England health officials identify newly evolved variant of mpox

Virus caught by person who travelled to Asia combines more severe form of mpox with less virulent type

Health officials have identified a new variant of mpox in England after a person who recently travelled to Asia was tested for the virus.

Genome sequencing showed that the virus was a “recombinant” form containing elements of two types of mpox currently in circulation: the more severe clade 1, and the less virulent clade 2, which sparked the 2022 global mpox outbreak.

Published: December 8, 2025, 5:19 pm

Rage room or yoga class? How to beat anger – podcast

At this time of year when stress levels are high, we can find ourselves being sent over the edge by frustrating post office queues, infuriating traffic jams and tension-filled family occasions. But what’s the best way to release our anger and find peace and calm this festive season? To find out, Ian Sample hears from science correspondent Nicola Davis, who recently tried out a rage room as a means of channelling her fury, and from Brad Bushman, professor of communication at the Ohio State University. Is venting the most effective way to overcome anger, and if not, what is?

Rage rooms: can smashing stuff up really help to relieve anger and stress?

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

Published: December 9, 2025, 5:00 am

Ancient Egyptian pleasure boat found by archaeologists off Alexandria coast

First-century luxury vessel matches description by the Greek historian Strabo, who visited city around 29-25BC

An ancient Egyptian pleasure boat that matches a description by the first-century Greek historian Strabo has been discovered off the coast of Alexandria, to the excitement of archaeologists.

With its palaces, temples and the 130 metre-high Pharos lighthouse – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – Alexandria had been one of the most magnificent cities in antiquity. The pleasure boat, which dates from the first half of the first century AD, was 35 metres long and constructed to hold a central pavilion with a luxuriously decorated cabin.

Published: December 8, 2025, 9:00 am

Linguists start compiling first ever complete dictionary of ancient Celtic

More than 1,000 words used as far back as 325BC to be collected for insight into past linguistic landscape

It is not likely to be a hefty volume because the vast majority of the material has been lost in the mists of time. But the remnants of a language spoken in parts of the UK and Ireland 2,000 years ago are being collected for what is being billed as the first complete dictionary of ancient Celtic.

The dictionary will not be huge because relatively few words survive, but experts from Aberystwyth University say they expect they will end up with more than 1,000 words.

Published: December 8, 2025, 5:00 am

Starwatch: Brave the cold and the enjoy the Geminids meteor shower

Observers in dark locations away from street lighting can expect to see more than 100 meteors an hour

The Perseid meteor shower in August often catches the headlines because of the warmer conditions associated with watching the display, but to many astronomers the Geminids put on the better show.

The Geminids have been active since 4 December and they reach their climax this week with the peak of the shower taking place on the night of 13-14 December. The chart shows the view looking south-east from London at midnight as 13 December becomes 14 December.

Published: December 8, 2025, 6:00 am

Can you solve it? The forgotten Dutch invention that created the modern world

You saw it here first

UPDATE: Read the solution here

There are many contenders for “world’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.

According to a new book, however, that title should go to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.

Published: December 8, 2025, 7:10 am

Anatomical exhibition includes rare Victorian-era drawing of a black body

The work of surgeon and artist Joseph Maclise is the focus of a show at the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds

It is an image of an unnamed black man with his eyes closed and his innards exposed. Drawn with care and precision, the image may be the only anatomical drawing of a black body made during the Victorian age.

Now it is part of a new exhibition that focuses on the work of Joseph Maclise, a surgeon and artist whose work – including his 1851 atlas Surgical Anatomy – made the human anatomy accessible to the general public, and who was the brother of the celebrated artist Daniel Maclise.

Published: December 9, 2025, 5:00 am

Could a drug for narcolepsy change the world? | Zoe Williams

There are apparently breakthroughs on the way for those with sleep disorders – which sent me down a rabbit hole of research...

I met a guy in pharmaceuticals who told me about a bunch of cool breakthroughs in sleep meds: mainly, we may be on the brink of a new Wegovy, but in this case it’s a drug to cure narcolepsy. I suggested the two things are not quite the same, given that obesity is a global epidemic and narcolepsy is fairly rare. He countered that the way the drug works might also have applications for insomnia; similar to the Post-it note having been invented by someone trying to create the world’s strongest glue.

Anyway, in the course of this, I discovered the test for type 1 narcolepsy, which is that you’re put in a room with zero stimulation – nothing to read, no one to chat to, perfect silence, perfect temperature – and timed on how long it takes you to fall asleep. If it’s under eight minutes, you’re narcoleptic. But the average, for a person with no complaints in that area at all, is 22 minutes. I was completely incredulous. This is a grip on consciousness more or less the same as a house cat. Bored? Go to sleep. Even a dog will have a quick look for something to eat first.

Published: December 9, 2025, 11:00 am

Iain Douglas-Hamilton obituary

Conservationist who devoted his life to the study and preservation of the African elephant

The British scientist Iain Douglas-Hamilton, who has died aged 83, became the world’s leading authority on the behaviour of African elephants and played a vital part in ensuring their conservation.

His efforts to save the African elephant began in 1965 when, as an Oxford zoology graduate who had also just received his pilot’s licence, he flew his Piper Pacer bush plane from Nairobi down to Tanzania’s pocket-sized Lake Manyara national park. The challenge he had accepted at the age of 23 was how to solve the problem of 450 elephants confined in a space too small to support them.

Published: December 9, 2025, 5:47 pm

Astronauts successfully return to Earth after ISS command change – video

Three crew members left the International Space Station and landed back on Earth after 245 days in space.

The cosmonaut and station commander, Sergey Ryzhikov, handed over a symbolic key  to the Nasa astronaut Mike Fincke during a change of command ceremony onboard the station.

The spacecraft landed at 8.04am Moscow time near the Kazakh city of Zhezkazgan.

Published: December 9, 2025, 3:57 pm