Sriracha lovers everywhere are feeling the not so pleasant sting of the beloved hot sauce shortage, now in its second year. Drought in Mexico has resulted in a scarcity of chilli peppers – in particular, red jalapeños, the raw material of sriracha – leading Hu... More »
At first, it is hard to spot. A small hole in the eaves is often all that can be seen. It’s only on closer inspection that a hollow brick can be discerned, slotted neatly into a wall. Inside might be a pair of nesting swifts that have travelled thousands of mi... More »
Slabs of chicken meat grown from cells nurtured by scientists, rather than from birds raised and slaughtered by farmers, can now be sold in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture greenlit two kinds of lab-grown chicken for the first time on Wedn... More »
Gary Hairston worked as an electrician in an underground coal mine for almost 30 years. It was hard, often grimy, work. When a big machine called a continuous miner dug into the hard earth, it kicked up all kinds of dust. Slowly, Hairston began to notice that ... More »
A record-breaking heat wave is entering its third week in Texas, as temperatures reach triple digits in the broader US south and tens of thousands of people in affected states are without power and lack air conditioning.More than 40 million people in the US ar... More »
There are moments when an ancient object emerges from the soil and seems, for a second, to close the gap between you and the deep and slumbering past. Then, almost as soon as a picture has shifted into bright focus, the illusion of connection passes: one is le... More »
The Australian energy giant Woodside is spending $7bn to drill for 479m barrels-worth of oil and gas off the coast of Mexico, but it says this is all in line with keeping global heating to 1.5C.How?Woodside has said it “aims to thrive through the energy transi... More »
Earlier today I set you the following puzzle.Police chaseThe streets of the city are a square grid that extends infinitely in all directions. One of the streets, Broadway, has a police offer stationed every 100 blocks.A robber is somewhere in the city.Can you ... More »
Hello cadets!A robber is on the loose. Today’s puzzle is to locate them. In the robber’s favour, they can run faster than any police officer, but in the force’s favour, it has at its disposal an infinite number of officers.Police chaseThe streets of a city are... More »
Why wasn’t the science followed during Covid-19 (Editorial)? For the same reason we aren’t following the science to tackle the existential crises we are facing – short-term economic and political considerations. We are literally destroying our home, yet indust... More »
The Met Office offers a daily pollen guide, in tones not unlike the storm warning of the shipping forecast: poetic for those not affected, alarming if you are facing a force 8. Saturday’s reads: “The grass pollen risk is on the rise, as more grasses come into ... More »
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that is shrouded in misunderstanding, uncertainty and controversy. There is, for example, no definitive agreement on how many people have the condition. In the UK, one survey has... More »