Science | The Guardian

Orbit dropped by 310 metres briefly to avoid collision with fragment from vessel launched in 1994The International Space Station performed a manoeuvre to swerve from a fragment of a US launch vehicle, the head of Russia’s space agency has said.Dmitry Rogozin, the director general of Roscosmos, said the station’s orbit dropped by 310 metres for almost three minutes to avoid a close encounter with a particle from the American vessel, which was sent into space in 1994. Continue reading...

Disparity with white people who have lower death rate relative to infection rate suspected to be due to slower vaccine uptake

Jabs offer far higher protection than that needed to prevent hospitalisation and death, Cov-Boost trial lead says

Study finds some pollutants are correlated with higher levels of boys and others with more girlsA swathe of pollutants and indicators of poverty have been linked to changes in the ratio of baby boys to girls born to millions of parents.A study of half the US population and the entire Swedish population examined more than 100 possible factors and found, for example, that mercury, chromium and aluminium pollution correlated with more boys being born, while lead pollution increased the proportion of girls. Proximity to farming also affected the sex ratio, possibly due to higher chemical exposures. Continue reading...

Exceptional find includes biggest and most complete dinosaur skeleton ever unearthed in the countryA treasure trove of fossils of a herd of 11 dinosaurs has been identified for the first time in Italy, including the biggest and most complete dinosaur skeleton ever found in the country.Although isolated dinosaur remains have been discovered in Italy since the 1990s, palaeontologists have now identified an entire group at Villaggio del Pescatore, a former limestone quarry close to the north-eastern port city of Trieste. Continue reading...

Knowing a baby’s whole genetic code would help detect a range of health problems, but would not replace need for some existing tests

Analysis: UK’s early vaccine deployment and use of different vaccines from South Africa mean it’s too soon to say

Exclusive: experts say scheme seems designed to create valuable dataset rather than improve screeningScientists have raised concerns about a proposed overhaul of newborn screening that could lead to the UK becoming the first country to offer whole-genome sequencing for every baby.Speaking before the publication of plans for an NHS pilot study in which up to 200,000 babies’ genomes will be sequenced and analysed, scientists suggested the initiative appeared designed to create a valuable health dataset rather than an effective method of improving the diagnosis of rare diseases. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson may have given parties go-ahead but experts warn against sharing air space in poorly ventilated rooms

Drug found in trials to cut vulnerable adults’ risk of hospital admission and death by 79%

Experts hope better understanding of rare side effect of vaccine could help ‘turn the tide’ on pandemic

Of 32 reassessed applications, six were ranked high enough to be recommended for potentially career-defining fundingResearchers who challenged the Australian Research Council’s rejection of critical funding applications on the basis of a controversial rule change have been vindicated, with their appeal upheld and 32 previously rejected projects deemed eligible for funding.Researchers across the sciences and humanities were left furious and frustrated in August after their applications for Australian Research Council (ARC) fellowships were rejected because of a new rule that banned preprint material from being cited. Continue reading...

Vegan leather alternative isn’t just the hot fashion must-have – it could teach us about consumption and wasteVegan alternatives to leather could save more than just animals. The scientists behind fashion’s new latest must-have – the “mushroom leather” handbag – believe that mycelium, a material grown from fungi which can be engineered to look and feel like calfskin or sheepskin, could help save the planet.Speaking to the Guardian before a talk at the Business of Fashion Voices conference in Oxfordshire, Dr Matt Scullin, CEO of biomaterials company MycoWorks, forecast that mushroom leather could be a sustainability gamechanger, “unlocking a future of design which begins with the material, not with the object”. Continue reading...

Sore, blurry eyes, decaying teeth, spreading feet – the strange, difficult years of coronavirus have had unexpected effects on our general healthThis year, out of nowhere, my left heel has started hurting. Is it the onset of some degenerative condition, a normal byproduct of ageing, or simply pandemic life, I wonder. After all, living through this period has had surprising health consequences – even for people who have not caught coronavirus. It has recently emerged, for instance, that the Covid era has been a global hair-loss event – a clear manifestation of the stress everyone has been under. What else have these unprecedented times written on our bodies? Continue reading...

Clinicians around the world have noticed an increase in young adults, often women, developing ‘tic-like behaviours’ – sudden movements or vocalisations similar to what’s seen in Tourette Syndrome. Except these tics come on much later in life, and escalate more rapidly. Some have blamed the recent rise on social media – but the reality is much more complicated.Madeleine Finlay talks to Guardian reporter Sirin Kale and research psychologist Dr Seonaid Anderson about the young people experiencing this debilitating disorder, and what can be done about it.Archive: NewsNation; TikTok Continue reading...

A new Covid variant first identified in South Africa is spreading around the world, with leaders rushing to respond. Our science correspondent Nicola Davis outlines what we know so far about the Omicron variantThe identification of a new Covid variant has sent shockwaves around the world as leaders scramble once again to close borders and reintroduce measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. The World Health Organization has said Omicron poses a very high risk of infection. Its ability to evade Covid vaccines is of particular concern, and the chief executive of the US drugmaker Moderna has warned there is no world where the effectiveness of vaccines is at the same level as with the Delta variant.The Guardian’s science correspondent Nicola Davis tells Hannah Moore the variant is so new to scientists there is not enough data to predict how serious a threat it could pose, but the next two weeks will be crucial. Continue reading...

US among more than 50 nations bringing in stricter border controls as variant is identified in 24 countries

Dutch microbiologist Elisabeth Bik, winner of prestigious John Maddox prize, says trust in science is being underminedA “tsunami” of poor quality research is fuelling misinformation and could undermine trust in science, the winner of the prestigious John Maddox prize has warned.Elisabeth Bik, a Dutch microbiologist turned science sleuth who on Wednesday evening won the John Maddox prize for standing up for science in the face of harassment, intimidation and lawsuits, said the intense pressure to publish papers is leading to a “dilution” of the quality of scientific literature. Continue reading...

Scientists face barrage of conspiracy theories and falsehoods at unprecedented levels, study finds

IOM report finds 9m more people displaced globally but mobility restricted due to pandemic, with vaccination proving a key factor

Senior UK scientist says extent of threat posed by Omicron will not be clear until end of year

Archaeologist compares eruption at Roman town close to Pompeii to dropping of WW2 atomic bombAn Italian archaeologist has compared the impact of the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius on Herculaneum – the ancient Roman beach town close to Pompeii – to the dropping of an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during the second world war.Such was the heat of the pyroclastic surge produced by Vesuvius – believed to have been between 400C and 500C – that the brains and blood of the Herculaneum’s victims instantly boiled. Continue reading...

More than 2bn Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. Find out which countries are vaccinating the most

Fungi provide awe in abundance so get out there and forage in the mulch, while there’s still timeMushrooms are having a moment. Cultural depictions of fungi are proliferating: from Seana Gavin’s psychedelic mushroom collages shown at Somerset House last year; to the bestselling book Entangled Life, by the mycologist Merlin Sheldrake; we’re seeing there is more to the fungus than meets the eye. Trials into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin – derived from “magic” mushrooms – are even returning to modern medicine.And after one of the wettest summers in memory, local mushrooms are flourishing as well. Fungi-spotting reports from the public to the Royal Horticultural Society are up 76% compared with 2020, because of a bumper year.Lucy Jones is a journalist and the author of Losing Eden and The Nature Seed.

Analysis: scientists are working full tilt to answer these vital questions that may give clues as to what is to come

US, Japan and Singapore tighten rules for travellers but WHO says ‘blanket bans’ won’t contain the new Covid strain

A feat of engineering is tackling subsidence in Shanxi province, but water conservation and tree planting can also helpFissures and sinkholes are the norm in China’s Shanxi province. Intensive agriculture combined with major coal production has put huge pressure on water resources and sucked the earth dry, leaving the city of Taiyuan, with a population of 5 million, and the surrounding area suffering some of the highest subsidence rates in the world. Pipelines, roads, bridges and railways need constant repairs, and gaping cracks in buildings have resulted in entire communities having to be rehoused.Since 2003, the Chinese government has been trying to solve this problem by diverting surplus water from the Yellow River. Now satellite measurements, published in Remote Sensing of Environment, reveal that this mammoth feat of engineering – taking 1.2bn cubic metres of water every year – has partially solved the problem, with diverted water rehydrating underground pores and reversing the sinking trend. Continue reading...

Techniques could help make farm animals resistant to disease but there are fears welfare standards could dropRobust regulations must be put in place to protect the welfare of farmed animals before genome-editing procedures are approved for commercial livestock, ethicists have warned.Powerful gene-editing techniques have the potential to improve modern farming by making animals resistant to heat and disease, reducing methane emissions and increasing productivity, but the same approaches could also exacerbate animal welfare problems, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics says. Continue reading...

Archaeologists say neolithic version of energy bars may also have been eaten at midwinter feastsAfter a day enduring midwinter winds whipping off Salisbury Plain, the ancient builders of Stonehenge may have warmed up with a prehistoric version of the mince pie, archaeologists have suggested.The hardy engineers of the great Wiltshire monument might also have kept themselves going by nibbling on their version of energy bars made of berries, nuts and animal fat. Continue reading...

Two cases of new Covid variant found in Netherlands predate last week’s alert from South AfricaThe Omicron variant of Covid-19 was present in Europe at least 10 days ago and already appears to be spreading in the Netherlands and elsewhere.“We have found the Omicron coronavirus variant in two test samples that were taken on November 19 and 23,” the Dutch health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. “It is not yet clear whether these people had also visited southern Africa,” the ministry added. Continue reading...

Parliament formally endorses Boris Johnson’s plans to limit spread of Omicron variant

The Omicron variant of Covid has prompted governments around the world to reintroduce border restrictions, with Australia shutting the border to southern Africa and delaying the reopening date for international students and visa holders. The federal government has called for calm, describing the variant as ‘manageable’, but what do we actually know about it?

In London and Manchester more people have face coverings but some complain of being ‘controlled’

Postponement comes a day after Nasa official warned of elevated debris risk due to Russian missile testNasa has postponed a planned spacewalk outside the International Space Station due to flying “debris”, two weeks after Russia blew up one of its own satellites in a missile test that created clouds of zooming shrapnel in orbit.Washington’s space agency did not mention the Russian test in its announcement, but a Nasa official had warned a day earlier of a slightly elevated risk to astronauts due to the 14 November incident. Continue reading...

Mycorrhizal fungal networks are a major global carbon sink. When we destroy them, we sabotage our efforts to limit global heatingIf we want to tackle the climate crisis, we need to address a global blindspot: the vast underground fungal networks that sequester carbon and sustain much of life on Earth.Fungi are largely invisible ecosystem engineers. Most live as branching, fusing networks of tubular cells known as mycelium. Globally, the total length of fungal mycelium in the top 10cm of soil is more than 450 quadrillion km: about half the width of our galaxy. These symbiotic networks comprise an ancient life-support system that easily qualifies as one of the wonders of the living world.Toby Kiers is professor of evolutionary biology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and co-founder of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (Spun)Merlin Sheldrake is a biologist and the author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures Continue reading...

Hong Kong and Ecuador join ranks of countries imposing new restrictions, cases rise in Australia and Canada, but stock markets bounce back

Last week, a new variant of Covid-19 was detected by scientists in South Africa. Since then, additional cases have been reported beyond southern Africa, including Belgium, Canada, Israel, Australia and the UK. And with the WHO warning that the Omicron variant poses a very high global risk, scientists around the world are scrambling to uncover clues about its transmissibility and how effective the current coronavirus vaccines will be against it.To find out what we do know about Omicron and what it could mean for the coming weeks and months, Madeleine Finlay spoke to the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample.

Project aims to help protect some of trillions of miles of the ‘circulatory system of the planet’Vast networks of underground fungi – the “circulatory system of the planet” – are to be mapped for the first time, in an attempt to protect them from damage and improve their ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide.Fungi use carbon to build networks in the soil, which connect to plant roots and act as nutrient “highways”, exchanging carbon from plant roots for nutrients. For instance, some fungi are known to supply 80% of phosphorus to their host plants. Continue reading...

Xenobots are synthetic lifeforms made by cells from frog embryos and assembling them into clustersSome species do it in pairs, some without knowing the other parties involved, and some even do it on their own: when it comes to replication, nature is nothing if not versatile.Now researchers say they have found that clusters of frog cells can undergo a form of replication never before seen in plants or animals. The spherical clumps, known as xenobots, can give rise to “offspring” by sweeping up loose cells and swashing them into yet more clusters. Continue reading...

The best weapon against the new Covid variant is boosters. But ministers should take aim at misinformation tooIt is by now fairly well known that the most serious cases of Covid-19 in the UK, and other rich countries, are increasingly concentrated among unvaccinated people. Between January and September, there were 34,474 deaths from Covid in England of unvaccinated people aged 10 or over, compared with 4,308 deaths of those who had received two vaccine doses (an alternative set of figures, also published by the Office for National Statistics and based on a different dataset, gives the totals of 40,966 unvaccinated deaths, compared with 5,104 double-vaccinated).The UK Health Security Agency has been careful to stress that the data “do not show causal links between vaccines and risks of mortality”. Other differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups could contribute to their differing death rates. But the contrast is dramatic, as are data relating to hospitalisation, with one recent analysis showing that of 40,000 Covid patients hospitalised, 84% were unvaccinated and just 3% double-vaccinated. Continue reading...

The solutions to today’s puzzlesEarlier today I set you the following three problems, taken from this year’s Mathigon puzzle advent calendar.1. The seven digits Continue reading...

We know the latest ‘variant of concern’ has arrived in the country, but we shouldn’t assume the worst

Advent(ures) in numberlandUPDATE: The answers can be read hereEvery year the remarkable maths website Mathigon runs a puzzle advent calendar, publishing a problem a day from December 1 to 24. I’ve had a peek at this year’s puzzles and selected three of the ones I liked the most.1. The seven digits Continue reading...

Obscure constellation’s name features in Perseus myth as beast denied chance to devour AndromedaThis week presents a good chance to see one of the more obscure autumn constellations: Cetus, the sea monster. Sometimes referred to as a whale, Cetus is part of the myth of Perseus, which includes the other constellations Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and Cepheus.In the story, Perseus rescues Andromeda from Cetus, after she is chained to the rocks for the monster to devour in the gods’ punishment for Andromeda’s boasts of her beauty. Continue reading...

We find out how much protection Covid vaccines may offer amid speculation new variant could be more resistant

Both cases are recent arrivals from Nigeria; UN agency’s comments follow South Africa’s call to reverse flight bans; G7 health ministers to hold urgent meeting on Omicron variant

Des Senior calls for the government to immediately introduce basic measures to contain the new Covid variant, while Duncan McCallum would like to see a more coordinated global responseWith regard to tackling the Omicron variant (Omicron variant spreads to Europe as UK announces countermeasures, 26 November), closing our borders buys us a little time, nothing more. So what are we going to do with it? Dithering with the current laissez-faire, herd immunity, business-as-usual policies will swiftly turn into a disaster. The government needs to introduce stringent infection-suppression measures now, not wait until it is too late as usual.As a bare minimum we need green passes for all potential mass spreader events, mandatory mask wearing in all enclosed public spaces, and mandatory vaccination for all health, care, education and public-facing workers. Continue reading...

A new variant identified in southern Africa is causing global panic – but its real impact will be shown by the data that scientists are racing to establish

Swiss skiing holidays in doubt as country joins Spain in tightening travel rules to contain Omicron variant

Putting many low-quality studies together cannot provide reliable answers about masks and ivermectinIn The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, Sherlock Holmes says: “Data! Data! Data! I can’t make bricks without clay.” Recent claims of massive benefits from wearing masks and using ivermectin against Covid-19 depended on mainly low-quality clay.Meta-analysis is a technique for pooling the results from many studies, but it cannot make silk purses out of sows’ ears. A recent British Medical Journal review looked at six, fairly porcine, studies concerning mask-wearing and estimated an impressive 53% reduction in risk. But the single randomised controlled trial estimated the smallest effect: a reduction of about 18% (-23% to 46%) in Sars-CoV-2 infections. The “heaviest” studies, an analysis of US states and a survey of about 8,000 Chinese adults in early 2020, observed rather than experimented and its editorial highlights the risks of confounding variables influencing both wearing masks and infections and the impossibility of disentangling the effects of measures fluctuating simultaneously. Indeed, this review found an identical 53% reduction from handwashing. Continue reading...