Getting back on the horse' after a traumatic experience requires risk assessment - but there are tools we can use to reframe our thinking and move forwardIt was a beautiful Friday afternoon in April 2010 when Will Salter stood on the shore and appraised a reef break on Victoria's Mornington peninsula. He can tell you the exact time, too: 5pm.As he paddled for 10 minutes towards three other surfers, he could smell remnants from a whale carcass that had washed up months earlier. Seagulls circled.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

The physical impact alone has been seismic, but has the pandemic also altered how we see ourselves and the world?In the strange, scary days of early 2020, with the world suddenly upended by the outbreak of a terrifying new virus, there were times when it seemed certain every aspect of society would be hugely altered by the experience.Five years on, the physical impact of Covid has been profound. More than 220,000 people have died in the UK, out of 7 million worldwide. Many more have been left with a devastating post-viral illness. Continue reading...

A trio of triangle teasersThe ancient Greek geometer Euclid presented a list of five axioms he held to be self-evidently true. They are (or are equivalent to):You can draw a line between any two points.You can extend lines indefinitely.You can draw a circle at any point with any radius.All right angles are equal.All triangles have internal angles that add up to 180 degrees. Continue reading...

Five years after the first lockdown, millions of lives are still being ruined by this debilitating disease. You wouldn't know itImagine a disease that can render its sufferers bedbound for years. One that could take a marathon runner and leave them unable to walk to the toilet. Imagine that at least 2 million people in England and Scotland alone were affected to some degree, each with a mix of debilitating symptoms, from breathlessness to brain fog to multi-organ damage.Then imagine that there were no proven treatments for this life-changing illness, let alone a cure. In fact, patients are often told it's all in their heads. Now imagine that more people are falling ill every day with the virus that causes this devastating disability - and that successive governments have abandoned almost every strategy to try to get to grips with it.Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnistIn the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Once you spot Sirius, the rest of Canis Major can be traced using fainter stars in the constellationThis week we will use the brightest star in the night sky to find a less than obvious constellation.Canis Major, the Great Dog, was included in Ptolemy's 2nd-century list of 48 constellations in his great work Almagest. This became the standard reference work for astronomy for a millennium, providing the basis on which the northern and equatorial skies are still divided into constellations. Continue reading...

Journey of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft will be broadcast liveA pair of US astronauts stuck for more than nine months on the International Space Station will be returned to Earth on Tuesday evening, Nasa has said.Barry Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams are to be transported home with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft, which arrived at the ISS early on Sunday. Continue reading...

A SpaceX capsule delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) early on Sunday in a Nasa crew-swap mission that will allow a pair of stuck astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to return home after nine months on the orbiting lab. An otherwise routine crew rotation flight, the Crew-10 mission is a long-awaited first step to bring Wilmore and Williams back to Earth. The pair are scheduled to depart the ISS on Wednesday as early as 8am, along with the American Nick Hague and the Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov

The relationship between employees and organisations isn't just about pay and benefits - it's about being valued and respected for our contributions

The arrival of four astronauts will allow Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to Earth after nine months on the International Space StationThere were emotional scenes of smiling astronauts hugging and embracing in zero gravity on the International Space Station on Sunday after a replacement crew docked with the orbital outpost - a step towards the return home of two astronauts who have been stranded for more than nine months.A SpaceX capsule delivered four astronauts to the ISS in a Nasa crew-swap mission that will allow the pair of stuck astronauts, Barry Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams, to return home after nine months on the orbiting lab. Continue reading...

Some cells are still alive within the dung, and could be used to boost genetic diversity in certain speciesTurning animal poo into offspring sounds like a zoo keeper's conjuring trick, but it might become a reality if researchers succeed in a new project to help save endangered animals from extinction.From snow leopards to sea turtles, animals the world over are under threat, with some scientists calling the massive loss of wildlife in recent decades a biological annihilation". Continue reading...

Launched by Nasa and SpaceX, the Falcon 9 is picking up Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose eight days on board the International Space Station became nine monthsA long-awaited mission to return stranded US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station has been launched by Nasa and SpaceX.The pair were due to spend eight days on the ISS in June, but technical problems with the experimental spacecraft that took them there have left them stuck on the orbital laboratory for nine months. Continue reading...

Michael Faraday's illustrated notes that show how radical scientist began his theories at London's Royal Institution to go onlineHe was a self-educated genius whose groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of physics and chemistry electrified the world of science and laid the foundations for Albert Einstein's theory of relativity nearly a century later.Now, the little-known notebooks of the Victorian scientist Michael Faraday have been unearthed from the archive of the Royal Institution and are to be digitised and made permanently accessible online for the first time. Continue reading...

Ancient Mesopotamian stone tablets show extraordinary detail and reach of government in cradle of world civilisationsThe red tape of government bureaucracy spans more than 4,000 years, according to new finds from the cradle of the world's civilisations, Mesopotamia.Hundreds of administrative tablets - the earliest physical evidence of the first empire in recorded history - have been discovered by archaeologists from the British Museum and Iraq. These texts detail the minutiae of government and reveal a complex bureaucracy - the red tape of an ancient civilisation. Continue reading...

Cambridge scientist behind VR platform says it could help those put off by high cost of speech anxiety treatmentA free online platform that allows speakers to practise in front of thousands of virtual spectators has been released to help with the anxiety many feel when presenting to an audience.Dr Chris Macdonald, the founder of the Immersive Technology Lab at Cambridge University and who created the online platform, said the approach was an attempt to reduce the lengthy waits or high costs people often face when seeking help. Continue reading...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

I think of AI as alternative intelligence - and its capacity to be other' is just what the human race needs

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...

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...

Sydney surgeons enormously proud' after patient in his 40s receives the Australian-designed implant designed as a bridge before donor heart

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...

One-square-metre slab has one of highest concentrations of fossilised prints documented in Australia, new analysis reveals

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...

Tetrodotoxin immobilises the female - who is about two to five times bigger than the male - so mating can occur, researchers observed

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...

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...

Alfred is being used as the latest front in an ideological war, but facts are relevant to how we prepare for a climate-changed future

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...

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...