Malaria has still not been eradicated in the poorest countries, but that could be about to changeAnother vaccine from Oxford’s Jenner Institute and one that may have a greater impact than that against Covid-19. Results from trials of its malaria vaccine, R21, show it to be 77% effective. If replicated in larger scale trials, it would be a remarkable breakthrough. Malaria kills more than 400,000 people a year, almost all in sub-Saharan Africa, and mainly children. Until now, the only approved anti-malarial vaccine, Mosquirix, has had a low level of efficacy – among young children it reduced cases by 39%; in infants, says the World Health Organization, it “did not work sufficiently well to justify its further use”.This is what makes the new vaccine so exciting, raising the possibility of reducing deaths to the “tens of thousands”. The reason for slow progress in eradicating malaria is partly technical. The parasite that causes the disease, of which there are five kinds, passes through several life stages, making it more difficult to target with a vaccine. Continue reading...

Declining immunity and new viral variants may mean annual vaccine boosters are neededImmunologists and virologists are questioning the ability of populations to ever achieve herd immunity to Covid-19.They say gradually waning immunity to the virus after infection or vaccination, and the impact of variants, mean it is likely annual vaccinations will be required and cases will continue to occur. Continue reading...

Artists have long been seduced by galactic themes. Now Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes is releasing a celestial epicNick Rhodes, the most concept-friendly and new-romantic of Duran Duran’s line-up, has been in contemplation. Mostly he’s been thinking about the movements of the heavens and their travelling companion, mythology.If the gods are angry, this thinking goes, their mood swings might be interpreted celestially, providing a natural hedge against uncertainties. It’s a pastime that’s given druids plenty of work opportunities for millennia and, in recent decades, also rock stars (a term that is itself something of giveaway). Continue reading...

Suzanne Simard revolutionised the way we think about plants and fungi with the discovery of the woodwide web. The ecologist’s new book shares the wisdom of a life of listening to the forestWhen Suzanne Simard made her extraordinary discovery – that trees could communicate and cooperate through subterranean networks of fungi – the scientific establishment underreacted. Even though her doctoral research was published in the Nature journal in 1997 – a coup for any scientist – the finding that trees are more altruistic than competitive was dismissed by many as if it were the delusion of an anthropomorphising hippy.Today, at 60, she is professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia and her research of more than three decades as a “forest detective” is recognised worldwide. In her new book, Finding the Mother Tree – a scientific memoir as gripping as any HBO drama series – she wants it understood that her work has been no brief encounter: “I want people to know that what I’ve discovered has been about my whole life.” Her moment has come: research into forest ecosystems and mycorrhizal networks (those built of connections between plants and fungi) is now mainstream and there is a hunger for books related to the subject: Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees and Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life – about the hidden life of fungi – extend her thinking about the “woodwide web”, while the heroine of Richard Powers’s Pulitzer prize-winning 2018 novel The Overstory is said to have been inspired by Simard. Continue reading...

After his death, I wanted to know more about his life, and the city that made him and very nearly killed himEvery Hanukkah through my childhood, if I was visiting my grandparents’ Liverpool home, my Grandpa Oskar told me the exact same story. With a pickle on his side plate – my grandma serving up his favourite dinner of latkes, vusht (smoked sausage) and eggs – he’d recount the night during this very Jewish festival in 1937 that his family – our family – fled for their lives from the Nazis.The preparations for their escape might have been secretly in motion for weeks, but the first he knew of the plan was as it was happening: he arrived home from school to be told he and his brother were going on a trip that very December night. They’d be travelling with their mum; their father – my great-grandpa – would meet them on their journey. It was only later that he’d learn their destination was England, a new permanent home for our family, now refugees. Continue reading...

Four astronauts on board Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft shared hugs and greetings with the incumbent crew on the International Space Station after successfully docking. It is the first time SpaceX has reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for Nasa, after several years of proving the capability on station supply runs.

Scientists advise ‘simple and side-effect free’ exercise for patients who have lost sense of smell due to virus

Australian Medical Association president Dr Omar Khorshid says state governments are not doing enough to protect those in quarantine from coronavirusContinued leaks from hotel quarantine are “a frustration to all Australians” and state governments are not doing enough to prevent it, the president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Omar Khorshid, has said, while the Western Australian premier called on the federal government to “step up and help”.Authorities revealed one new community case was detected on Saturday – a man in his 40s – as WA’s Perth and Peel region began a snap three-day lockdown after the latest hotel quarantine outbreak. The virus spread in the corridors of the Mercure quarantine hotel in Perth, infecting a man who was staying adjacent to a couple with the virus who had returned from India. Continue reading...

Scientists in Exeter are identifying Covid through human faeces – this could be be expanded to monitor other diseases

As lockdown puppy sales soar and the cats of Instagram are liked by millions, endangered species are vanishing from the planet. Can pets teach us how to care about all animals?It was the carefree summer of 2019, and I was on a beach in San Francisco – surrounded by a thousand corgis. Sand is not the natural environment for dogs whose legs are only as long as ice lollies. But this was Corgi Con, possibly the world’s largest gathering of corgis. It was weird. It was glorious.There were corgis in baby harnesses and corgis under parasols. There were corgis dressed as a shark, a lifeguard, a snowman, a piñata and Chewbacca from Star Wars (the latter two were overweight). There were stalls selling sunglasses and socks for dogs. I overheard two people considering whether to buy a corgi-emblazoned cushion, but decide against it on the basis that they already had one. Continue reading...

Exclusive: compulsive hygiene habits and fear of public places could remain for some after lockdown lifted, researchers say

The vaccine was temporarily halted while scientists investigated rare but dangerous blood clotsUS health officials have lifted an 11-day pause on Johnson & Johnson vaccinations following a recommendation by an expert panel. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the benefits of the single-dose Covid-19 shot outweigh a rare risk of blood clots.Panel members said it is critical that younger women be told about that risk so they can decide if they’d rather choose another vaccine. The CDC and Food and Drug Administration agreed. European regulators earlier this week made a similar decision, deciding the clot risk was small enough to allow the rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s shot. Continue reading...

Native species have been revered, feared, hunted and tamed. Now experts hope revulsion can give way to fascinationFor many years, the top-rated attraction in the Tasman district of New Zealand was a cafe famed for its rural setting, seafood chowder – and tame eels.For a few dollars you could buy a pottle of mince and a wooden stick to take down to the stream, where a blue-black mass was shining, writhing, waiting. Continue reading...

Some have reported changes amid vaccine rollout but experts say ‘one unusual period is no cause for alarm’Experts are trying to assuage concerns and combat misinformation about how the Covid-19 vaccines may affect menstrual cycles and fertility, after anecdotal reports that some people experienced earlier, later, heavier or more painful periods following the jab.“So far, there’s no data linking the vaccines to changes in menstruation,” Alice Lu-Culligan and Dr Randi Hutter Epstein at Yale School of Medicine wrote in the New York Times. “Even if there is a connection, one unusual period is no cause for alarm.” Continue reading...

Shell sponsorship | Sir George Cayley | Old friends reunited | Retrieving the Guardian | Obtaining the GuardianIn Bob Ward’s point-missing riposte to George Monbiot’s criticism of the Science Museum’s acceptance of sponsorship from Shell, the words “Shell” and “sponsor” are notable by their absence (Letters, 22 April). He doesn’t say if, as an adviser to the carbon capture exhibition, he thought Shell’s sponsorship was wrong, a disagreeable necessity, or just lovely. Could someone ask him?

Study was one of the first to evaluate alterations in human mutation rates in response to manmade disasterFor decades popular culture has portrayed babies born to the survivors of nuclear accidents as mutants with additional heads or at high risk of cancers. But now a study of children whose parents were exposed to radiation from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 suggests they carry no more DNA mutations than children born to any other parents.The study, published in Science, is one of the first to systematically evaluate alterations in human mutation rates in response to a manmade disaster, such as accidental radiation exposure. Continue reading...

Latest updates: England’s R number rises to between 0.8 and 1, suggesting pandemic is still shrinking but at a slightly slower rate than last week

Academics will follow progress of 10,000 poorer students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic

Yoshihide Suga under pressure to act after sharp rise in infections in Tokyo, only months before Olympics

Event marks first time SpaceX reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for NasaSpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit on Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musk’s rapidly expanding company.The astronauts from the US, Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early on Saturday morning, following a 23-hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceX’s debut crew last May. They will spend six months at the orbiting lab. Continue reading...

Mark McGowan says calls a snap three-day shutdown in Perth and Peel after coronavirus spreads from hotel quarantine. This blog is now closed

Researchers in Glasgow find two cases where cats were infected by owners with coronavirus symptoms

Vaccine developed by scientists at Jenner Institute, Oxford, shows up to 77% efficacy in trial over 12 monthsA vaccine against malaria has been shown to be highly effective in trials in Africa, holding out the real possibility of slashing the death toll of a disease that kills 400,000 mostly small children every year.The vaccine, developed by scientists at the Jenner Institute of Oxford University, showed up to 77% efficacy in a trial of 450 children in Burkina Faso over 12 months. Continue reading...

Australian company applies for permission to conduct trial of men and women aged 18 to 55Australia is set to host the first human clinical trial of a genetically modified adenovirus vaccine for Covid-19 delivered via nasal spray.Avance Clinical, an Australian contract research organisation, has applied to the office of the gene technology regulator for permission to conduct the phase 1 clinical trial on behalf US company Tetherex Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Continue reading...

Flight path of Kalahari’s six-tonne asteroid is first tracing of meteorite shedding rock to solar system originAstronomers have reconstructed the 22m-year-long voyage of an asteroid that hurtled through the solar system and exploded over Botswana, showering meteorites across the Kalahari desert.It is the first time scientists have traced showering space rock to its source – in this case Vesta, one of largest bodies in the asteroid belt that circles the sun between Jupiter and Mars. Continue reading...

Analysis of test results from more than 350,000 people finds older people just as protected as younger

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In the wake of the pandemic, mental ill health is on the rise, putting more pressure on what some say is an already broken system. Editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor and associate editor Lucy Clark speak to Gabrielle Jackson about what’s causing Australia’s mental health crisis, and how to fix itCheck out the full Australia’s mental health crisis series here.In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and Beyond Blue can be reached on 1300 22 4636. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org Continue reading...

More than 4 million Australians received mental health-related prescriptions in 2018-19 some 70% of which were for antidepressants

Hospitals pushed to brink after more than 1 million people infected in four days

Australia increasingly isolated as prime minister sticks to 26-28% emissions cut by 2030 on 2005 levelsScott Morrison has confirmed Australia won’t increase its emissions reduction target at a virtual climate summit hosted by the US president, Joe Biden, but the prime minister says his message to allies and global peers will be Australia is “committed” and “performing”.Australia goes into the summit under intensifying diplomatic pressure because the US has significantly ramped up its ambition, with the new administration now pledging to cut emissions by between 50 and 52% on 2005 levels by 2030. Continue reading...

Health workers spent years targeting agonising and blinding eye disease, which was rife in rural areasThe Gambia has become the second country in Africa to eliminate trachoma, one of the leading causes of blindness.The achievement, announced by the World Health Organization on Tuesday, came after decades of work on the disease, which has damaged the sight of about 1.9 million people worldwide. Ghana was the first country in Africa to eliminate the disease in 2018. Continue reading...

Analysis of the paper identified several biases ‘which may give the false impression that smoking is protective in Covid-19’

In the second of two episodes exploring our biological clocks, Linda Geddes speaks to Prof Till Roenneberg about how social restrictions during the pandemic have altered our sleep patterns and whether maintaining these changes could reduce social jetlag

‘If you want to do well, do it yourself’ says head of space agency as collaboration with US strained by earthly disputesRussia is ready to start building its own space station with the aim of launching it into orbit by 2030 if President Vladimir Putin gives the go-ahead, the head of its Roscosmos space agency has said.The project would end more than two decades of close cooperation with the United States aboard the ageing International Space Station (ISS). Continue reading...

These plants can clean contaminated soils, could they also offer a greener way of collecting much-needed substances?A magnificent tall tree called Pycnandra acuminata grows on the island of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, and it does something strange – when its bark is cut it bleeds a bright blue-green latex that contains up to 25% nickel, a metal highly poisonous to most plants in more than tiny amounts.

It is extraordinary that the museum is receiving funding from a fossil fuel giant for an exhibition on, of all things, the climate

Despite their life-saving capabilities, many countries have yet to administer enough doses to reap the full benefits

Researchers say loss of diversity in Sweden’s Atlantic salmon population could compromise ability of fish to adapt to climate changeFish farming may have been devised as a remedy to reinvigorate dwindling fish stocks but this human solution has spawned another problem: lower genetic diversity.Now, a study shows that the genetic makeup of Atlantic salmon populations from a century ago compared with the current stock across 13 Swedish rivers is more genetically similar than distinct, which researchers say could compromise the ability of the fish to adapt to climate change. Continue reading...

After the announcement of an antiviral taskforce, here are some medicines already in use

Taskforce aims to ‘supercharge’ search for antivirals to roll out as soon as autumn, says government

Latest updates: in Downing Street press briefing, prime minister also says one in five adults has now had a second dose

Watchdog says benefits outweigh risks but that warning should be added to product information

UCL data of 10,000 volunteers shows cases 30% higher among those who slept poorly in their 50s, 60s and 70sPeople who regularly sleep for six hours or less each night in middle age are more likely to develop dementia than those who routinely manage seven hours, according to a major study into the disease.Researchers found a 30% greater risk of dementia in those who during their 50s, 60s and 70s consistently had a short night’s sleep, regardless of other risk factors such as heart and metabolic conditions and poor mental health. Continue reading...

American Humanist Association criticises academic for comments about identity using ‘the guise of scientific discourse’, and withdraws its 1996 honourThe American Humanist Association has withdrawn its humanist of the year award from Richard Dawkins, 25 years after he received the honour, criticising the academic and author for “demean[ing] marginalised groups” using “the guise of scientific discourse”.The AHA honoured Dawkins, whose books include The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, in 1996 for his “significant contributions” in communicating scientific concepts to the public. On Monday, it announced that it was withdrawing the award, referring to a tweet sent by Dawkins earlier this month, in which he compared trans people to Rachel Dolezal, the civil rights activist who posed as a black woman for years. Continue reading...

Do you like to get up and go as the sun rises, or do you prefer the quiet hush of the late evening? Many of us tend to see ourselves as being ‘morning larks’ or ‘night owls’, naturally falling into an early or late sleep schedule. These are known as our ‘chronotypes’. Studies have shown that those with later chronotypes are at risk of a range of negative health outcomes, from an increased likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes to depression. In the first of two episodes exploring our biological clocks, Linda Geddes speaks to Prof Debra Skene and Dr Samuel Jones to find out why our internal timings differ, and why it seems worse to be a night owl Continue reading...

Since the pandemic began, a crack team of scientists have been working to track Covid variants as they appear, to try to stop them from spreading. The Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley, has been speaking to some of themAt the end of last year, a crack team of British scientists discovered a new coronavirus variant that would spread across the world. The Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley, tells Rachel Humphreys about how the scientists went about tracing the variant.The UK is world-leading in its genomic sequencing and surveillance. When the coronavirus first reached the UK, genomic scientists began a major collaborative effort to sequence samples from people who had fallen ill. The Covid-19 Genomics UK (Cog-UK) consortium included the four public health agencies, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and more than a dozen universities. All viruses evolve and change over time; a virus with one or two mutations is called a variant. Genome sequencing aims to track those changes, which most of the time are insignificant. By late December, the UK was responsible for about half of all the world’s genome sequencing of the coronavirus. Continue reading...

Paleontologists say a mass grave in Utah shows the dinosaurs may not have always been solitary predators as previously thoughtTyrannosaur dinosaurs may not have been solitary predators as long envisioned but more like social carnivores such as wolves, new research announced on Monday has found.Paleontologists developed the theory while studying a mass tyrannosaur death site found seven years ago in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, one of two monuments that the Biden administration is considering restoring to their full size after former president Donald Trump shrank them. Continue reading...

Ingenuity successfully takes flight, hovering at height of about 3 metres before touching back downNasa is celebrating the first powered, controlled flight on another planet after its Ingenuity helicopter rose into the Martian sky, hovered for a moment, then gently returned to the dusty surface.The robotic craft climbed to an altitude of about 3 metres on its maiden flight on Monday morning, having hitched a ride to Mars with Nasa’s Perseverance rover, which touched down in February on a mission to search for signs of life. Continue reading...

India added to travel red list, Hancock tells MPs, as number of Indian variant cases in UK rises to 103. This live blog is now closed – please follow the global coronavirus live blog for updates