Their world-weary attitude deceives others into believing they’re better at their jobs than they areBeing cynical about other people’s motivations – assuming that everyone acts only out of self-interest – is all the rage these days. But, let’s be honest, people who are universally cynical are also tiresome and dull. No one wants a colleague, let alone a friend, who can’t really trust you because they think everyone’s out for themselves.Excellent ammunition for tackling this epidemic of cynicism comes via great new research that examines the perceived and actual competence of people who are more or less cynical. Continue reading...

A survey of the global response to coronavirus draws together fascinating data but fails to construct a compelling narrative about the spread of the virusAt the end of her wide-ranging analysis of the pandemic, Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, Guardian columnist and Good Morning Britain contributor, raises the dark question of whether Covid-19 will “be the spark for the third world war”.Written before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sridhar’s book is the story of a global crisis that has since been supplanted, at least in the headlines, by another global crisis. This is the problem with writing about still unfolding events – it’s easy to look out of date. Continue reading...

Scientists at Sheffield University have found a novel way of guiding anti-tumour viruses to their targetScientists are developing magnetically guided microscopic projectiles that can be injected into patients’ blood to attack breast, prostate and other tumours.The project – led by researchers at Sheffield University – builds on progress in two key medical fields. The first involves viruses that specifically attack tumours. The second focuses on soil bacteria that manufacture magnets which they use to align themselves in the Earth’s magnetic field. Continue reading...

The WHO has spoken but even its huge new report will not settle arguments about pandemic strategiesNational Covid death rates are, inevitably, political. How could they not be when they are viewed as evidence for good or bad government on matters of life or death? How did the UK fare compared with, say, Germany? Should both countries have been more like Sweden? However, when new data arrives, far from settling arguments over which pandemic mitigation strategies worked best, it tends to further inflame disagreements or harden pre-existing positions.So it is with the much-anticipated report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Covid-associated deaths, released last week. The WHO estimates that around 15 million additional people died because of the pandemic in 2020-2021, about 2.7 times higher than officially recorded deaths. Continue reading...

The Yale scientist explains her research into biological and chronological age – and why she’s joined a $3bn startup funded by the likes of Jeff BezosIt can be said we have two ages: a fixed chronological age based on when we were born and a malleable biological age – the age at which our body is functioning, which can be affected by our lifestyle choices. Dr Morgan Levine designs tools that measure the latter. In her new book, True Age, she argues that we should regularly measure our own biological age – giving us information we could use to monitor, and even gain control over, our own individual ageing process. Levine, 37, is an assistant professor of pathology and epidemiology at Yale University’s school of medicine. This June she will join Altos Labs, a new $3bn (£2.2bn) anti-ageing biotech startup whose funders are said to include Jeff Bezos.What got you interested in the science of biological ageing?

The renowned immunologist remains as upbeat about jabs – and UK life science – as he was in the depths of the pandemicSir John Bell, the Canadian immunologist, is a familiar sight to locals along the stretch of the Thames near his home in Wallingford, just outside Oxford, where he and his wife can often be seen rowing in a double scull.During the pandemic, Bell’s voice became familiar to millions of radio listeners too. As news broke that a viable Covid-19 vaccine was on its way, following successful trials by Pfizer and BioNTech, Bell was asked on BBC Radio 4 whether the world would now return to normal. His response was an emphatic “yes, yes, yes”. His words not only lifted spirits: they moved markets. Continue reading...

Oxford University’s Sir John Bell says sharp fall in death rate due to existing vaccines allows for a change in prioritiesIt is questionable how much longer current Covid-19 vaccines will be used as they have largely done their job in preventing mass deaths, and scientists should focus on developing a vaccine that stops transmission of the virus, according to leading scientist Sir John Bell.The huge success of Covid vaccines in countries able to get them has led to sharp declines in deaths and severe disease from the virus, even though the latest Covid variant, Omicron, has spread rapidly. Continue reading...

It’s never going to be fun, but it can be healthy – and facing up to it is always better than hidingDr Tracy Dennis-Tiwary was a professor of psychology, immersed in research – evaluating which mental health treatments worked and why – when she first became aware of an uptick in anxiety. This was some 15 years ago in New York City. ‘I work closely with practising clinicians and I remember one of them saying, ‘I’m seeing all these parents and kids coming in and they’re talking about anxiety the way we used to talk about stress,’’ she says. ‘Everything is about anxiety.’Back then, Dennis-Tiwary believed treatments would make a difference. ‘I thought we were going to claw this back, but the opposite happened.’ Instead, that uptick became an avalanche. Today, anxiety disorders are the most common mental health issues in the US, affecting 30% of adults. In the UK, prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications have almost doubled over the past 15 years, with a sharp rise among the under-25s (in the US, says Dennis-Tiwary, prescriptions have quadrupled). In 2021, a survey of 8,000 children led Oxford University Press to name anxiety as the ‘word of the year’. Continue reading...

Research focuses on rich, white populations, while indigenous peoples may have different views of natureSpending time in the great outdoors is good for your mental health, according to a growing body of research. For example, getting out and about in forests and parks has been shown to increase happiness and alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. But are the benefits universal?A review paper notes that most studies in this field look at rich, white, western populations, and scientists say this results in an incomplete picture of the health benefits. Continue reading...

David Bennett died two months after groundbreaking surgery in which a genetically modified pig’s heart was transplanted into himThe 57-year-old patient who survived two months after undergoing a landmark pig heart transplant died of a pig virus, his transplant surgeon announced last month.In January, David Bennett, a handyman who suffered from heart failure, underwent a highly experimental surgery at the University of Maryland medical center in which doctors transplanted a genetically modified pig’s heart into him. Continue reading...

With optimal viewing conditions this year, the annual event is set to peak on 7 May with viewing opportunities until 11 May

Eating vegan for 12 weeks also led to lower blood sugar levels in overweight people or with type 2 diabetesVegan diets can help people who are overweight or have type 2 diabetes lose weight and lower their blood sugar levels, research suggests.A meta analysis showed that adhering to a vegan diet over three months reduced body weight by about 4.1kg (9lb) on average compared with control diets, and cut blood sugar levels. There was little or no effect on blood pressure or levels of cholesterol or triglycerides, a type of fat. Continue reading...

There have always been charlatans offering a cure for ageing, and cheap travel and lax laws have made it even easier for themEvery year millions of people cross borders to undergo medical treatments that are either unavailable in their home country or too expensive. For many, this is a last resort to ease the pain of a debilitating disease or defy a terminal diagnosis; for others the goals are purely cosmetic. But in the past few years a new type of “medical tourist” has emerged: those seeking to radically extend their lives.There are more older people than ever before – and more people in search of longevity. In the UK, people over the age of 65 made up 19% of the population in 2019, a jump of 23% from 2009, in a period when the total population only increased by 7%. And recent advancements in the science of ageing have given them hope that they don’t have to go so gently into that good night after all.The Price Of Immortality by Peter Ward (Melville House, £20). To support The Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Clinical trial seems to show Dupuytren’s disease reversed by rheumatoid arthritis drugResearchers have hailed a breakthrough in the treatment of a common, incurable disease that causes hand deformities by bending the fingers firmly into the palm.A clinical trial at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities found that a drug used for rheumatoid arthritis appeared to drive Dupuytren’s disease into reverse when used early on, a result described as a potential “gamechanger” for patients. Continue reading...

With the virus rampant despite jabs, trials are underway to create intranasal vaccines to block infections from the bodyThe roaring success of Covid vaccines – in countries able to obtain them – has led to deaths and severe disease from the infection plummeting even as the virus evolved to sidestep immunity and rip through populations more swiftly.But while the rapid development of Covid shots ranks as the finest achievement of the pandemic, scientists are not done yet. In a small number of labs around the world, teams are taking on a problem that cannot be ignored: that the virus remains rampant in the face of mass immunity. Continue reading...

From hot flushes and flooding to memory problems and depression, for many the menopause can be both distressing and debilitating. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can alleviate some of these symptoms by boosting levels of hormones that wane as women get older. But the UK is experiencing an acute shortage of certain HRT products, leaving some without the medication they need.Madeleine Finlay hears from Guardian reader Sara about the impact of HRT shortages on her life, and speaks to science reporter Nicola Davis about why demand isn’t being met and what’s being done to fix the problem Continue reading...

Trial seems to add to body of evidence about health risks of not getting enough sleep or poor quality sleepPoor sleep may undermine attempts to maintain weight loss, research has suggested.Millions of people who are overweight or obese manage to lose weight every year. But many often then face a struggle to keep the pounds creeping back. Continue reading...

With Australia’s Covid cases per capita among the highest in the world, new antivirals such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio as well as intravenous treatments like sotrovimab are offering some hope for the severely ill, elderly and immunocompromised. However Australia’s peak body for GPs says some people at greatest risk of dying from Covid are being prevented from accessing these treatments.Medical editor Melissa Davey breaks down what Australia’s high case numbers and deaths mean, how these new treatments work, and the barriers to accessing them.Read more: Continue reading...

Studies of ischaemic stroke patients open up possibility of treatments to prevent condition and improve recoveryScientists have identified specific groups of gut microbes that could increase or decrease someone’s risk of suffering the most common type of stroke. The research, presented at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) in Lyon, France, adds to growing evidence that alterations in the gut microbiome could play a role in cardiovascular disease.Previous studies have suggested that certain microbes may influence the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the arteries, and that the gut microbiomes of stroke patients differ from those of healthy controls. Continue reading...

Davina McCall documentary highlights benefits and postcode lottery of previously rejected utrogestanA sought-after hormone replacement therapy is being reassessed for use in Scotland as the TV presenter and menopause campaigner Davina McCall revealed a postcode lottery in its prescription across the UK.Amid an ongoing supply crisis of HRT products, McCall spoke to specialists about the benefits of utrogestan, a “body identical” micronised progesterone, which is derived from plants, in her Channel 4 documentary Sex, Mind and Menopause, broadcast on Monday. Continue reading...

Cambridge scientists say robot is capable of ‘tasting’ and checking whether balance of flavours is rightThe culinary robots are here. Not only to distinguish between food which tastes good and which doesn’t, but also to become better cooks.A robot chef designed by researchers at Cambridge University has been trained to taste a dish’s saltiness and the myriad of ingredients at different stages of chewing – a process imitating that of humans. Continue reading...

Chinese capital ramps up efforts to control Omicron outbreak and avoid lockdowns

Winlaton Mill, Gateshead: The landscape here is vast and exhilarating, but a close look reveals a curious plant with a link to the area’s coal pastWhen the 12th Earl of Strathmore, a 19th-century nimby who made an immense fortune from coal, refused to allow trains across his Gibside estate, the North Eastern Railway adopted an expensive alternative route via four viaducts and a cutting. After the line closed in 1962 it became the Derwent Walk Country Park, beloved by ramblers, runners, dog walkers, cyclists, horse riders and birdwatchers.The view from the parapet of the Nine Arches viaduct, spanning the River Derwent’s gorge, is exhilarating: a vibrant pointillist canvas of a tree canopy, painted with bursting leaf buds; an earthbound opportunity to see woodland from the perspective of the red kite that soared over my head this morning. Continue reading...

This fascinating, touching look at phalloplasty (and the ways having an arm-penis can make life tricky) has many moments of levity – and thankfully a happy endingIf, when you saw the title of this documentary, The Man With a Penis on His Arm (Channel 4), your first thought was: “Wait – like the mouse with the ear on its back? But a man and a penis and an arm?” the answer is ineluctably: yes. Just like that.Malcolm, now 45, lost his penis 12 years ago and has had a replacement growing on his arm and awaiting transplant for the past six. As he put it, he was “an ordinary man doing everything a normal man does”. He had a job, “a nice partner” and was living “a man’s life, bringing in the money, putting food on the table”. The arrival of a baby, he says, disrupted things – though we later find out that the death of his father, to whom Malcolm, after time in foster care, had grown very close, killed “the happy part of me” – and he ended up on the streets and addicted to drink and drugs. Continue reading...

Pharma firm criticised over pricing and for keeping monopoly control over vaccine and new Paxlovid pill

Some people experience lingering cognitive decline, with degree of impairment linked to illness severityPeople who have been hospitalised with Covid may be left with difficulties in thinking comparable in magnitude to ageing 20 years, research suggests.As the pandemic swept the world it became apparent that coronavirus could not only cause immediate health problems but also leave some people with often debilitating symptoms – a condition known as long Covid. Continue reading...

We’ve become convinced that if we can eat more healthily, we will be morally better people. But where does this idea come from?Near the end of the hellish first year of the coronavirus pandemic, I was possessed by the desire to eliminate sugar – all refined sugar – from my diet. In retrospect, it probably wasn’t the best time to add a new challenge to my life. My wife and I had been struggling to remote-school three young kids with no childcare. My elderly parents lived out of state and seemed to need a surprising number of reminders that pandemic restrictions were not lifted for Diwali parties or new Bollywood movie releases.Like many people in those early days, we were looking around for masks and trying to make sense of shifting government guidelines about when to wear them. In addition, as a doctor, I was seeing patients in clinic at a time dominated by medical uncertainty, when personal protective equipment was scarce, and my hospital, facing staff shortages, was providing training videos and “how-to” tip sheets to specialists like me who hadn’t practised in an emergency room for years, in case we were needed as backup. It would have been enough to focus on avoiding the virus and managing all this without putting more on my plate. But cutting processed sugar seemed like an opportunity to reassert some measure of order to the daily scrum, or at least to the body that entered the fray each day. Continue reading...

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has recently been switched back on after a three-year hiatus to resolve a mysterious and tantalising result from its previous run. So far, everything discovered at the LHC has agreed with the standard model, the guiding theory of particle physics that describes the building blocks of matter, and the forces that guide them. However, recent findings show particles behaving in a way that can’t be explained by known physics. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Guardian science correspondent Hannah Devlin and Prof Jon Butterworth about why this might be a clue towards solving some of the deepest mysteries of the universe, and how the LHC will be searching for a potential fifth force of nature Continue reading...

The solution to today’s puzzleEarlier today I set you this problem from last year’s British Mathematical Olympiad (BMO), the UK’s top maths competition for pre-university students, which is taken by almost 2,000 teenagers a year.The question was attempted by 90 per cent of the contestants, and about 1 in 3 got full marks. How did you get on? Continue reading...

Breakthrough could improve diagnosis and lead to development of treatment for condition that has baffled doctors for two years

Smash this perplexing ping pong poserUPDATE: To read the solution click hereToday’s puzzle appeared in last year’s British Mathematical Olympiad (BMO), a competition taken by almost 2,000 school pupils in the UK.The BMO is the top national maths contest for pre-university students, and is part of the selection process for the British team at the International Mathematical Olympiad and the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad. Continue reading...

A wafer-thin crescent moon will have Aldebaran and the inner planet for companyClose out the UK bank holiday with an absolutely delightful sight this evening.Around 21.00 BST, a wafer-thin crescent moon will hang between the star Aldebaran and the planet Mercury. Begin your search as twilight begins to fall, and look low towards the western horizon. By 9pm, you should be able to see the three celestial objects. Continue reading...

Vaccinated people from about 60 visa-waiver countries now able to enter as part of pandemic reopening plan

Astronomers are hoping to witness the self-destruction of a star, which could help shed light on the creation of matter in our galaxyIf Stephen Smartt gets lucky, he may one day receive a message that will give the astrophysicist an advance warning that one of the most extraordinary displays known to science is about to light up the night sky. Signals relayed by automated telescope arrays and underground detectors will reveal that a star in our galactic neighbourhood has just turned supernova.A supernova occurs when a star destroys itself so completely it can outshine the combined light of an entire galaxy. In the last thousand years, only five have ever been visible to the naked eye. Ironically, all occurred before the invention of the telescope. Continue reading...

Losing someone you love dearly is devastating, but the bond couples shared in life is vital to those who live onThe threat of death is more present in our national unconscious than it has been for decades. A killer virus and a sudden violent invasion in Europe have shaken our sense of safety. A safety that many of us took for granted. The horrific scale of deaths in Ukraine is only just beginning to emerge. Our own mortality and fragility continue to alarm us at profound psychic and physical levels – even if we do not have to hide in bomb shelters.The pandemic left behind a shared sense of trauma, which the invasion reignited in many people’s minds. Trauma overwhelms the sufferer, leaving them powerless and shocked. While the two situations cannot be compared, they share certain aspects. Both represent deadly incursions into people’s lives. We may be far from the conflict in Ukraine, but most of us identify closely with the families being separated, women and children going west, men staying to fight. Some of those fleeing already know they will never meet again. The images of people at railway stations about to be forced apart are among the most heart-breaking I have ever seen. Continue reading...

Stargazers will have to wait years for repeat performance with four planets also appearing in straight lineJupiter and Venus, two of the solar system’s brightest planets, will appear to almost touch in a rare celestial spectacle this weekend.Although in reality they will be millions of miles apart, for stargazers on Earth they will appear to be close enough to almost collide in a planetary conjunction that occurs once a year. Continue reading...

For humanity truly to slip the surly bonds of Earth, private funds and intrepid thrill-seekers will be required

More sophisticated AI means space agencies should not use public funds for risky human missions, says Lord Martin ReesThe world’s space agencies should scrap plans to send astronauts to the moon and Mars and leave them to explorers and billionaires who can privately fund and risk such adventures, the astronomer royal says.Lord Martin Rees said technical improvements and more sophisticated artificial intelligence meant robotic missions were becoming ever more capable of exploration, and even construction, in space, making it unnecessary for space agencies to front far-flung human missions. Continue reading...

Therapy was like finding a key for a door that had been locked my whole life. Here are the nine things it’s taught meListen to an audio version of this articleI am standing outside an ordinary house in a tree-lined street on a midsummer afternoon, about to change my life. I glance through a window and see the reassuring domestic ephemera of books, a computer monitor, a child’s drawing. Next to the front door is a small, typed sign with the details of a psychotherapist. I draw myself up, feeling both grown up and childishly nervous, and ring the buzzer.It is June 2012, and I am nearing 38. The country is preoccupied with whether the Olympics will be ready on time and if England might crash out of the Euros. I have other things on my mind. A few weeks earlier, I made a call. The woman on the end of the line was polite, warm and to the point, and we agreed to meet. Waiting for her to answer the door, I start to sweat: will I like her? Will she think I am a time-waster? What am I going to say? Continue reading...

Concerns rise about surge as scientists say lack of exposure to viruses during Covid restrictions could be factorThe number of children in the UK suffering from severe hepatitis has risen to 145 as concerns mount about the mysterious surge in cases.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced an increase of 34 cases but said most children have recovered and no children have died. There has been no increase from the 10 children who have required a liver transplant, reported on Monday. Continue reading...

With 340m people living under lockdown or restrictions, the administration are sticking to their stance. But at what cost?

French book and documentary coming to the UK in September seeks to ‘debunk the simplistic division’ of gender rolesFrom academic works giving women a supporting role to hunter-gather men, to Raquel Welch’s portrayal of a bikini-clad cavewoman in the 1966 film One Million Years BC, the gender division of the stone age is firmly entrenched in public consciousness.While men strode out to spear woolly mammoths, women, as mothers or exploited objects of male desire, sheltered in caves from the violent world, according to an understanding said to be increasingly removed from the latest research. Continue reading...

Exercise better than relying on painkillers to improve quality of life long term, says guidanceBritons with arthritis are being urged to lose weight and exercise more rather than rely on painkillers as the main therapies for their condition.NHS guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) says people who are overweight should be told their pain can be reduced if they shed the pounds. Continue reading...

Adding oxygen to blood using ECMO process found to cause big increase in survival rate in severe UK casesScores of severely ill Covid-19 sufferers survived because they were given the NHS’s highest form of intensive care in which an artificial lung breathes for them, a study has found.Patients in the UK who underwent extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) were more likely to survive than those who did not have the treatment, according to the research. Continue reading...

Three customers accompanied by former Nasa astronaut paid $55m for place on Ax-1 missionThe first private crew of astronauts has returned from the International Space Station (ISS).Michael López-Alegría, Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy are not employed by a government, but are part of the Ax-1 mission from Axiom Space Inc. López-Alegría is a former Nasa astronaut with four previous spaceflights under his belt: three on the space shuttle and one to the ISS on a Soyuz launcher. He is Axiom’s chief astronaut. Continue reading...

Research shows high degree of variability between individual animals – with implications for ownersFrom sociable labradors to aggressive pitbulls, when it comes to canine behaviour there are no end of stereotypes. But research suggests such traits may have less to do with breed than previously thought.Modern dog breeds began to emerge in the Victorian era and are often physically distinct – for example, great danes are huge and chihuahuas tiny. But it has often been thought breed can predict behaviour, too. Continue reading...

More than 50 high school students working with university and industry experts to design, build and launch a CubeSat

Too much and too little sleep linked with worse cognitive performance and mental healthSeven hours of sleep each night is the ideal amount in middle to old age, research suggests.The study of nearly 500,000 adults aged between 38 and 73 found that both too much and too little sleep were linked with worse cognitive performance and mental health, including anxiety and depression. A consistent amount of sleep also appeared to be beneficial. Continue reading...

‘Zoonotic spillovers’ expected to rise with at least 15,000 instances of viruses leaping between species over next 50 yearsThere will be at least 15,000 instances of viruses leaping between species over the next 50 years, with the climate crisis helping fuel a “potentially devastating” spread of disease that will imperil animals and people and risk further pandemics, researchers have warned.As the planet heats up, many animal species will be forced to move into new areas to find suitable conditions. They will bring their parasites and pathogens with them, causing them to spread between species that haven’t interacted before. This will heighten the risk of what is called “zoonotic spillover”, where viruses transfer from animals to people, potentially triggering another pandemic of the magnitude of Covid-19. Continue reading...

Research shows more than half of girls think science and technology careers are preserve of boysBrownies are to learn coding and Guides will investigate chatbots in a bid to shift stubborn attitudes among girls that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) careers are just for boys.The drive to engage thousands more girls in technology comes after research by Girlguiding found more than half (52%) of girls and women between the ages of 11 and 21 believed that Stem was for boys. The strength of feeling is unchanged since 2016. Continue reading...