Southeastern Spain, one of the most arid areas in Europe, has established itself as one of the continent's main agricultural hubs. Despite having a climate marked by minimal rainfall and long periods of drought, this region has become the heart of the so-called "Europe's garden". Thanks to state policies, desalination plants, artificial reservoirs, and complex water transfer systems between river basins have been built, allowing vast areas that were previously unproductive to be irrigated.

A bright orange Lamborghini speeds up. It's dazzling and makes a deafening noise. It parks in front of you and a young guy gets out, with a slicked-back blonde quiff and well-worked biceps, wearing a Gucci polo shirt worth over 1,000 euros, an appearance he completes with a gold ring and a Rolex watch. You've been following him on social media for a while and admire the money he makes and how he spends it. The cars, the houses, the outfits, the jewelry. You envy his trips around the world. Colombia, Costa Rica, the United Arab Emirates, Japan. You've been taking his advice on investing, on being a winner, for a long time. What is success if it's not what he does? You even set aside some of the little money you have to enjoy the privilege of having him all to yourself for a few hours, so he can explain how he's done it. He gets out of the car and calls you 'crack'. And, automatically, you feel like a crack. He fascinates you. He abducts you. He captivates you. He makes you fall in love.

The rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, becomes emotional when explaining the honoris causa he has just awarded to the medical director of BioNTech: “They are one step away from finding a vaccine for cancer. Do you know what that means?” He tells us this to a group of members of the UB Social Council, gathered on a cold March morning. The German Özlem Türeci has indeed predicted that in ten years, treating cancer with mRNA vaccines will be commonplace. This is one of the “wonderful things,” as the rector says, that happen in our universities daily and which do not always receive the attention they deserve.

The work of Banksy It never fails to provoke a reaction. The artist (or artists) behind that name creates stencil paintings brimming with social and political commentary, all from a position of anonymity. Their interventions appear on walls, streets, squares, and public spaces worldwide, and each work sparks social debate. Their career has taken them to Paris, New York, Bethlehem, London, and Bristol, the British city where they have left some of their most recognizable murals in the early hours of the morning. The themes are diverse: from critiques of war and social inequality to ironic graffiti about consumer society and politics.

The effect of hormones on brain function is a controversial topic because it lends itself to abuse by those seeking scientific confirmation of their biases. We have often heard that women's brains are not as good as men's in processes requiring mathematical skills, for example. Sexist statements of this kind are easy oversimplifications of an extremely complex and interesting phenomenon, which slow down research in this field. Because what is evident is that all the body's tissues are subject to the strong biological influence of these powerful molecules called hormones. If there are significant differences in the physiology of the liver, heart, or immune system between men and women, to cite a few well-studied examples, it would be very strange if the brain were the only organ that escaped their influence. A few years ago, a study was conducted that demonstrated that in humans, the male brain cannot be macroscopically distinguished from the female brain. It stirred up quite a controversy because it seemed to disprove the importance of hormones. The thing is, functional differences aren't necessarily visible to the naked eye.

The fight against tobacco is the major challenge for healthcare systems, which allocate millions of euros to treatments. In fact, smoking remains one of the leading causes of death globally, and in Catalonia alone, 10,000 smokers die each year, a figure that rises to seven million worldwide. Now, researchers may have found a way to develop a new strategy against this addiction if it is confirmed that a rare genetic variant predisposes individuals to smoke less. By what proportion? Between 21% and 78% fewer cigarettes, according to a study published this Tuesday in the journal Nature communications.

Ashley Hammond and Sergio Almécija are the names of the first two researchers to arrive—and settle—in Catalonia after fleeing the restrictive policies of Donald Trump that are stifling research in the United States. The two paleoanthropologists—the branch of anthropology that studies human evolution through the analysis of fossils—arrived at the end of 2015 and have now joined the Catalan Institute of Paleontology Miquel Crusafont (ICP-CERCA) as ICREA researchers. Hammond and Almécija have joined the Catalan research network through the Talent Bridge program, a plan that, as reported by ARA, The government devised a plan to hunt down talent that was forced to leave American centers to continue researching in their disciplines. "Talent Bridge has been designed and structured through established calls such as ICREA, the Serra Húnter Plan or the Beatriz de Pinós program to guarantee success and impact on the Catalan research system," argued the Minister of Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat.

A new door has opened to treatments for one of the deadliest cancers: pancreatic cancer. Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) have, for the first time, completely eliminated pancreatic tumors in experimental mouse models using a triple therapeutic combination. The study focused on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common type of tumor. The researchers devised a strategy that targets three key aspects of this cancer: the mutation that initiates the tumor (called KRAS) and the two proteins involved that promote the proliferation, survival, and growth of this cancer (called EGFR and STAT3). After six years of work, the curative efficacy of this triple therapy has been demonstrated. The results have been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The La Caixa Foundation is allocating €250 million to social investment this year, according to an agreement signed this Monday between the foundation's president, Isidre Fainé, and the president of the Generalitat (the Catalan government), Salvador Illa. The previous agreement was for €225 million, representing an increase of approximately 11%. Of the total amount, €99 million will be allocated to the foundation's social programs, especially those aimed at the most vulnerable groups. Funding is also included for cultural and research initiatives, as well as scholarships. The amount agreed upon with the Generalitat is part of the €655 million that La Caixa is allocating to social projects this year, the highest amount in its history. After signing the agreement, Fainé explained that the objective is "to strengthen the most transformative projects, dedicated to promoting equal opportunities." "Another strategic priority is the creation of the CaixaResearch Institute, whose building will be inaugurated in 2026. All these projects are focused on contributing to the progress of Catalonia and the well-being of Catalans in the short, medium, and long term," he stated.

Almost three years have passed since the first step was taken toward making the Ciutadella del Conocimiento mega-project a reality on the site of the former Mercat del Peix, next to Barcelona Park. Now, the start of its activity seems closer than ever with the government's financial support for one of its core projects: the creation of the new Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB). According to government spokesperson Silvia Paneque, the Generalitat (Catalan government) will fund €104 million for the construction of this building, which will be dedicated to advanced research in regenerative and precision medicine and will be essential for promoting this new hub of science—biomedicine, biodiversity, and planetary well-being—and urban knowledge.

An injection of nanoparticles can reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer's in mice genetically engineered to suffer cognitive decline similar to that caused by this dementia, which affects some 33 million people worldwide.

We have the ambition to become a driving economy in Europe. That is, a highly productive economy, embedded in the best European value chains and generating good salaries. That's why we need an economy not only based on knowledge but also with a significant component of our own knowledge (intellectual property). A necessary, but not sufficient, condition to achieve this is having a world-class research ecosystem. Everything can be improved, but I would say we have it. The public sector has contributed decisively to this. We must take care of it and maintain it.

The Attorney General of Spain, Álvaro García Ortiz, has ordered the opening of an investigation in Spain into Israel's "crimes" in Gaza. According to SER (Spanish National News Service) and confirmed by the Prosecutor's Office, the investigation had been requested by Dolores Delgado, the Prosecutor for Human Rights and Democratic Memory, to determine whether the actions could constitute "serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, constituting crimes provided for in Articles 607 et seq." These include the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and crimes against persons and property protected in the event of armed conflict. Delgado, former Minister of Justice under Pedro Sánchez, requested the investigation after receiving a report from the National Police in June that included witnesses and evidence pointing to Israel committing actions contrary to international law in Gaza. She herself, along with the head of the Prosecutor's Office at the National Court, Jesús Alonso, will lead the proceedings, as decreed by the Attorney General. The conclusions of the investigation, similar to the one launched by the Spanish Prosecutor's Office to investigate Russian war crimes in Ukraine, will be submitted to the international bodies that already have open cases against Israel.

The Sabadell judge investigating the 2001 murder of Helena Jubany has summoned Santi Laiglesia, the victim's family's prime suspect, to testify for further questioning. The judge's move responds to the Prosecutor's Office's request following the latest forensic report on the DNA found on the sweater Jubany was wearing the day she died, which found genetic material matching Laiglesia's. The judge has therefore summoned Laiglesia for questioning on September 26.

In the office where Esther Gómez works, there is no sign with her name or that of her company. "It's common in the sector; it's done for confidentiality reasons," she explains. Esther wanted to be a private detective since she was little and ended up studying Private Investigation. Later, she added two specialties to her resume that have ended up taking up a large part of her work: handwriting expertise and what is technically called credibility assessment, "although everyone calls it lie detection".

Approximately 15.6 million people worldwide born between 2008 and 2017 will suffer from gastric cancer in their lifetime. In two-thirds of cases, around 12 million, the cause will be bacteria. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) If current prevention policies are not improved to eliminate this pathogen, which is very common and is transmitted through contact with feces or the consumption of contaminated water. In Spain, of the 4.7 million children currently between eight and seventeen years old, 58,600 diagnoses are expected in adulthood, of which 44,400 will be caused by the bacteria if action is not taken sooner.

US President Donald Trump seems determined to declare war on science, and the rest of the world is looking at him with concern for the potential impact on global health, but also as an opportunity to attract research talent to his country. Given this scenario, the government doesn't want to lose momentum and has prepared a plan to attract 78 researchers over the next three years. To this end, it will allocate €30 million to four research calls to create specific positions for scientists currently working in the United States. 45 will be long-term (some indefinite) and 33 will be for three years.

A young person can have up to 200,000 stem cells, which are responsible for the production of billions of red and white blood cells and platelets every day, which then circulate in our blood. As we age, the blood system deteriorates: stem cells are lost and the generation of new cells is impaired. For this reason, aging is one of the main risk factors for a wide range of diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's.

Little KJ was born less than a year ago with a rare disease that affects the metabolism of urea, a chemical compound normally excreted in urine. Children with this condition, known as severe carbamoyl phosphate synthase 1 (CPS1) deficiency, require a liver transplant, but must be stable and old enough to undergo such a complex operation. Since KJ didn't meet these requirements, he spent his first months of life at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on a very restrictive diet. During this waiting period, the buildup of ammonia can cause permanent neurological damage, and even death, so doctors tested a new approach, previously unheard of anywhere in the world. When he was 6 months old, he received the first dose of a gene-editing therapy called CRISPR, which can precisely correct alterations in the human genome, making him the first patient in the world treated with such a personalized therapy.

Ana Crespo (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1948) has been president of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences of Spain since 2024. She is the first woman to hold the position since the institution was created 177 years ago.