Wooden sarcophagi discovered at site south of Cairo along with funerary temple of Queen Naert

My mother, Rebecca Sawtell, who has died aged 57 of toxic epidermal necrolysis, devoted her working life as a clinical psychologist to helping children who had been abused and had nowhere else to turn. Exceptionally empathetic, she seemed to possess a superhuman level of emotional intelligence, which was often shown in the way children would open up to her about their ordeals when no one else had succeeded in persuading them to talk.She was born in Sheffield, the third of four children of Roger Sawtell, a mechanical engineer and later company administrator, and his wife, Susan (nee Flint), an occupational therapist. Shortly after Rebecca began her primary education, the family moved to Northampton and while at Northampton School for Girls and then Weston Favell Upper school, she developed an interest in the burgeoning field of psychology. She studied for a degree in the subject at Brunel University, in Uxbridge, where she met Denis Salter, and after a number of years of living together they married in 1995. Continue reading...

Experts agree that the impact of the jab will vary regionally and among different groups

In the first of a new series, the leading Cambridge professor measures Covid-19’s impactHow many people have died because of the pandemic? How does this vary across countries? These are two of the most common questions I get asked and yet they are remarkably difficult to answer.We could start by looking at the number of Covid deaths listed on a website and compare countries by Covid deaths per million population. But this assumes the way countries record a death as “Covid” is consistent and ignores any deaths caused by lockdown measures and disruption to health services. It’s fairer to look at what has happened to the total number of deaths. Continue reading...

Engines of Boeing rocket fired for only a minute, potentially delaying push to return humans to the moon by 2024Nasa’s Boeing-built deep space exploration rocket has cut short a crucial test, after briefly igniting all four engines of its core stage for the first time.Mounted in a test facility at Nasa’s Stennis space centre in Mississippi, the Space Launch System’s (SLS) 64-metre core stage roared to life for just over a minute on Saturday, well short of the roughly four minutes engineers needed to stay on track for the rocket’s first launch in November. Continue reading...

Your internal monologue shapes mental wellbeing, says psychologist Ethan Kross. He has the tools to improve your mind’s backchatAs Ethan Kross, an American experimental psychologist and neuroscientist, will cheerfully testify, the person who doesn’t sometimes find themselves listening to an unhelpful voice in their head probably doesn’t exist. Ten years ago, Kross found himself sitting up late at night with a baseball bat in his hand, waiting for an imaginary assailant he was convinced was about to break into his house – a figure conjured by his frantic mind after he received a threatening letter from a stranger who’d seen him on TV. Kross, whose area of research is the science of introspection, knew that he was overreacting; that he had fallen victim to what he calls “chatter”. But telling himself this did no good at all. At the peak of his anxiety, his negative thoughts running wildly on a loop, he found himself, somewhat comically, Googling “bodyguards for academics”.Kross runs the wonderfully named Emotion and Self Control Lab at Michigan University, an institution he founded and where he has devoted the greater part of his career to studying the silent conversations people have with themselves: internal dialogues that powerfully influence how they live their lives. Why, he and his colleagues want to know, do some people benefit from turning inwards to understand their feelings, while others are apt to fall apart when they engage in precisely the same behaviour? Are there right and wrong ways to communicate with yourself, and if so, are there techniques that might usefully be employed by those with inner voices that are just a little too loud? Continue reading...

‘Heart-wrenching milestone’ says UN chief; China reports 130 new cases in flare-up; India starts mass vaccination campaign

In a letter to the EU commission health and social affairs ministers of six states called the situation ‘unacceptable’

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As coronavirus cases rise across the UK, here are steps to take if someone falls ill in your household

Fossilised track dates back to period immediately following mass extinction 252m years agoFootprints believed to have belonged to a crocodile-like prehistoric reptile have been found in the Italian Alps in an extraordinary discovery that scientists say proves there were survivors of a mass extinction 252m years ago.The well-preserved fossilised track, made up of about 10 footprints, was found at an altitude of 2,200-metres in Altopiano della Gardetta, in the province of Cuneo in the western Alps. Continue reading...

Child was buried at beginning of first century surrounded by vases and animal offeringsFrench archaeologists have hailed the “exceptional” discovery of the 2,000-year-old remains of a child buried with animal offerings and what appears to have been a pet dog.The child, believed to have been around a year old, was interred at the beginning of the first century, during Roman rule, in a wooden coffin 80cm long made with nails and marked with a decorative iron tag. Continue reading...

Fixating on the actions of a handful of ‘covidiots’ will only undermine compliance among the population as a wholeThere is a paradox at the heart of this pandemic. Since before England’s first lockdown, politicians, media pundits and government advisers have voiced concerns that the public would be the weak link in controlling infections. Judging by polling and social media posts decrying lockdown violations and “covidiots”, the public also share this concern. Yet it always seems to be other people who are breaking the rules. A recent University College London study showed that 92% of people considered themselves to be adhering more than average to lockdown restrictions.The systematic evidence tells a different story. Whether you consider what people say in surveys, systematic observations of behaviour or analyses of transport use, the evidence suggests that adherence with lockdown restrictions is remarkably high. This was true in the spring, when early data showed that more than nine in 10 people were observing the spring lockdown – even though half of them were suffering significantly. It was true during the November lockdown, and remains true to this day. Indeed, recent analysis shows that, if anything, adherence to social distancing, mask wearing and hygiene measures is higher than ever. Continue reading...

The government has ordered sufficient doses to inoculate the entire population of the UK against Covid-19 but we are in for a long haul

Stamford, Lincolnshire: The trademark fingerprint of the wood-boring beetles is often hidden from sight“Contracted” is the word that springs to mind as I look closely at the log I’ve pulled from the pile in my garden. It’s cold with frost-shimmer, and as I study its micro-landscape of moss-forest and bark-gully, I find where the rind has flaked away … something on the bare wood beneath.I pick at the bark, like a scab. Beneath is a strange tattoo. At macro scale it resembles a labyrinth; all corners and spurs, tight-wound and interlocking, tortuous and confined. Zoom out and in form it’s like a weird fossil, outstretched wings or limbs or leaves, radiating out from a central spine or arm or trunk. Continue reading...

Drive to immunise 3.5% of the population in weeks comes ahead of the lunar new year festival and as three major cities are locked down

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Analysis: some say lateral flow tests could help cut outbreaks, but others argue they offer false reassurance

Production of new flu vaccine each year shows it should be possible to adapt to coronavirus variants if necessary

Latest updates: arrivals from Brazil, Argentina and the rest of South America, alongside Portugal, banned from Friday. This live blog is now closed - please follow the global live blog for the latest updates

The US hasn’t learned from past pandemics. The health of naturalized Americans is intertwined with that of immigrants

Rule requiring travellers to show negative test to come into force on Monday, not Friday as planned

A lonely computer scientist in the year 2038 secretly works on an android version of his wife who died in a car crash – is it romantic, or something more sinister?British illustrator and visual-effects director Gavin Rothery makes his feature debut with this artificial intelligence thriller: a tale of love, death and robotics that has some nicely creepy moments. Set in 2038, it centres on lonely computer scientist George Almore (Divergent’s Theo James), who is holed up in a remote research facility in Japan secretly working on an android version of his wife Jules (Stacy Martin); she has died in a car crash. His prototype, J3 (also played by Martin), is his closest yet to the real thing: a highly advanced humanoid with spookily pale skin who looks like she might be the ghost of his dead wife. Poor old J1 and J2, his earlier, clunkier prototypes: they look on bitterly as the newer, sleeker model gets all George’s attention.The movie opens with sweeping helicopter shots over a snowy forest. Inside the concrete bunker-like facility, Rothery works wonders with a modest budget (he was behind the look of Duncan Jones’s Moon), creating an ungimmicky nearish future that looks a lot like today. When George’s corporate bosses threaten to pull the plug on his research, he hurries to put the finishing touches to J3 – a task involving the contents of a fridge-like archive unit containing his dead wife’s consciousness. George is surrounded by the robot versions of Jules. J1 is boxy, non-verbal and baby-like. J2 is a little more advanced: she can speak, and behaves like a teenager, huffing jealously when George removes her legs to give to J3. Continue reading...

PHE found immunity from earlier infection provided 83% protection against reinfection for at least 20 weeks

Esprit module will supply communications and refuelling to international lunar stationThe European Space Agency (Esa) has signed a contract to begin building the module to supply communications and refuelling for the international lunar Gateway space station.The European System Providing Refuelling, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (Esprit) will consist of two separate units. The communications system will be used by astronauts to provide data, voice and video links to and from the lunar surface. It will be mounted on the Nasa Habitation and Logistics Outpost (Halo) module, which is scheduled for launch in 2024. Continue reading...

The new Covid variant, B117, is rapidly spreading around the UK and has been detected in many other countries. Although it is about 50% more infectious than previous variants, B117 does not seem to cause more severe disease or be immune to current vaccines. Yet it has raised concerns over how the virus may adapt to our antibodies and vaccines in the future. To explore these issues, the health editor, Sarah Boseley, speaks to Prof Ravi Gupta about how and why viruses mutate Continue reading...

Study finds macaques go for tourists’ electronics and wallets over empty bags and then maximise their profitAt the Uluwatu temple in Bali, monkeys mean business. The long-tailed macaques who roam the ancient site are infamous for brazenly robbing unsuspecting tourists and clinging on to their possessions until food is offered as ransom payment.Researchers have found they are also skilled at judging which items their victims value the most and using this information to maximise their profit. Continue reading...

Picture of wild pig made at least 45,500 years ago provides earliest evidence of human settlementArchaeologists have discovered the world’s oldest known cave painting: a life-sized picture of a wild pig that was made at least 45,500 years ago in Indonesia.The finding, described in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday, provides the earliest evidence of human settlement of the region. Continue reading...

The prime minister is getting too comfortable with a pandemic regime that allows him to escape scrutiny and accountabilityEven in the most extreme emergency, the prime minister does not have the power to make law by himself, live on television. The pandemic has sometimes created the impression that something along those lines is happening when Boris Johnson announces new lockdown rules, but his words are mere guidance until parliament upgrades them.That constitutional process matters. Britain’s apparatus of Covid regulations is not reminiscent of East Germany, nor is it evolving into “something akin to a police state”, as Nigel Farage claimed last week. The comparison is proved false by the liberty Mr Farage enjoys to make it. Continue reading...

Shannon Turner feels the stay at home message is unclear when so many shops remain open, while Eric Thomas says the government must not use the public as a scapegoat for soaring Covid cases. Plus letters from Dr Stephen Battersby and Dr Michael QuigleyPerhaps if there were fewer shops open, the stay at home message might be more effective (Police in England say they won’t enforce masks in supermarkets, 11 January). At the moment I’m in a small rural town, and there are a considerable number of shops still legitimately open.People are out browsing cards, clothing, cosmetics, slippers etc. Surely none of these items are “essential”? If these shops are open they should only be able to sell items classified under a strict set of government guidelines that include the basic necessities to survive a lockdown. The rest should be blanked off or stored off the shelves. Continue reading...

Some evidence suggests spacing vaccination doses improves effectiveness

I understand why some pregnant women are nervous about the vaccine. But I looked at the research and feel confident in my decision

What data from the first wave suggests about how much longer cases and deaths will continue to rise

We need a strong sense of self, to feel safe, to be loved. Reading Freud and others in the psychotherapeutic tradition can help, this genial study arguesAn old man with a shaggy white beard and matching hair stands in front of an audience of seekers and flower children. They are looking for ways of amplifying their human potential, of becoming more aware of their sense perceptions. It’s the tail end of the 1960s and the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, is where it’s happening.Throughout the decade, the fame of Fritz Perls – founder of Gestalt therapy in the 50s along with his rarely mentioned wife, Laura, and the once-lauded social critic Paul Goodman – soared. Perls’s so-called Gestalt Prayer was doing the rounds: “I do my thing and you do your thing, / I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, / and you are not in this world to live up to mine. / You are you, and I am I, / and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful. / If not, it can’t be helped.” (Even by this time Gestalt had lost its intellectual oomph, having moved away from its earlier therapeutic intent into the world of yogis and platitudes.) Continue reading...

Scientists say temperatures likely to be increasing faster than at any time in past 2,000 years

Quarantine-free movement by April could still be on the cards, even amid extra caution over new variant

Experts looking forward to tasting some of the 12 bottles of Bordeaux that will splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico via a SpaceX Dragon capsuleThe International Space Station bid adieu on Tuesday to 12 bottles of Bordeaux wine and hundreds of snippets of grapevines that spent a year orbiting the world in the name of science.The wine and vines – and thousands of pounds of other gear and research, including mice – will splashdown onboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on Wednesday night in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa. Continue reading...

Rolls-Royce and UK Space Agency hope to ‘revolutionise space travel’ with deal to build nuclear propulsion enginesBritish spacecraft could travel to Mars in half the time it now takes by using nuclear propulsion engines built by Rolls-Royce under a new deal with the UK Space Agency.The aerospace company hopes nuclear-powered engines could help astronauts make it to Mars in three to four months, twice as fast as the most powerful chemical engines, and unlock deeper space exploration in the decades to come. Continue reading...

Government urged to pause non-lab tests for asymptomatic cases amid fears over accuracy

Over the course of the pandemic, scientists have been monitoring emerging genetic changes to Sars-Cov-2. Mutations occur naturally as the virus replicates but if they confer an advantage – like being more transmissible – that variant of the virus may go on to proliferate. This was the case with the ‘UK’ or B117 variant, which is about 50% more contagious and is rapidly spreading around the country. So how does genetic surveillance of the virus work? And what do we know about the new variants? Ian Sample speaks to Dr Jeffrey Barrett, the director of the Covid-19 genomics initiative at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, to find out

Scientists concerned highly transmissible B1351 may offer resistance to vaccines

Travellers must show evidence of negative test taken in 72 hours before departure

Kit Malthouse says people need to use common sense, as Met police chief calls for more clarity

With the NHS stretched to the limit by Covid, here is the grim truth of what is unfolding in Britain’s hospitals

Scientists express caution about what they may find and the political sensitivity around investigation

It has been nearly four years since New Zealand experienced a month with below-average temperatures, researchers sayNew Zealand recorded its seventh-hottest year on record in 2020, and marked nearly four years since it experienced a month with below-average temperatures.The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) has been collecting New Zealand’s temperature records since the early 1900s, and said on Tuesday that above-average temperatures were becoming increasingly common. Continue reading...

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Country has world’s highest rate of infection with critics blaming socialising over festive period