Falcon 9 rocket takes off on journey to replace duo who have been at International Space Station since JuneThe replacements for two Nasa astronauts who have been stuck at the International Space Station for nine months launched on Friday evening, paving the way for the pair's long-awaited return.SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7.03pm ET (11.03pm GMT) in Florida carrying the four astronauts who will take over from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the orbital lab since June. Continue reading...
Though many would rather forget the pandemic, we are living with its consequences. Are we any better prepared for the next one?When asked what was the biggest disaster of the twentieth century, almost nobody answers the Spanish flu," notes Laura Spinney in her book Pale Rider, of an event that killed as many as one in 20 of the global population. There is no cenotaph, no monument in London, Moscow or Washington DC."Most of us will better understand that absence after Covid-19, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization five years ago this week. Some cannot put those events behind them: most obviously, many of those bereaved by the 7 million deaths worldwide (not including those indirectly caused by the pandemic), and the significant numbers still living with long Covid. Others want to forget the loss of loved ones, the months of isolation and the costs to businesses, families and mental health.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Tiny lightning streaks in fine spray can power chemical reactions that generate molecules for life, scientists sayCharles Darwin thought it started in a warm pond. Others point to comets that ploughed into Earth. And some suspect a bolt from the blue, a lightning strike into the ocean.How life started on Earth may forever be a mystery, but new research proposes a radical idea: that crashing waves and waterfalls may have kicked off the process by throwing up mists of water. Continue reading...
The promise of adventure, attention, muscle and safety is driving consumers towards large vehicles - even as they fuel congestion and outstrip the size of car parks
Exclusive: It is imperative humans expand their understanding of space, argues Dame Maggie Aderin-PocockLife must exist beyond Earth, a leading space scientist says, adding it is yet another example of human pride to suppose otherwise.The British space scientist Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock, who will be giving the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures this year, said that while science had made giant leaps in the understanding of space, including the sheer size of the universe, there was still much to learn - not least whether humans were alone.The Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution supported by CGI will be broadcast on the BBC and iPlayer in late December Continue reading...
As Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams prepare to come home after their unexpected nine-month ISS stay, here is what they may experienceGravity may seem like a drag, but spending long periods of time without its grounding force can wreak havoc on your body. On Friday, Nasa and SpaceX will launch the space agency's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station to retrieve astronauts Barry Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams, after what was meant to be an eight-day stay turned into nine months.While it is not the most time a human has spent as an extraterrestrial - Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub hold the record, with 374 days - most long space missions are a maximum of six months. Continue reading...
The Loess plateau was the most eroded place on Earth until China took action and reversed decades of damage from grazing and farmingIt was one of China's most ambitious environmental endeavours ever.The Loess plateau, an area spanning more than 245,000 sq miles (640,000 sq km) across three provinces and parts of four others, supports about 100 million people. By the end of the 20th century, however, this land, once fertile and productive, was considered the most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6VXC5)
Pair could be back on Earth next week after SpaceX Dragon capsule scheduled for launch this FridayAfter an unplanned nine-month stay at the International Space Station, the US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams's space odyssey looks finally to be coming to an end.Though a Nasa-SpaceX mission was postponed on Wednesday, the American space agency now hopes the launch will take place on Friday, meaning the pair could be back on Earth next week. Continue reading...
by Ashifa Kassam European community affairs correspon on (#6VX8R)
Joint analysis of measles cases reveals Covid pandemic resulted in misinformation and vaccination delaysCases of measles doubled last year in the European region, climbing to the highest level in nearly three decades, after the Covid-19 pandemic caused delays in routine vaccination and rampant misinformation, the World Health Organization and Unicef have said.A joint analysis published on Thursday said 127,350 cases of measles, resulting in at least 38 deaths, were reported last year across the region, which includes 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia. In the vast majority of cases, those infected were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. Continue reading...
Maria Branyas Morera, US-born supercentenarian who died in Spain last August, found to have microbiota of an infantThe US-born woman who was the world's oldest living person before she died in Spain last August at age 117 once attributed her longevity to luck and good genetics". And, evidently, Maria Branyas Morera was right.A study of Branyas's microbiome and DNA that scientists began conducting before her death reportedly determined that the genes she inherited allowed her cells to essentially feel and behave as if they were 17 years younger than they actually were. And Branyas's microbiota - which primarily refers to the bacteria in people's guts that has a role in keeping them healthy - mirrored that of an infant, according to the research led by University of Barcelona genetics professor Manel Esteller, a leading expert on ageing. Continue reading...
Hera spacecraft takes photos of red planet's second moon, Deimos, while en route to asteroids 110m miles awayA European spacecraft has taken photos of Mars's smaller and more mysterious second moon during its flight past the planet en route to a pair of asteroids more than 110m miles (177m km) away.The Hera probe activated a suite of instruments to capture images of the red planet and Deimos, a small and lumpy 8-mile-wide moon, which orbits Mars along with the 14-mile-wide Phobos. Continue reading...
Put up pictures of lemurs, penguins and wolves, and introduce tomorrow's environmentalists to the amazing nature in our worldHas it ever struck you as interesting the amount of dinosaur products that are marketed to boys and unicorn products to girls?I recently visited the wonderful Horniman Museum in south London, only to discover that it had been taken over by something called Dinosaur rEvolution. Hertfordshire zoo offers a World of Dinosaurs, there is the roarsome" theatre show Dinosaur World: Live, a dinosaur-themed park in Norfolk called ROARR!, Dinosaur World in Torquay, Dinosaur Park near Swansea, Dino Park in Dumfries - the list is as long as the neck of a brontosaurus. Continue reading...
by Presented by Ian Sample, produced by Ilan Goodman, on (#6VWSN)
Many of us believe that cognitive decline is an inevitable part of ageing, but a new study looking at how our skills change with age challenges that idea. Ian Sample talks to Ludger Womann, a professor of economics at the University of Munich and one of the study's authors, to find out how the team delved into the data to come to their conclusions, and what they discovered about how we can all maintain our faculties for as long as possibleSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
by Anna Bawden Health and social affairs corresponden on (#6VWNY)
Polish research also finds increased risk of both sexes being overweight if marriedMarriage triples the risk of obesity for men, but does not affect women, according to research.Global obesity rates have more than doubled since 1990, with more than 2.5 billion adults and children classed as being overweight or obese. Worldwide, more than half of adults and a third of children are predicted to be overweight or obese by 2050. Continue reading...
Dr Aodhan Breathnach says the general overreach of the state during the pandemic led to mistrust, Desmond Hewitt considers evidence and irrationality, and Richard Bunning is concerned by the poison on social mediaThe very title of Laura Spinney's piece is a sad reflection of how pandemic control preferences quickly aligned along traditional political lines, to everybody's detriment (Five years on from the pandemic, the right's fake Covid narrative has been turbocharged into the mainstream, 9 March). If the right has been guilty of undermining science and scientists, I also observed through the pandemic how the left displayed a disturbing enthusiasm to restrict liberty, using fear and guilt to encourage compliance with control measures, and many arguing to prolong the restrictions beyond thepoint where they were doingany good.I have experience of how the Covid control measures in the NHS, while well-intentioned, were only dismantled at a snail's pace after the greatest danger had passed, prolonging the disruptive effect of the pandemic on the nation's health. Continue reading...
Remains are of an adult member of an extinct species who lived up to 1.4m years ago, researchers sayBone fragments unearthed at an ancient cave in Spain belong to the oldest known human face in western Europe, researchers say.The fossilised remains make up the left cheek and upper jaw of an adult member of an extinct human species who lived and died on the Iberian peninsula between 1.1m and 1.4m years ago. Continue reading...
The $488m Spherex mission aims to explain how galaxies evolved over billions of yearsNasa's newest space telescope rocketed into orbit on Tuesday to map the entire sky like never before - a sweeping look at hundreds of millions of galaxies and their shared cosmic glow since the beginning of time.SpaceX launched the Spherex observatory from California, putting it on course to fly over Earth's poles. Tagging along were four suitcase-size satellites to study the sun. Spherex popped off the rocket's upper stage first, drifting into the blackness of space with a blue Earth in the background. Continue reading...
Study of 21 hospitalisations shows the iced drinks can cause decreased consciousness and low blood sugarChildren under eight should not drink slushies containing glycerol, paediatricians have warned.Public health advice on their safety may need revising after a review of the medical notes of 21 children who became acutely unwell shortly after drinking one of the iced drinks, doctors concluded. Continue reading...
by Raymond Pierrehumbert and Michael Mann on (#6VW10)
Injecting pollutants into the atmosphere to reflect the sun would be extremely dangerous, but the UK is funding field trialsSome years ago in the pages of the Guardian, we sounded the alarm about the increasing attention being paid to solar geoengineering - a barking mad scheme to cancel global heating by putting pollutants in the atmosphere that dim the sun by reflecting some sunlight back to space.In one widely touted proposition, fleets of aircraft would continually inject sulphur compounds into the upper atmosphere, simulating the effects of a massive array of volcanoes erupting continuously. In essence, we have broken the climate by releasing gigatonnes of fossil-fuel carbon dioxide, and solar geoengineering proposes to fix" it by breaking a very different part of the climate system.Raymond T Pierrehumbert FRS is professor of planetary physics at the University of Oxford. He is an author of the 2015 US National Academy of Sciences report on climate interventionMichael E Mann ForMemRS is presidential distinguished professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis Continue reading...
Cladribine tablet for those with active multiple sclerosis will reduce hospital visits and free up appointmentsThousands of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in England are to become the first in Europe to benefit from a major roll out of an immunotherapy pill.Current treatments involve regular trips to hospital, drug infusions, frequent injections and extensive monitoring, which add to the burden on patients and healthcare systems. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6VVRW)
Planet now has 274 moons, almost twice as many as all the other planets in the solar system combinedAstronomers have discovered 128 new moons orbiting Saturn, giving it an insurmountable lead in the running tally of moons in the solar system.Until recently, the moon king" title was held by Jupiter, but Saturn now has a total of 274 moons, almost twice as many as all the other planets combined. The team behind the discoveries had previously identified 62 Saturnian moons using the Canada France Hawaii telescope and, having seen faint hints that there were more out there, made further observations in 2023. Continue reading...
The social, educational and financial impact is still making itself felt, especially for those who continue to mournFive years ago, on 11 March 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a global pandemic. In the intervening years, more than 7 million people worldwide have been reported to have died from Covid. For most people, life as they remember it before the outbreak has returned to the way it was before. However, respondents to a Guardian callout reflect a more complex picture for those who are still affected.While many reported feeling happier that working from home has allowed for a more flexible work-life balance and that eating more healthily and exercising has become a priority, many others described how they still live with what happened. Continue reading...
Archaeologists identify a possible Celtic settlement on the island and believe the trove was hurriedly transported thereThe mystery of why the world's largest iron age Celtic hoard was buried on the south-east coast of Jersey more than 2,000 years ago may have been solved by archaeologists.When about 70,000 silver coins, 11 gold torques and jewellery were unearthed in a field at Le Catillon in the Grouville district in 2012, experts were unable to explain why they had been transported to a remote and unpopulated area with dangerous coastal reefs. Continue reading...
Each year, hundreds of potentially world-changing treatments are discarded because scientists run out of cash. But where big pharma or altruists fear to tread, my friend and I have a solution. It's repugnant, but it will workTwenty miles outside Geneva, beneath the towering magnificence ofa mountain called the Rock of Hell, is a long, pleasant road that runs past the Brocher mansion. Set in acres of gentle lawns and specimen trees, on the edge of the medieval village of Hermance, it is ablissful place. My friend Dominic Nutt and I have been trying to break in for years.La Fondation Brocher is the world's leading institute for research into the ethical, social and legal implications of new medical developments". It's the bioethics equivalent of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton: only the admin staff and the cleaners are permanently employed here; academic fellowships last a maximum of four months. Billions of pounds' worth of pharmaceuticals are influenced by the scholarly judgments that emerge from this idyllic lakeside building. Dom and I want to force entry because we're advocates for patients, and we think we've solved a small corner of a major problem that's holding back the discovery of new medicines. The trouble is, neither of us has a PhD - and in the rarefied world of academic medical ethics, that matters. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay with Ni on (#6VV0Y)
The Mars we know now is arid and dusty, with punishing radiation levels. But, as science correspondent Nicola Davis tells Madeleine Finlay, two new studies add weight to the idea that billions of years ago the red planet was a much wetter place. Nicola explains why researchers now think it was once home to sandy beaches, what a study looking into the type of rust on the planet has revealed about its damp past, and what all this might tell us about the former habitability of MarsMars once had an ocean with sandy beaches, researchers saySupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
Office of technology, policy and strategy and one covering DEI initiatives were eliminated in line with efficiency' cutsNasa announced on Monday it had eliminated the office of its chief scientist and shuttered two other departments including one covering diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA), as Donald Trump's federal efficiency' crusade cut deep into the US space agency.The office of technology, policy and strategy that advises Nasa on important leadership decisions was also shuttered and an unspecified number of workers laid off, according to a memo to employees signed by Janet Petro, Nasa's acting administrator. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#6VTPH)
Researchers say problem could increase number of people at risk of starvation by 400m in next two decadesThe pollution of the planet by microplastics is significantly cutting food supplies by damaging the ability of plants to photosynthesise, according to a new assessment.The analysis estimates that between 4% and 14% of the world's staple crops of wheat, rice and maize is being lost due to the pervasive particles. It could get even worse, the scientists said, as more microplastics pour into the environment. Continue reading...
Contest in Runcorn and Helsby will be a challenge for LabourAround 80 Labour MPs could refuse to back government plans to cut billions from the welfare budget, Amy Gibbons and Tony Diver claim in a story for the Daily Telegraph. They report:The Telegraph understands that around 80 Labour MPs - roughly a fifth of the parliamentary party - won't tolerate" billions of pounds of welfare cuts set to be announced by the Chancellor later this month.The anger is said to have spread beyond the usual suspects", with MPs who would not typically criticise Sir Keir threatening to give the government a slap" over the proposals.Our Labour values are built on a simple but powerful idea: that every individual, regardless of background or circumstance, should have the support they need to make the most of their lives. Everyone who is capable of working deserves the security, dignity and agency that employment offers. Of course, there are some people who are not able to work and they must be treated with compassion and respect. But for those that can, we must restore the pathways to opportunity which are currently so sparse for millions of people. It is exactly what a Labour government exists to do ...As MPs, we understand that delivering this new social contract requires hard choices to be made. We welcome the work that has begun to rebuild our welfare system, and we are fully supportive of it. We believe reforming our broken system is not only necessary, but also a truly progressive endeavour. And so we have established the Get Britain Working Group to make that argument, insistently.The radical package of reforms will see:-5bn in savings by making it harder to qualify for Personal Independence Payments - a benefit not linked to work that is meant to help people with the additional costs of their disabilityThis government is determined that instead of facing a life on benefits ... we stretch every sinew and pull every lever to ensure that we can get those people into work, because that is the best way for them to have a successful and happy life into the future.So I think it's quite right to look at a benefit system which is clearly broken. Continue reading...
Researchers report difficulties retaining staff as White House cost-cutting stresses US medical research systemMajor Alzheimer's disease research centers across the country face a $65m funding gap amid a Trump administration-imposed delay, with at least one struggling to retain highly trained staff.Although courts have ruled a government-wide funding freeze is illegal, the administration has managed to delay research funding by canceling scientific meetings and failing to publish forthcoming meetings in the Federal Register, both which are legally required. Continue reading...
We live in dark, depressing and - frankly - terrifying times. Will technology push us over the edge or help us exit our many crises?Today we live in an era defined by crisis. Indeed, we are facing multiple overlapping threats at once: from accelerating climate breakdown to the rise of authoritarianism across the world, we are in a situation that the historian Adam Tooze calls polycrisis". It is no wonder that hope is scarce, pessimism is high and despair is pervasive. As one meme that captures the grim, morbid mood of our age reads: My retirement plan is civilisational collapse."But not everyone shares this gloomy outlook. On the extreme other end of public sentiment sit Silicon Valley billionaires: they are some of the most optimistic people on earth. Of course, it's easy to be optimistic when you are sitting on enough money to sway national politics. And yet, the source of their optimism isn't simply money. It is also a deep-seated faith in unfettered technological advances. Continue reading...
Some observers will see only initial phase but those in North and South America can enjoy full celestial displayThis week, the moon experiences a total lunar eclipse, which although not as spectacular as a total solar eclipse is still a beautiful celestial sight to behold.A total lunar eclipse occurs when the full moon passes directly behind Earth, through our planet's shadow. Skywatchers first see the shadow of Earth creeping across the face of the moon. This is known as the partial phase. Continue reading...
Tetes a claques | Remote control curtains | Writer or author? | Lady Jane Grey | Life expectancy | Singing teacher's praisesRegarding Marina Hyde's reference to JD Vance and the German word Backpfeifengesicht, meaning a face that is worthy of being slapped", in French there is the similar concise expression tete a claque (There are 1,000 grotesque memes of JD Vance - and they're all more likable than the real thing, 7 March).
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6VSY1)
TTT therapy burns away nodules that lead to salt buildup in body, which increases risk of stroke or heart attackHalf a million people in the UK with dangerously high blood pressure - a silent killer" that causes tens of thousands of deaths a year - could be cured by a new treatment.Doctors have developed a technique to burn away nodules that lead to a large amount of salt building up in the body, which increases the risk of a stroke or heart attack. Continue reading...
New technique means the eye can be studied in seconds for markers of brain health and signs of neurodegenerationHigh street opticians could play a key role in pinpointing individuals at risk of dementia by spotting distinctive patterns in the retinas of those in the early stages of cognitive decline. These diagnoses would carried out during routine eye checks.The prospect follows the development of an AI technique known as Quartz that can be used to study eye scans and identify key differences in the shapes and sizes of retinal blood vessels in a few seconds. The technology automatically measures width and the extent to which these tiny veins and arteries - known as arterioles and venules - twist and turn. Continue reading...
Armed with the new EEG machine, investigators were able to look into the familiar yet strange phenomenon more deeply than ever beforeSleep is like love. If you have it, you take it for granted,' reports Wendy Cooper in the Observer Magazine on 24 January 1971. If you don't, it's rhythmic rocking or counting sheep for you, though not for Charles Dickens: he made sure his bed faced north, better to boost his creativity as he slumbered.We spend a third of our lives sleeping, but some feel they still don't get enough, some (narcoleptics) fall asleep when they eat. Some sleepwalk or, in one case, sleepride their motorbike in the middle of the night. Continue reading...
Scientific triumphs were made in the battle against the pandemic, but the memories and lessons are already in danger of being lostOn 9 March 2020, Martin Landray was studying the likely impact of Covid-19 as it started to sweep Britain. What was needed, he realised, was a method for pinpointing cheap, effective drugs that might limit the impact of the Sars-CoV-2 virus that was filling UK hospitals with dangerously ill patients.Within 10 days, Landray - working with Oxford University colleague Peter Horby - had set up Recovery, a drug-testing programme that involved thousands of doctors and nurses working with tens of thousands of Covid-19 patients in UK hospitals. Continue reading...
Maybe your isolation vision reflects a need to escape from the weight of responsibility that life inevitably bringsThe question I am a woman in my early 30s and about two years ago, I moved out of London and back home with my parents as I found the city soul-crushing: expenses and rent constantly going up and a sense of only surviving there, for which I saw no end in sight. I don't think it's unrelated that I felt my job placed unceasing, unrealistic expectations of availability on me and gave no acknowledgment of that in return.Now, I'm working remotely in a job I like well enough, that pays me more than I've ever made in my life for relatively easy work, allowing me to save. I'm enjoying being around nature and having the extra time with my family as I contemplate my next steps. But I find myself with no desires, no thoughts about where I might live or what I see my life looking like. I still feel that something is not quite right. Continue reading...
The rise of the precursor to the Irish language remains a historical mystery that linguists, geneticists and archaeologists continue to debateSaint Patrick, whose feast day is celebrated on 17 March, left behind two short works in Latin, but he probably spoke a Celtic language. By the time he was saving Irish souls in the fifth century AD, linguists are pretty sure that Celtic was spoken throughout Britain and Ireland. When Celtic first arrived in those islands, however, is an enduring mystery - one that new findings in archaeology and genetics might help to solve.The dates range between the early bronze age, around 2500BC, when archaeologists detect a major cultural transformation in Britain and Ireland, and the first century AD. Most linguists place it in between, in the last millennium BC - the iron age - but they can't prove it because the language wasn't written down until much later. Continue reading...
President's slashes to higher education institutions and research funding threaten US public health, workers sayStudents, researchers, faculty and leadership at universities and colleges across the US are grappling with drastic short- and long-term impacts for decades to come" caused by funding freezes, cuts and executive orders from the Trump administration.It's sowing a lot of chaos on campuses," said Sarah Spreitzer, vice-president and chief of staff of government relations at the American Council for Education, a non-profit representing more than 1,600 colleges, universities and related associations. Continue reading...
Virus that caused death of actor's wife in Santa Fe is rare but serious illness that can damage major organs of the bodyAuthorities said on Friday that actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease days after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). But what exactly is this rare illness?Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a rare but serious viral disease that can damage the heart, lungs and other organs. The syndrome progresses quickly and can be fatal, according to the Cleveland Clinic, one of the largest and most respected medical centers in the US. Continue reading...
Robotic private spacecraft touched down about 250 meters from its intended landing site on ThursdayA robotic private spacecraft designed to provide crucial data for returning humans to the moon toppled over as it landed on the lunar surface, bringing an immediate and premature end to the mission, its operators said on Friday.Athena, a probe launched by the Texas-based company Intuitive Machines (IM) last month, touched down about 250 meters from its intended landing site near the moon's south pole on Thursday. Initially at least, it was generating some power and sending information to Earth as engineers worked to make sense of data showing an incorrect attitude". Continue reading...
Researchers used 20,000 hours of recordings of great tits in Oxford to see how culture changes among populationsWhich songs birds sing can - as with human music - be influenced by age, social interactions and migration, researchers have found.Not all birds learn songs, but among those that do, individuals, neighbourhoods and populations can produce different collections of tunes, akin to different music albums. Continue reading...
Science | The Guardian