The Best of The Guardian
20+ most popular The Guardian articles, as voted by our community.
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New this Week
These are fresh off the press.
Global heating will push billions outside ‘human climate niche’
World is on track for 2.7C and ‘phenomenal’ human suffering, scientists warn
The strange survival of Guinness World Records
The long read: For more than half a century, one organisation has been certifying and cataloguing all of life’s superlatives. But has it gone from being about the pursuit of knowledge to simply…
Trending
These are currently making the rounds on Refind.
I set out to find the happiness I felt as a child, and it worked
Rediscovering old, simple joys such as music, photography and Lego made me wonder why I abandoned them in the first place, says poet Joseph Coelho
AI will end the west’s weak productivity and low growth. But who exactly will benefit?
The clock is ticking on the development of policy to meet this huge societal challenge, says Larry Elliott, the Guardian’s economics editor
Human memory may be unreliable after just a few seconds, scientists find
Short-term memory illusions can happen when we ‘start filling in based on our expectations’, study suggests
On the trail of the Dark Avenger: the most dangerous virus writer in the world
The long read: Bulgaria in the 1980s became known as the ‘virus factory’, where hundreds of malicious computer programs were unleashed to wreak havoc. But who was writing them, and why?
Are you a mosquito magnet? Help may be at hand
From repellants to app-based mosquito monitoring and a new malaria vaccine, researchers are making important breakthroughs in the fight against the biting insects
The Guardian on Books
Can ‘smart thinking’ books really give you the edge?
Trust your gut, boost your memory, de-bias your decision making… can we train our brains to perform better?
«A decade ago, the fashion was to be pessimistic about the prospects of improving our thinking, and even about the value of thinking at all.»
The big idea: does true kindness have to be selfless?
It feels great to give at Christmas. But does that pleasure detract from the good deed?
The Guardian on Climate Crisis
The climate disaster is here
Earth is already becoming unlivable. Will governments act to stop this disaster from getting worse?
«At 1.5C, about 14% of the world’s population will be hit by severe heatwaves once every five years. with this number jumping to more than a third of the global population at 2C.»
Revealed: the ‘carbon bombs’ set to trigger catastrophic climate breakdown
Exclusive: Oil and gas majors are planning scores of vast projects that threaten to shatter the 1.5C climate goal. If governments do not act, these firms will continue to cash in as the world burns
The Guardian on Environment
Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions
New data shows how fossil fuel companies have driven climate crisis despite industry knowing dangers
Why you should go animal-free: 18 arguments for eating meat debunked
Unpalatable as it may be for those wedded to producing and eating meat, the environmental and health evidence for a plant-based diet is clear
The Guardian on Fiction
The 100 best books of the 21st century
Dazzling debut novels, searing polemics, the history of humanity and trailblazing memoirs ... Read our pick of the best books since 2000
Lost chapter of world's first novel found in Japanese storeroom
A fifth part of The Tale of Genji, which was completed around 1010 by a woman later named Murasaki Shikibu, has been found in a house in Tokyo
The Guardian on Food
Chew slowly, keep moving and eat 30 plants a week: 12 rules for gut health
What to eat, when, how to do it properly – and what to avoid. Experts lay out the food habits that will make a real difference to your health
The truth about caffeine: how coffee really affects our bodies
Every day, around the world, 2bn cups are consumed. But what actually happens after you swallow that first mouthful? Here is everything you need to know
The Guardian on Greta Thunberg
Why the Guardian is changing the language it uses about the environment
From now, house style guide recommends terms such as ‘climate crisis’ and ‘global heating’
Greta Thunberg: ‘We are ignoring natural climate solutions’
Film by Swedish activist and Guardian journalist George Monbiot says nature must be used to repair broken climate
The Guardian on LGBTQIA
TikTok's local moderation guidelines ban pro-LGBT content
Chinese-owned social media app bans such content even in countries where homosexuality has never been illegal
Subversive, queer and terrifyingly relevant: six reasons why Moby-Dick is the novel for our times
The book features gay marriage, hits out at slavery and imperialism and predicts the climate crisis – 200 years after the birth of its author, Herman Melville, it has never been more important
The Guardian on Nature
50 simple ways to make your life greener
Expert tips on how to be kinder to the planet – from cooking and cleaning to fashion and finance
Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles
The breakthrough, spurred by the discovery of plastic-eating bugs at a Japanese dump, could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis
The Guardian on Poetry
Poem of the week: 7th Nerve by Rhiannon Hooson
A hi-tech medical exam draws its subject back to a more archaic, essential experience
When Milton met Shakespeare: poet's notes on Bard appear to have been found
Hailed as one of the most significant archival discoveries of modern times, text seems to show the Paradise Lost poet making careful annotations on his edition of Shakespeare’s plays
The Guardian on Vegan
If you want to save the world, veganism isn’t the answer
Intensively farmed meat and dairy are a blight, but so are fields of soya and maize. There is another way, says the farmer Isabella Tree
Love cheese and hate tofu? 14 vegan obstacles
A few weeks into Veganuary, you may be wondering how to keep a plant-based lifestyle going. Whether you’re worried about supplements, expense or food aversions, here’s everything you need to know
Popular
These are some all-time favorites with Refind users.
100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying
Whether it’s taking fruit to work (and to the bedroom!), being polite to rude strangers or taking up skinny-dipping, here’s a century of ways to make life better, with little effort involved …
«Reuse all plastic bags – even bread bags. Much of the packaging you can’t reuse can be taken to larger branches of supermarkets for recycling.»
Uber broke laws, duped police and built secret lobbying operation, leak reveals
124,000 documents expose inner workings behind US tech firm’s rise as a global empire responsible for 19m journeys a day
Is your smartphone ruining your memory? A special report on the rise of ‘digital amnesia’
‘I can’t remember anything’ is a common complaint these days. But is it because we rely so heavily on our smartphones? And do the endless alerts and distractions stop us forming new memories?
Your attention didn’t collapse. It was stolen
Social media and many other facets of modern life are destroying our ability to concentrate. We need to reclaim our minds while we still can
«“an attentional pathogenic culture” – an environment in which sustained and deep focus is harder for all of us»
Bicycle graveyards: why do so many bikes end up underwater?
The long read: Every year, thousands of bikes are tossed into rivers, ponds, lakes and canals. What’s behind this mass drowning?
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