Scientists are pinning hopes on elaborate detectors to track the elusive material that holds galaxies togetherDeep underground, scientists are closing in on one of the most elusive targets of modern science: dark matter. In subterranean laboratories in the US and Italy, they have set up huge vats of liquid xenon and lined them with highly sensitive detectors in the hope of spotting subatomic collisions that will reveal the presence of this elusive material.However, researchers acknowledge that the current generation of detectors are reaching the limit of their effectiveness and warn that if they fail to detect dark matter with these types of machines, they could be forced to completely reappraise their understanding of the cosmos. Continue reading...

If the PM’s climate spokesperson is in no rush to go electric, then why should we bother?‘I don’t fancy it just yet,” said Allegra Stratton, the No 10 press secretary turned prime minister’s climate spokesperson, when she was asked about getting an electric car. She preferred her old diesel, thank you.If this was merely the most memorable in a series of suboptimal comments from the person hired to communicate the urgency of Cop26, the climate summit, you couldn’t fault it as a summary of Boris Johnson’s position on decisive climate action. He doesn’t fancy it just yet. Continue reading...

Cop26 meeting is last chance, says Alok Sharma as he backs UK’s plan for new oil and gas fields

An unexpected friendship was a breath of fresh air after my turbulent city lifeMuch is said about walking the road less travelled. There’s joy in the unexpected and the unravelling of, well, who knows what. Just over a year ago, I left my London life for rural Wales. I saw it as not a desirable but a necessary pause in what had become a turbulent life. The previous six years had been full of turmoil, death, subsequent grief and estrangement. Before my big move, I ran away for a month to New York, to spend time on my own. I spent the days writing and watching a blur of people rotate in the world as I tried to find my place in it. I had become deeply sad.Walking has never been my thing, but there’s no point in being in the countryside if you’re not going to try it out. So I bought a pair of expensive walking boots and made it my goal to put one foot in front of the other. Which is how I came to meet Wilf, a farmer in his 70s. Most days when I would go out I would see him tending to his sheep. It was a wholesome sight, a shepherd with his flock. There was something eternal about it, a man toiling the earth, as if this one scope held all of eternity. It made everything else look so starkly ephemeral. Continue reading...

The UCL scientist and ‘militant corona centrist’ on the risk of new variants, psychosomatic long Covid and when he expects the crisis to end

Trump’s team reportedly believed that coronavirus would hurt Democratic states – and Democratic governors – worse. But the virus does not discriminateSome of the most powerful conservatives in the United States have, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, chosen to sow disinformation along with mockery and distrust of proven methods of combating the disease, from masks to vaccines to social distancing. Their actions have afflicted the nation as a whole with more disease and death and economic crisis than good leadership aligned with science might have, and, in spite of hundreds of thousands of well-documented deaths and a new surge, they continue. Their malice has become so normal that its real nature is rarely addressed. Call it biological warfare by propaganda.Call Jared Kushner the spiritual heir of the army besieging the city of Caffa on the Black Sea in 1346, which, according to a contemporaneous account, catapulted plague-infected corpses over the city walls. This is sometimes said to be how the Black Death came to Europe, where it would kill tens of millions of people – a third of the European population – over the next 15 years. A Business Insider article from a year ago noted: “Kushner’s coronavirus team shied away from a national strategy, believing that the virus was hitting Democratic states hardest and that they could blame governors.” An administration more committed to saving lives than scoring points could have contained the pandemic rather than made the US the worst-hit nation in the world. Illnesses and casualties could have been far lower, and we could have been better protected against the Delta variant. Continue reading...

None of Victoria’s new cases in quarantine for infectious period; Queensland won’t make lockdown decision until Sunday. This blog is now closed

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews reports 29 new cases while Queensland records 13

Deaths linked to latest coronavirus outbreak reaches 27 as four new cases recorded in Newcastle

This blog is closed. You can catch up with all our coverage of the pandemic here.11.52pm BST11.49pm BSTArgentina will relax coronavirus restrictions as infection and mortality rates falls, the government announced.The South American nation is approaching five million cases with more than 107,000 deaths. Continue reading...

In the US and elsewhere, millions of 12-15 year olds have had the jab. The UK’s delayed approach seems overly cautious

From how coronavirus spreads to its health impact, our understanding of the disease has evolved in some areas

Three largest states under strict controls as Delta variant spread worsens and Sydney warned to expect more bad news in coming days

Missions with Nasa and Jaxa will use planet’s pull to lose energy, allowing spacecraft to fall closer to sunThe European Space Agency is preparing for back-to-back flybys of the same planet by two different spacecraft just one day apart.On 9 August, the Esa-Nasa Solar Orbiter spacecraft will fly past Venus with a closest approach of 7,995km (4,968 miles). A day later, the Esa-Jaxa BepiColombo mission will make its pass at an altitude of just 550km (342 miles). Continue reading...

Women are reluctant to participate in trials despite being more likely to die of heart diseaseThere are extra barriers to recruiting women for cardiovascular research, even though more women die of heart disease than men, a new study shows.Despite agreement that it is crucial to have proportional representation of both sexes in medical research, a recent review of 740 completed cardiovascular clinical trials conducted between 2010 and 2017 found that women account for roughly 38% of the total participants. Continue reading...

The company said it will have three consumer offerings: a single seat, a multi-seat package and a full-flight buy outVirgin Galactic has said it will open ticket sales on Thursday for space flights starting at $450,000 a seat, weeks after the company’s billionaire founder, Richard Branson, took a high profile flight to to the edge of space.The space-tourism company said Thursday it is making progress toward beginning revenue flights next year. It will sell single seats, package deals and entire flights. Continue reading...

As it happened: French court rules pass required to enter restaurants and bars is legal; UK cases rise above 30,000 again

Researchers record the earliest moments of a supernova as a shockwave blasts its way through a starThe earliest moments of a supernova – the cataclysmic explosion of a massive star – have been observed in unprecedented detail, in a development researchers say could help us better understand what happens to stars when they die.Using data collected from Nasa’s Kepler space telescope in 2017, astrophysicists recorded the initial light burst from a supernova as a shockwave blasted its way through a star. Continue reading...

Hottest Olympics in history will put pressure on organisers to rethink sport in light of climate crisisOlympic athletes and volunteers in Tokyo are being “tortured” by dangerous heat, meteorologists have said, as the hottest Games in history puts pressure on organisers to rethink the future of sport in a climate-disrupted world.Temperatures hit 34C in the Japanese capital on Thursday with humidity of nearly 70%. Athletes and sports scientists say the combination of heat and moisture has led to “brutal” conditions that must be avoided at future events. Continue reading...

A shutdown would have devastating global impacts and must not be allowed to happen, researchers sayClimate scientists have detected warning signs of the collapse of the Gulf Stream, one of the planet’s main potential tipping points.The research found “an almost complete loss of stability over the last century” of the currents that researchers call the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The currents are already at their slowest point in at least 1,600 years, but the new analysis shows they may be nearing a shutdown. Continue reading...

Zac Manuel discusses his documentary about a young Covid vaccine trial participant intent on challenging vaccine hesitancy in her communityOur recent release on the Guardian Documentary strand is This Body, a film about a young woman called Sydney Hall who has decided to go against the skeptics and participate in a Covid vaccine trial. A veterinary student, her trust in science and the medical industry is not one shared with most of her community, especially in the echoes of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment alongside contemporary medical inequalities that continue towards Black America to this day.The director, Zac Manuel, is a New Orleans-based film-maker who hopes that telling stories about the Black southern experience and Black legacy through his work will encourage change in society. We asked him a few questions about his latest film. Continue reading...

Research from the Black Women’s Health Study has found that long-term and frequent users of hair relaxers had roughly a 30% increased risk of breast cancer compared with more infrequent users. Shivani Dave speaks to Dr Kimberly Bertrand, co-investigator of the study and assistant professor of medicine at Boston University, about the research and to journalist Tayo Bero about the effects these findings could have on the black community Continue reading...

Pan-European research shows psychiatric services across the continent reduced level of care

Research could lead to doctors being able to tell women how long they have got left to start a familyA series of genetic signals that influences the age women begin menopause has been identified, potentially paving the way to fertility treatment that could extend the natural reproductive lifespan of women.Researchers scanned the genes of more than 200,000 women and found nearly 300 genetic signals that researchers said could help identify why some women are predisposed to early menopause, the health consequences of going through menopause early and whether these signals can be manipulated to improve fertility. Continue reading...

A New Zealand study claims men and women become more satisfied with their bodies over time – bucking the expectations of our youth-obsessed cultureName: Happy retirees.Age: Well, as you know, people retire at different ages, typically from about 60 onwards. Continue reading...

Analysis: official advisers have called for jabs to be given to children aged 16 and 17 in a rethink of policy

Old Babylonian tablet likely used for surveying uses Pythagorean triples at least 1,000 years before PythagorasAn Australian mathematician has discovered what may be the oldest known example of applied geometry, on a 3,700-year-old Babylonian clay tablet.Known as Si.427, the tablet bears a field plan measuring the boundaries of some land. Continue reading...

Delta cluster rises to 63 as Victoria records one new local case of coronavirus in a Melbourne teacher

Minister says JCVI experts to update advice ‘imminently’ on widening access to vaccine to more teenagers

Co-creator of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab hopes it will inspire young girls to enter Stem careers

UK deaths are highest since mid-March; doctors, scientists and the government disagree over vaccinating children in Germany

A team of investigators used enhanced carbon dating methods to examine human remains from the site in PeruA scientific discovery about Machu Picchu has cast doubt on the reliability of colonial records for modern western historians trying to piece together an understanding of the Inca people who built the site.For more than 75 years, many historians and scientists have worked on the assumption that the famous site in Peru was built some time after AD1438. This was based primarily on 16th-century Spanish accounts from their conquest of the region. However, enhanced radiocarbon dating techniques carried out on remains have now found it could be at least two decades older. Continue reading...

Trial suggests anti-inflammatory dexamethasone may offer welcome alternative to intra-uterine systemResearchers hope a steroid that shot to prominence during the Covid pandemic may help reduce blood loss in those who experience heavy periods.The cheap anti-inflammatory dexamethasone was discovered to improve survival rates among patients critically ill with Covid. It is also used for conditions including severe asthma and certain forms of arthritis. Continue reading...

As with elephants and orcas, worldly wisdom and childcare brings group-survival perks, research suggestsPillars of family life, the community and often the workplace, grandmothers are a crucial component of human society – now researchers say they may also play an important role among giraffes.Experts conducting a review of giraffe social behaviour say female giraffes live for about eight years after they can no longer reproduce – up to about 30% of their lives. Continue reading...

Marine experts hope the creature is on his way back to the Norwegian archipelago of SvalbardAfter spending the summer wowing British holidaymakers – and sometimes making a nuisance of himself by accidentally sinking boats – Wally the walrus appears to be trying to head home.The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said on Tuesday that Wally had departed the Isles of Scilly, where he had been in residence since June, and there has been a positive sighting of him in the waters off Ireland. Continue reading...

Researchers aim to determine optimal gap between doses as well as explore potential side-effects in more detail

Amount of cosmic debris reaching Earth has stayed surprisingly constant in last 500m years, say scientistsThis month it is worth turning your eyes to the night sky to watch the spectacular Perseid meteor shower. Peak viewing time will be around 12 August, when as many as 150 meteors an hour will whizz overhead. Generated by Earth passing through the debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle, these meteors are a reliable event, but other meteors, such as the fireball that recently lit up southern Norway, are more random.Most meteors burn themselves out in the atmosphere, but thousands of tons of cosmic dust do still make it to Earth’s surface every year. New research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the number of meteorite strikes has stayed surprisingly constant for millions of years. Continue reading...

First such study in the world aims to find out if Sativex combined with chemotherapy can help treat glioblastomaCancer charities and the NHS are preparing to investigate whether a cannabis-based mouth spray can treat brain tumours and help patients to live longer.Doctors will give patients across the UK with a recurrent brain tumour called a glioblastoma the drug, which is known as Sativex, alongside a chemotherapy medication – temozolomide – in a clinical trial in an attempt to kill off cancerous cells. Continue reading...

Over-reliance on tree-planting to offset carbon emissions could push food prices up 80% by 2050Governments and businesses hoping to plant trees and restore forests in order to reach net-zero emissions must sharply limit such efforts to avoid driving up food prices in the developing world, the charity Oxfam has warned.Planting trees has been mooted as one of the key ways of tackling the climate crisis, but the amount of land needed for such forests would be vast, and planting even a fraction of the area needed to offset global greenhouse gas emissions would encroach on the land needed for crops to feed a growing population, according to a report entitled Tightening the net: Net zero climate targets implications for land and food equity. Continue reading...

Outbreak forces millions into lockdown in the sunshine state as New South Wales races to administer 6m doses amid Covid surge

State’s Delta cluster rises to 47, with nine of the new cases in school students and exposure sites in three major Brisbane hospitals

Overall cancer rates are higher among the wealthy, finds Cancer Research UK – but smoking and its cancers are now concentrated among the poorSmoking causes almost twice as many cancer cases among the poor than the well-off, according to new findings that underline the close link between cigarettes and deprivation.About 11,247 cases of cancer caused by smoking are diagnosed among the poorest 20% of people in England each year, but far fewer – 6,200 – among those in the top 20% income bracket. Continue reading...

This blog is closed. You can catch up with all our coverage of the pandemic here.11.51pm BSTHere’s a roundup of the latest developments:11.30pm BSTMexico’s health ministry reported 6,506 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country and 245 more fatalities, bringing its total to 2,861,498 infections and 241,279 deaths.The government has said the real number of cases is likely significantly higher, and separate data published recently suggested the actual death toll is at least 60% above the confirmed figure, Reuters reports. Continue reading...

Hong Kong research suggests less time outdoors and more doing ‘near work’ accelerates short-sightedness

Study says pigments on cave stalagmites were applied through ‘splattering and blowing’ more than 60,000 years agoNeanderthals, long perceived to have been unsophisticated and brutish, really did paint stalagmites in a Spanish cave more than 60,000 years ago, according to a study published on Monday.The issue had roiled the world of paleoarchaeology ever since the publication of a 2018 paper attributing red ocher pigment found on the stalagmitic dome of Cueva de Ardales to our extinct “cousin” species. Continue reading...

Scientists say anxiety around needles could be playing role in vaccine hesitancy in the UK

Paul McGilchrist on why governments should address misinformation clearly and repeatedly, and Des Senior and Patrick Cosgrove on public health and personal freedomEmma Brockes makes a good case against using shame and ridicule against the vaccine-hesitant (Should we shame the anti-vaxxers? That can only backfire, 31 July). However, she leaves to the very last sentence the most important consideration: “Why does he think that?” Surely the key to persuading the hesitant is to separate the various categories of concern/attitude and address these issues directly and explicitly – something which neither governments nor the media have attempted to do.Allowing target groups to remain an amorphous body of “the unvaccinated” helps to sow resentment among those with understandable concerns, through their being lumped together with baseless conspiracists. Inveterate libertarians, meanwhile, gain spurious legitimacy by their association with those claiming genuine (if inaccurate) medical fears. Rarely are any of these groups required to cite reliable facts in defence of their positions, if only because their views are mostly sought by the media through vox-pop reporting. Continue reading...

Winner of the 1979 Nobel prize whose insights determined the direction of high-energy particle physics for decadesThe American theoretical particle physicist Steven Weinberg, who has died aged 88, was one of the leading 20th century figures in the field. In 1979 he won a Nobel prize for his work uniting two of nature’s fundamental forces, which became a foundation of the standard model of particle physics, the theory that describes all known fundamental particles and forces in the universe.Of Weinberg’s prodigious oeuvre – in research, in his technical and popular books on quantum field theory and cosmology, and in articles of scientific commentary – his work demonstrating that transmutation of the elements by the weak nuclear force is fundamentally related to electromagnetism constituted a truly remarkable breakthrough. Continue reading...

The narrative of a dangerously ignorant minority may appeal, but it is not good for democracyThe Covid-19 pandemic was the perfect disaster for our cultural moment, because it made other people being wrong on the internet a matter of life and death.My use of the past tense here is aspirational. The emergence of the more contagious Delta variant threatens to undo a lot of progress – particularly here in the US, where active cases of coronavirus infection are up 149% from two weeks ago. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that fully vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in public spaces. The hope that this summer would mark our return to normal is curdling fast, and the enlightened majority – the fact-based, Facebook-sceptical, and fully vaccinated – are looking for someone to blame. Continue reading...

Protesters defy court order banning marches against German government’s coronavirus measures