Labour’s persistent failure to address its electorate’s salient concerns is behind the protest vote, asserts DIANE ABBOTT
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Viruses: a new form of ‘life’?
The Science and Society team report on recent discoveries in the biology of viruses
Washington’s lawless behaviour towards countries in the region it considers its ‘back yard’ should be condemned by all law-abiding people, says LUKE DANIELS
In part I of a serialisation of his new book, JOHN McINALLY takes a look at the early days of organising government workers
Colombia’s success in controlling the drug trade should be recognised and its sovereignty respected, argues Dr GLORY SAAVEDRA
The shadow lord chancellor has recently made a name for himself as an rabid hater of immigration – but there are exceptions to every rule, says SOLOMON HUGHES
Plaid Cymru’s front-bench spokesman on health and social services MABON AP GWYNFOR, in a two-part series, analyses the Caerphilly by-election and the wider political scene in Wales ahead of the 2026 Senedd election
VIRUSES get a bad rap. Most of us only really think about them when they cause diseases, such as Ebola. They’re viewed as the quintessential hangers-on: bits of genetic material floating around that must leech off living cells to multiply and reproduce. As such, they’re often thought of as not “really” alive.
Indeed, the three of us can dimly remember from school a ridiculous mnemonic for the seven signs that supposedly distinguish life from non-life: “MRS NERG” (or “MRS GREN,” depending on your teacher).
Knowing that viruses fail on a number of those arbitrary metrics — eg R for respiration — would help you pass your biology GCSE.
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