by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#5T4XQ)
Exclusive: Wood smoke is a more important carcinogen than vehicle fumes, finds Athens analysisWood burning stoves in urban areas are responsible for almost half of people’s exposure to cancer-causing chemicals found in air pollution particles, new research has shown.The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tiny pollution particles are produced by burning fuels and have long been known to have carcinogenic effects. The new study examined the sources of the PAHs and found wood burning produced more than the diesel fuel or petrol used in vehicles. Continue reading...
Analysis: After a steady stream of reports, how likely is it that Boris Johnson will take advice about imposing tougher restrictions?• Boris Johnson joined No 10 party during May 2020 lockdown, say sources
by Lucy Darwin, Noah Payne-Frank and Charlie Phillips on (#5T3JT)
The first microscope used by Charles Darwin was up for auction at Christie's this week, and this video tells the story of its discovery and importance. This intricate and rather beautiful 'box of brass’ contains the microscope used by Darwin at university in Edinburgh and Cambridge as he studied botany, fine-tuning his microscopy skills prior to and during his Beagle voyage. The auctioneer describes the microscope as one of the most exciting lots they've handled, with collectors queuing up to get their bids in Continue reading...
A fleet of modified Saildrones is sending back video and data to help understand extreme weatherSending a small sailing boat to explore the interior of a hurricane may seem like a bad idea, but that is exactly what meteorologists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did in October. There was no danger though because the seven-metre vessel was crewless.Saildrones are robot vessels that can stay at sea indefinitely with a combination of wind and solar power. Some, like Saildrone Explorer SD 1045, have been modified to handle 140mph winds and giant waves. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay with Pe on (#5T3F5)
For three consecutive rainy seasons, the eastern Horn of Africa has experienced poor rainfall. Confounded by Covid-19 and desert locust invasions, millions are now facing starvation across parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Already, livestock and wildlife are dying of thirst and hunger in large numbers. And at the heart of it all is the worsening climate crisis.Madeleine Finlay asks climate researcher Chris Funk what’s causing these devastating weather patterns and speaks to Nairobi reporter Peter Muiruri about the impact the droughts are having in northern Kenya, and what can be done to make regions more drought-resilient in the future Continue reading...
The error is to be expected, say linguists, as we don’t often have cause to introduce novel words to our vernacular as adultsRupert Murdoch’s New York Post criticized Joe Biden and his chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, for both mispronouncing the new Covid variant as “Omnicron” rather than “Omicron”.Biden’s detractors have seized on the mispronunciation as evidence of some sort of cognitive decline, but the president is far from alone. Daily Beast media reporter Justin Baragona confessed he “can relate” to Biden’s mispronunciation, and he’s not the only one: various digital news outlet URLs include the misspelling, suggesting that the mistake was in an early draft and only corrected after the article was published. Continue reading...
Older children had exams cancelled and their futures thrown into doubt. But what has been the toll on primary pupils who began school during the pandemic?Let me introduce you to a little girl called Miriam. She’s five years old and attends a primary school in north-east London. The adults who know her describe her as a confident, outgoing child. “She has a hugely adventurous spirit; she wants to try everything,” said one. But the pandemic that continues to spread fear and uncertainty across all our lives has made her scared of the world around her.Getting to sleep is difficult for Miriam because she has nightmares. Especially on Sundays. Coming into school is hard, because she doesn’t want to leave her mother. Sometimes she gets angry and clings to her mum. “Am I safe enough to do this on my own?” she’s thinking, and sometimes the answer she gives herself is no. “Her wings have been clipped by Covid,” says the school-based counsellor who works with her. She is not alone. Continue reading...
The Parker probe is exploring the corona to help scientists better understand solar outbursts that can interfere with life on EarthA Nasa spacecraft has officially “touched” the sun, plunging through the unexplored solar atmosphere known as the corona.Scientists announced the news Tuesday during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Continue reading...
Experimental antiviral pill Paxlovid is also effective against the Omicron variant, company announcesA pill manufactured by the prominent Covid-19 vaccine provider Pfizer is highly effective in protecting against severe disease from coronavirus, the company said on Tuesday.The experimental antiviral pill Paxlovid is also effective against the Omicron variant that is spreading rapidly across the world, the company announced, citing laboratory testing. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#5T1AS)
Governments urged to use ‘peace dividend’ to help UN tackle pandemics, climate crisis and extreme povertyMore than 50 Nobel laureates have signed an open letter calling for all countries to cut their military spending by 2% a year for the next five years, and put half the saved money in a UN fund to combat pandemics, the climate crisis, and extreme poverty.Coordinated by the Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli, the letter is supported by a large group of scientists and mathematicians including Sir Roger Penrose, and is published at a time when rising global tensions have led to a steady increase in arms budgets. Continue reading...
Millions have died unnecessarily of Covid and millions more will in 2022 unless something changes. Justice must be doneMillions more people will die from Covid-19 in the coming year, and most will be unvaccinated. The vaccines that could save millions of lives are not reaching the poor majority of the world’s population. The contrast is stark: the current share of people fully vaccinated in high, upper-middle income, lower-middle income and low income countries is 69%, 68%, 30% and 3.5% respectively.The UK, Canada, Germany and other EU states have supported a deliberate policy to withhold vaccines from the poorest countries in the world, and defended an immoral and unethical economic system which places big pharma patents ahead of millions of lives. In this context, is the only option left to ask whether the states facilitating this might be prosecuted in the international criminal court, on the grounds of a crime against humanity? Continue reading...
One guest is an antivaxxer, another is allergic to your cats, the turkey is still raw and your best friends are splitting up in the sitting room. Here is how to face down festive fiascosIt’s that time of year when you wake up sweating and can’t figure out why. Did you accidentally wear your thermals in bed? Do you have tuberculosis? No, dummy, it’s just that it’s almost Christmas, it’s your turn to play host, and the list of things that can go wrong on the 25th is long and wearying.Can I recommend, before we drill into this list, a quick wisdom stocktake? Last year was the worst Christmas imaginable: every plan was kiboshed at the very last minute; non-essential shops closed before we’d done our shopping; people who thought they were going back to their families ended up at home and hadn’t bought Baileys and crackers and whatnot; people who’d battled solitude for a year were stuck alone; people living on top of each other couldn’t catch a break; people expecting guests were buried under surplus pigs in blankets, and beyond our under-or over-decorated front doors, the outside world was fraught with risk and sorrow, as coronavirus declined to mark the birth of the Christ child with any respite from its march of terror. I’m not saying it couldn’t be as bad as that again – just that it couldn’t possibly be as surprisingly bad again. Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Ian Sample, pro on (#5T0TA)
As England moves to plan B, Boris Johnson has announced that all adults will be offered a booster vaccine by the end of December. But will that be enough to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed? Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample, about the spread of Omicron, and what we can do to prevent a tidal wave of casesArchive: The Guardian, The Sun Continue reading...
Data from 329 aerospace engineers and 72 neurosurgeons suggests they are not necessarily cleverer than general populationIt may not be rocket science, but researchers have found aerospace engineers and brain surgeons are not necessarily brighter than the general population.Researchers examined data from an international cohort of 329 aerospace engineers and 72 neurosurgeons who completed 12 tasks online using the Great British Intelligence Test (GBIT) from the Cognitron platform, as well as answering questions around their age, sex and levels of experience in their speciality. Continue reading...
It is no surprise that he is proving unfit to be prime minister, writes Paul Connew, while Kevin Donovan points out the PM’s hypocrisy with regard to the NHSIt is hard to disagree with John Harris’s devastating assessment of Boris Johnson (Boris Johnson’s crises boil down to one thing: contempt for the rest of us, 12 December). Except, perhaps, when he writes that Johnson is “so arrogant and thoughtless that he sometimes seems almost amoral”. Surely, his amorality is proven beyond all reasonable doubt?It was on display on Sunday night when, not for the first time, he contemptuously bypassed parliament with his pre-recorded, question-avoiding “national address” on television. It was Boris the wannabe president, not a primus inter pares prime minister. Continue reading...
The solutions to today’s problemsEarlier today I set you three questions from a Russian maths competition used to promote the International Congress of Mathematicians, which will be held in July next year in St Petersburg.1. Pet swap Continue reading...
Mathematicians get ready to partyUPDATE: The solutions can be read here.The largest and most important event in the mathematical calendar will take place next July in St Petersburg. The International Congress of Mathematicians is a quadrennial gathering at which many of the subject’s most prominent thinkers give lectures and the winners of maths’ most prestigious prize, the Fields Medal, are announced.As part of the build-up to the event – which is expected to attract about 5,000 mathematicians from all over the world – the organisers earlier this year ran an online maths competition for students and the general public. Below are the first three questions from this test. Continue reading...
Readers are unconvinced that the government’s plan B measures will be enough to curb Covid cases and deathsWell said, Rachel Clarke (Talk of a No 10 Christmas party is an insult to the thousands who have died of Covid, 8 December). Her wholly justifiable anger, based on her frontline experience of caring for her patients, encapsulates, I suspect, the fury and frustrations of many.Once he has completed his investigations into “partygate”, the cabinet secretary might usefully place a copy of Ms Clarke’s article alongside the agenda for future cabinet meetings, if only to remind participants that government is a serious business with serious consequences, ideally conducted by serious professionals rather than the current bunch of self-serving, irresponsible amateurs.
I worried so much about not seeing my son, who lives in Canada, during Covid, but then I realised that he was fine – and being very well looked afterGetting to Canada from the UK in August 2020 was a faff, as you might expect mid-pandemic. There was lots of stress – tests and isolation, rules, regulations and forms. I was doing the preparations at my mum’s. She could see I was getting upset and insisted on taking over, assuming I was being pathetic. Within five minutes, she had lost it as well. Emotions were high in the days before I flew. This wasn’t just a holiday, but my chance – amid such uncertainty and sadness – to spend precious time with Julian, my only son.He’s the best and most significant thing that has ever happened to me. He was also very much an unexpected surprise. I had a short relationship with his mum; we parted ways on great terms. Then one day out of the blue I got a call from North Korea, where she was working. She was pregnant. I was based in England, and she lived in Canada. We were both medical emergency aid workers at the time and had met while responding to a cyclone in Burma. It was always going to be complicated, but we decided to make it work. Continue reading...
Phone signals, soil samples, tattoo ink, fly larvae… We all know that microscopic traces can play a crucial role in solving crimes. But who are the forensic experts who can read the clues?Before I started out in forensics 20 years ago, I served in the military. I was a communications engineer in the army, radios were my domain. After I left, someone suggested I turn to digital forensics. I was a bit of a sceptic at first, but I just didn’t understand what could be done. In my time, I’ve worked in both the private and public sector; within the police and as an independent expert. Continue reading...
The week ahead will be pivotal as we track the spread of the new variant and discover its potential legacyThe emergence and rapid spread of the Omicron Sars-CoV-2 variant feels like a flashback to last year’s grim festive season when much of the world went into lockdown to avert the worst of the Alpha variant wave. But though the sense of eerie, impending doom feels familiar, the epidemiological and political situations are different from one year ago.The Omicron wave represents a key turning point in the pandemic. But no plausible outcome looks particularly auspicious – it feels largely like a lose-lose deal. If if turns out to be roughly as severe as previous pandemic waves, it might normalise harsh mitigation measures and render the prospect of a return to post-pandemic normality fairly remote. If it turned out to be milder than feared, this could spell the end of lockdowns with Covid-19 on its way into endemicity. The cost would be a loss of trust in political and public health authorities, which may make it difficult to deal with future threats. Continue reading...
Analysis: UK faces grim winter if vaccines offer poor overall protection, but if the virus has weak powers to evade immunity, hospital cases can be containedTwo competing forces will determine Omicron’s impact on the nation over the next few weeks. The power of booster jabs to give last-minute protection against Covid-19 will be pitted against the new variant’s ability to elude existing immunity. The outcome will decide whether our festive season is going to be muted or miserable.If enough arms are jabbed with booster vaccines, while Omicron turns out to have poor powers to evade immunity, then there is hope hospital cases will be contained and the NHS will be protected. Severe restrictions in the new year – including the prospect of lockdowns – could be avoided. Continue reading...
In a society riven by ‘gotchas’ and self-righteousness, let’s be more ready to recognise our own failings and less hasty to judge others’There’s a communal prayer of penitence that is often used in Church of England services. In it, worshippers confess that they have sinned against their fellow humans “in thought, and word, and deed; through negligence, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault”. Concise yet powerful, it recognises the different ways we can harm each other. Sins of omission and of carelessness are no less damaging, or requiring of forgiveness, than those born of malice.We live in a period when our personal contributions to systemic injustice, many of them unintentional, are becoming increasingly obvious. Our new age of enlightenment has illuminated any number of dark corners that society has long failed (or refused) to notice. Cricket, the sport I love, has just endured a particularly punishing month of reckoning. First, Azeem Rafiq’s public testimony against his former county, Yorkshire, forced the English game to admit that its anti-racism stance wasn’t worth the T-shirts it was printed on. Then, right before the Ashes, Australia’s then-captain admitted sending sexually explicit messages to a colleague. In both cases, players, coaches and commentators found themselves suddenly jobless, while the sport’s administrators have scrambled, with little dignity, to contain the fallout. Continue reading...
New British research backs theory that parched planet’s water all came from extraterrestrial sourceIt covers three quarters of the surface of the Earth and gives our planet its distinctive blue complexion when viewed from outer space. But the source of the liquid water that sustains our seas and which has nourished life on our world for eons is a subject of major scientific debate.Some researchers argue that water in some form has been present on our world ever since it coalesced out of swirling clouds of dust and gas 4.5 billion years ago. Earth has always been provided with a reservoir, in short. Continue reading...
Focus on the exciting potential of T-cell immunity is spurring the sector on to create a new generation of jabsThe speed at which scientists worked to develop the first Covid jabs was unprecedented. Just nine months after the UK went into lockdown, 90-year-old Margaret Keenan officially became the first person in the world outside a trial to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. But the virus is mutating, and the emergence of the Omicron variant last month is already focusing attention on the next generation of jabs.So what do we know about the new Covid-19 vaccines? One change is with delivery mechanisms, such as San Francisco firm Vaxart’s vaccine-in-a-pill, and Scancell’s spring-powered injectors that pierce the skin without a needle. But the biggest development is in T-cell technology. Produced by the bone marrow, T-cells are white blood cells that form a key part of the immune system. While current vaccines mainly generate antibodies that stick to the virus and stop it infecting the body, the new vaccines prime T-cells to find and destroy infected cells, thus preventing viral replication and disease. (The current vaccines also produce a T-cell response, but to a lesser extent.) Continue reading...
Laura Shepard Churchley, whose father, Alan Shepard, made history in 1961 as the first American to travel into space, was among the crew of sixThe eldest daughter of pioneering US astronaut Alan Shepard took a joyride to the edge of space aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket on Saturday, 60 years after her late father’s famed suborbital Nasa flight at the dawn of the Space Age.Laura Shepard Churchley, 74, who was a schoolgirl when her father first streaked into space, was one of six passengers buckled into the cabin of Blue Origin‘s New Shepard spacecraft as it lifted off from a launch site outside the west Texas town of Van Horn. Continue reading...
Scientists are racing to assess the spread of the virus in wild and domestic animals, and the threat it could pose to usA year ago humanity embarked on a project to vaccinate every person against Covid-19. But in recent months a shadow vaccination campaign has also been taking place. From giraffes to snow leopards, gorillas to sea lions, zoos around the world have been inoculating their animals with an experimental Covid vaccine as an insurance policy against what they fear could be a similarly fatal illness for certain mammals.Meanwhile, veterinary scientists have been scrambling to understand the scale of Covid-19 infection in our furry household companions, and what the consequences could be for their health – and our own. Continue reading...