How many species are there on Earth?
Prof Andy Purvis is a researcher at the Natural History Museum
I'd go back 540m years to see the biological big bang'
"As an evolutionary biologist, I would love a time machine to go back to the Cambrian explosion [when most major animal groups first appeared in the fossil record] to see why this short period resulted in the really rapid rise of most animal groups, and why some like trilobites [extinct marine arthropods] didn't survive." Evolutionary biologist Dr Corrie Moreau is an expert on ants at Cornell University's Moreau lab
Could some of the smallest life forms help avert climate crisis?
"Just as we humans rely on gut microbiomes for good digestive health, the dirt beneath our feet contains an uncountable number of bacteria, fungi and viruses that influence the health of soil and the plants that grow in it. Because most of these organisms can't be cultured in the lab, we know very little about their ecology. Yet the presence of particular microbes can help trees grow up to three times faster. Could these 'good microbes' be allies in fighting climate change and promoting food security?" Dr Bonnie Waring is a senior lecturer at Imperial College London's Grantham Institute
What is the full biodiversity of the Amazon or Congo basin rainforests?
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 22, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 22, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
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'It's really a disaster' The fight to save lives as gang war consumes capital
Dr James Gana stepped out on to the balcony of his hospital overlooking a city under siege. \"There's a sensation of 'What's next?'. Desperation is definitely present,\" the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medic said, as he stared down at one of scores of camps for displaced Haitians in their country's violence-plagued capital.
Trailblazers The inspiring people we met around the world this year
From an exuberant mountaineer to a woman defiantly facing the guns of war, here are some of the brave individuals who gave us hope in a tumultuous 2024
Votes of confidence
From India to Venezuela and Senegal to the US, more people voted this year than ever before, with over 80 elections across the world. With rising authoritarianism and citizen-led resistance revealing its vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, has democracy reached its breaking or turning point?
Out of touch How president sealed his own fate in martial law gambit
For Yoon Suk Yeol, this month's short-lived martial law declaration wasn't just a catastrophic miscalculation - it was the culmination of a presidency that had been troubled from the start.
Son of the soil Who is François Bayrou, the farmer turned prime minister?
François Bayrou, the new French prime minister, calls himself a country man. A tractor-driving \"son of the soil\" and breeder of thoroughbreds, he has run for president three times, saying his rural roots and centrist politics led him to try to find common ground between left and right.
Power plant workers keeping the lights on
The Guardian Weekly visits a Soviet-era coal-fired thermal installation to learn how it has held up to Russian attacks
Prince charmed Alleged spy scandal may have exposed China threat
Prince Andrew should be commended for doing Britain a great service, according to longstanding China watcher Charles Parton. The now marginalised royal has, the analyst observed, \"almost single handedly\" succeeded \"in highlighting the threat to free and open countries\" posed by the contemporary Chinese state.
In Moscow, a new life of secluded irrelevance awaits Assad
He was whisked away without a last message to his people, the aircraft's transponder deliberately switched off to avoid detection as it departed from an airbase in Syria.
'We fear new oppression' Alawites worry over rebel rule
To prepare khubeiza, the leaves of the kale-like plant must be roughly chopped and sauteed with onions, garlic and a dash of salt. According to folklore, the recipe originated among the Alawite communities who lived in Syria's mountainous coastline where the fibrous, wild-growing plant can be found in abundance. So poor were the Alawites in Ottoman times, the story goes, that the only food they could find to eat was khubeiza, which sprouts like a stubborn weed every spring.
'Gisèle is waiting for explanations'
The Pelicot rape trial has horrified the world. But as it comes to an end, the questions it has raised about French society and rape culture have still not been answered.
