In the seventies, a young woman from Boston arrived in an indigenous village in western Mexico with a book in her backpack, Our bodies, ourselves, a manual for women to understand their own bodies and make decisions about their own health. Her name was Leslie Korn. In the village, they began to meet to share stories, questions, and practical knowledge about health and well-being. And what had started as teaching quickly became an exchange.In one of those encounters, Korn saw a man cutting green papayas and spreading the sap on freshly cut raw meat. The sap contains papain, a proteolytic enzyme that they used there to tenderize meat, but also to treat wounds and infections. A decade later, already at Harvard, Korn would end up studying proteolytic enzymes in a pharmacology laboratory. The same knowledge with two names: in the village it was custom; in Boston, science.The question is not whether knowledge is true –papain does the same job in both hemispheres–, but who has the authority to certify it and who signs it. Korn arrived at Harvard interested in community health and indigenous medicine, things that were then considered eccentricities. It is no coincidence that both are women's territories. A large part of Western medicine has been built on knowledge transmitted from hand to hand and from mouth to ear –that of midwives, that of healers, that of caregivers–, which was disqualified as superstition precisely when the profession was formalized and which has since reappeared, purified and with bibliography, within the canon. This knowledge has almost always traveled without an author's name. The laboratory that validates it is cited, not the hands that sustained it for centuries.One might think this is archaeology. It is not. Today, certification involves clinical trials, indexed journals, and increasingly, databases that feed algorithms. For decades, women were underrepresented in clinical research, and we are still feeling the consequences. We took one body, the male one, as the standard, and the rest has been considered a variation. Not going any further, this week we learned that the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition published a report with nutritional recommendations for menopause in which some reference values – iron, vitamin C – came from studies done only on men, without even warning about it.But let's return to Leslie Korn, who fifty years after that first stay in Mexico continues to live and practice there. Her conclusion is that healing happens where culture and community intersect. I would add another aspect that is more difficult for us to accept, and that is that papaya does not prove that tradition is always right, but rather that the method should begin by listening to those who already know. Even when those who know do not have an office, publications, or research projects.

The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) will review its latest report on diet and healthy habits during menopause after several scientists denounced that it offered recommendations based on studies conducted exclusively on men. The agency has acknowledged that the document, published last April, did not warn of this limitation and has commissioned its scientific committee to review the text. The case, reported by Eldiario.es, once again brings to the fore a persistent problem in biomedical research: the lack of specific evidence on women's health and the historical tendency to take the male body as a reference and extrapolate the results to the general population, even on specific issues such as menopause.

The hygrometer and the hygrograph serve to measure the same thing – humidity – but they are not synonyms. The first records humidity at a specific moment and the second over time. This same distinction is found in many other devices, such as the barometer and the barograph, the thermometer and the thermograph. The incorporation of time as a measurement variable represented a revolution, because it allowed the evolution of several phenomena to be studied. It was especially important in the field of meteorology: continuous records made it possible to identify cycles, compare observations, and better understand and predict the weather. These two instruments are located in a showcase dedicated to Eduard Fontserè at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Barcelona (UB). They are part of this faculty's collection of instruments, which consists of about 600 pieces. There are items related to optics, mechanics, electricity, magnetism, thermodynamics, fluids, astronomy, meteorology... Many of the instruments come from the laboratories and classrooms of the Faculty. Both the displayed hygrometer and hygrograph date from the late 19th century. They have clockwork mechanisms, pens, and cylinders covered with paper. They are the direct ancestors of current data acquisition systems; only the technology has changed. Joan Manel Hernàndez, professor in the department of condensed matter physics and curator of this splendid collection, acts as my host and guide. Pili Mateo, a cultural and heritage technician at the UB, also accompanies us, reminding me of the existence of the UB Virtual Museum, where these pieces and many others are housed. In addition to scientific instruments, the online platform (museuvirtual.ub.edu) contains information and images of works of art, documentary and bibliographic collections, natural science collections, and architectural heritage.The origin of the collection of physics apparatus can be traced to the development of physics cabinets in the 19th century. The designation "physics" in a sense similar to the current one was not established until that century. The first treatises date from the late 1900s, when physics began to be associated with the experimental method. Before that, it was referred to as "natural philosophy". Fontserè is not only honored with this display case, but also with his name on the Faculty's Sala de Graus. He was fundamental in the history of Catalan science, the main driving force behind modern meteorology here, founder of the Meteorological Service of Catalonia in 1921. He also worked in astronomy, seismology, and earth physics, and promoted meteorology based on systematic observation and rigorous data collection. Among his contributions, the Elemental Atlas of Clouds, translated into several languages, stands out. Furthermore, he was one of the main promoters of an astronomical observatory on Tibidabo: the Fabra Observatory. He did so many things! He had time to do them: he lived for 100 years.I have the privilege of going down to a warehouse where there is a string of instruments stored. I notice some rudimentary computers. The screens are cathode ray tubes. They resemble old black and white televisions. Despite their size, they had much lower power and memory than a current mobile phone. "I enjoy playing instruments," reveals Joan Manel. He dedicates himself to cataloging, researching... Practically alone. "Now I have managed to get an intern for two hours a day," he says. The history of instruments is also the history of progress in the ability to measure. Over time they have gained sensitivity, precision, and automation. Today a student can record hundreds of measurements with digital sensors, whereas before they had to read them one by one on a graduated scale and write them down by hand in a notebook.The materials have also changed: before, brass, wood, and glass were used, and often the cables were covered in colored silk. There was a clear intention to make precise and beautiful objects. Today they are much more powerful and precise, but beauty has ceased to be of interest. Plastics, aluminum, and electronics predominate.We leave the warehouse and go to see the star piece: a Grubb telescope, an Irish company, one of themost prestigious in the world for large astronomical telescopes during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is inside and, therefore, does not work. After all, seeing the sky from Barcelona's Diagonal – an area with significant light pollution – is of little interest.

Luís Filipe Costa Póvoas (Porto, 1996) had always imagined that he would end up having an academic career. He liked science and for years he saw himself one day directing his own laboratory or being a university professor. His doctorate, however, has changed his plans. Not because he has stopped loving research, but because he now has other priorities: "Having a flat, having a family, a stable life." And he is not sure that all this is compatible with a scientific career.

One of the many ways in which public universities in the State try to attract talent and entice high-level researchers to develop their research here are the Ramón y Cajal contracts. This program from the Ministry of Science and Universities has served for 25 years as a tool for the beneficiaries researchers to eventually obtain, after a few years, a stable job position. However, this objective of ending up with a stable position is what various researchers are now denouncing is at risk.

Few times has an astronomical phenomenon concentrated so much popular expectation and scientific interest at the same time. The total solar eclipse next Wednesday, August 12, will not only be a milestone for millions of people who will have the opportunity to contemplate one of the most extraordinary spectacles that nature offers. It will also represent an exceptional opportunity to test instruments, validate scientific models, and obtain data that, under normal conditions, are simply impossible to achieve. Catalonia and the Peninsula will be the global epicenter of astronomy.

Make the most difficult easy: getting science, and especially everything related to the universe, to awaken the curiosity of those who listen. And not only that. He is capable of spreading his passion for the cosmos and, in turn, for life. With only a few days left until the total solar eclipse that can be seen from Catalonia, Joan Anton Català, astrophysicist, quantum chemist, and science communicator, is the most sought-after man, but he makes a space in his busy schedule to explain to us how extraordinary this phenomenon will be that we will be able to see on August 12. The eclipse of the century (Cossetània) is the guide it has published for those who do not want to miss any detail.

The scientific community is once again surprising with an unprecedented discovery about the main star of our planetary system. The scientific journal Nature published this Wednesday the sharpest images of the sun ever taken, which have allowed the observation of a phenomenon unknown until now. Specifically, the photos reveal that on the surface of this star there are small vortices that, collectively, form swirling patterns reminiscent of the night sky in Vincent van Gogh's painting The Starry Night.

Tintin, Professor Calculus and Captain Haddock are on the pyre, waiting for the Incas to light it with a large magnifying glass to concentrate the sun's light. But Tintin addresses the king of the stars and asks him to cover himself with a veil if he does not wish for his death. The sun darkens completely, causing panic among the Incas. Tintin asks the sun to shine again. The star lights up and the three are freed.

A sign from the gods, a bad omen, a cosmic wonder, an evidence that mathematics governs the visible world... Eclipses have fascinated humanity since the dawn of time. And at each historical stage they have been interpreted in different ways. Today we know that an eclipse is "the total or partial occultation of a celestial body by the interposition of another celestial body between it and the observer". But perhaps it was more romantic to believe that a dragon devoured the sun, as they thought in China in the 8th century BC.

Scientists from the University of Berkeley and Johns Hopkins University have revealed a new secret in the history of the human species: they have found traces from two unknown ancestral lineages in human DNA. These are lineages we did not inherit from Neanderthals or Denisovans, but rather from older species. However, their appearance, where they lived, or which species they belonged to are questions still without an answer.

Good doctors treat everyone equally. However, from time to time they receive comments from relatives who use their social status to request special attention. Are there still, distinguished patients? Well yes, at least there are those who consider themselves so. I think about it when I am in one of the "distinguished patients" rooms at the mental health center named after Pere Mata (doctor, politician, professor of forensic medicine... and writer). Mata was the mayor of Reus and held positions of responsibility in Barcelona and Madrid, from which he promoted laws that, years after his death, made it possible to open centers like the one I am visiting today. The room is located on the first floor of the Pere Mata Institute, built in a clearly modernist style by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. It is a large room for a single person, and well decorated (walls, ceiling, and floor included). It has not been used for a long time; it is only visited. The rest of the facilities, on the other hand, are not open to the general public: they continue to be a health center.In this room for distinguished patients, what strikes me most is a blurry mirror: it is made on purpose. This way they could not see their faces and did not "collapse". Next to this room, there is another one, "smaller": much smaller and without windows. It was for the night caretakers. Although, exceptionally, some distinguished patients had their own service, there were "third class" patients who performed service tasks for the "first class" or distinguished ones. And they received remuneration (by the way, the Pere Mata Institute had its own currency). Next door there is a room with a single piece of furniture: a bathtub. Quite a luxury! "Hygiene and hydrotherapy were essential here. Electrotherapy was also practiced. Furthermore, light, ventilation, and contact with nature were considered elements of care," remarks Maria Adzerias, from Còdol Educació, a company that for years has been bringing the heritage of the Tarragona regions closer to citizens. Everything was designed for the emotional well-being of the patients. "Emotional well-being, which contributes to physical well-being, is very important. They were truly advanced here," says my wife, Elisabet, a doctor, who accompanies me.Maria reminds us that one of Pere Mata's illustrious patients was the painter Joaquim Mir. "On a trip to Mallorca with a group of painters, among whom was Picasso, Mir fell off a cliff. When he returned, he hadn't fully recovered. That's why his parents decided to admit him," explains Maria. Elisabet, a painting enthusiast, immediately searches on her mobile for paintings by Mir made when he was here. There are some very beautiful landscapes.Maria tells us all about this during a guided, theatrical tour. She plays the role of a housekeeper who, throughout the entire performance, introduces the Pere Mata Institute project to potential collaborators, and sings its praises, while waiting for Doctor Briansó, the Institute's promoter, to arrive. "Briansó achieved the objective of creating a quality, cheerful, and spacious center, far from the asylum of the painting Casa de locos, by Goya," says Maria. Elisabet immediately searches for it on her mobile and shows it to me – the madmen are crowded and with little light – while Maria reads from a document some words that Briansó pronounced about Pere Mata's project: "Does it not represent a lot, a great deal, in the moral order, the relief that we propose for the most unfortunate beings of humanity?". These are expressions that would now be nuanced, but they denote a way of thinking. Have we improved? "}The excellent guided theatrical tour places the public at the beginning of the 20th century, when the first cars, electricity, the telephone arrived... A time when progress accelerated. The visit has a final musical surprise, recalling the importance given to music therapy: on Sunday afternoons, patients, medical staff, and sometimes some relatives attended the concert.On the upper floor, behind an iron railing covered with colored glass cylinders – a solution that Domènech i Montaner himself would later develop at the Palau de la Música Catalana – a singer, accompanied by a pianist, performs pieces from the era. As I listen to the dancing notes, I notice a chestnut tree – a symbol of strength – etched on the wall. Vegetation is a recurring element in this center. Roses are abundant here, a flower that is also found on the coat of arms of the city of Reus."Domènech i Montaner –who also gave his all in another building in Reus: Casa Navàs–, was the conductor of a group of artisans, who made the furniture, the stained glass windows, the lamps...", emphasizes Maria Adzerias.The prestigious modernist architect designed this complex with pavilions. It is a precedent for the model he would later develop at the Hospital de Sant Pau. The project – unfinished – provided for pavilions differentiated by sex, social class, type of illness... In the interior spaces, he ensured that the furniture and many other elements had rounded shapes; this reduced the risk of bumps or injuries. Furthermore, the main staircase has no railing, so that patients could not grab it and injure themselves, nor a well in the staircase, to avoid the temptation to jump.As with Casa Navàs –Reus's other Modernist jewel, also by Domènech i Montaner–, construction costs were high: the architect had no budget limits. "Domènech i Montaner erects buildings with the same speed as he demolishes fortunes," it was said.We finish the visit to the garden, which is a little elevated. The stone wall surrounding the enclosure seems easy to cross. But if we approach it, a notable drop appears. It is known as the “lob's leap”. In this way, the patients did not have the feeling of being locked up, even though they were. After the visit, the actress shows me documentation that she used to create the script for the theatrical visit. There is a poster with the image of the Institut Pere Mata that says: Manicomio de Reus. Instituto Pere Mata, and then Casa de curación de padecimientos mentales y nerviosos. The two main names are the doctor Emili Briansó and the priest. One healed the body and the other the soul, and everything was sorted. The word asylum has fallen into disuse. This center no longer houses "madmen" or "lunatics", but rather people with mental illnesses. At least in name we have improved.A 14th of April with two kingsKing Alfonso XIII visited the Pere Mata Institute in 1904 and wanted to greet the patients. One of them claimed to be the "king of Spain". When he was presented to the monarch, the patient told him: "With whom does the king of Spain have the honor of speaking?". Alfonso XIII, despite being surprised, improvised: "With another king". "And where are you king of?". Then Alfonso XIII renounced his homeland: "I am the king of England", he let him know. La Vanguardia –monarchist newspaper– collected the anecdote, and not precisely applauding it. Perhaps the fact that there were Catalan flags displeased the chronicler of that act on April 14th... the day that, a few years later, the Republic would be proclaimed.

Let the majesty of orcas not deceive you: they are intelligent, strategic, and relentless predators in the oceans. An investigation published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Ethology has recorded and documented for the first time a never-before-seen behavior in these cetaceans in the Gulf of California, Mexico. As can be seen in the images, the orcas coordinate to hold and ram a prey, throwing it into the air.

Interstellar sugar. An international team of scientists has found the presence of erythrulose in space for the first time, a sugar composed of four carbon atoms that on Earth is found in raspberries – and is added to self-tanning creams – and which is considered a key piece for the construction of genetic material such as RNA. The finding, published yesterday in the journal Nature Astronomy, marks a turning point in astrochemistry because it suggests that an extraterrestrial molecular cloud "bombarded" our planet about 4 billion years ago and gave rise to the first forms of life as we know them.Sugars had previously been detected in asteroids and comets that impact the Earth's surface, but it has now been confirmed that erythrulose forms naturally in space. The samples were found in a giant gas cloud in the center of the Milky Way called G+0.693-0.027, which acts like a chemical laboratory. The identification was made possible thanks to two radio telescopes located in Yebes (Guadalajara) and Granada, in work coordinated by Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, a researcher at the Center for Astrobiology (CAB, CSIC-INTA). Astrophysicists calculate that these sugars form on the small grains of dust and ice in space and are incorporated into asteroids and comets. When the Earth was just forming, there was a massive bombardment of meteorites that delivered between 0.5 and 50 million tons of erythrulose, which spurred the origin of life. What does this discovery mean? Knowing that complex and vital elements like sugars did not originate on our planet, but rather come from space millions of light-years away.

It all started more than three years ago. The company Iltirta, dedicated to disseminating knowledge about archaeology and a collaborator of the University of Lleida, designed a simple card game to liven up one of the days of the Iberian weekend that is convened annually at the archaeological sites of Catalonia. It was an incipient proposal, made with domestic and limited resources, with no other pretension than to provide a good time for tourists and enthusiasts.

New or classic

Mom is going to Antarctica, by Anna Cabré Albós and Mariona Tolosa Sisteré (Zahorí Books, 2020).

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Alzheimer's disease probably does not have a single cause. For this reason, the scientific community continues to study the changes that occur in the brains of affected people to determine if they are the origin of the disease or a consequence of the neurodegenerative process. Currently, two hypotheses concentrate a good part of the research. The first, dominant for decades, points to the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques, deposits of protein fragments that accumulate between neurons. The second focuses on the Tau protein, which forms aggregates within neurons in the form of tangles and is associated with neuronal death. A study published this Monday in the journal Cell by the University of Utah Health —with the support of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the United States— delves into this second hypothesis. The work indicates that a brain protein called Arc can facilitate the spread of Tau from diseased neurons to healthy neurons.

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"We are living in a time when science is more necessary than ever," explains Cristina Sáez, the science specialist at ARA and now also director of the monthly supplement Va de Ciència, which publishes its first issue this Saturday.

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Within mammals there are several orders, such as primates, to which humans belong; cetaceans, such as whales or dolphins, or carnivores. Now, a team from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) has discovered a new species of microorganism in Blanes, in the Selva region. This is a finding that, relatively speaking, could be equated to the discovery of a new order within mammals, as it adds a new branch to the evolutionary tree of this group. In this case, however, we are talking about amoebas, unicellular microorganisms that maintain a dynamically stable shape, can have more than one nucleus, and move by forming "false feet or pseudopods through extensions of the cell membrane.

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For decades, the eye has been one of evolution's great enigmas. Charles Darwin said that thinking about the origin of such a sophisticated organ made him shudder. How could a structure capable of detecting light have been built in such a way that the brain could form three-dimensional images with which to interpret the world, from the accumulation of small and gradual changes? A new scientific hypothesis published in the journal Current Biologyproposes a surprising answer. Our eyes could come from a single ancestral eye located in the center of the head in very simple marine animals. Perhaps it is no coincidence that so many ancient mythologies imagined cyclops, beings with a single eye in the center of the forehead. Long before vertebrates with two lateral eyes existed, our ancestors might have actually had a single primitive central eye.The research, led by neurobiologists Dan-Eric Nilsson (Lund University, Sweden) and Tom Baden (University of Sussex, England), suggests that about 560 million years ago, the ancestors of vertebrates had a single central photosensitive system, similar to a “third eye”. Over time, this organ split into two, which gradually specialized to give rise to modern retinas.

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