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The decline of insects in Central and Western Europe in recent years is mainly due to human activities and the intensification of agriculture, according to a study funded by three companies (Bayer, BASF and Syngenta) that manufacture pesticides. The paper, published in PLoS ONE, summarises an analysis of 82 other published studies and explains the causes of population declines in two groups of insects: carabids (ground beetles) and lepidopterans (including moths and butterflies). The authors estimate that "anthropogenic activities in general" are most responsible for this decline, followed by agricultural intensification (including pesticides) and climate change in third place.

On Thursday 24 August, Japan will begin discharging treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese government announced. The water has been treated to reduce its radioactivity. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has indicated that, as stated in a report they published last month on this process, "that the approach and activities for this discharge are consistent with relevant international safety standards and would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment". 

Counting deaths attributable to the effects of high temperatures is basic as a public health surveillance tool, but it should not become the only research objective. It is necessary to know why the population in some places adapts better than others to heat waves, what variables influence them, and to modify them when possible.

With the prolonged meteorological drought we find ourselves in, we are focusing too much on climate as its cause, while there is a lack of debate about the real problem: chronic water demand. It is necessary to rethink consumption models with all the actors of society and the competent administrations. A future adapted to climate change must address drought by prioritizing the restoration of our water systems and questioning the current development model.

The fire that originated on August 15 between the Tenerife municipalities of Arafo and Candelaria, in the northeast of the island, is advancing on several fronts and has affected more than 13,000 hectares, although the firefighting services have stabilized it in some points. The people evacuated in the last days have been thousands. As confirmed by the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, the fire has been caused.

Rising temperatures, droughts, heat waves and abundant untreated material in forests are the perfect cocktail for fires to break out. When they are beyond the control of firefighting services - because of their intensity, speed and unpredictability - we speak of mega-fires or sixth generation wildfires, a phenomenon that is not new but whose frequency could increase due to rural abandonment and climate change. Some experts have thus described the fire in Tenerife that began on August 15 and has forced the evacuation or confinement of thousands of people.

Today it is difficult to see science policies that do not mention citizen science or citizen participation in science. On World Mosquito Day, which is celebrated on August 20, we analyze what has been achieved by the Mosquito Alert project, based on citizen science and which the Ministry of Health has supported this summer within the framework of the National Plan for Disease Prevention, Surveillance and Control Transmitted by Vectors.

A clinical team in the US has successfully transferred kidneys from pigs to a brain-dead man. The organs came from animals that had been genetically modified to prevent rejection by the immune system of the patient, who had kidney disease. The transplanted organs were functional - they could make urine and clear creatinine - seven days after the operation, explains a research letter summarising the case in JAMA Surgery. The team says this type of xenotransplantation - from animal to human - could be a solution to the shortage of donor organs. 

The fires in Hawaii, which have left at least a hundred dead and hundreds missing, have devastated entire towns and villages and have put the issue of how to prevent such intense fires back on the table. World Wildfire Prevention Day is celebrated this Friday 18 August. The increase in the occurrence and recurrence of large wildfires jeopardizes the resilience of socio-ecological systems. Efforts in prevention must be a priority and constant throughout the year. We have a joint responsibility as a society to face this unprecedented problem, which will worsen in the coming years.

Any infection can lead to sequelae and SARS-CoV-2 is no exception. However, the lack of rigorous studies has meant that, in 2023, uncertainty about the number of people affected remains high and treatments are scarce.