The sudden surge of monkeypox cases outside Africa has alarmed public health authorities around the world. In Europe and North America it’s the first time community transmission has been recorded among people with no links to west or central Africa. So what is happening?
Ian Sample talks to virologist Oyewale Tomori about why monkeypox is flaring up, whether we should fear it, and what we can learn from countries such as Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which have been tackling this virus for decades.
The puzzle of Palaeospondylus – Over a hundred years ago, archaeologists discovered fossils of the aquatic animal Palaeospondylus. But since then researchers have been unable to place where this animal sits on the tree of life. Now, new analysis of Palaeospondylus’s anatomy might help to solve this mystery.
08:18 Research Highlights
A strong, silk-based version of mother of pearl, and the parrots that use their heads when climbing.
10:51 How lasers revealed an ancient Amazonian civilization
Archaeologists have used LiDAR to uncover evidence of an ancient civilization buried in the Bolivian Amazon. The team’s work suggests that this area was not as sparsely populated in pre-Hispanic times as previously thought.
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the debate surrounding the first transplant of pig kidneys into humans, and the plants grown in lunar soil.
What are Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign-policy aims? Plus: Russian troops try to encircle Ukrainian special forces in the Donbas region, a dispatch from our team at the World Economic Forum, and the latest business news.
Georgina Godwin covers the weekend’s biggest news. Stephen Dalziel reviews the day’s papers and Monocle’s editor in chief Andrew Tuck is back with his weekend column.
We discuss President Biden’s trip to Asia and his goals to strengthen ties in the region. Plus: we preview this weekend’s elections in Australia, catch up on the latest from the Cannes Film Festival, and hear about a symphony that is out of this world.
North Korea’s zero-covid strategy appears to have failed. The country has officially acknowledged 162 cases; the true number is probably orders of magnitude more.
The country’s health-care system is inadequate, and pre-existing conditions such as tuberculosis and malnutrition are rampant. With elections impending in Turkey, politicians have begun competing with each other to scapegoat refugees. And why girls outperform boys in the Arab world’s schools.
Dark matter makes up most of the matter in the Universe, and is thought to be needed for galaxies to form. But four years ago, astronomers made a perplexing, and controversial discovery: two galaxies seemingly devoid of dark matter.
This week the team suggests that a cosmic collision may explain how these, and a string of other dark-matter-free galaxies, could have formed.
10:49 Researchers experiences of the war in Ukraine
We hear the stories of scientists whose lives have been affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including researchers who have become refugees, soldiers and activists in the face of a horrifying conflict.
20:46 Imaging the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way
Last week, a team of researchers released an image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive blackhole at the centre of our galaxy. We hear how they took the image and what it is revealing about these enormous objects.
We discuss the possibility of unilateral action on the Northern Ireland protocol and hear the latest on the conflict in Ukraine from Kharkiv. Plus: Yemen’s Sana’a airport finally reopens, and it’s the first day of the Cannes Film Festival.
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