11 articles from SUNDAY 29.5.2022

I have four dogs, seven cats and three horses – and I’ve never been more content

Being able to understand and manage emotions is key to health and happiness. For some, like me, that comes easier with animalsI like people. I really do. In fact, some of my best friends are people. However, most of my best friends are animals and if I had to choose between spending time with people or spending time with animals, I’d choose animals. I simply find them easier, and quite often...

Readers reply: what is the evolutionary purpose of toenails?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsCan you help: What is the most dangerous food in the world?What, if any, are the evolutionary purpose of toenails?Gerard MarksSend new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Continue...

Deaths of 3 women in early heat wave raise questions, fears

Temperatures barely climbed into the 90s and only for a couple of days. But the discovery of the bodies of three women inside a Chicago senior housing facility this month left the city looking for answers to questions that were supposed to be addressed after a longer and hotter heat wave killed more than 700 people nearly three decades ago.

Decline in North Sea puffins causes concern

The Isle of May, off Scotland's east coast, is home to one of the UK's biggest colonies of seabirds. Some 200,000 birds, from kittiwakes to guillemots can flock to the rocky outcrop at the height of the breeding season.

Do wood burners add to air pollution in cities? Yes, say citizen scientists

Pioneering Bristol study blames the solid-fuel burners in people’s homes for breaches of World Health Organisation guidelinesLike many parts of the country, Bristol has experienced a huge rise in the number of houses installing wood burners over the past decade. But as they have proliferated, mainly in the wealthier parts of the city where many Victorian and Georgian houses have been renovated,...

Can cross-breeding protect endangered species from the climate emergency?

Creating hybrids might make animals more resistant to global heating, but it may mean losing species altogetherThe Houston Ship Channel is a rubbish home for a fish. It’s one of the busiest ports in the world and all that traffic has made the water slick with toxic chemicals. Yet the Gulf killifish has found a way: it has evolved pollution resistance by cross-breeding with a different species,...