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Health & wellbeingSynthetic hormones such as Kigtropin can boost muscles but users risk blood clots, paralysis – or a prison sentenceHarry (not his real name), 27, a marketing executive from north London, is a keen sportsman and bodybuilder. He spent hours in the gym, and poring over health pages for muscle-boosting tips. Yet he grew frustrated when his muscle growth appeared to plateau. While many bodybuilders turn to steroids (some 250,000 people are thought to use them in the UK, as Raoul Moat apparently did), Harry was deterred by the side-effects, which can include mental health damage.

RankedPop and rockAs the beloved indie band debut new material and return to touring, we count down the best of their eight-album catalogue 20 Available (2003)The band’s frontman, Matt Berninger, has expressed his hesitation about this song from their second album, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers; it is definitely a rare nasty one. “You just made yourself available,” he sneers at a woman, disgusted that he has fallen for her tricks.

US sportsDeadspin blew up the tropes and traditions of old-school media, changing the industry by challenging accepted narrative Will Leitch was sitting on a panel when he was confronted by an exasperated ESPN executive. Roughly six months earlier, Leitch, then the editor-in-chief of Deadspin, had published a leaked internal memo from the network – a massive 50-page intra-office Q&A about some programming items as well as tree planting, parking issues, and sleeping security guards at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.

SEMANTIC ENIGMASWhy do some English words have the same singular and plural? Examples are mostly animals - deer, fish, moose, sheep, swine, buffalo - but also aircraft, stone (weight), head (cattle). Is it related to the Norman/ Saxon divide noted in Ivanhoe? David Null, Claremont, California, USA Animals (most of your examples) were traditionally dealt with as 'uncountable' nouns in English (like sugar or timber) reflecting perhaps a sense that there was an inexhaustible supply to be hunted.

The ObserverArt This article is more than 2 months oldWitches, shamans and grims: why the occult is on the rise in the art worldThis article is more than 2 months oldDreams, surreal visions and pagan rituals play a central part in works now filling galleries and in high demand around the world When artist Stuart Pearson Wright was about five, he was woken by a spectral black dog standing over him.

Endangered species This article is more than 8 years oldYellow-breasted buntings 'being eaten to extinction by China'This article is more than 8 years oldBirds once abundant in Europe and Asia could share the same fate as passenger pigeon as they are killed in millions for food A bird that was once one of the most abundant in Europe and Asia is being hunted to near extinction because of Chinese eating habits, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The ObserverLos Angeles This article is more than 10 years oldCalifornia split as professor in murder trial of her alleged rapist is jailedThis article is more than 10 years oldLA prosecutor is accused of 'terrorising the victim' as Norma Esparza, charged with role in revenge meat-cleaver attack, has her bail revokedA psychology professor has been locked up on suspicion of facilitating the gruesome murder 18 years ago of a man who allegedly raped her as a student – prompting campaigners across Europe and the US to rally to her defence.

Observer's 100 best political booksBooksFiction and drama hold a mirror to the virtues and vices of an age. Here’s our pick of the best Read the rest of the Observer’s 100 political books series here Native Son by Richard Wright (1940)Richard Wright wrote to his friend William Faulkner that black and white Americans were engaged in a “war over the nature of reality”. The terms of Wright’s engagement in that ongoing war were set by his 1940 novel Native Son, which sold 250,000 copies in its first three weeks.

Atlanta city guideAtlanta holidaysAtlanta does give a damn about Gone with the Wind – and you can take in the museums, southern homes and hotels that are connected to Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and the film, which celebrates its 75th birthday this yearMargaret Mitchell HouseThe first port of call for Gone With The Wind fans, thanks to its central location in midtown, the ground floor of this redbrick house is a museum that includes the apartment where Margaret Mitchell wrote most of her novel.