Science | The Guardian

Scientists emphasise safety but younger women still hesitant

Wales allows households with a baby to bubble; Italy announces further restrictions; UK records 290 deaths and 7,434 cases - follow all the day’s news as it happens

Regulator concedes process had ‘somehow gone wrong’ and could soon approve vaccine

The latest answers to the important medical questions about the vaccines and the pandemic

Prioritising eye protection and face masks will prevent the spread of coronavirus more than disinfecting surfaces, research shows

Well-preserved iron, bronze and tin carriage discovery is ‘without precedent in Italy’Archaeologists have unearthed a unique Roman ceremonial carriage from a villa just outside Pompeii, the city buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD.The almost perfectly preserved four-wheeled carriage, made of iron, bronze and tin, was found near the stables of an ancient villa at Civita Giuliana, about 700 metres north of the walls of ancient Pompeii and close to where the remains of three horses were unearthed in 2018, including one still in its harness. Continue reading...

Planned multi-million Lighthouse facilities cut by up to 50%, with smaller labs decommissioned

For one mother, a potentially challenging choice turned out to be amazingly fulfillingWhen Margaret Reynolds was in her mid-40s, she was a successful writer, academic and broadcaster. One winter’s morning, she asked herself what she would like in her life that she did not already have. The answer was clear and quick: she realised she’d like to have a child. She wanted to be a mother. She was single and had just gone through an early menopause. She decided she would adopt, but this proved to be a long, sometimes difficult journey during which she found herself asking big, far-reaching questions about identity and nationality; about what it means to belong, and what it means to be a parent and a child.Now, 12 years later, Reynolds, who goes by Peggy, and her daughter Lucy are talking to me over Zoom from their cottage in the Cotswolds, the paws of their dog clacking on the floor in the background. Lucy is 18, articulate and passionate about the adoption system and what the role of the child should be within that process. She had recently been on her gap year – “‘gap’ being the operative word,” says Peggy, laughing – in London, volunteering for a charity called Body & Soul. “They work with children who have had adverse childhood experiences, including adoption, so it’s very on theme,” Lucy says. She is spending the third lockdown back at home. Continue reading...

Queensland border reopened to greater Melbourne as New South Wales reports no new cases for 41st consecutive dayThe Queensland border has been reopened to greater Melbourne after the region was declared a hotspot on 13 February following a Covid-19 outbreak at the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel in the city.It means travellers can enter Queensland without a border pass or quarantining, with Victoria recording no new cases of community transmitted coronavirus on Saturday as restrictions were again eased. Continue reading...

Greece announced tighter measures as pandemic showed no signs of waning in the country; EMA expected to approve vaccine on 11 March

We know vaccination is very effective in preventing serious illness, but whether it stops coronavirus transmission is another storyAs Australia joins the worldwide Covid-19 vaccine rollout, researchers keep emphasising that while we know the various vaccines in use are strong at preventing hospitalisation and severe disease, it’s less clear how well they stop the virus spreading to other people.While the term ‘Covid-19’ is often used interchangeably to describe both the virus and the disease, it is important to understand the distinction between the two. Continue reading...

Without modifying human behaviour we run the risk of violent weather swings and a drastic effect on crops and ocean lifeThe ocean circulation that keeps our relatively northern corner of Europe warm(ish) is often likened to a gigantic conveyor belt bringing warm equatorial water northwards at the surface, balanced by cold southward flow at great depth. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC for short, brings heat energy northward at the equivalent rate of 10 Hiroshima bombs every second and keeps our weather mild, and just a little bit too damp, and is critical to the wider climate.New research has provided important long-term context for scientists’ observations of these Atlantic currents that bring warmth and climatic stability to our shores, with concerning implications for the coming century. Changes in the AMOC in the geologic past have caused significant local and global impacts, and for several decades now oceanographers have been monitoring its strength. Continue reading...

Decline in system underpinning Gulf Stream could lead to more extreme weather in Europe and higher sea levels on US east coastThe Atlantic Ocean circulation that underpins the Gulf Stream, the weather system that brings warm and mild weather to Europe, is at its weakest in more than a millennium, and climate breakdown is the probable cause, according to new data.Further weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) could result in more storms battering the UK, more intense winters and an increase in damaging heatwaves and droughts across Europe. Continue reading...

Cambridge doctors record sharp fall in infections after 12 days in Covid test analysis on healthcare workers

With Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine close to distribution in the US, the end of the pandemic seems a big step closer. But not everything will return to normal right awayPublic health authorities want people to keep wearing masks and social distancing, even after they receive a vaccine. This might seem counterintuitive – after all, if someone gets a vaccine, aren’t they protected from the coronavirus?The answer is complicated: the vast majority of people who are vaccinated will be protected from Covid-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, vaccinated people may still be able to transmit the virus, even though they do not display any symptoms. Continue reading...

Absence of smaller dinosaurs may be result of adolescent megatheropods crowding them out

Researchers say England and Wales study shows demonstrable benefits for prisoners in all categories

Exclusive: Stuffed specimen was only proof of bird’s existence until discovery in rainforest last yearIn the 1840s, a mystery bird was caught on an expedition to the East Indies. Charles Lucien Bonaparte, the nephew of Napoleon, described it to science and named it the black-browed babbler (Malacocincla perspicillata).The species was never seen in the wild again, and a stuffed specimen featuring a bright yellow glass eye was the only proof of its existence. But now the black-browed babbler has been rediscovered in the rainforests of Borneo. Continue reading...

Discovery of 19.5-metre tree with roots, branches and leaves is unprecedented, say expertsFirst came the tree, all 19.5 metres of it, with roots and branches and leaves. Then, weeks later, the discovery of 150 fossilised logs, one on top of the other, a short distance away.Nikolas Zouros, a professor of geology at the University of the Aegean, couldn’t believe his luck. In 25 years of excavating the petrified forest of Lesbos, he had unearthed nothing like it. Continue reading...

The first UN climate change conference was held in 1995 in Berlin. More than two decades later, our planet remains on track for three degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. The answer to avoiding this catastrophe is both simple and staggeringly complicated: drastically reducing and reversing the amount of carbon dioxide entering our atmosphere. How do we do this? Science correspondent Natalie Grover speaks to Prof Mike Berners-Lee, author of There is No Planet B, who has crunched the numbers on everything from carbon offsetting and green investments to e-bikes Continue reading...

Special 50p coins will feature some of the Jurassic creatures discovered by 19th-century palaeontologistOne of the most terrifying Jurassic sea creatures is to appear on commemorative 50p coins to celebrate the work of the pioneering fossil hunter Mary Anning.The temnodontosaurus coins will shine a light on the 19th-century palaeontologist, who made a series of discoveries near her home in Lyme Regis, Dorset. Continue reading...

UK researchers seek to dispel concerns over pills prescribed for those at higher risk of heart attack and strokesStatins are generally not the cause of the muscle aches and pains that stop some people taking the pills prescribed to protect them against serious heart problems, according to a novel study that hopes to dispel some of the concerns.Two million people in the UK who are at higher risk of heart attack and strokes are eligible for statins, but many people refuse them or have stopped taking them because of sometimes alarming and widespread reports of muscle pain. But the study funded by the National Institute of Health Research showed that most people had the same aches and pains whether they were taking a statin or taking a dummy pill that looked and tasted just like a statin. Continue reading...

Nasa scientists release the first sounds ever recorded on Mars, a light gust of wind on the planet's surface on Monday.'I invite you now to, if you would like to, close your eyes and just imagine yourself sitting on the surface of Mars and listening to the surroundings,' says Dave Gruel, camera suite lead for the Perseverance rover Continue reading...

Practical and ethical concerns are valid, but a well-designed policy with the right legal safeguards could make a valuable differenceBoris Johnson appears, at last, to have learned the folly of overconfidence in fighting the pandemic. He used to make rash promises with grandiose optimism. Now his plans are laden with caveats. The adjustment is welcome, albeit too late for those whose lives were lost when denial and bluster spoke louder than caution and evidence to dictate government policy. The coming months will test the prime minister’s newly judicious method. Many in his party are impatient for lockdown to be eased faster. Public tolerance of onerous restrictions has a limit.The question then arises of whether proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid test might accelerate the reopening of services and advance a revival of social and economic activity. Downing Street was against the idea when it was first raised last year, but this week Mr Johnson was more circumspect. To issue some kind of certificate raised “deep and complex” issues, the prime minister said. But he did not rule it out. Instead it is to be the subject of a Cabinet Office review. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. For the latest coronavirus news from around the world, head to our global Covid blog

Home affairs committee chair Yvette Cooper ‘astonished’ by Priti Patel’s responses to questions

Care minister confirms move up priority list after advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation

Doses land in Accra as part of scheme seeking to offset ‘vaccine nationalism’

Outlawing ecocide would hold governments and corporations accountable for environmental negligence. We can’t wait

PM’s hands tied by gloomy prediction that rapid easing would lead to even fuller hospitals than in January

Charities say new figures show £20-a-week Covid benefit top-up should be extended beyond March

Sir James Bevan says extreme flooding in UK indicates urgent need for change if humanity is to surviveThe climate emergency is already hitting “worst case scenario” levels that if left unchecked will lead to the collapse of ecosystems, with dire consequences for humanity, according to the chief executive of the Environment Agency.Warning that this is not “science fiction”, Sir James Bevan said on Tuesday that in recent years several of the “reasonable worst case scenarios” had happened in the UK, with more extreme weather and flooding. And he urged politicians to take action to reduce emissions and adapt to the “inevitable” impacts of the climate emergency. Continue reading...

Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary and Sweden put on notice over curbs to free movement

Doctors and MPs say health secretary’s comment about supply to NHS staff on Covid frontline is ‘deeply insulting’

Spectacular eruptions of red lava from Mount Etna, on the Italian island of Sicily, continued overnight from Monday into Tuesday, illuminating the night sky. The volcano’s lava fountains soared to 1,500 metres, according to the Etna Observatory at Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology

Government mulls ban on businesses making access to services conditional on vaccinations

Test developed in France is as accurate as PCR test and does not require lab processing

Health secretary looks to personal responsibility to replace social distancing laws to get life back to normal

London-based group says video evidence casts doubt on claims Ahmad Erekat was conducting an attackIsraeli forces executed a 26-year-old Palestinian at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank last year, a report has alleged, challenging Israeli police claims that the man was a “terrorist” conducting an attack.Forensic Architecture, a British research body based at Goldsmiths, University of London, said it had conducted an analysis into the death of Ahmad Erekat, who was shot seconds after his car crashed into a booth and lightly wounded an Israeli border guard. Continue reading...

Instead of making this a polarised debate, a joined-up approach is needed to make sure the public are given clear information

Social media users say message is encoded in red-and-white pattern on parachuteInternet sleuths claim to have decoded a hidden message displayed on the parachute that helped Nasa’s Perseverance Rover land safely on Mars last week. They claim that the phrase “Dare mighty things” – used as a motto by Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – was encoded on the parachute using a pattern representing letters as binary computer code.Reddit users and social media posters on Twitter noticed that the red-and-white pattern on the parachute looked deliberate, and arrived at the result by using the red to represent the figure one, and the white to represent zero. Continue reading...

What would it be like if the Earth’s magnetic pole switched? Migrating animals and hikers would certainly need to reset their compasses, but could it play real havoc with life on Earth? Analysing the rings of an ancient tree pulled from a bog in New Zealand, researchers have been investigating what happened the last time north and south flipped – 42,000 years ago. Nicola Davis speaks to Prof Chris Turney about how it changed the chemistry of the atmosphere and, if combined with a period of lower solar activity, what impact this could have had on the environment and evolution Continue reading...

Just before Alex Godfrey’s grandmother died from dementia, she snapped back to lucidity and regaled him with stories of her youth. Could moments like this teach us more about the workings of the brain?It was the red jelly that did it. It was Christmas 1999 in Rapid City, South Dakota, and Ward Porterfield, 83, was in a nursing home. He had been diagnosed with dementia three years earlier; he was confused and disoriented and eventually he no longer recognised his daughter, Kay. “When I went in,” she says of her later visits, “he didn’t know me at all.” That Christmas, he refused to eat. “Finally I just told them: ‘Bring him jello, he likes jello. Red jello.’ And he looked at me, really deeply, and said: ‘So. I suppose the jello’s gonna be my last meal. You’re gonna try to starve me, eh?’ That was like: ‘What’s going on here?’”Her surprise wasn’t just at his coherence, but that the tone of this reply was undeniably her father’s dry humour. Later that night, nurses told Kay, when children visited to sing carols, tears streamed down Ward’s face. Kay becomes emotional recounting it. “Don’t cry,” a nurse told him. Ward looked at her. “If you were in my position, you’d cry too,” he said. “These are the last Christmas carols I’ll ever hear.” Continue reading...

Without the technology to produce mRNA vaccines such as the Pfizer jab, Australia and region remain ‘vulnerable to supply shocks’, scientists warnLeading Australian scientists have called on the federal government to urgently develop additional onshore Covid vaccine manufacturing capability to protect against supply disruption as the country completes its second day of vaccinations.In a pre-budget submission published on Tuesday, the Australian Academy of Science said without the ability to produce mRNA vaccines, Australia and the region remain vulnerable to supply limitations. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison says Coalition is ‘getting on with’ reductions, but analysis finds end of lockdowns and drought will reverse trendMost of the reduction in Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions last year is likely to be wiped out as transport rebounds after Covid-19 lockdowns and farming recovers from the long-term-drought, according to an audit of national climate data.Scott Morrison told the National Press Club earlier this month the government was “getting on with” reducing emissions, citing official data that found emissions were down 3% in the year to June to their lowest levels since 1998. He declared “these are the facts”. Continue reading...

A disproportionate number of the 500,000 Americans who have died of coronavirus are people of color

PM says ‘realistic’ to accept lifting restrictions will lead to more infections and more deaths as he outlines four-step plan

Nasa has released first-of-its-kind footage of the Perseverance rover landing on Mars. The video shows the final minutes of last week's descent, up to the point where the rover touches down on Mars' surface.The rover is covered with cameras, including seven dedicated to recording the rover's landing. More than 30GB of information has already been collected from the rover – along with 23,000 images as the vehicle descended Continue reading...

Space agency also reveals audio recorded by Perseverance on surface of red planetNasa has unveiled a first-of-its-kind video of its car-sized rover Perseverance making its sensational landing on Mars, and released the first audio recorded on the surface of the red planet.The American space agency shared the footage on Monday, days after the spacecraft made its dramatic descent to the Martian surface. Continue reading...

The solutions to today’s artful problemsEarlier today I set you the following puzzles. The first is a starter problem and the other three were suggested by puzzle guru Rob Eastaway.The nine dots Continue reading...