Michael Le Page
@mjflepage.bsky.social
Award-winning reporter at New Scientist who clings to the belief that good journalism mattters. I write about life on Earth, inc climate ☀️, food 🍱, CRISPR 🧬 and biomed 💊
My bio & stories: https://www.newscientist.com/author/michael-le-page
My bio & stories: https://www.newscientist.com/author/michael-le-page
Pinned
mRNA covid vaccines spark immune response that may aid cancer survival
An analysis of patient records suggests that mRNA covid-19 vaccines boost the immune response to cancerous tumours when given soon after people start a type of immunotherapy, extending their lives
www.newscientist.com
mRNA 🧬 vaccines - but not other kinds - trigger an innate response that can allow the immune system to 'see' and attack tumours, animal studies suggest 🧪
If true, the covid vaccines should do this - and now we have the first evidence this is so
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
If true, the covid vaccines should do this - and now we have the first evidence this is so
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
"If you resort to mentioning Hitler, some say, you have lost the argument. If you resort to sequencing Hitler’s DNA to try to get more eyeballs for your TV channel, I would say you have just plain lost it" 🧪
My view of the TV documentary on Hitler's DNA:
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
My view of the TV documentary on Hitler's DNA:
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Sequencing Hitler's genome teaches us nothing useful about his crimes
To understand Adolf Hitler, we need to look at his personal life and the wider societal and historical context - analysing his DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing, says Michael Le Page
www.newscientist.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:20 AM
"If you resort to mentioning Hitler, some say, you have lost the argument. If you resort to sequencing Hitler’s DNA to try to get more eyeballs for your TV channel, I would say you have just plain lost it" 🧪
My view of the TV documentary on Hitler's DNA:
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
My view of the TV documentary on Hitler's DNA:
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
Also on this episode of the podcast, @mjflepage.bsky.social and I talk about our worries around genetic determinism open.spotify.com/episode/16HS...
Why the claims about Hitler’s genome are misleading
Spotify video
open.spotify.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Also on this episode of the podcast, @mjflepage.bsky.social and I talk about our worries around genetic determinism open.spotify.com/episode/16HS...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
I interviewed geneticist Turi King and historian of Nazi Germany Alex Kay about the documentary, "Hitler's DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator" and I started by saying we don't call DNA a blueprint...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XXB...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XXB...
What Science REALLY Says About Hitler’s Genome
YouTube video by New Scientist
www.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM
I interviewed geneticist Turi King and historian of Nazi Germany Alex Kay about the documentary, "Hitler's DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator" and I started by saying we don't call DNA a blueprint...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XXB...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XXB...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
To understand Adolf Hitler, we need to look at his personal life and the wider societal and historical context - analysing his DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing, says Michael Le Page
Analysing Hitler's DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing useful
To understand Adolf Hitler, we need to look at his personal life and the wider societal and historical context - analysing his DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing, says Michael Le Page
www.newscientist.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:44 PM
To understand Adolf Hitler, we need to look at his personal life and the wider societal and historical context - analysing his DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing, says Michael Le Page
Reposted by Michael Le Page
Instead of watching the documentary, read this by @mjflepage.bsky.social on Hitler's DNA
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Sequencing Hitler's genome teaches us nothing useful about his crimes
To understand Adolf Hitler, we need to look at his personal life and the wider societal and historical context - analysing his DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing, says Michael Le Page
www.newscientist.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Instead of watching the documentary, read this by @mjflepage.bsky.social on Hitler's DNA
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
“There is no need to look to genes to explain why many individuals try to become dictators – the far more pressing question is why we let them.” The argument against sequencing Hitler’s DNA for a TV documentary. @mjflepage.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Sequencing Hitler's genome teaches us nothing useful about his crimes
To understand Adolf Hitler, we need to look at his personal life and the wider societal and historical context - analysing his DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing, says Michael Le Page
www.newscientist.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:38 AM
“There is no need to look to genes to explain why many individuals try to become dictators – the far more pressing question is why we let them.” The argument against sequencing Hitler’s DNA for a TV documentary. @mjflepage.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
"If you resort to mentioning Hitler, some say, you have lost the argument. If you resort to sequencing Hitler’s DNA to try to get more eyeballs for your TV channel, I would say you have just plain lost it" 🧪
My view of the TV documentary on Hitler's DNA:
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
My view of the TV documentary on Hitler's DNA:
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Sequencing Hitler's genome teaches us nothing useful about his crimes
To understand Adolf Hitler, we need to look at his personal life and the wider societal and historical context - analysing his DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing, says Michael Le Page
www.newscientist.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:20 AM
"If you resort to mentioning Hitler, some say, you have lost the argument. If you resort to sequencing Hitler’s DNA to try to get more eyeballs for your TV channel, I would say you have just plain lost it" 🧪
My view of the TV documentary on Hitler's DNA:
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
My view of the TV documentary on Hitler's DNA:
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Thing about Iceland’s forests is that they were & are a bit different to those elsewhere. The joke goes, what do you do if lost in an Icelandic forest? Stand up!
Biochemical evidence suggests Norse people settled in Iceland almost 70 years before the accepted arrival date of the 870s, and didn't chop down the island's forests
Ancient DNA may rewrite the story of Iceland's earliest settlers
Biochemical evidence suggests Norse people settled in Iceland almost 70 years before the accepted arrival date of the 870s, and didn't chop down the island's forests
www.newscientist.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Thing about Iceland’s forests is that they were & are a bit different to those elsewhere. The joke goes, what do you do if lost in an Icelandic forest? Stand up!
Have you ever used one of those calculators that tell you how much CO2 🔥 you'll generate flying 🛩️ somewhere? 🧪
Well, the bad news is that existing flight calculators wildly underestimate the true impact, according to a team at @uniofsurrey.bsky.social
www.newscientist.com/article/2502...
Well, the bad news is that existing flight calculators wildly underestimate the true impact, according to a team at @uniofsurrey.bsky.social
www.newscientist.com/article/2502...
Your flight emissions are way higher than carbon calculators suggest
Existing tools that work out the carbon footprint of flights greatly underestimate their warming impact, say the makers of a new calculator
www.newscientist.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Have you ever used one of those calculators that tell you how much CO2 🔥 you'll generate flying 🛩️ somewhere? 🧪
Well, the bad news is that existing flight calculators wildly underestimate the true impact, according to a team at @uniofsurrey.bsky.social
www.newscientist.com/article/2502...
Well, the bad news is that existing flight calculators wildly underestimate the true impact, according to a team at @uniofsurrey.bsky.social
www.newscientist.com/article/2502...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
New Scientist is looking for a new features editor, ideally with a specialism in evolution, ecology, human sciences and biology - if there's you, take a look! www.dmgmedia.co.uk/careers/jobs...
Features Editor (beat specialist) - dmg media
Features Editor (beat specialist) Location: New Scientist Headquarters – London Position: Full-time, permanent Salary: £40,000 to £43,000, depending on experience Workplace Type: Hybrid – 3 days ...
www.dmgmedia.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 11:47 AM
New Scientist is looking for a new features editor, ideally with a specialism in evolution, ecology, human sciences and biology - if there's you, take a look! www.dmgmedia.co.uk/careers/jobs...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
Where are we on climate action?
The bottom black line is countries that submitted new commitments (on time), the dotted line is global emissions. Blue shading are the commitments.
That is the progress 10 years after Paris...
unfccc.int/process-and-...
The bottom black line is countries that submitted new commitments (on time), the dotted line is global emissions. Blue shading are the commitments.
That is the progress 10 years after Paris...
unfccc.int/process-and-...
October 30, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Where are we on climate action?
The bottom black line is countries that submitted new commitments (on time), the dotted line is global emissions. Blue shading are the commitments.
That is the progress 10 years after Paris...
unfccc.int/process-and-...
The bottom black line is countries that submitted new commitments (on time), the dotted line is global emissions. Blue shading are the commitments.
That is the progress 10 years after Paris...
unfccc.int/process-and-...
It's horrifying to see #Melissa intensifying right up to landfall - I dread to think what will happen in Jamaica, with up to a metre of rain forecast 🧪
But it's clear why Melissa is so powerful - it was fuelled by waters made abnormally warm by global heating:
www.newscientist.com/article/2501...
But it's clear why Melissa is so powerful - it was fuelled by waters made abnormally warm by global heating:
www.newscientist.com/article/2501...
Hurricane Melissa is being fuelled by exceptional ocean heat
The monster hurricane pummelling Jamaica is powered by abnormal sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean, which were made at least 500 times more likely by global warming
www.newscientist.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:58 PM
It's horrifying to see #Melissa intensifying right up to landfall - I dread to think what will happen in Jamaica, with up to a metre of rain forecast 🧪
But it's clear why Melissa is so powerful - it was fuelled by waters made abnormally warm by global heating:
www.newscientist.com/article/2501...
But it's clear why Melissa is so powerful - it was fuelled by waters made abnormally warm by global heating:
www.newscientist.com/article/2501...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
4 days of seismic records from a seismic station in Jamaica shows Hurricane Melissa roaring towards the island.
Hurricanes increase the amplitude of ocean waves which beat on the coast and sea floor. These produce Rayleigh waves that can be seen as increasingly thick “wiggles” in seismic records 🧪
Hurricanes increase the amplitude of ocean waves which beat on the coast and sea floor. These produce Rayleigh waves that can be seen as increasingly thick “wiggles” in seismic records 🧪
October 28, 2025 at 1:24 PM
4 days of seismic records from a seismic station in Jamaica shows Hurricane Melissa roaring towards the island.
Hurricanes increase the amplitude of ocean waves which beat on the coast and sea floor. These produce Rayleigh waves that can be seen as increasingly thick “wiggles” in seismic records 🧪
Hurricanes increase the amplitude of ocean waves which beat on the coast and sea floor. These produce Rayleigh waves that can be seen as increasingly thick “wiggles” in seismic records 🧪
Reposted by Michael Le Page
“We’ve missed 1.5”: In the podcast this week we discuss the facts that (a) Paris saved us from the worst of global heating and (b) that it’s been clear for a long time that we’d miss 1.5 degrees.
📺🎧:
podfollow.com/the-world-th...
📺🎧:
podfollow.com/the-world-th...
The world, the universe and us
From the evolution of intelligent life, to the mysteries of consciousness; from the threat of the climate crisis to the search for dark matter, The world, the universe and us is your essential weekly ...
podfollow.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:42 AM
“We’ve missed 1.5”: In the podcast this week we discuss the facts that (a) Paris saved us from the worst of global heating and (b) that it’s been clear for a long time that we’d miss 1.5 degrees.
📺🎧:
podfollow.com/the-world-th...
📺🎧:
podfollow.com/the-world-th...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
New podcast:
💉mRNA vaccines help your body fight cancer
🤬State of Climate Action report sounds red alert
🦜New explanation for the dawn chorus
open.spotify.com/episode/4ODd... with @pennysarchet.bsky.social and @mjflepage.bsky.social plus Clea Schumer and Sophie Boehm of @worldresources.bsky.social
💉mRNA vaccines help your body fight cancer
🤬State of Climate Action report sounds red alert
🦜New explanation for the dawn chorus
open.spotify.com/episode/4ODd... with @pennysarchet.bsky.social and @mjflepage.bsky.social plus Clea Schumer and Sophie Boehm of @worldresources.bsky.social
How mRNA vaccines teach your body to kill cancer; Grim state of climate action; Why birds sing the dawn chorus
Spotify video
open.spotify.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:30 PM
New podcast:
💉mRNA vaccines help your body fight cancer
🤬State of Climate Action report sounds red alert
🦜New explanation for the dawn chorus
open.spotify.com/episode/4ODd... with @pennysarchet.bsky.social and @mjflepage.bsky.social plus Clea Schumer and Sophie Boehm of @worldresources.bsky.social
💉mRNA vaccines help your body fight cancer
🤬State of Climate Action report sounds red alert
🦜New explanation for the dawn chorus
open.spotify.com/episode/4ODd... with @pennysarchet.bsky.social and @mjflepage.bsky.social plus Clea Schumer and Sophie Boehm of @worldresources.bsky.social
Immune cells engineered 🧬 to target cancerous cells, called CAR T cells, work really well against blood cancers like leukaemia, but they don't do much against solid tumours, that is, for most cancers 🧪
Now promising animal results suggest this could soon change
www.newscientist.com/article/2501...
Now promising animal results suggest this could soon change
www.newscientist.com/article/2501...
'Weaponised' CAR T-cell therapy shows promise against solid tumours
So far, immune cells that have been engineered to kill cancers, known as CAR T-cells, haven’t worked well against solid cancers - but a study in mice suggests that could soon change
www.newscientist.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Immune cells engineered 🧬 to target cancerous cells, called CAR T cells, work really well against blood cancers like leukaemia, but they don't do much against solid tumours, that is, for most cancers 🧪
Now promising animal results suggest this could soon change
www.newscientist.com/article/2501...
Now promising animal results suggest this could soon change
www.newscientist.com/article/2501...
This year the US approved CRISPR 🧬 pigs resistant to a disease called PRRS
Now a team at @roslininstitute.bsky.social has gene-edited pigs 🐖 to make them resistant to classical swine fever 🧪
The benefits should include lower greenhouse emissions and prices 🥓
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
Now a team at @roslininstitute.bsky.social has gene-edited pigs 🐖 to make them resistant to classical swine fever 🧪
The benefits should include lower greenhouse emissions and prices 🥓
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
Gene-edited pigs resistant to swine fever could boost animal welfare
Classical swine fever reduces productivity and harms animal welfare, but pigs have now been genetically edited to make them completely resistant to the disease
www.newscientist.com
October 22, 2025 at 4:16 PM
This year the US approved CRISPR 🧬 pigs resistant to a disease called PRRS
Now a team at @roslininstitute.bsky.social has gene-edited pigs 🐖 to make them resistant to classical swine fever 🧪
The benefits should include lower greenhouse emissions and prices 🥓
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
Now a team at @roslininstitute.bsky.social has gene-edited pigs 🐖 to make them resistant to classical swine fever 🧪
The benefits should include lower greenhouse emissions and prices 🥓
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
Biting midges arrived in Iceland a decade ago. They're pretty nasty, too
Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time as #climatecrisis warms country
- only Antarctica now free of the insects
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- only Antarctica now free of the insects
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time as climate crisis warms country
Three specimens discovered in what was previously one of the only places in the world without the insects
www.theguardian.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Biting midges arrived in Iceland a decade ago. They're pretty nasty, too
mRNA 🧬 vaccines - but not other kinds - trigger an innate response that can allow the immune system to 'see' and attack tumours, animal studies suggest 🧪
If true, the covid vaccines should do this - and now we have the first evidence this is so
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
If true, the covid vaccines should do this - and now we have the first evidence this is so
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
mRNA covid vaccines spark immune response that may aid cancer survival
An analysis of patient records suggests that mRNA covid-19 vaccines boost the immune response to cancerous tumours when given soon after people start a type of immunotherapy, extending their lives
www.newscientist.com
October 19, 2025 at 1:53 PM
mRNA 🧬 vaccines - but not other kinds - trigger an innate response that can allow the immune system to 'see' and attack tumours, animal studies suggest 🧪
If true, the covid vaccines should do this - and now we have the first evidence this is so
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
If true, the covid vaccines should do this - and now we have the first evidence this is so
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
Reposted by Michael Le Page
Yes the CO2 rise 2023-2024 was faster than we predicted at Mauna Loa and was a record rise there - now the WMO confirm the global mean rise was also a record
Also the rate of CO2 rise is now above the IPCC scenarios that limit global warming to 1.5C
www.carbonbrief.org/met-office-a...
Also the rate of CO2 rise is now above the IPCC scenarios that limit global warming to 1.5C
www.carbonbrief.org/met-office-a...
October 18, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Yes the CO2 rise 2023-2024 was faster than we predicted at Mauna Loa and was a record rise there - now the WMO confirm the global mean rise was also a record
Also the rate of CO2 rise is now above the IPCC scenarios that limit global warming to 1.5C
www.carbonbrief.org/met-office-a...
Also the rate of CO2 rise is now above the IPCC scenarios that limit global warming to 1.5C
www.carbonbrief.org/met-office-a...
Is it bad that a plan to tackle CO2 emissions from international shipping has been delayed a year?
Well, that depends on the details. If the plan ends up being 'let's use food-based biofuels instead of fossil fuels', frankly the planet is a lot better off with no plan
Well, that depends on the details. If the plan ends up being 'let's use food-based biofuels instead of fossil fuels', frankly the planet is a lot better off with no plan
According to a recent report, the use of biofuels ⛽ worldwide has increased CO2 emissions by 16% 🧪
Increased, instead of decreased! Plus biofuels are driving up food prices 💶 and helping to destroy biodiversity. This is utter madness
www.newscientist.com/article/2499...
Increased, instead of decreased! Plus biofuels are driving up food prices 💶 and helping to destroy biodiversity. This is utter madness
www.newscientist.com/article/2499...
Are biofuels a good idea? Only if you're a farmer or shipping company
The rush to grow more biofuels continues, despite the fact they increase CO2 emissions rather than lower them, raise food prices and devastate nature. It has to stop, says Michael Le Page
www.newscientist.com
October 17, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Is it bad that a plan to tackle CO2 emissions from international shipping has been delayed a year?
Well, that depends on the details. If the plan ends up being 'let's use food-based biofuels instead of fossil fuels', frankly the planet is a lot better off with no plan
Well, that depends on the details. If the plan ends up being 'let's use food-based biofuels instead of fossil fuels', frankly the planet is a lot better off with no plan
The US decision to cut funding for mRNA vaccine development was dumb, and it's looking dumber by the day as more evidence of their benefits and potential piles up.
There's another big study coming Sunday - watch this space
There's another big study coming Sunday - watch this space
mRNA vaccines 🧬 are already great but they can be made even more effective by making them code for virus-like nanoparticles 🦠 rather than just single proteins 🧪
This means a lower dose is required, which should reduce side effects
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
This means a lower dose is required, which should reduce side effects
www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
Why the next generation of mRNA vaccines is set to be even better
mRNA vaccines are quick and easy to make, while virus-like nanoparticles produce a stronger immune response - now the two approaches are being combined to give us the best of both worlds
www.newscientist.com
October 17, 2025 at 4:00 PM
The US decision to cut funding for mRNA vaccine development was dumb, and it's looking dumber by the day as more evidence of their benefits and potential piles up.
There's another big study coming Sunday - watch this space
There's another big study coming Sunday - watch this space
Reposted by Michael Le Page
From an alien-looking flat-faced longhorn beetle to an abandoned baby rhino, images at London’s Natural History Museum show what we stand to lose from the decimation of global biodiversity
Stunning images highlight fight to save Earth’s rich biodiversity
From an alien-looking flat-faced longhorn beetle to an abandoned baby rhino, images at London’s Natural History Museum show what we stand to lose from the decimation of global biodiversity
www.newscientist.com
October 17, 2025 at 6:22 AM
From an alien-looking flat-faced longhorn beetle to an abandoned baby rhino, images at London’s Natural History Museum show what we stand to lose from the decimation of global biodiversity
Glad I got my jab Monday
Very quick update on Covid in England from latest UKHSA hospital data. Looks like current Covid wave *might* have peaked, and also that flu season is starting a little earlier than normal.
If you can get vaxxed for either, I'd do it!
christinapagel.substack.com/p/very-quick...
If you can get vaxxed for either, I'd do it!
christinapagel.substack.com/p/very-quick...
Very quick update on Covid in England
Covid wave has possibly peaked and flu looks like it's starting early
christinapagel.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Glad I got my jab Monday
According to a recent report, the use of biofuels ⛽ worldwide has increased CO2 emissions by 16% 🧪
Increased, instead of decreased! Plus biofuels are driving up food prices 💶 and helping to destroy biodiversity. This is utter madness
www.newscientist.com/article/2499...
Increased, instead of decreased! Plus biofuels are driving up food prices 💶 and helping to destroy biodiversity. This is utter madness
www.newscientist.com/article/2499...
Are biofuels a good idea? Only if you're a farmer or shipping company
The rush to grow more biofuels continues, despite the fact they increase CO2 emissions rather than lower them, raise food prices and devastate nature. It has to stop, says Michael Le Page
www.newscientist.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:54 PM
According to a recent report, the use of biofuels ⛽ worldwide has increased CO2 emissions by 16% 🧪
Increased, instead of decreased! Plus biofuels are driving up food prices 💶 and helping to destroy biodiversity. This is utter madness
www.newscientist.com/article/2499...
Increased, instead of decreased! Plus biofuels are driving up food prices 💶 and helping to destroy biodiversity. This is utter madness
www.newscientist.com/article/2499...