Taxonomy, or the naming of species, is surprisingly complicated – and contentious. It doesn't take much scientific expertise to divide lions from tigers, but details count and experts still argue about which classification method is best.

Yet while each method used is imperfect, scientific groups "are now coming together to establish guidelines for how species should be named and ordered across the tree of life", said Live Science, "and how to handle disputes when they arise".

How do scientists define a species?
Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus established the first official system of taxonomy in 1735. Based on visual differences between plants and animals, his system was revolutionary, but didn't prove resilient as technology and thought continued to develop.

More than two centuries later, in 1942, German-American biologist Ernst Mayr devised the biological species concept, a system of classification based on organisms' ability to reproduce with one another that is still in use today.

Is there a universal definition for species?
According to a study published in the journal Current Biology in 2021, scientists use at least 16 different "species concepts", dividing plants and animals into groups based on a wide range of factors.

Each definition comes with caveats and complications, too, meaning that no single definition covers every scenario – a headache for scientists and conservationists alike. 

How much do names matter?
Names allow scientists to more easily catalogue and speak about new species, tens of thousands of which are discovered each year. They also allow us to better understand how and why organisms evolve.

Plus, as climate change continues to threaten biodiversity, taxonomy helps conservationists identify species in danger and act accordingly. By setting clear parameters and taking population counts, scientists lay the groundwork for species-saving conservation work.

Giraffes, for example, have been officially considered a single species since Linnaeus named them Giraffa camelopardalis in the 18th century. But more recent genetic research suggests that the giraffe as we know it may be split into four distinct species, mainly delineated by the regions in which they live. This would mean one of these species – the northern giraffe – is among the most threatened large mammals in the world.

The literary legacy of Alice Munro threatens to be overshadowed by claims that she stood by her husband after learning he sexually abused one of her daughters.

The Nobel laureate's estranged youngest daughter, Andrea Robin Skinner, made the allegations in an article published in the Toronto Star on Sunday, weeks after Munro's death at the age of 92. 

The "long-held secret" has been met with "horror" by readers, said The Washington Post, "with some saying that it would be difficult for them to return to reading Munro's work".

'Threatened retribution'
Following her death in May, "tributes flowed in from across the literary world" for Munro, who was "credited with perfecting the contemporary short story", said Time. But now her "many admirers" must "grapple with a darker aspect of her legacy" following her daughter's revelations.

In her "heart-wrenching" essay, Skinner claims her late stepfather, geographer Gerald Fremlin, subjected her to years of abuse from the age of nine, after marrying Munro in 1976. Skinner, now 58, details how she went from being a "happy child" who was "active and curious" to suffering with "bulimia, insomnia and migraines".

She finally told her mother when she was in her 20s, she wrote, but Munro expressed no sympathy and was instead "overwhelmed by her sense of injury to herself". After Fremlin denied the abuse and "threatened retribution", the family went "back to acting as if nothing had happened".

According to a separate article in the Toronto Star, Skinner cut off contact but finally decided to report Fremlin to the police in 2005 after reading an interview in which her mother described having a "close relationship" with her daughters. After pleading guilty to indecent assault, Fremlin, then 80, received a suspended sentence and two years' probation. Munro stayed with him until his death, in 2013.

'Patterns of silence'
The claims have "rocked" fans and colleagues of Munro, whose writing often "explored themes of women’s lives, complex familial dynamics, sex, trauma, and secrecy", said Time. With Skinner's story "sending shockwaves through the literary world, the narrative surrounding her mother is beginning to change".

Skinner reportedly decided to publish her essay after reconnecting with her three siblings, Andrew, Jenny and Sheila. They "supported her coming out publicly with what is sure to put their mother's reputation in a much different light". But Skinner "made clear" that going public was not about revenge.

This "story isn't about celebrities behaving badly”, she told the Star, but rather about the "patterns of silencing, the tendency to do that in families and societies".

Starting the morning with a mushroom mocha might not sound very tempting, but could the suddenly fashionable drink be the key to a less stressful day? That's what some enthusiasts are claiming. 

"Mushroom mania" is sweeping the high street, said The Guardian, with medicinal mushrooms cropping up in supplements, hot drinks and even beers. Holland & Barrett reported that searches on its website for the term "functional mushrooms" were up 50% year-on-year. 

These aren't the type of mushrooms you cook with (or that make you hallucinate either). Medicinal varieties such as chaga, reishi and cordyceps are chosen for their adaptogenic properties – meaning they are said to help reduce the effects of stress on the body. This isn't a new idea: mushrooms have been used in Eastern medicines for thousands of years. 

"But until recently," said Lindsay Warner in Harvard Health, "you probably never considered adding them to your coffee." Now, though, the "fungi-infused brew" is having a moment. The potential benefits span everything from better sleep and more energy, to improved focus and reduced inflammation. 

Medicinal mushrooms are harvested, dried and processed before being blended with coffee beans. While some people report a slightly "nutty" or "earthy" taste, others hardly register any flavour difference at all. Most mushroom coffees contain around half as much caffeine as regular coffee so users are also less likely to experience unwelcome side effects. 

Although there have been a few studies conducted in test tubes or on animals that demonstrate some of the "compelling" health benefits of medicinal mushrooms, said Warner, well-designed clinical trials on humans are distinctly "lacking". What's more, none of the research is conducted on mushroom coffee, so it's unclear whether the benefits remain once the mushrooms have been blended into a drink. 

Macron mayhem a wake-up call for all
The Daily Mail editorial board
After Emmanuel Macron's "gamble" to call a snap general election "backfired spectacularly", this "poster boy for globalist liberalism" has seen his "legacy sink beneath the waves", says the Daily Mail. France "faces the chaos of a hung parliament", with a "hard-Left coalition of socialists, greens, Islamists and wokeists". This should be a "huge wake-up call for ruling elites across the continent" including Labour and the Tories, who "must listen to and understand the concerns of the disillusioned millions".

Let's give Keir a chance
Sam Leith in The Spectator
"I felt genuinely buoyed up," says Sam Leith of watching Keir Starmer appoint his first cabinet. There are doubters, but "what if we allow for the possibility, at least at first, that he is what he has repeatedly advertised himself to be: a cautious, pragmatic, not especially ideological politician"? Speaking "for all the centrist dads" out there, "I'd like to say: could it hurt – I mean, could it make things any worse than they have been – to give him a bloody chance?"

Who can now stop Trump? It's not Kamala, but there is a woman who can
Zoe Strimpel in The Telegraph
The "leader of the free world" needs to have fewer catatonic moments than Joe Biden, writes Zoe Strimpel, but who can replace him? "Enter Gretchen Whitmer", Michigan's "stalwart" Democratic governor.  "Experienced, reasonable, sparky, and not senile", she is a "tough cookie, as you need to be to be to survive in American politics", and is "sensible on most topics". Sometimes it takes "a middle-aged woman, to fix a problem", and America "has a huge problem".