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The botanist who took 30 years to name 18 trees: 'It is a race against myself'

Botanist José Luis Fernández-Alonso at the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.

It is as though the walls of his office were almost covered by the dead branches of a tree. Floor-to-ceiling shelves are packed with folders, their once-red and green covers faded by time. Inside are dozens of tropical dried plant specimens, tied with string alongside pages of notes. To most people, the mass of documentation would look like a pile of leaves fallen from the sky, but José Luis Fernández-Alonso knows exactly where everything is in his small jungle.

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The botanist José Luis Fernández-Alonso in a greenhouse at the Royal Botanical Garden.The botanist José Luis Fernández-Alonso sits on a bench at the Royal Botanical Garden.
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From Mamdani’s veto to enthusiasm in Estonia: Schools around the world are grappling with the use of AI

Sandra Martinez Roe, a mother in Los Angeles, hopes that her son will never use artificial intelligence (AI) in school. “I’m not going to let my children be guinea pigs,” she tells EL PAÍS over the phone. The city’s school board granted her wish, at least temporarily, a couple of weeks ago: the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has banned AI from public classrooms this school year.

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Kristina Kallas, Estonia’s minister of education, pictured at the Duquessa de Cardona hotel in Barcelona on April 10, 2026.

© MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images (MediaNews Group via Getty Images)

A sixth-grade student at Pacoima Middle School, in Los Angeles, California, on September 11, 2026.
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