Daily Recap: Science — 13 July 2026

Science today is framed by climate, scale and systems. In Britain, a stark new analysis links the exceptional May and June heatwaves in England and Wales to more than 2,700 excess deaths, with researchers saying over 40% were tied to human-caused warming—an alarming measure of how climate change is already shaping public health. There was a more hopeful environmental story from China, where scientists say decades of work on the so-called Green Great Wall, using straw-grid planting to pin down shifting sands, has slowed desert expansion, even if the gains will require constant maintenance. Elsewhere, the science-and-technology world intersected with policy and infrastructure: Mastercard is reportedly weighing a sale of control of UK payments firm Vocalink, and a coalition of U.S. states is challenging a giant media merger, underscoring how questions of resilience, ownership and long-term stewardship now reach far beyond the lab.

Top Science stories

• Study links May and June heatwaves in England and Wales to over 2,700 excess deaths (15 sources)
• 12 U.S. states sue to block Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger (8 sources)
• China’s “Green Great Wall” slows desert expansion using grid-like planting, scientists say work continues (7 sources)
• Mastercard explores selling majority stake in UK payments firm Vocalink (6 sources)
• U.K. says Iran-backed proxy carried out attacks on Jewish sites and bans Revolutionary Guard (5 sources)
• Hegseth Announces Joint Pentagon-DOJ Task Force to Identify and Prosecute Leaks (5 sources)
• Great Southern begins 15,000m drilling to expand Golden Boulder gold discovery in WA (4 sources)
• UK bans Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and two related groups (3 sources)

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