Findings may help better understand role played by some traits in establishing social hierarchies

From merrily dismissing climate science, to promoting irresponsible health claims, the podcast was an unintentional warning for our times

Looking back on this crazy year, one event, right at the start, seems to me to encapsulate the whole. In January, recording his podcast in a studio in Austin, Texas, the host, Joe Rogan, and the actor Mel Gibson merrily dissed climate science. At the same time, about 1,200 miles away in California, Gibson’s $14m home was being incinerated in the Palisades wildfire. In this and other respects, their discussion could be seen as prefiguring the entire 12 months.

The loss of his house hadn’t been confirmed at the time of the interview, but Gibson said his son had just sent him “a video of my neighbourhood, and it’s in flames. It looks like an inferno.” According to World Weather Attribution, January’s fires in California were made significantly more likely by climate breakdown. Factors such as the extreme lack of rainfall and stronger winds made such fires both more likely to happen and more intense than they would have been without human-caused global heating.

Une affection oculaire rare, nommée cataractes en arbre de Noël, produit un scintillement polychrome dans le cristallin, évoquant les guirlandes festives. Ces cristaux multicolores, visibles sous l’éclairage focal des ophtalmologistes, surprennent par leur beauté saisissante. Liée au vieillissement, elle résulte d’un excès de cystine favorisé par le calcium. Bien que généralement inoffensive pour la vision, elle ... Lire plus

Les spécialistes de la psychologie positive conseillent souvent des exercices structurés pour booster le bien-être, comme tenir un journal de gratitude ou accomplir des actes de gentillesse. Pourtant, une enquête récente révèle qu’ils appliquent rarement ces pratiques au quotidien. Leur secret réside dans un état d’esprit flexible, baptisé meliotropic wellbeing mindset, qui intègre naturellement le bonheur ... Lire plus

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we look at how the struggle to adapt to a dangerously warming world has become a test of global justice

The record-breaking 252mph winds of Hurricane Melissa that devastated Caribbean islands at the end of October were made five times more likely by the climate crisis. Scorching wildfire weather in Spain and Portugal during the summer was made 40 times more likely, while June’s heatwave in England was made 100 times more likely.

Attribution science has made one thing clear: global heating is behind today’s extreme weather. That greenhouse gas emissions warmed the planet was understood. What can now be shown is that this warming produces record heatwaves and more violent storms with increasing frequency.

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These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close

Inside a large greenhouse at the University of Kansas, Professor Liz Koziol and Dr Terra Lubin tend rows of sudan grass in individual plastic pots. The roots of each straggly plant harbor a specific strain of invisible soil fungus. The shelves of a nearby cold room are stacked high with thousands of plastic bags and vials containing fungal spores harvested from these plants, then carefully preserved by the researchers.

The samples in this seemingly unremarkable room are part of the International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM), the world’s largest living library of soil fungi. Four decades in the making, it could cease to exist within a year due to federal budget cuts.

Une équipe de l’Université de Sharjah, aux Émirats arabes unis, démontre que l’extrait d’ail combat efficacement les bactéries buccales nocives, à l’image du chlorhexidine, référence actuelle des bains de bouche. Cette substance naturelle réduit particulièrement les Mutans Streptococci, principaux responsables des caries dentaires. Moins d’effets secondaires graves émergent, bien que des études plus vastes s’imposent pour ... Lire plus

Des chercheurs japonais identifient une bactérie intestinale extraite de la grenouille arboricole japonaise capable d’éradiquer complètement des tumeurs chez la souris. Cette souche, nommée Ewingella americana, active les défenses immunitaires sans effets secondaires graves. Les résultats ouvrent des perspectives innovantes pour les traitements anticancéreux, en s’inspirant de la résistance naturelle des amphibiens au cancer.​​ Origine de ... Lire plus