Attention and funding for research into mononucleosis, HIV, Lyme, Ebola, Sars and other infections have historically been limited – but long Covid changed that

A tribute to the British scientist and blogger who died last week aged 55UPDATE: The solutions can be read hereSome sad news to report. Nick Berry, the British data scientist who wrote DataGenetics – one of the best and longest-running maths popularisation blogs – has died aged 55 after a long battle with cancer.Nick was a Yorkshireman who studied Aeronautical Engineering at Southampton university. He later moved to Seattle, where he worked as a data scientist for firms including Microsoft and Facebook. He started DataGenetics in 2009 and it soon gathered a huge following for its accessible posts about interesting topics in maths, physics and computer science. Continue reading...

More than 50 meteors an hour may be seen as Earth ploughs through fragments left by comet

The commercial space company rejects criticism of satellite launches for the US militaryA New Zealand commercial space company, Rocket Lab, has faced new opposition to its activities on behalf of foreign militaries, with one New Zealand Green MP saying its actions could fly in the face of the country’s anti-nuclear stance.The American-New Zealand company, founded by Peter Beck in 2006, provides rockets to deliver payloads into orbit from its launch site on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand’s north. A third of Rocket Lab’s activities have been on behalf of defence and national security agencies. These include launching US and Australian spy satellites, the controversial “Gunsmoke J” satellite, and most recently Nasa’s capstone spacecraft. Continue reading...

US-led project examines fraction of a second after big bang and ‘how all the structures in the night sky started’Researchers from the UK are joining an international effort to uncover what the universe looked like a fraction of a second after it burst into existence, and how the cosmic order we see today emerged from primordial chaos.Six UK universities are to crunch data and build new instrumentation for the Simons Observatory, a group of telescopes that scan the heavens from a vantage point on Cerro Toco, 5,300 metres above the Atacama desert in Chile. Continue reading...

Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci say mRNA Covid vaccine technology could be repurposed to help destroy cancer cellsVaccines that target cancer could be available before the end of the decade, according to the husband and wife team behind one of the most successful Covid vaccines of the pandemic.Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, who co-founded BioNTech, the German firm that partnered with Pfizer to manufacture a revolutionary mRNA Covid vaccine, said they had made breakthroughs that fuelled their optimism for cancer vaccines in the coming years. Continue reading...

Bristol project aims to give glimpse of what life in colony on Mars may be like using recycled materialsThere is a “Martian guitar” manufactured out of recycled pieces of wood and metal with an amp fashioned from a coffee pot. A surprisingly comfortable chair, plus rug and curtains, have been created out of the sort of parachute material a Mars landing craft may have used.The bedding in the sleeping pods has been decorated with dyes from plants, while a “mist shower” has been made using bits of hose and garden irrigation sprays. Continue reading...

It’s long been known that certain drugs work better when taken at specific times of day. But now scientists are learning that our circadian rhythms affect everything from vaccines to meals – and even the results of exerciseYour doctor tells you how many times a day you should take a pill, and whether to take it with or without food – but they very rarely tell you the exact time at which it has to be taken. Chronopharmacology (also known as chronotherapy or circadian medicine) – the idea that a pill popped at exactly the right time has maximum benefit – could be a major influence on the future of medicine. Increasing studies are showing that what time of day we treat disease can be crucial, and that it’s possible to pinpoint the time of day when certain disease is at its worst.In 1997, doctors in Denver split 59 asthmatics into three groups. The first group used steroid inhalers at 8am every day for four weeks. The second used the same inhalers, but much later in the day, at 5.30pm. The third group dosed four times a day at 7am, 12 noon, 7pm and 10pm – at the time, this was believed to be the optimal regime. Continue reading...

UPFs form 50% of Britons’ calorie intake – and vegans beware, this includes many plant-based meals. Now food scientists are learning more about what makes them so damagingFor a long time it has been known that diets dominated by ultra-processed food (UPF) are more likely to lead to obesity. But recent research suggests that high UPF consumption also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and, according to a recent American study involving 50,000 health professionals, of developing colon cancer.On a more general note, last month a study in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology found that people born after 1990 are more likely to develop cancer before they’re 50 than people born before 1970. It’s suspected that UPF might be a contributing factor to this development. Continue reading...

Researchers identify medications that could be repurposed, including treatments for heart conditions and stomach ulcersScientists have pinpointed a range of commonly used medicines that could be repurposed to treat people suffering from obesity and diabetes.The medicines – to be outlined at the International Congress on Obesity in Melbourne this weekend – include treatments for stomach ulcers and heart rhythm disorders and were identified using sophisticated computer programs. Continue reading...

Lady Gaga was my idol, but I didn’t dare tell anyone. Now a new wave of books and films shows us why female obsession is such an important part of growing upIt’s the summer of 2009. The sun is offering the bare minimum for June, but I have my back to the window, methodically typing out a letter to Lady Gaga. The two-page-long document is full of personal details and intimate thoughts, such as the worry I’ll never feel good enough or fit in at school. I pour my heart out to her and swim in the subsequent dopamine hits of a perfect one-way relationship.I never told anyone about my love for Lady Gaga due to the shame of looking like an over-obsessive fangirl. While there’s now a cultural roadmap for teen girls idolising their favourite boybands, back then I had no idea how to showcase my obsession without looking unhinged. Continue reading...

The story of long Covid is just beginning, and no one knows how it will play out. Experts from around the world share their insights, questions and fears

By favouring verbal thinkers, says the author and animal scientist, essential skills are being lost. Her new book aims to demonstrate the power of processing information in different waysTemple Grandin is perhaps the world’s most famous scholar living with autism. In more than 50 years working in animal agriculture – specialising in designing more humane livestock handling facilities – she has improved cattle treatment internationally. She is also a prominent activist, author and speaker on autism. Her insights shared about her personal experiences – she struggled to talk as a child – have done much to increase our understanding of the condition. Her new book, Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns and Abstractions, argues that, in a world dominated by verbal thinkers, those with visual brains are being overlooked and underestimated – to the detriment of all of us. Grandin, 75, is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University.What are the different ways of thinking, as you conceive them?

The astronaut on shyness, spacewalks and the time his wife gave him an ultimatumBorn in West Sussex, Tim Peake, 50, spent 18 years in military service. He was working as a test pilot when he applied to be an astronaut with the European Space Agency. In 2015, he became the first British ESA astronaut to visit the International Space Station, where he spent six months. His latest children’s book, The Cosmic Diary of Our Incredible Universe, has just been published and he is currently on his first UK speaking tour. He lives with his wife and two sons in West Sussex.When were you happiest?

Firm reportedly asks US government to pick up bill as relationship between Musk and Kyiv breaks down

For some people living with long Covid, their symptoms have improved. One thing is clear, though: in recovery, one size does not fit all• Read the Guardian’s new series, Living with long CovidFlorence Mutesva fell ill on the ward. A nurse for 18 years, she had been caring for patients with respiratory problems at University College London hospitals (UCLH) when her symptoms came on. Beyond feeling ropey, she was scared. It was March 2020 and people were dying as the first wave of Covid – a mysterious new disease – swept across Britain.Mutesva signed off sick on 23 March, a date branded on the brains of many in Britain as the day the prime minister announced the nation’s first lockdown. Mutesva had little choice in the matter: the infection took hold and incapacitated her. She was coughing and struggling to breathe. She had palpitations and pains in her chest. She couldn’t get to the shower without stopping for breath. Continue reading...

Astrophysicist and astronomer whose Project Ozma searched for radio signals from planets that could support extraterrestrial lifeThe radio astronomer and astrophysicist Frank Drake, who has died aged 92, was a pioneer of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. He carried out the first search for signals from extraterrestrial civilisations, Project Ozma, in 1960 and shortly afterwards invented the “Drake equation”, which estimates the number of extraterrestrial civilisations in our galaxy.As a radio astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, he made the first observations of Jupiter’s radiation belts, analogous to the Van Allen belts around the Earth, and was one of the first astronomers to measure the intense surface temperature on Venus, a consequence of the greenhouse effect of its thick atmosphere. But it is for Project Ozma, named after Princess Ozma in L Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz books and carried out with Green Bank’s 85ft radio telescope, that he will be remembered. Continue reading...

Research suggests species coexisted for more than 1,000 years and uncovers possible ‘exchange of ideas’Modern humans lived alongside Neanderthals for more than 1,000 years in Europe, according to research that suggests the two species may have imitated each other’s jewellery and stone tools.Previously, it was known that humans and their ancient relatives existed at the same time on the European continent for more than 6,000 years and that the two species interbred on several occasions. But the extent of their interactions remains the focus of scientific investigation. Continue reading...

There is indeed a correlation between Covid cases and the number of reviews complaining that Yankee Candles don’t have a smell, research showsYankee Candle calls itself “America’s favorite brand of premium scented candles”, and offers over 600 fragrances, like “Spiced pumpkin” and “Warm apple pie” designed to fill your living room with homey holiday vibes.Days before Thanksgiving 2020, a Twitter user pointed out a sharp rise in negative reviews complaining the famously pungent candles had no smell. Could it be a hidden sign of the Covid wave, the user wondered? In total, the candles have well over 100,000 reviews on Amazon – a potentially rich trove of epidemiological data. Continue reading...

Findings by Cambridge researchers raise possibility of early interventions for those at riskScientists have discovered that it may be possible to spot signs of dementia as early as nine years before patients receive an official diagnosis.The findings raise the possibility that, in the future, at-risk people could be screened to help select those who could benefit from interventions, or help identify patients suitable for clinical trials for new treatments. Continue reading...

Plastic pollution is damaging the health of the environment, wildlife and us. It has been found on remote islands, in Antarctic snow and in human blood, breast milk and lungs. Alongside rapidly reducing how much plastic we produce, we also need to find new ways to tackle the waste we have created.Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s environment editor, Damian Carrington, about the discovery of an enzyme that can rapidly break down plastic bags – found inside the saliva of wax worms – and where else we might find solutions in the natural worldArchive: BBC News, CBS News, PBS News Hour Continue reading...

Space agency attempted first test of its kind two weeks ago to see if in the future a killer rock could be nudged out of Earth’s wayA spacecraft that plowed into a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles from Earth succeeded in shifting the orbit of the space rock, Nasa said on Tuesday, announcing the results of its first such test.The US space agency strategically launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) spacecraft into the path of the asteroid, thereby throwing it off course. Continue reading...

Groundbreaking research could throw light on how cells from patients with neuropsychiatric disorders malfunctionResearchers have transplanted human neurons into rat brains in work that aims to shed fresh light on debilitating neurological and psychiatric disorders such as epilepsy and schizophrenia.The clumps of human cells took root inside the animal brains, hooked up to their blood supplies and tapped into rat brain circuits, allowing them to sense whisker movements and change how the animals behaved. Continue reading...

Series of 17 concentric dust rings was spawned by Wolf-Rayet 140 binary system thousands of light years awayAstronomers have captured a striking image of 17 concentric dust rings resembling a cosmic fingerprint in the latest observations from the James Webb space telescope.The formation was created by the interaction of two giant stars, known collectively as the Wolf-Rayet 140 binary, more than 5,000 light years from Earth. The rings are created every eight years when the stars pass close to each other in their elongated orbit. During their close approach, the solar winds from the stars collide, causing the gas streaming from the stars to be compressed into dust. Continue reading...

Touchdown in Newquay of 747 converted to carry satellite-propelling rocket silences even the most hardened doubtersThe notion of a space mission being launched from a nondescript corner of a Cornish airport – next to the bus depot actually – has attracted its fair share of scepticism over the years.But the impressive touchdown in north Cornwall this week of a Boeing 747 converted to carry a rocket primed to propel satellites into space may have silenced even the most hardened doubters. Continue reading...

The impact of long Covid needs urgent action – and there are five key elements to drive the effort forward, writes the WHO director general• Read the Guardian’s new series, Living with long CovidCrushing fatigue. Brain fog making straightforward tasks almost impossible. Shortness of breath walking up the stairs.Just some of the many symptoms people with long Covid (post-Covid-19 condition) have experienced according to patient groups, researchers and clinicians the World Health Organization (WHO) has worked with since cases of prolonged suffering from Covid-19 started to be recognised in mid-2020.Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is director general of the World Health Organization Continue reading...

Rapid analysis of patients’ entire genome will allow treatment to begin much faster

Changing their surroundings reveals how the creatures gauge distance using visual density of environmentGoldfish may spend most of their time swimming up and down a glass tank but researchers have found they have a sophisticated navigation system that allows them to estimate distance.While researchers have previously shown a wide array of fish can navigate efficiently, questions remained about the mechanisms involved. Understanding those, scientists say, could help shed light on whether similar brain cells are involved in the internal GPS of the human brain. Continue reading...

Archaeologists find remnants of medieval priory under former Ocky White store in HaverfordwestThe remains of more than 240 people, including about 100 children, have been discovered beneath a former department store in Pembrokeshire among the ruins of a medieval priory.Archaeologists believe they have discovered the remnants of St Saviour’s Priory underneath the former Ocky White store in Haverfordwest, which closed in 2013. Continue reading...

British Journal of Sports Medicine says investigation ‘revealed a pattern of publication misconduct’ by McCrory, has concerns over 38 other articles

More than a mile beneath the Pacific Ocean, is a seascape of oddly shaped corals and a glass sponge named after ETIn 2017, on a submerged volcano a mile and a half underwater in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a team of scientists were left gasping in wonder at a scene they called the “forest of the weird”.Instead of trees, the forest was made up of oddly shaped corals, including some that resembled frizzy bottlebrushes (Rhodaniridogorgia) and others that were flattened and harp-shaped (Narella) with leggy, pink brittlestars, relatives of starfish, wrapped around their branches. Continue reading...

Recalling the experience almost one year later, the actor admits ‘everything I had expected to see was wrong’William Shatner expected he would achieve the “ultimate catharsis” after his historic flight into space. Instead, the voyage left him filled with grief, an “overwhelming sadness” and a newfound appreciation for the beauty of Earth, the Star Trek actor has said.“My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral,” an excerpt from his book Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, published by Variety, reads. Continue reading...

Back in April this year, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk signed a $44bn (£40bn) takeover agreement for Twitter. But, in July, the world’s richest man said he was walking away from the controversial deal, arguing Twitter has more spam accounts than it claims. Then, last week, Musk offered to complete the acquisition in a dramatic U-turn. So what might happen next?Ian Sample talks to the Guardian’s global technology editor, Dan Milmo, about why Musk wants to own the social media platform, hears about the twists and turns of the saga so far, and finds out if the takeover is ever likely to happenArchive: Fox News, NBC News, Yahoo Finance, MSNBC, Financial Times, BBC News Continue reading...

My mother epitomises cancer ward optimism – and it shines amid all the world’s illsSixteen months ago, my mother – riddled with cancer – was told she had two months to live.I raced to Sydney at the onset of her illness and have been her carer since. Over these months she’s endured radiotherapy, chemotherapy and now the doctors giving up on therapy at the same time world events have weathered all of us. I reached my mother’s house just in time for us to be confined together for Sydney’s long pandemic lockdown. Mum herself caught coronavirus during a brief stay on a cancer ward. Then my partner and I caught the wretched virus and were cut off from her, trapped with it at home. Continue reading...

Scientists ditch plans to develop nasal spray version of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in its current formHopes of distributing the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine as a nasal spray have been dealt a blow after researchers said it performed poorly in its first clinical trial.The underwhelming results have led scientists to abandon plans to develop the spray in its current form, with hopes now resting on different formulations of the vaccine and more complex delivery devices, such as nebulisers that can deliver medicines deep into the lungs. Continue reading...

If the hydrogen-gobbling, methane-producing microorganisms existed, they would have caused their own demiseAncient Mars may have had an environment capable of harboring an underground world teeming with microscopic organisms, French scientists reported on Monday. But if they existed, these simple life forms would have altered the atmosphere so profoundly that they triggered a Martian Ice Age and snuffed themselves out, the researchers concluded.The findings provide a bleak view of the ways of the cosmos. Life – even simple life like microbes – “might actually commonly cause its own demise”, said the study’s lead author, Boris Sauterey, now a post-doctoral researcher at Sorbonne University. Continue reading...

A selection of significant moments during the agency’s space exploration and research are captured in the book Out of this World – Historic Milestones in Nasa’s Human Space Flight by Bill Schwartz Continue reading...

Covid has led to pandemic fatigue, but for both humanitarian and self-interested reasons, global governments must helpEbola is one of those diseases you’d rather not know about. It has a high mortality rate, often over 50%, and while the symptoms start with a fever and headache, in the latter stages, the body internally bleeds to death. Because it’s spread through body fluids, such as an infectious person’s blood, vomit, urine, saliva, sweat or semen, it’s not as infectious as respiratory pathogens such as Covid-19, which spread through air. Those most at risk of Ebola are healthcare workers and family members caring for their sick loved ones.Uganda is currently battling one of its largest outbreaks of Ebola. The Ugandan outbreak is caused by the Sudan strain of the virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. This is why the new outbreak is particularly concerning public health experts. As with Covid-19, the race is now on to find an effective vaccine: there are two potential candidates from GSK and Oxford, and clinical trials are being launched in the middle of this outbreak.Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of EdinburghDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading...

Scientists of color are disrupting the rules of historically colonial institutions in Stem and academia. For Earyn McGee, that means engaging with her public through games

Red planet will make an interesting triangle with the red giant stars Aldebaran and BetelgeuseThis week it is Mars’s turn to receive a visit from the moon. After last week’s full moon, Earth’s natural satellite is now in its waning phases. It is rising later and later, with less and less of its visible surface illuminated.When it meets Mars this week on 15 October, 74.8% of its visible surface will be illuminated by the sun. Mars will be its usual baleful red colour, and will make an interesting triangle with the red giant stars Aldebaran in Taurus, the bull, and Betelgeuse in Orion, the hunter. Continue reading...

Svante Pääbo deserves his accolade – palaeogenetics is an expanding field that tells us who we areThe Neanderthals have won a Nobel prize. Well, almost. Even if most people haven’t heard of Svante Pääbo, the Swedish geneticist whose work on ancient genomes and human evolution has landed him with 2022’s award for physiology or medicine, or the exact science behind palaeogenomics and ancient DNA, they certainly have heard of Neanderthals.Honouring his contribution to building this incredibly vibrant field of palaeogenomics, the award is much deserved: you need vision, persistence and pioneering methods to recover and sequence immensely old, fragile genetic material. But it’s also a recognition of the astonishing revelations about our deep history that have come from palaeogenomics, which holds many untapped secrets about who we are today, including settling the long-debated question of whether Neanderthals and Homo sapiens ever encountered each other and, let’s say, “warmed up” those icy tundra nights (the answer is yes, many times).Rebecca Wragg Sykes is an archaeologist and author of Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art Continue reading...

Dame Kate Bingham says former health secretary aggressively questioned her competence in front of cabinetThe leader of Britain’s successful Covid vaccination programme has accused Matt Hancock of aggressive political grandstanding during the pandemic that left her “stuck to the ceiling with fury”.Dame Kate Bingham, the head of the UK’s vaccine taskforce, said the former health secretary conducted an “extraordinary ambush” in a meeting in June 2020 and questioned her competence in front of cabinet colleagues and civil servants, despite having a “friendly” conversation beforehand. Continue reading...

Latour’s work on how humanity perceives the climate emergency won praise around the worldThe French thinker Bruno Latour, known for his influential research on the philosophy of science has died aged 75.Latour was considered one of France’s most influential and iconoclastic living philosophers, whose work on how humanity perceives the climate emergency won praise and attention around the world. Continue reading...

The children’s author, who lived through the Troubles, believes that kids should be taught to seek peace from an early ageOliver Jeffers doesn’t just hate conflict. He abhors it. And that is why the prize-winning children’s author and illustrator, who grew up in Belfast during the Troubles, thinks parents have a responsibility to teach their children about it. “Children are future adults. I think if we walk on eggshells or tiptoe around subjects – tell them ‘everything is perfect, life is rosy’ – people will walk into the same failures that humans have been making for time eternal,” he says.Parents need to find a way to talk to their children about war and other types of political and social conflict, he says. “I think it’s their responsibility to do that. But from the perspective of: conflict doesn’t accomplish very much.” Continue reading...

Wildlife Photographer of the Year’s portfolio award goes to Laurent Ballesta, who describes his long and deep dives under the iceHanging from the underside of an Antarctic ice floe, a sea anemone’s delicate, glassy tentacles wave in the current. This is Edwardsiella andrillae, one of the planet’s most remarkable creatures. Unlike other sea anemones that dwell on the ocean floor, this recently discovered species thrives by embedding itself in ice – though how it penetrates the floe with its soft body or survives there remains a mystery.The photograph, taken by Laurent Ballesta, is the first detailed image of the species and is one of a series that has won the portfolio award at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, which will be unveiled this week at the Natural History Museum in London. Continue reading...

Roslin Institute engineered a flock to help research into the genetics of Batten diseaseA flock of gene-edited sheep has been used by scientists to pinpoint a promising treatment for a lethal inherited brain disease that afflicts young children. The researchers, based in the UK and US, say their work could lead to the development of drugs to alleviate infantile Batten disease.In the UK, Batten disease affects between 100 and 150 children and young adults and is inherited from two symptomless parents who each carry a rare recessive gene mutation. Continue reading...

The Harvard professor says we need to stop seeing dummy medicines as a novelty and instead make strides to understand them better and harness their powerThe placebo effect occurs when an inert treatment such as a dummy pill, fake injection or sham surgery leads to a real clinical improvement in symptoms. So strong is the effect it can be the bane of clinical trials, which must prove a drug’s efficacy beyond a placebo control. An assistant professor of medicine at Harvard medical school, Kathryn T Hall is a leader in placebo research. Her new book, Placebos, unpicks their power.You argue that placebo effects are underappreciated. How?

With seasonal sickness on the rise, experts say measures we adopted at height of pandemic should become commonplaceAt the height of the pandemic, there was hope that lessons learned from this period would provide the foundations for a healthier society. No longer would snotty commuters swap germs on packed trains; if people were ill, they would stay home – or at least wear masks to protect others.Now few people are masking, and I have lost track of the number of friends with “colds” who have happily coughed on me in recent weeks. Rather than “building back better”, the country seems to have reverted to business as usual, circa 2019. Continue reading...

Health and social care secretary’s decision to grant contracts to UK firm Abingdon Health was the subject of litigationA legal challenge to the government’s award of multimillion-pound contracts for lateral flow tests that later failed to gain regulatory approval has been rejected by the high court.The health and social care secretary’s decision to grant three contracts to UK firm Abingdon Health was the subject of litigation by campaigning organisation Good Law Project (GLP), which has brought several cases challenging the way contracts were awarded during the pandemic. Continue reading...

Duvalius djokovici named after tennis champion for qualities including speed and strength, says researcherSerbian scientists have named a new species of beetle after the tennis player Novak Djokovic, Serbian media has reported.The insect, which belongs to the Duvalius genus of ground beetles that are present in Europe, was discovered several years ago in an underground pit in western Serbia. Continue reading...