Randomised trials of omega-6s do not show an increase in inflammation caused by the fatty acid
Read more in the Antiviral series
If you’ve been online lately, you’ve probably been bombarded with the discourse about seed oils. Once a completely innocuous food that no one really talked about, they have become the enemy of the moment. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of health and human services in the US, has called them “toxic” and vowed to act against them. There are countless activewear-clad influencers online saying that nothing harms your health more than these products.
Which is odd, because the Australian dietary guidelines say seed oils are basically fine. You should limit them because they’re high in calories but otherwise there’s no major reason – according to the guidelines and most experts – why you should avoid them. As Prof Lauren Ball, director of the University of Queensland’s Centre for Community Health and Wellbeing, says: “There’s no convincing evidence that eating seed oils like canola or sunflower oil in normal dietary amounts harms our health. In fact, these oils contain unsaturated fats, which are generally beneficial for cardiovascular health.” Dr Jason Wu, a professor at the University of New South Wales, agrees: “The evidence base consistently points to health benefits of eating seed oils.”
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/27/2026 - 09:00
10/27/2026 - 08:28
Chris Packham says £24bn scheme is ‘national embarrassment’ and joins calls for more funding to help households lower bills
Campaigners are calling on the chancellor to cut the government’s £24bn spending plans for “fairytale” carbon capture technologies in favour of funding green schemes that can reliably cut emissions and lower energy bills.
The environmentalist Chris Packham is leading an 11th-hour appeal for the Treasury to use this week’s budget to scale back the government’s “exorbitantly expensive” support for carbon capture, which is now more than the planned spending for the US, the EU, Norway and Japan combined.
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‘No one saves the planet if it hits their pocket’: UK heat pump installers fear planned subsidy cuts
10/27/2026 - 06:59
Boiler upgrade scheme, which provides grants of up to £9,000 for sustainable alternatives, expected to be slashed in budget
When Bill Tuck first started installing air source heat pumps six years ago, other heating engineers were skeptical about whether the green technology would take off. “Now, the conversation is completely different,” he said.
“I’m getting approached by them saying: ‘Mrs Jones, my customer for 15 years, she’s enquiring about a heat pump. What can you tell me?’ The whole narrative has changed.”
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10/27/2026 - 06:00
President has taken an axe to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stalling climate research on and response to extreme weather events
Sweeping cuts to the premier US climate agency under Donald Trump have severely hampered the country’s capacity to forecast, research and respond to extreme weather events, former government officials and scientists have warned, as the US faces a cascade of hazards fueled by a potentially historic El Niño this winter.
From the start of his second term, the president has taken aim at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), slashing staff levels, canceling contracts and grants, and shutting down databases and research laboratories. The agency that has long been considered a global crown jewel in climate science and forecasting, has lost roughly 20% of its staff since January 2025.
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10/27/2026 - 06:00
My mother was a keen swimmer, and she lived with depression. I wonder if she found the same respite in the water that has helped heal me since she passed away
It was early morning in late September, off the coast of Kaş in Turkey. Watching the slightly choppy sea from a boat, the last thing I felt like doing was embarking on another 5km (3-mile) swim. Mind fog had sapped my energy, and my mood was decidedly Eeyore-like. But as I pulled on my cap and flippers, adjusted my goggles and took the plunge, something shifted.
Head in the water, the knotted feeling in my throat began to loosen. Breathing came properly. There was respite.
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10/27/2026 - 02:00
Letter to PM argues series of wrong choices on North Sea oil, Heathrow, EVs and heat pumps will scupper net zero plans
Andy Burnham will “sleepwalk” into climate disaster if he fails to get a grip on a series of important policies whose combined impact could scupper plans to reach net zero, campaigners have said.
Big decisions on North Sea drilling, the expansion of Heathrow airport, electric vehicles (EVs) and grants for heat pumps are awaiting decisions from ministers.
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10/27/2026 - 02:00
Investigation finds dozens of ministers and civil servants moved into AI roles as government developed datacentre expansion plans
The UK’s policy on datacentres and AI was developed without any meetings with environmental groups, an investigation has found.
The nonprofit organisation Spotlight on Corruption said a “considerable revolving door” shaped the government’s development of “AI growth zones”, a central plank of the former prime minister Keir Starmer’s AI and economic policy, with 38 ministers, senior civil servants and special advisers hired to positions in AI companies between July 2024 and September 2026.
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10/27/2026 - 00:00
Oxfam says investing by rich in disaster recovery widens inequality and gives incentive to delay climate action
The world’s wealthiest people are not just profiting from the polluting causes of climate breakdown, they are also increasingly cashing in on the catastrophic consequences, according to a study by Oxfam.
The global equality organisation has found that the richest 0.1% of the world’s population are heavily invested in disaster preparedness, recovery and reconstruction – a market that is projected to grow from $70bn to $92bn a year by 2029.
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10/26/2026 - 07:00
Company imitates reflection of sun from mirrors, prompting pushback from some scientists, environmentalists and California locals
Locals in a rural area of California were recently startled to see dazzlingly bright light shining down from nearby mountains at night, illuminating a swathe of the desert below.
Unbeknown to them, the strange nocturnal illumination was the latest step in a company’s plan to erect thousands of giant mirrors in space to reflect sunlight on to the Earth during night-time.
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10/26/2026 - 04:28
One dead and 527 injured as winds of up to 185mph hit Taiwan and southern Japan, while Greece issues flood alerts
Typhoon Champi was declared the strongest storm of the year so far after recording sustained winds of 185mph last week. From late Thursday to early Saturday, the typhoon battered Taiwan and Japan’s southern islands. Champi approached the east coast of Taiwan before the centre of the storm turned south along the Yilan County coastline, looping offshore and then tracking northwards away from the island. The storm brought gusts of up to 141mph and 48-hour rainfall totals of more than 620mm to parts of Yilan.
So far, the death toll remains at one, with 527 reported injured. There were widespread power outages, with more than 288,000 houses having no electricity at one point, although most had since been reconnected. Champi has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it rapidly weakens to the south-west of Japan’s mainland on Monday.
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