating...
‘I Didn’t Want to Be on Medication the Rest of My Life’: Veteran Runs Psilocybin Retreats for PTSD Before FDA...
Veteran Jesse Gould, a former Army Ranger with PTSD, founded the Heroic Hearts Project to run ayahuasca and psilocybin retreats for veterans. The nonprofit has treated more than 1,500 veterans and now has a waiting list of over 2,000. While...
The Artemis II Crew Made It Through 10 Days in Space – but Could They Have Survived My First Office...
NASA’s Artemis II mission returned its four‑person crew after a ten‑day orbital flight in a capsule barely larger than a family tent. Beyond the engineering triumph, the crew endured nonstop proximity, testing their ability to cooperate without the usual off‑hours reprieve....
Congratulations to the Artemis II Crew – but the Case for Sending Astronauts Into Space Is Rapidly Shrinking | Martin...
NASA’s Artemis II mission marked the first crewed flight of the new lunar system, returning astronauts safely after a 10‑day lunar loop. The program has already consumed roughly $100 billion, with Congress earmarking an additional $9.9 billion for Artemis IV and V. While the scientific...
Nasa Meteorologists Trialling Model to Produce Ultra Local, Short-Term Forecasts
NASA meteorologists at the Wallops Flight Facility are trialling a new ultra‑high‑resolution weather model called US1k, developed by Meteomatics. The model delivers forecasts on a 1 km grid every 15 minutes, nine times finer than typical operational models. By providing a zoomed‑in...
What Does the Dark Side of the Moon Sound Like? Nasa’s Sonifications Are Helping Us Imagine
NASA’s Artemis II crew heard no mysterious sounds on the Moon’s far side, but the agency is turning spacecraft electromagnetic data into audible sonifications. The infamous whistling recorded by Apollo 10 was later traced to interference between two VHF transmitters, debunking decades‑old...
World Held Hostage by Reliance on Fossil Fuels, Christiana Figueres Warns – and Climate Health Impacts Are ‘Mother of All...
Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres has been named co‑chair of a new Lancet Commission that will examine how accelerating sea‑level rise threatens health, wellbeing and inequality. She warned that the world remains hostage to fossil fuels, describing climate‑driven health...
The Guardian View on Artemis II: The Light and Dark Sides of the Moon | Editorial
NASA’s Artemis II mission successfully sent astronauts, including Christina Koch, around the Moon’s far side on April 6, 2026, marking the first crewed flight beyond low‑Earth orbit since Apollo. The flight rekindled public awe, echoing the Earthrise image’s cultural impact, while also highlighting...
Judith Rapoport Obituary
Child psychiatrist Judith Rapoport, who died at 92, is celebrated for bringing obsessive‑compulsive disorder into public consciousness through her 1989 book *The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Washing*. Her research established OCD as a neurological condition affecting roughly 2 % of people...
Artemis II Crew Describe ‘Overwhelming’ Emotions After Soaring Past the Moon
NASA’s Artemis II crew reported overwhelming emotions while soaring past the moon, describing vivid reactions to the lunar landscape and Earthrise. Astronauts captured unprecedented images of the far‑side Orientale impact basin, bright new craters, and a solar eclipse. The mission set...
Scientists Develop Gene-Edited Wheat that Can Make Toasted Bread Less Carcinogenic
Scientists at Rothamsted Research have used CRISPR to edit wheat genes responsible for free asparagine, the precursor of the carcinogen acrylamide formed during toasting. Field trials showed up to a 93% reduction in asparagine without any yield loss, and bread...
Emotional Artemis II Crew Names Moon Crater 'Carroll' After Nasa Commander's Late Wife - Video
NASA’s Artemis II crew, on the brink of a historic lunar flyby, asked mission control to name an unnamed lunar crater after commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll. Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen relayed the request, describing the feature as a bright...
Monday Briefing: Can Human-Based Space Exploration Still Be Meaningful?
Artemis II’s four‑person crew will spend a brief period alone on the lunar far side, out of contact with Earth, marking the deepest human spaceflight since Apollo. During this blackout they will photograph regions of the Moon never seen by astronauts,...
Satellite Mirror Plans Could Disrupt Sleep and Ecosystems Worldwide, Scientists Say
Scientists from four international chronobiology societies warned the FCC that Reflect Orbital’s proposed reflective mirrors and SpaceX’s plan to launch up to one million low‑Earth‑orbit satellites could dramatically alter the natural night‑time light environment. The mirrors would project 5–6 km wide beams...
Medicines Watchdog to Investigate UK Peptide Clinics over Health Claims
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has launched an investigation into several peptide clinics that are promoting unregulated, experimental peptide injections as medicinal treatments. Clinics are advertising products such as BPC‑157, Cortexin and Thymosin Alpha with claims...
What Are Peptides, Are They Safe and Is There Evidence to Back up the Hype?
Peptides—short chains of amino acids—are gaining popularity for weight loss, anti‑aging, and injury recovery. While prescription drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide are FDA‑approved, most products marketed online are experimental, unregulated compounds such as BPC‑157, TB‑500, and CJC‑1295. Scientific reviews show...
Sauna and Cold Plunge: Where Does the Evidence Stand? – Podcast
A new Science Weekly podcast examines the growing trend of alternating sauna sessions and cold‑plunge immersions, dissecting the scientific evidence behind claimed health benefits. Researchers discuss modest cardiovascular gains linked to regular sauna use and short‑term muscle recovery from cold‑water...
Extra 11 Minutes’ Sleep Each Night Can Reduce Heart Attack Risk, Study Finds
A new study of more than 53,000 UK adults shows that modest lifestyle tweaks—adding just 11 minutes of sleep, 4.5 minutes of brisk walking and 50 g of extra vegetables each day—can lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes by...
Kent Meningitis Outbreak May Have Peaked as UKHSA Reports Slowdown in Cases
The UK Health Security Agency reported that the meningitis outbreak in Kent appears to have peaked, with only two new cases reported on Friday. To date, 18 confirmed and 11 probable cases have been recorded, totaling 29 infections, of which...
AI Software for Smart Glasses Wins £1m Prize for Technology to Help People with Dementia
CrossSense Ltd’s AI‑powered smart glasses, featuring the Wispy conversational assistant, have won the £1 million Longitude prize for dementia technology. The glasses combine a camera, microphone and speakers to deliver real‑time verbal cues and floating text that help wearers complete daily...
Desperate Parents Calling Pharmacies for Meningitis Jab as Stocks Run Low
Parents in England are scrambling to secure meningitis vaccinations for their children after a deadly outbreak in Kent that has claimed two lives and left 13 seriously ill. The surge in demand has exhausted vaccine inventories, leaving many pharmacies unable...
Scientists Discover Heavier Version of Proton with Upgraded Detector
CERN physicists using the upgraded LHCb detector have identified a new particle, Xi‑cc‑plus, that is four times heavier than a proton. The particle replaces the proton’s two up quarks with charm quarks and decays within a trillionth of a second....
Officials ‘Missed 99% of Data’ on Covid Vaccines Before Making Recommendation, Memos Reveal
Internal HHS memos released in a lawsuit reveal officials ignored about 99% of available safety and efficacy data when deciding to end COVID‑19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant people and children. The decision was announced by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy...
Confidential Health Records From UK BioBank Project Exposed Online
The Guardian uncovered that UK Biobank’s confidential health records have been posted online dozens of times, often through researchers accidentally uploading datasets to GitHub. The leaked files, while lacking names and addresses, contain diagnoses, dates, sex and birth month/year for...
Please Drive Carefully: Scientists Plan to Transport Volatile Antimatter for First Time
CERN will conduct a 20‑minute test drive transporting a cryogenic trap containing roughly 1,000 antiprotons – the first on‑road shipment of antimatter. The device, weighing a billionth of a trillionth of a gram, must remain under ultra‑high vacuum and magnetic...
Out of the Blue? How the Colour of Light Could Be Used to Treat Mental Illness
Researchers at St Olavs Hospital in Trondheim equipped one half of a psychiatric intensive‑care ward with blue‑depleted evening lighting while the other half kept standard lighting. In a randomized trial of 476 short‑stay patients, the circadian‑adapted ward showed greater clinical improvement...
Weight-Loss Drugs Alone Will Not Solve UK’s Obesity Crisis, Says Chris Whitty
Chief medical adviser Prof Chris Whitty warned that GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs, while effective, cannot alone resolve the UK’s escalating obesity crisis. He highlighted side‑effects such as gastrointestinal issues, rare pancreatitis, and the tendency for weight to rebound after treatment stops....
The Covid-19 Inquiry Is Sounding a Clear Warning. If It’s Not Heeded, yet More Lives Will Be Lost | Ben...
The UK Covid‑19 public inquiry, chaired by Lady Heather Hallett, has finished its hearing phase, hearing 380 witnesses and gathering 58,000 online testimonies. It has examined over 600,000 documents—about five million pages—and released two comprehensive reports, with eight further modules...
Scientists Laud Potentially Life-Changing Drug for Children with Resistant Form of Epilepsy
Preliminary trials of Zorevunersen, an experimental therapy for Dravet syndrome, showed it is safe and well tolerated in 81 children. A single 70 mg dose reduced seizures by about 50%, and three doses cut seizures roughly 80% compared with baseline. The...
A Deafening Nuclear Fusion Reactor: Why You Wouldn’t Want to Hear the Sun
The Guardian explains that the Sun functions as a colossal nuclear fusion reactor that produces not only heat and light but also intense acoustic energy. At its core, solar reactions generate sound levels exceeding 100 decibels, comparable to a rock‑concert...