Scientists

The variety of current dog breeds is the product of two centuries of human intervention, which has often selected characters for extravagance or supposed aesthetics. Lluís Montoliu, president of the CSIC Ethics Committee until last February, recalls that 15% of current dog breeds have some sort of more or less serious congenital disease.

The UN-driven Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have influenced governments' narratives around sustainability, but have not led to substantial changes in legislative action or resource allocation, according to an analysis published in the journal Nature Sustainability that has analysed more than 3,000 studies.

British ecologist Andy Green came to Doñana three decades ago inspired by the international fame and biodiversity of these marshes, an annual meeting point for millions of migratory birds. Today he is one of the researchers from five countries "urgently" warning that groundwater extraction and strawberry crops "seriously threaten" Doñana.

The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, announced in an interview on La Sexta that there will be a fourth dose of the covid-19 vaccine "for the entire population".

A study published in Nature identifies a metabolite produced during exercise that can effectively reduce food intake and obesity in mice. It has also been found in humans.

Brain lesions that cause spontaneous remission of tobacco addiction in humans affect a brain circuit common to different addictive behaviours, concludes a study published in Nature Medicine. Understanding this brain network opens the way to new therapies against addiction. 

A survey of emergency professionals in more than 90 countries found symptoms of "worker burnout" in 60% of respondents. These are worrying data, says the president of the European Society of Emergency Medicine (EUSEM), because "two problems converge: high levels of burnout and a shortage of professionals".

Last week, the European Parliament approved a ban on the sale of vehicles with emissions of more than 0 grams of CO₂ per kilometre from 2035 in Europe. In addition, they also voted against an amendment that would allow car manufacturers to buy credits for so-called synthetic fuels. Is this the right measure to accelerate the decarbonisation of the transport sector?

A metagenomic comparison of the infant gut microbiome of industrialised and non-industrialised populations reveals robust differences that researchers say are lifestyle-dependent. The research involved samples from infants of Hadza, a group of modern hunter-gatherers living in Tanzania, and is published in the journal Science.