England’s medical chief gives three situations in which it would be important to wear face covering

My friend Tony Black, who has died at 89 of pneumonia and emphysema, was my predecessor as chief psychologist at Broadmoor, the high-security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire.The son of Walter, a civil servant, and Rose (nee Foster), a former nurse, Tony was born between the wars in Sanderstead, Surrey, into a secure, loving family. Early experiences of growing up with a mentally and physically disabled sister, and counselling members of his battalion while on national service with the Royal Artillery, set him on the pathway for life as a psychologist. Continue reading...

Endurance22 will launch early next year with aim of locating and surveying wreck in the Weddell SeaThe location of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance has been one of the great maritime mysteries since the ship became trapped in ice and sank in 1915. Finding this symbol of the “heroic age” of polar exploration at the bottom of the Weddell Sea was long thought impossible because of the harshness of the Antarctic environment – “the evil conditions”, as Shackleton described them.Now a major scientific expedition, announced on Monday, is being planned with a mission to locate, survey and film the wreck. Continue reading...

At the furthest point in its orbit, Earth is now 5m kilometres more distant from the sun than in JanuaryToday the Earth reaches the furthest point in its orbit around the sun. We are about 5m kilometres more distant from our central star than we were in early January.This happens because Earth’s orbit is mildly elliptical in shape. The point at which Earth is furthest from the sun is known as aphelion, and the precise moment of its occurrence this year is 23.27 BST on 5 July. It may seem illogical to us in the northern hemisphere that we are closer to the sun in mid-winter than we are in the summer, but this is because the tilt of Earth’s axis determines the seasons, not our distance from the sun. During northern summer that hemisphere is tilted sunward, meaning the sun appears higher in the sky, which concentrates the incoming rays. Continue reading...

After Matt Hancock was forced to resign when a secret relationship was exposed, the couples therapist Orna Guralnik explores the cocktail of ego and vulnerability that leads some senior figures to risk it allThe images of Matt Hancock and Gina Coladangelo splashed across newspaper front pages in June were shocking enough to cause a scandal, and the breach of his own social distancing rules ended Hancock’s tenure as health secretary. But while affairs are not unique to powerful men, many observers will struggle to understand why those with so much to lose from public exposure , from Boris Johnson to Bill Gates, are nonetheless willing to live a double life.Anushka Asthana speaks to Dr Orna Guralnik, a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst and star of the acclaimed US series Couples Therapy, about the desperate need for approval and affirmation that can lead those whose careers depend on a reputation for probity to seek excitement beyond the boundaries of their marriages. And Guralnik argues that the risks of infidelity that lurk in any settled relationship cannot be resolved by communication alone, but by a commitment to finding the space to preserve our identity as individuals, as well as as part of a couple. Continue reading...

Consultation shows positivity towards screening programme to spot those at heightened risk of certain health conditionsPlans to sequence the whole genome of every newborn in the UK in order to spot those at heightened risk of certain health conditions have been given a boost, with consultations suggesting the approach could have public support.The potential for genomics to improve health was at the heart of the chief medical officer annual report of 2016, with a group of experts convened by Genomics England – a government-owned genetics service – subsequently recommending a research programme to sequence the whole genome of all newborns. Continue reading...

Our hospital psychiatry team comprises doctors, nurses and allied health – no elbow patches or Sigmund Freud beard in sight

Experts react with dismay to ‘frightening’ attitude of Sajid Javid towards removing protections

Examining every aspect of a question can be exhausting, but the most amazing insights can be gained that wayThe first time I remember someone telling me not to overthink was when I was trying to suss out breastfeeding. “Don’t overthink it,” said my friend, “just go with it.”“Just going with it” is not something I do. I have to really understand what I’m doing and then I think through almost every possibility and eventuality, like a mind map on steroids. And I plan. When people say things like: “Who could have imagined XYZ would happen?” about some entirely predictable outcome, my most common response is “I could”. I have realised that for most people I am an overthinker, but for me, it is others who underthink. I just think. Continue reading...

Two astronauts work for seven hours outside Tiangong station, in first of two spacewalks planned for missionChinese astronauts have performed the country’s first tandem spacewalk, working for seven hours on the outside of the new Tiangong station in orbit around Earth.Tiangong’s construction is a significant step in China’s ambitious space programme. China has previously landed a rover on Mars and sent probes to the moon. Continue reading...

If under-18s are vulnerable, let’s jab straight away. Then we need a wider plan that doesn’t leave teenagers as the unvaccinated ‘class apart’The UK vaccination programme has been an extraordinary success. However, as most adults become “double jabbed”, it is the unvaccinated who are left to catch and spread this virus. This throws the spotlight on to children, teenagers and schools. We can see this already, with infection rates rising in teenagers and young adults (who are only starting to be vaccinated) but staying low among the doubly-vaccinated middle-aged and elderly.What to do? Should we vaccinate teenagers (and, later, younger children)? I asked my own in-house expert, my teenage son. He felt he didn’t need a vaccine but would have one “if it made things go back to normal”. Just one view, but it made me think that one answer to our dilemma is to seek the views of teenagers; it strikes me as both puzzling and remiss that their voices have been largely absent. We would never consider vaccinating other minority groups without seeking their opinion, and yet almost all surveys report the views of parents rather than young people. Continue reading...

With a surface hot enough to melt lead, Venus has been left alone by space agencies for a decade. Now we are about to learn more about its climate – and the chances of life on other planetsA fleet of robot spaceships is to descend on Venus in a few years and begin probing the most inhospitable world in the solar system. One craft will drop through the planet’s crushingly dense – and searingly hot – atmosphere while two others will orbit over the thick, acidic clouds that cover Venus and use sophisticated radar telescopes to survey the terrain beneath them.Such scrutiny represents a remarkable renewal of interest in Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour. For more than a decade, American and European space agencies have ignored the planet – only for three new Venus missions to be announced within days of each other at the beginning of June. Continue reading...

South Africa hits record cases for second day in a row; Brazilians take to the streets to protests against their president

Calls for president’s impeachment grow amid claims government sought to profit from Covid jabs

Proposals to extend Covid jabs to children in west would delay worldwide rollout, say experts, and allow deadly variants to develop elsewhere

The immunology professor on the personal data which will shape our future and how the pandemic has fired everyone’s interest in the immune systemDaniel M Davis is a professor of immunology at the University of Manchester. He has published over 130 academic papers and two lauded popular science books, The Compatibility Gene and The Beautiful Cure. His third, The Secret Body, describes the forthcoming revolution in human health.As an immunologist, when you overhear conversations about antibodies or T-cells in the pub (when regulations permit), is it pleasing to you that these aspects of science have entered the public domain?

Gladys Berejiklian says nine of the 35 locally acquired cases were infectious in the community. This blog is closed

The skeleton of Titus, discovered in the US in 2018, makes its world debut at Nottingham museumThe first ‘real’ Tyrannosaurus rex to be exhibited in England for more than a century will go on show in Nottingham on Sunday.The skeleton of Titus, discovered in the US state of Montana in 2018, will make its world debut at the Wollaton Hall Natural History Museum as part of a new exhibition on the dinosaur’s life and environment. Continue reading...

Leading doctors are urging the government to keep ‘sensible, cautious’ measures in place to minimise spread of virusCoronavirus latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageLeading doctors are urging the government to keep some measures in place in England after 19 July in a bid to help control the spread of Covid amid the “alarming” rise in cases.The British Medical Association (BMA) said that keeping some protective measures in place was “crucial” to stop spiralling cases numbers having a “devastating impact” on people’s health, the NHS, the economy and education. Continue reading...

From the first race to the moon to the plutocrats’ search for the next Earth, a story of great risks offers rewardsAt the end of July the second richest man in the world, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, plans to blast himself into space, a project that has prompted a satirical global petition asking him to stay there. If the history of human space exploration ended at that moment, with the phallic self-launch of a narcissistic tax avoider, it would be a bathetic endpiece to a remarkable story that began with Nazi weaponry and has encompassed arguably the greatest achievement to date of human civilisation.It is nearly 50 years since people last walked on the surface of the moon – the moon! – in an age with no internet or smartphones, driven there in rattling tin cans at unimaginable speeds by huge controlled explosions. Boosters of the modern app economy love to claim that right now the pace of technological change is the fastest it has ever been, but they are somehow forgetting the period between 1957, when the USSR put the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit, and 1969, when three men flew to the moon and two of them descended in a separate spacecraft, walked around collecting rocks, and then blasted off again, docking with the original spacecraft, before flying back to Earth and splashing down safely in the ocean. Continue reading...

Health authorities reported more than 6,200 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, setting a record for a third straight dayHealth authorities in Thailand reported more than 6,200 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, setting a record for a third straight day, as concerns mounted over shortages of treatment facilities and vaccine supplies.Officials also reported 41 deaths, bringing the total to 2,181. Continue reading...

Disparity is a ‘thorny problem’ as citations are a key metric in job evaluations and promotionsWhile more women are entering the field of academic medicine, they are less likely to be recognised as experts, receive prestigious awards, hold leadership roles or author original research in major journals.Research has now shown that papers written by women as primary and senior authors have roughly half as many median citations as those authored by men in high-impact medical journals. Continue reading...

Virgin Galactic founder has announced he will take off on board the next test flight on 11 JulyRichard Branson is aiming to beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos into space by nine days.

Experts’ discoveries lie at the heart of two dozen lawsuits that hope to hold the industry accountable for devastating damage

Scientists find micro-organisms from the bovine stomach have ability to degrade polyesters in lab settingBacteria found in one of the compartments of a cow’s stomach can break down plastic, research suggests.Since the 1950s, more than 8bn tonnes of plastic have been produced – equivalent in weight to 1 billion elephants – driven predominantly by packaging, single-use containers, wrapping and bottles. As a result, plastic pollution is all-pervasive, in the water and in the air, with people unwittingly consuming and breathing microplastic particles. In recent years, researchers have been working on harnessing the ability of tiny microscopic bugs to break down the stubborn material. Continue reading...

Repeat surgeries for endometriosis could be exacerbating pain symptoms, experts sayIt has long been believed that the best way to treat endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory condition that affects one in 10 women globally, is by performing laparoscopic surgery to remove damaged tissue from the body.But experts now say the surgery may not be as effective as once thought in relieving symptoms, and could actually be making things worse for some patients, including those who have developed separate pain conditions as a result of their endometriosis. Continue reading...

2 July 1925: The eminent astronomer from Harvard Observatory is conferred an honorary doctor of science degreeThe long double file of scarlet-robed doctors which “processed,” at this year’s brilliant Commemoration at Oxford, from Wadham, the vice-chancellor’s College, to the Sheldonian Theatre was, from the feminist’s point of view, less interesting from its inclusion of the prime minister, the chancellor of the exchequer, Lord Jellicoe, and the archbishop of Canterbury, than from the unique event that it contained a woman.Miss Annie Cannon, the eminent astronomer from Harvard Observatory, on whom, on June 10, Oxford conferred an honorary Doctor of Science degree, walked in procession with her host, Professor Turner, Oxford’s Savilian professor of astronomy, and the crowd which had come out to look at the prime minister found its sensation instead in this startling precedent of a woman in a procession consecrated to academic masculinity and distinguished “male” service. Continue reading...

New research challenges widely held view of the condition and could pave way for better treatmentFibromyalgia – a poorly understood condition that causes widespread pain throughout the body and extreme tiredness – may be caused by be an autoimmune response that increases the activity of pain-sensing nerves throughout the body.The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, challenge the widely held view that the condition originates in the brain, and could pave the way for more effective treatments for the millions of people affected. Continue reading...

Weakened lungs and immune systems make people increasingly vulnerable, warn scientists

Funk, who was denied the job of astronaut in the 1960s over her gender, will be the oldest person ever to travel into spaceWally Funk, a trailblazing female pilot denied the job of astronaut in the 1960s over her gender, will finally get the chance to fulfill her dreams of going into space.Billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced Thursday on Instagram that Funk will be part of a four-person crew set to be launched into space by Blue Origin during a 10-minute flight on his rocket New Shepard later this month. Continue reading...

Software in use at an NHS trust could prove a breakthrough in diagnosing one of the deadliest forms of cancerOne of the NHS’s leading hospital trusts has begun using artificial intelligence to help detect cancer in the gullet, which kills 8,000 Britons a year. It is hoped the technology will increase the number of cases of cancer in the oesophagus that doctors spot.Oesophageal cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. It is hard to detect, particularly in its early stages, and many people who get it die soon after their diagnosis. Fewer than one in five of those diagnosed are still alive five years later. Continue reading...

Potential risk domestic animals could act as ‘reservoir’ for virus and reintroduce it to humans, study shows

I hate it when language is used to exclude and obscure. But it takes guts to resistMy first job in journalism was in business news. This wasn’t my first choice; in truth it would probably have been my last, but it was the only place that would have me. I was as bewildered as the next work experience bod but, since I had three weeks there, I thought I might as well try to get to the bottom of the stuff they were talking about. At school, no teacher had ever had to encourage me to put my hand up if I didn’t understand something. Invariably, my hand was raised already. My powers of concentration, severely limited at the best of times, diminish to zero if I hear words and phrases I am unfamiliar with. I have to put my hand up and seek clarification. I’m sure my teachers got tired of this, but not half as tired as the staff in the BBC’s Business Programmes department.“What’s RPI?” I would ask. Continue reading...

Bulk of Pfizer and other mRNA vaccines expected to arrive in third quarter of this year, despite widespread lockdownsAustralia’s finance minister has said the country is at the “back of the queue” for Pfizer vaccines, contradicting assurances from the prime minister Scott Morrison and the health minister that “our strategy puts Australia at the front of the queue”.Simon Birmingham on Thursday said Australia has had supply challenges “because European countries and drug companies have favoured those nations who’ve had high rates of Covid for the delivery of vaccines like Pfizer”. Continue reading...

The neurological disease affects up to 20% of people, but research funding is sorely lacking. Women are more than three times likely to suffer from it than menMy first experience with migraine was when I was a child, pressing a flannel to my mum’s head and bringing her a bucket to vomit in, stroking her head as she lay still on her bed in the dark in excruciating pain. These memories are so clear to me decades later because they were so unusual. My mum never stops and barely sleeps, so seeing her so wiped out by migraine was frightening.At first, mine were similar to hers. A sudden onset of blinding, stabbing pain on one side of my head, an overwhelming nausea, eventual forceful vomiting, dehydration, intolerance of light, exhaustion and fatigue. But while the frequency of Mum’s migraines have waned over the years – and her symptoms, although debilitating, have remained similar – mine have changed, and become worse. Continue reading...

When new treatments are announced, patients are often unaware of the strength of the evidence used to grant regulatory approvalOne of my most uncomfortable professional moments occurred some years ago when I cared for a successful business owner with advanced cancer. Following a stable period for years, her illness eventually entered a rapid trajectory when successive therapies began failing. It was around this time that I broached my concern that treatments were causing more harm than good, and the way to stop feeling so awful was by eschewing further toxic therapies in favour of symptom management.With the help of an intuitive sister, she was beginning to come around to an acceptance of her mortality, which is why I was surprised to see her in the chemotherapy chair, supervised by a dejected nurse who told me the patient had been prescribed a “Hail Mary”. Hail Mary, a Christian utterance of holy intervention, crossed into the realm of oncology when pressured doctors began prescribing futile treatments to desperate patients. Continue reading...

After 18 months of life being at a near standstill, Science Weekly’s Shivani Dave found a lot of their conversations with friends turned to the severity of hay fever this year. Many claimed their allergies had never been worse. Shivani Dave asks horticulturist, Thomas Ogren, whether hay fever symptoms have become more severe in recent times Continue reading...

UK’s narrow clinical definition only includes high fever, continuous cough, or loss of smell and taste

Omega-3 fatty acids linked to reduction of headaches in women, study findsEating a Mediterranean diet containing lots of oily fish could help to reduce the frequency of migraines in people who suffer from them, data suggests.Roughly 10 million adults in the UK suffer from migraines, with women three times more likely to be affected than men. Although several new treatments have become available in recent years, many people continue to experience pain. Continue reading...

Campaigner for better treatments for people with brain cancerThe communications consultant Jessica Morris did much to give a voice to people who lacked one. In the years up to her death at the age of 57 from brain cancer, she made her illness the basis of a campaign to find treatments for others.In January 2016 she was hiking in a valley north of New York when she found herself trying to speak: “Sounds came out of my mouth, but they weren’t words,” she said later. That seizure led to a diagnosis of glioblastoma (GBM), the most aggressive form of brain cancer, for which the median survival rate is 14 months. Only 5% of patients survive for five years. Continue reading...

Research finds number of recorded cases is nearly 100 times smaller than adults estimated to have had condition

Prof Iain Buchan, the principal investigator for the Events Research Programme at Liverpool, explains how the trial events generated a large amount of valuable data about Covid transmissionAs lead researcher for the Liverpool pilots in the Events Research Programme (ERP), I would like to set out some important facts in response to your article regarding the phase one report (Covid event pilots compromised by low uptake of PCR tests, experts say, 25 June). The ERP is exploring how events with larger crowd sizes can return without social distancing, while minimising the risks of Covid-19 outbreaks. The programme comprises environmental studies of air quality and crowd movement in venues; epidemiological studies of virus spread at and around events; behavioural studies of audience experience; and economic and operational studies of running such events with risk-mitigation measures in place. The work has generated a large amount of valuable data, early analysis of which was reported last week.People participating in the pilots consented to take part, answered questions, took tests, allowed their data to be linked for study and reported high levels of satisfaction. It is also worth noting that: Continue reading...

David Curtis says publisher of Annals of Human Genetics blocked call for protest at treatment of UyghursThe editor of a long-established academic journal has said he resigned after his publisher vetoed a call to boycott Chinese science in protest at Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.Prof David Curtis, from University College London’s Genetics Institute, says his resignation as editor-in-chief of the Annals of Human Genetics is an issue of freedom of speech in the face of the science community’s increasing dependence on China. Continue reading...

Prof Stephen Reicher says restrictions may have to be reimposed if reopening leads to surge in infections

This is serious enough for the 1% to start building bunkers ready for environmental collapseA few years ago, the author and academic Douglas Rushkoff got invited to a swanky private resort to talk to a bunch of obscenely rich hedge fund guys about the future of technology. He thought they were going to ask him how technology was going to improve the world, but they were far more interested in discussing the “Event”, their cutesy term for the collapse of civilisation. “How do I maintain authority over my security force after the Event?” one CEO, who had just finished building an underground bunker system, reportedly asked. The rest of the conversation, detailed by Rushkoff in a Guardian feature, continued in that vein.That Rushkoff piece was published in 2018, but I’ve found myself thinking about it a lot over the past few days. Why? Because the Event is starting to feel imminent. If that sounds alarmist, just take a look at the weather. Severe storms have caused extensive flooding in Detroit. Canada just set its highest temperature on record: a village in British Columbia reached 46.1C (115F) on Sunday. The US’s Pacific north-west also broke heat records over the weekend, with Portland, Oregon, reaching 44.4C (112F). Seattle, which isn’t exactly known for its sunshine, just had triple-digit temperatures for three days straight, breaking another record. The US National Weather Service in Washington has called the current heatwave “historic, dangerous, prolonged and unprecedented”. Continue reading...

People with ME/CFS face debilitating symptoms but often feel dismissed by doctors. The focus on long Covid could help change thatIn the fall of 2016, Ashanti Daniel, a nurse in Beverly Hills, California, went to an infectious disease physician looking for answers about a weird illness she couldn’t shake. After falling sick with a virus four months earlier, she still felt too tired to stand up in the shower.The appointment lasted five minutes, she said. The doctor didn’t do a physical exam or check her vitals. His assessment: her illness was psychogenic, resulting from something psychological. Continue reading...

This is an economic issue, and a ‘torture device’ that stops you opening your mouth properly isn’t the solutionWant to hear a weight-loss idea so ingenious it’s guaranteed to make your jaw drop by exactly 2mm? Introducing the DentalSlim Diet Control: a terrifying contraption that uses magnets cemented to your teeth to stop you opening your mouth by more than a couple of millimetres. That makes eating pretty difficult, causing you to shed weight along with your dignity. The device was developed by a team of researchers from the UK and New Zealand to “to help fight the global obesity epidemic” and is designed to be fitted by dentists. Which reaffirms all my worst suspicions about dentists.Related: New weight-loss tool prevents mouth from opening more than 2mm Continue reading...

Remains of man found in Latvia had DNA fragments and proteins of bacterium that causes plagueA hunter-gatherer who lived more than 5,000 years ago is the earliest known person to have died with the plague, researchers have revealed.Stone-age communities in western Europe experienced a huge population decline about 5,500 years ago, an event that is thought to have subsequently enabled a huge migration of people from the east. Continue reading...

Researchers say that people who can come up with convincing explanations for concepts they don’t understand are more intelligentName: Blaggers.Age: Any age. Continue reading...

Nearly 400,000 pupils absent within a week as scientists raise concerns about plan to replace isolation with tests