For too long we’ve dismissed Indigenous knowledge of the natural world. At Sydney’s botanic garden, signage is starting to reflect Aboriginal namesLike all botanic gardens, the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney is a classic artefact of the activities that took place during the colonisation of Australia in the 18th and 19th century.It was established to create a patch of landscape that mirrored those...

Readers respond to an article that argued that the field of physics is too obsessed with discovering new particlesSabine Hossenfelder (No one in physics dares say so, but the race to invent new particles is pointless, 26 September) has missed the point of a big part of particle physics, and indeed fundamental research as a whole. While we’d all like to revolutionise our respective fields by...

Rules will require operators to more quickly dispose of defunct satellites that are endangering spacecraft on active missionsThe US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to adopt new rules to address the growing risks of orbital debris – commonly known as space junk – posing a hazard to extraterrestrial exploration.The government body will give US operators much tighter deadlines...

Sphagnum moss found to drastically slow down rainwater runoff in Peak District ‘outdoor laboratory’ studyA “superhero” moss can significantly reduce the risk and severity of flooding for communities living in downstream areas, researchers have found.Scientists from the conservation group Moors for the Future Partnership who conducted a six-year study into sphagnum moss found that planting...

The number of veteran runners is on the up and they’re leaving the times of their predecessors for dust‘A sea of positivity’: older women boost London Marathon numbersThis year’s London marathon will have record numbers of veteran participants, with a near-doubling of the number of female runners aged 60 to 69 registering to run since 2018. As the number of veteran runners has steadily...

Ian is one of the five worst hurricanes in America’s recorded history. That’s not a fluke – it’s a tragic taste of things to comeClimate change once seemed a distant threat. No more. We now know its face, and all too well. We see it in every hurricane, torrential rainstorm, flood, heatwave, wildfire and drought. It’s even detectable in our daily weather. Climate disruption has changed...

James Webb and Hubble space telescopes captured impact on Dimorphos, moon of the asteroid Didymos, 6.8m miles from EarthNasa has released the first detailed images of its pioneering deep-space “planetary defense test” in which a spacecraft was crashed into a distant asteroid in an attempt to alter its trajectory.The pictures were taken by what the agency calls its “two great...

Review of 400 published studies also says vaping is not risk-free and urges action to reduce teenage useVaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, according to a major review of nicotine products, but action is needed to tackle the sharp rise in e-cigarette use among children.Researchers at King’s College London said smokers who switched to vaping would experience a “substantial...

This week, Nasa scientists smashed a spacecraft into an asteroid, more than 11m km from Earth. Most rocket scientists would wince at the thought, but the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, was purposefully designed to slam head-on into the asteroid Dimorphos. The aim is to nudge it off its current orbit, in an experiment that will assess the possibility of deflecting a killer space rock...

Study finds stress response changes people’s ‘odour profile’ – which dogs can sniff outWhether it’s a tricky maths problem or an unexpected bill, daily life is full of stressful experiences. Now researchers have found that humans produce a different odour when under pressure – and dogs can sniff it out.While previous studies have suggested canines might pick up on human emotions,...

Younger adults became more prone to stress and less trusting, say US researchersThe impact of the Covid pandemic may have been so deep that it altered people’s personalities, according to research.Previously psychologists have failed to find a link between collective stressful events, such as earthquakes or hurricanes, and personality change. However, something about the losses experienced or...

Study shows cognition in early-stage patients on lecanemab declines by 27% less than those on placeboAn experimental drug has slowed the rate of decline in memory and thinking in people with early Alzheimer’s disease in what is being described as a “historic moment” for dementia treatment.The cognition of Alzheimer’s patients given the drug, developed by Eisai and Biogen, declined by 27%...

At 6am I have a jar of fresh steam from roasting native figs. That keeps me going until my brunch of organic twigs at 11Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue...

Study says possible causes could include faster warming in Chinese seas and lower air pressure Sea level along the Chinese coast is rising faster than the global average, with some regions experiencing an increase of nearly 5mm a year, according to tide gauge and satellite data. A new study investigates what is causing the localised rise, and identifies which communities are most vulnerable.Global...

Astrophiles and professionals celebrated humanity’s accomplishment at hitting a speeding space rock with a probe the size of a vending machineFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our free news app, morning email briefing or daily news podcastThe crashing of a spacecraft is, for once, a cause for celebration. The Dart (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission on Tuesday...

For decades, patients with complex illnesses – especially those that affect women more – have been told that it’s in their heads, says Beth PollackMultiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), discussed in your article, is a common symptom of several illnesses that I research (Allergic to the world: can medicine help people with severe intolerance to chemicals?, 20 September).The article suggests...

Experts say healthy lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking and eating more vegetables can lower riskMore than 400 people are being diagnosed with preventable cases of cancer every day in the UK, analysis suggests, prompting health experts to urge people to adopt a healthier lifestyle.A total of 387,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in 2019-20, and 40% of those cases – about 155,000 –...

Digital model of ageing reveals importance of psychological health as well as biologicalFeeling unhappy, depressed or lonely could speed up the ageing processes more than smoking or even certain diseases, researchers have suggested.While everyone has an age based on their date of birth – their “chronological age” – they also have what is known as a “biological age”, based on the ageing...

The Breakthrough prizes are described by their Silicon Valley founders as ‘the Oscars of science’, and while they are not as glamorous, they do come with a $3m award. This year, one of the prizes was dished out to Prof Emmanuel Mignot at Stanford University and Masashi Yanagisawa at the University of Tsukuba for their work uncovering the cause of narcolepsy. Their discovery has opened the door...

Nasa’s Dart spacecraft has crashed into the asteroid Dimorphos 6.8m miles from Earth in the space agency’s first “planetary defense test”. Dart (Double Asteroid Redirection Test)  collided head-on with an asteroid the size of a football stadium on Monday in an unprecedented full-scale test of Nasa’s capacity to defend Earth from a doomsday scenario. The test was humanity’s first...

Space agency conducts Dart mission to learn whether asteroid’s trajectory can be diverted away from EarthFictional movies such as Deep Impact to Armageddon and Don’t Look Up would have us believe that the best way to deal with an asteroid hurtling towards Earth is to obliterate it.But scientists at Johns Hopkins University say that’s just what we shouldn’t do.Conventional wisdom for...

Footage released by Nasa shows a view of Hurricane Ian that can be seen from the International Space Station as it flies over the storm. Hurricane Ian moved near the Cayman Islands and closer to western Cuba early on Monday on course to hit Florida as a major hurricane this week. A surge of up to 2.4 metres (8ft) of ocean water and 25cm (10in) of rain, with as much as 38cm (15in) in...

Pianist Susan Tomes passes on advice that she received from a psychotherapist to chase away dreaded earworms Tim Harrison asks for tips on how to get rid of certain music playing on an endless loop in his brain (Letters, 25 September). I once developed a bad case of music-looping after recording an album of jolly 1920s syncopated piano music. The resulting sleeplessness got so bad that I consulted...

The Dart mission’s ‘planetary defense’ experiment hopes to test whether an Armageddon-style impact could be avertedAn unprecedented and long-awaited deep-space venture will take place almost 7m miles from Earth on Monday night when a Nasa spacecraft will be deliberately crashed into an asteroid in an attempt to show humanity can avert an Armageddon-style impact to Earth.Here’s what’s...