Tuesday, September 29, 2026 — Edition No. 90

← Past Editions · Edition No. 90 · Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Today’s outlook: Ancient bunnies, neon bingo and tiny superheroes: a best-in-class Tuesday

Science

Gobi 'Cretaceous rabbit' fossil shows teeth misled scientists for decades

A near-complete skeleton found by a graduate student in 2004 reveals that zhelestids, long thought to be early relatives of placental mammals, belonged to a different branch of the family tree

By Damien Day

In 2004, a graduate student named Andres Giallombardo was working the rocky badlands of Mongolia's eastern Gobi Desert on an expedition sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History. The small fossil he found there would take more than two decades to tell its full story.

That story was told in July in the journal Nature, and it settles a puzzle that palaeontologists have argued over for nearly 40 years.

"This discovery illustrates why fieldwork remains indispensable to understanding life's history," said Giallombardo, the study's lead author. "It was the thrill of a career to find a new species so completely preserved that also solves a longstanding scientific problem."

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Health

Pomegranate-linked compound offers new hope for hard-to-treat heart failure

King's College London scientists found urolithin A helped stiff heart tissue relax in animal and lab studies. Researchers stress it is early days, and pomegranates are not medicine.

By Damien Day

Nearly half a million people in the UK live with a form of heart failure that has long frustrated doctors, according to King's College London. The heart still pumps, but it has become too stiff to relax and fill properly between beats.

Scientists at the university have found that a natural compound linked to pomegranates may help stiff heart tissue relax. It is a promising new direction for a condition with few treatment options.

It is important to be clear from the start: this is early-stage research. The results come from animal models and engineered human heart tissue in the laboratory. No clinical trials in people have yet tested whether it works for patients.

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Science

Planet-building is a race against time, Webb telescope finds

A survey of 72 young Sun-like stars shows jets and winds carrying off the gas that planets need, leaving a shrinking window for giants like Jupiter to form

Science

Why astronauts get constipated: blood tests point to a shift in gut bacteria

A University of Copenhagen and NASA study of 52 space station crew members found chemical signs that gut bacteria turn to fermenting protein soon after launch, with possible lessons for Mars missions and for patients confined to bed

By Damien Day

Ask any astronaut about life in orbit and, sooner or later, the conversation turns to practicalities. There is the floating toothpaste and the sleeping bags strapped to walls. Less glamorously, there is a gut that doesn't always keep to schedule.

Constipation is a well-known complaint among space travellers, but the reason has never been clear. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen, working with NASA, now think they have found an important clue. They found it in the blood rather than in the gut.

The team's findings are published in Nature Communications. They analysed 488 blood plasma samples from 52 astronauts, 41 men and 11 women. The samples were taken before, during and after missions of two to nine months aboard the International Space Station between 2006 and 2018, and came from three earlier NASA studies.

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What's On Glasgow

Bingo gets a glow-up: Boogie Bingo brings neon and dancefloor fun to Glasgow's East End

DJ Pauly M, cash prizes and nibbles at Wood Street Social Club in Dennistoun this Saturday, with every ticket raising money for PEEK's work with children and families facing poverty

By Helen Cooper

Dabbers at the ready: this Saturday afternoon, bingo is swapping the church hall hush for neon lights, a dancefloor and a DJ.

Boogie Bingo takes over Wood Street Social Club in Dennistoun, in Glasgow's East End, on 3 October. The afternoon includes music from DJ Pauly M, the chance to win cash prizes, and nibbles that come with every ticket. Organisers bill it as a day "where numbers meet neon, dabbers meet dancefloors".

It is also a fundraiser for PEEK (Possibilities for Each and Every Kid), the Glasgow charity that works with children, young people and families facing poverty.

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What's On Glasgow

Capes at the ready: superhero families set for the Junior and Mini Great Scottish Run

Saturday's kids' races take over Glasgow Green, but every race is sold out, so this one is for cheering from the sidelines

By Helen Cooper

Capes, eye masks and very small trainers: Glasgow Green will be full of pint-sized superheroes on Saturday 3 October, when the AJ Bell Junior & Mini Great Scottish Run brings closed roads, on-course music and plenty of high fives to the city.

Runners big and small are encouraged to turn up in superhero fancy dress. The event's listing on What's On Glasgow invites every young participant to "discover their own superpower, whether it's racing, fundraising or being a superstar spectator".

If your child hasn't got a place, there is no way in this year. The official Great Run page shows the Mini, Junior and Toddler Dash entries all sold out. It directs families to a 2027 reminder service so they hear as soon as next year's entries open.

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