by Natalie Grover Science correspondent on (#5JAJP)
Brazilian Amazon primates found to adapt their calls to get along better with their neighboursMonkeys will use the “accent” of another species when they enter its territory to enhance communication, much like a British person living in the US might forgo their ‘tomahto’ for ‘tomayto, researchers have found.Researchers investigated the behaviour of 15 groups of two roughly squirrel-sized primate species in the Brazilian Amazon: pied tamarins (Saguinus bicolor) and red-handed tamarins (Saguinus midas). Continue reading...
The super moon is notoriously hard to photograph but that doesn’t stop everyone trying. Guardian Australia’s picture editor Carly Earl asked staff to share the worst picture they took on Wednesday night and explain what inspired, or possessed, them to shoot it
The Earth's shadow crept across the full moon as people waited for a cosmic event known as a super blood moon. A total eclipse lasted about 15 minutes as Earth passed directly between the moon and the sun. As the eclipse deepened, it appeared as though half the moon had vanished. The moon's reddish-orange colour was the result of all the sunrises and sunsets in Earth’s atmosphere projected on to the surface of the eclipsed moon. From Jerusalem to Jakarta, Sydney to New York, the rare lunar event drew stargazers out in droves Continue reading...
Scientist’s treasure trove and personal objects to go to Science Museum and Cambridge University LibraryA vast treasure trove of papers and personal objects belonging to Stephen Hawking, from dizzying black hole theories to scripts for the Simpsons, have been acquired for the nation.It was announced on Thursday that Hawking’s archive and the contents of his university office have been acquired through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, which allows families to offset tax. Continue reading...
Guardian readers respond to our report that up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid in English hospitals, with some sharing their own storiesThank you for your excellent article (Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid in English hospitals, 24 May). My wife was admitted to Basildon hospital in early September for a 10-hour heart bypass operation, and afterwards was in intensive care for three weeks before being transferred to general wards for recovery. The ward Pam went to had a Covid outbreak after a few days, and she contracted it. She was moved into a total of five wards – all had Covid at some stage – and she finally passed away on 18 November. Pam was a very nervous person and I dread to think what was going through her mind, as I was unable to have contact with her for her final seven weeks. I have yet to come to terms with her situation and passing.Pam received marvellous treatment from the medical staff, even allowing me and family and friends to send emails, which a nurse read out to her. However, early in the pandemic a Nightingale hospital was built at the ExCeL centre to accommodate a significant number of patients; it has barely been used. I contend that if all the Covid patients within a 30-mile radius had been transferred there, it would have kept all the other hospitals in the catchment area free of the virus, and allowed them to operate normally, thus preventing a significant number of deaths. I am convinced that had such a policy been adopted, Pam would still be alive today. Continue reading...
PM’s former adviser says he heard Boris Johnson say he would rather see ‘bodies piled high’; Cummings says ‘tens of thousands died who didn’t need to’. This live blog is closed - for coronavirus updates, please follow the global live blog
Here is the time when you can look at May’s full supermoon lunar eclipse on Wednesday night – and if skies are cloudy, where you can see the livestream
by Written by Jacob Mikanowski, read by Andrew McGreg on (#5J9FA)
We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.This week, from 2017: Scientists have identified 2 million species of living things. No one knows how many more are out there, and tens of thousands may be vanishing before we have even had a chance to encounter them. By Jacob Mikanowski Continue reading...
While on a routine patrol, Greg Francek came across bone fragments from prehistoric animals that existed millions of years before humansImagine a California with volcanoes erupting to the east and Los Angeles buried under the Pacific Ocean. Giant camels, rhinoceros and four-tusked miniature elephants graze on a lush landscape, only to be preyed upon by bone-crushing dogs.This is the prehistoric scene conjured up by a trove of new fossils discovered in California’s Sierra foothills – a hugely significant find, and one of the largest in the state’s history. Continue reading...
The May full moon, known as the flower moon, coincided with it being at its closest to the Earth during its orbit, making it appear larger and brighter. May’s supermoon also coincides with a lunar eclipse in which the moon will turn red, but that will be visible only in parts of South America, Australia and south-east Asia. This celestial incident, known as super flower blood moon, is the only full lunar eclipse of this year
In the new documentary Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know, the work of Stephen Hawking and others in trying to figure out a mystery for the age is put under the spotlightSo, what would it feel like to fall into a black hole?“Well, at the moment you crossed the horizon, you wouldn’t feel anything – there would be nothing dramatic,” Peter Galison, co-founder of the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard University, says over the phone. Continue reading...
Several countries tell the WHO annual meeting that a new inquiry with new terms of reference must be launchedThe United States and other countries have called for a more in-depth investigation of the pandemic origins, after an international mission to China earlier this year proved inconclusive.Addressing the World Health Organization’s main annual meeting of member states in Geneva, representatives from several countries stressed the continued need to solve the mystery of how Covid-19 first began spreading among humans. Continue reading...
The government’s shambolic presentation of new guidelines for certain areas undermines the fight to control the B.1.617.2 variantDuring the first phase of the Covid pandemic, councils were driven to despair by the government’s failure to consult with them adequately or utilise local public health expertise. Last May, for example, as infection rates spiralled in the north-east, numerous northern councils defied Whitehall’s decree that all primary school reception classes should reopen. A dysfunctional relationship between Whitehall and local government undermined the national response to the crisis.One year on, as concerns continue to grow over the B.1.617.2 variant of the virus, first detected in India, it is astonishing to see the same mistake being made all over again. On Monday night it emerged that new government guidance was issued last week for eight areas affected by the new variant, where surge testing and vaccinations have been taking place. The fresh advice, which would have major implications for millions of people, recommended that all non-essential travel in and out of the places concerned should be avoided, and people should meet outside rather than inside. But this major policy shift, which appeared to amount to a form of light local lockdown, was not communicated to local public health directors, council leaders or businesses. It simply appeared, unannounced, on the government’s Covid guidance website. The public health director of North Tyneside had spent the early part of this week reassuring regional media that it was “certainly OK” to visit the area. In Leicester, also on the list, 8,000 people attended a Premier League football match on Saturday. Yasmin Qureshi, the MP for Bolton South East, found out about the guidance from a local journalist. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Anand Jagatia with Linda on (#5J87Z)
This week, a study has added to the evidence that specially trained dogs could be used to sniff out people with Covid-19, showing that canines are faster than PCR tests and more accurate than lateral flow tests at detecting infections. Anand Jagatia speaks to the Guardian’s science correspondent Linda Geddes, who went to see the dogs in action
Scans show some brains have a stronger link between the part that processes sound and that which controls the mouth and throatScientists have shed light on why everyday sounds such as chewing, drinking and breathing can be so maddening to some people that it drives them to despair.While the familiar munching and slurping of the dinner table are innocuous enough to most, those with misophonia – literally a hatred of sound – can find them profoundly irritating, to the point that they become disgusted, anxious, angry and even violent. Continue reading...
Man regains ability to recognise objects in first example of successful optogenetic therapy in humansA blind man has had his sight partly restored after a form of gene therapy that uses pulses of light to control the activity of nerve cells – the first successful demonstration of so-called optogenetic therapy in humans.The 58-year-old man, from Brittany in northern France, was said to be “very excited” after regaining the ability to recognise, count, locate and touch different objects with the treated eye while wearing a pair of light-stimulating goggles, having lost his sight after being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa almost 40 years ago. Continue reading...
‘Getting to No 1 was a high – but I wouldn’t for one minute compare it with going into space’I’d had quite a few jobs to pay the bills while writing music – including working in the front kiosk at Leeds magistrates’ court, collecting fines and doing a bit of admin – and I was helping out at Flexible Response Studios when an engineer introduced me to my future bandmates, John Beck and John Hughes. Continue reading...
by Written by Rowan Hooper, read by Nana-Adwoa Mbeutc on (#5J6HB)
Could such a large amount of money end the Covid pandemic? Eradicate disease? Provide universal healthcare and fund vaccine research? By Rowan Hooper Continue reading...
Although the full supermoon will be easily seen from Europe and Africa, sadly the eclipse will not beThe moon will be full on 26 May. This will coincide with the largest supermoon of the year, and also the first total lunar eclipse since January 2019.Although precise definitions vary, a supermoon is said to occur when the full moon takes place near the closest point in its orbit to the Earth. This week, the centre of the moon will be 357,462km away from the centre of the Earth. This is roughly 48,000km closer than the furthest full moon of the year, which will occur in December 2021. Continue reading...
From veganism to fundraising, psychologists have found acts of altruism often attract mistrust and even angerIn 2014, the word “humblebrag” was added to the Oxford online dictionary, along with the following definition: “An ostensibly modest or self-deprecating statement whose actual purpose is to draw attention to something of which one is proud.”In the wild, humblebrags often present as false complaints (“I’ve lost so much weight I have nothing to wear!” or “So stressed: I applied for six jobs and got all of them!”) or as a boast cloaked in humility (“I can’t believe my book became a bestseller!”). Continue reading...
My shyness was seen as a drawback at school – but now I know it’s a strength and I’m proud of itWhen I was eight, I moved to a new primary school. I’d spent the summer holidays writing an appeal to my mum, putting forward an argument for staying at the old school – that I loved – rather than starting at this strange new school. But to no avail. September came and I found myself in a new classroom, with a new teacher, surrounded by 30 new faces. As a shy child, this was fairly terrifying. And so when I was asked to stand up and introduce myself, I was trembling.That first day, as I walked into the school hall for assembly, I didn’t know which hymn book to take so I copied the boy in front of me. When we sat down, cross-legged, on the floor, the head teacher spotted my error. “You were meant to take the blue book, not the green!” she shouted. I hadn’t realised and as a result it meant I messed up the whole line. I felt my cheeks burn as all heads turned to me. Continue reading...
by David Spiegelhalter & Anthony Masters on (#5J5HS)
We need local data to keep on top of local outbreaksIt’s a myth that statisticians are obsessed with averages. We learn most from examining variability and the current concern with variants hammers home the importance of local data.Across the United Kingdom, confirmed cases of Covid-19 are stable, at 22 per 100,000 people in the week up to 17 May. Six local authorities recorded less than two cases per 100,000; while in Bolton there were 385 per 100,000, over 17 times the national rate. Continue reading...
The new Global Pandemic Radar is a welcome step towards comprehensive sequencing of the Covid-19 genome“Nun’s office Tivoli safe!” When I was a child, we used to play a game where several of us whispered a message to one another in sequence. The fun of the game is when errors pop up along the way – and the final listener announces with glee something quite different from the original message.As Covid-19 spreads through a population, it undergoes similar changes, or “mutations”. Every time a new virus is built, errors are made when its genome is copied, just like with the whispered message. This has led to Covid-19 variants popping up all over the globe: in the UK, Brazil, the US and now India. Detecting these variants and monitoring their spread is crucial to protect people from being put at risk, and helps inform public health decisions. Which is why we so enthusiastically welcome the news of the Global Pandemic Radar, a pathogen surveillance network that will track developments in the Covid-19 virus. It will also ensure a global infrastructure is in place to better help humanity understand and protect itself from future pathogens. Continue reading...
Solar-powered Zhurong rover is expected to be deployed for 90 days to search for evidence of lifeChina’s first Mars rover has driven down from its landing platform and is now roaming the surface of the planet, China’s space administration has said.The solar-powered rover touched Martian soil at 10:40am on Saturday Beijing time (0240 GMT), the China National Space Administration said. Continue reading...
Australian and international scientists publish open letter defending Dr Elisabeth Bik and calling for science whistleblowers to be protectedA world-renowned Dutch expert in identifying scientific misconduct and error, Dr Elisabeth Bik, has been threatened with legal action for questioning the integrity of a study promoting the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19.The case, filed with the French state prosecutor by controversial infectious diseases physician Dr Didier Raoult, has prompted hundreds of scientists from across the world to publish an open letter calling for science whistleblowers to be protected. Continue reading...
Academics suspect papers with grabby conclusions are waved through more easily by reviewersScientific research findings that are probably wrong gain far more attention than robust results, according to academics who suspect that the bar for publication may be lower for papers with grabbier conclusions.Studies in top science, psychology and economics journals that fail to hold up when others repeat them are cited, on average, more than 100 times as often in follow-up papers than work that stands the test of time. Continue reading...
Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing aims to reduce distress that some memories bring onIn a new mental health documentary series with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry is seen undergoing a form of therapy known as EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) to treat unresolved anxiety stemming from the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, when he was 12.EMDR was developed in the 1980s by a US psychologist, Francine Shapiro. While walking in a park, Shapiro suspected that her eye movements were lessening the distress of her own traumatic memories. She tested the approach on others and over time built up a standardised psychological therapy for treating people with traumatic memories. Continue reading...
University of Sheffield’s archaeology team argue vital work will be lost if threatened closure goes aheadImportant research on Stonehenge could be put in jeopardy if the threatened closure of one of the UK’s most renowned university archaeology departments goes ahead, leading experts on the prehistoric monument have warned.Current and former members of the University of Sheffield’s archaeology department are at the forefront of some of the most intriguing work at the Wiltshire site and argue that if it is closed, vital work will be lost. Continue reading...
by Robert McLachlan and Paul Callister on (#5J346)
Climate politics is a long game but people must see more positive changes to really appreciate the benefits of ending fossil fuelsThe New Zealand emissions trading scheme (ETS), now in its fourteenth year of operation and much criticised for (so far) failing to cut emissions, is the centrepiece of the government’s climate action. Judging from Budget 2021, it will remain that way for years to come.Auctioning of emissions units began in March, and 2022 will see the introduction of a falling cap on net emissions of long-lived greenhouse gases. (The precise level of the cap will be announced later in the year.) Continue reading...
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