Soyal Khan

A Rare Coco De Mer Palm At The Eden Project (EP) Has Grown The UK’s Largest Mature Leaf, ~4m Long. Grown From A 2003 Seychelles Seed, It’s The First Of Its Kind To Mature In The UK. The Leaf May Reach 8–10m & Aids Seed Germination. EP Also Saw The UK’s First Flowering Of The Baobab, The Famed “Tree Of Life” Native To Madagascar And Africa.

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Largest-Ever Lifespan Study Of 1,176 Species Finds Females Outlive Males In 72% Of Mammals By ~13%, While In 68% Birds, Males Outlive Females By ~5%. Why? Male Competition For Mates Cuts Lifespan; Caregiving Boosts Female Survival. Matching Sex Chromosomes (XX/ZZ) Help Guard Against Mutations. Even In Zoos, The Gap Remains—It’s Biological.

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Scientists Converted A Blood Type A Kidney To Universal Type O Using Enzymes FpGalactosaminidase & FpGalNAc deacetylase, And Then Transplanted It Into A Brain-Dead Patient. Unlike Prior Lungs & Kidney Conversions, This Is The First Human Implantation. It Worked For 2 Days Before Rejection. This Feat Could Slash The 2–4 Yrs Type O Wait Time.

UK Scientists Led The Trial Of AMT-130, The First Gene Therapy Tested In Humans For Huntington’s. Developed By uniQure, It Reduces Toxic Huntingtin Protein. In A 3-Year, 29-Person Study, High-Dose Patients Saw 75% Slower Progression. Results Were Measured Via Motor/Cognitive Tests And Spinal Fluid Markers. FDA Filing Is Expected Early 2026.

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Twin Brothers Ian & Stuart Paton, 64, From Hampshire, UK, Set Two Guinness World Records With A 1,278kg Pumpkin Measuring 6.4m+ In Circumference, Making It The World’s Heaviest & Largest Pumpkin. Grown Locally & Watered With 130 Gallons Daily, It Surpassed Travis Gienger’s 1,247kg, 6.1m Record, Swelling From Golf Ball To Giant In 130 Days.

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A First-Of-Its-Kind Study In Uganda & Ivory Coast Found That Wild Chimpanzees Consume ∼14g Of Ethanol Daily From Fermented Fruit, Equal To ∼2.5 Human Drinks (A Beer + A Wine Glass + A Shot)/Day. This Supports The “Drunken Monkey” Hypothesis That Our Taste For Alcohol Evolved In Primates ∼10Mya. Critics, However, Dispute The Intake Estimates.

Dame Sarah Mullally, 63, Becomes The First-Ever Woman Archbishop Of Canterbury In 1,400 Years, Leading 85M Anglicans Worldwide. A Former UK‘s Youngest Chief Nurse At 37 & Bishop Of London, She Replaces Justin Welby Amid Abuse Scandal Fallout. Her Appointment Sparks Debate On Women’s Roles In The Church & Challenges On LGBTQ Inclusion & Racism.

In A World First, US Scientists Created Fertilizable Human Eggs By Swapping A Donor Egg’s Nucleus With One From A Skin Cell, Using “Mitomeiosis” To Cut 46 Chromosomes To 23. 82 Eggs Formed; Some Reached Blastocysts But Weren’t Cultured Further For IVF. Many Embryos Were Abnormal. This Could Help Infertility and Gay Couples, But Trials Loom.

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NASA’s Artemis II Launches In Feb 2026. 4 Astronauts, Led By Reid Wiseman, Will Orbit The Moon 10 Days In Integrity (No Landing; Only Testing Systems & Crew). This First Crewed Mission In 50 Yrs Includes Christina Koch (First Woman), Victor Glover (First Black Astronaut), & Jeremy Hansen (First Non-American), Advancing Goals For Moon Bases/Mars.

UK Scientists, In A First, Found A Strong Link Between Thumb Length & Brain Size Across 94 Living & Fossil Primate Species. Longer Thumbs, Important For Gripping & Handling Objects, Are Tied To A Larger Neocortex, Which Controls Thinking & Senses. This Link Holds Without Humans, Showing Hands & Brains Co-Evolved Over Millions Of Years.