Caseworkers made to turn on ‘geo-tracking’ over concerns about personal data leaving UK

People from Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds faring worse than black people in second wave of pandemicEvidence that ethnic minorities are at elevated risk of contracting and dying from Covid-19 compared with their white counterparts is well established. But a new sweeping analysis in England shows that between the first and second waves of the pandemic in 2020, death rates in black communities improved, but continued to remain high in people from Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds.The analysis – which is yet to be peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal – suggests that while the public health messaging focused on ethnic minorities has had a beneficial impact on some communities, others need customised outreach, the authors said. Continue reading...

Turtles have been around for more than 200m years, and can be found almost everywhere on the planet. Yet, they are surprisingly uniform and many species around today are facing an uncertain future – at risk from trade, habitat destruction and the climate crisis. Looking at a new study investigating the evolutionary history of turtles, Age of Extinction reporter Phoebe Weston talks to Prof Bob Thomson about what his work can tell us about the factors shaping their diversity and how we can support turtles’ dwindling numbers Continue reading...

Pollen released by plants is also more intense than in 1990 in bad news for those with allergies, research in US and Canada findsThe climate crisis is multiplying the miseries faced by people with allergies, with new research finding that the pollen season in North America is now an average 20 days longer than it was three decades ago.Related: How urban planners' preference for male trees has made your hay fever worse Continue reading...

There is a race between viral variants and vaccines – and for humanity’s sake the latter must win

Health secretary tells over-70s in England to contact NHS through the online national booking service if they have not had vaccine offer. This live blog has now closed – please follow the global coronavirus live blog for updates

The solution to today’s Q&A puzzleEarlier today I asked you the following puzzle.Ask Johnny Continue reading...

Drugmakers are looking at ways to improve their vaccines so they are ready for mutations of the virus

Oxford vaccine shown to have only limited effect against South African variant of coronavirus

A new twist on the all time classic maths trickUPDATE: the solution can now be read here.“Think of a number” tricks are such a puzzle staple that the BBC even named a kids show after them. (To readers under the age of 40, Think of a Number was hosted by Zoe Ball’s dad Johnny, and to many Britons, this one included, it was an indelible cultural highlight of growing up in the late 1970s/early 1980s.)The following puzzle is a brilliant version of a ‘think of a number’ type problem, which I had not seen until recently. The solution is wonderfully ingenious. If you don’t crack it now, or at all (as it consumes your day, sorry), you will be rewarded when I reveal the answer at 5pm. Continue reading...

A trio of winged constellations can be seen in the east but there are other creatures to spot, including Delphinus and VulpeculaThis week, there are a trio of flying creatures to watch out for in the pre-dawn sky. The chart shows the view looking east from London at about 6am this week. Highest in the sky is Cygnus, the swan. This large constellation falls into the ‘once seen, never forgotten’ category. Its great wings and long neck stretch across the sky. Continue reading...

Mosque serving largest Muslim community in UK seeks to reassure those hesitant about the shot

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsHow do spacecraft manoeuvre in space? Surely, in a vacuum, reaction force will not work?

Researchers say vaccines’ focus must shift to protecting people from hospitalisation and death

At best, vaccines and lockdown could make life more normal by May. But at worst, a new mutation could undo any progress

Rats are clever, resilient, horrifying and yet somehow admirable. And, while we’ve been away, they’ve been colonising our office spacesAn empty office building is a good place to shelter if you’re a rat in a crisis. It will be warm and dry and, if you’re lucky, one of the humans who hastily vacated before the last coronavirus lockdown will have left a half-eaten Pret flapjack in a drawer for you. Not that you’re fussy. The loss of your usual diet of commuter leftovers is a blow, but it’s not insurmountable. “Rats will always find something to eat,” says Richard Ashley, emeritus professor of urban water at the University of Sheffield. “Human waste is ideal, but any natural organic material will do. Houseplants are fine. Leather will do at a push.”You can usually find a way in via the toilets. As a rat, you’re neophobic, which means you don’t like going places where you don’t feel safe. This makes you both hard to trap and unlikely to pop up while a human is actually sitting on the loo, much to the human’s relief. However, if an office is left empty with the central heating on, the water in a U-bend can evaporate and it might be worth risking the vertical migration from cold sewer to warm corporate setting. Continue reading...

Anxious moment for scientists in US, China and UAE as spacecrafts enter crucial stages of long journey to red planetThe skies above Mars will witness some startling aeronautical displays in the next few days when three rival space robot probes reach the red planet after journeying for millions of miles across space.Related: US billionaires vie to make space the next business frontier Continue reading...

The Anglo-Swedish firm already had a strong lineup of cancer drugs when vaccine success gave it a further boostBefore the pandemic, AstraZeneca was highly regarded in the business and pharmaceutical world – seen as one of the UK’s best companies. Now, thanks to Britain’s successful vaccine programme, it is a household name.The Anglo-Swedish firm, which publishes annual results on Thursday, has sprung to prominence as maker of one of the world’s first Covid-19 vaccines, approved for use in the UK, EU and India. Inevitably, headlines have followed. AstraZeneca has been the focal point of the vaccine supply wars between the UK and the EU and has, as part of that row, faced questions over the effectiveness of the jab in the over-65s. Continue reading...

University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University research shows vaccine has reduced efficacy against mutation

Latest figures show 17.2% of the UK population have now received their first vaccination

London-based photographer and designer Tim Easley has spent the past few years taking emotive monochrome photographs of the moon. “I’ve always loved it,” he says, “and, being from the city, it’s often the only celestial object that you can see.” The 60 or so images have now been collected in a book, The Moon, available from his website.“The moon invokes so much wonder and awe, so I wanted to reflect that,” he says. Continue reading...

Elon Musk, Steven Spielberg and Nicolas Cage among those who collect rocks that can cost millionsThey really are from out of this world, and the prices are astronomical. For those who have everything they need on Earth, what they now want is a little bit of space. Meteorites are attracting the attention of celebrity collectors who have pushed the price of the rocks – which have hurtled through space for hundreds or even thousands of year before crashing into this planet – tenfold over the past decade.More than 70 of the most spectacular meteorites ever found will go under the hammer at Christie’s auction house next week in a sale that is expected to generate millions of pounds. Included in the Deep Impact auction are meteorites embedded with gem stones and others have suffered such an impact from blasting through the atmosphere at up to 160,000mph that they resemble sculptures by Alberto Giacometti or Henry Moore. Continue reading...

Chinese spacecraft aiming to enter orbit in days before putting down lander and rover months laterChina’s Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first picture of Mars, the Chinese space agency has said, as the mission prepares to touch down later this year.The spacecraft, launched in July around the same time as a US mission, is expected to enter Mars orbit around 10 February. Continue reading...

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Health secretary says NHS still under pressure; Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine as effective against UK variant as original virus, research suggests. This live blog has now closed – please follow the global coronavirus live blog for updates

My grandfather lost his life to TB, but his brother would go on to be part of the scientific team that coined the term ‘coronavirus’When my grandfather’s lungs finally collapsed, so did my family. He spent his final weeks receiving oxygen to help keep him alive, his body having been eaten away by disease. My dad, allowed in to say goodbye for the final time, was horrified to see his father reduced to a thin wisp of a man, surrounded by medical equipment.The compassion shown towards him by NHS staff was extraordinary, even if it took some pressure from my ever-watchful great uncle to make sure my grandfather got the care needed. Everyone did what they could. It wasn’t enough. Continue reading...

Scientists say it offers only slightly lower protection compared with original Covid

Exclusive: UK health secretary asks PHE and Nice to ‘re-review’ prior appraisals

Increasing number of people report feeling worn out and unable to cope due to period of sustained stress

In the UK, all eyes are on South African, Brazilian and Kent variants - with mutations transmitting among the population

Tech barons like Jeff Bezos want to colonize space and our oceans. Their visions of the future aren’t public-spirited or democratic

Island nation status could facilitate border controls to eradicate virus and ease lockdown restrictions

Rush to book hotel rooms near airports as Labour accuses government of putting lives at risk

Three more European service modules will be made for use as part of Nasa’s Artemis programmeThe European Space Agency has contracted Airbus Defence and Space to build three more European service modules (ESM) to be used as part of the Artemis moon landing programme. The new contract adds to the three ESMs already in production. All three of the new modules will propel astronauts to the moon.The ESM provides power, propulsion and life support to Nasa’s Orion crew capsule. Each ESM is 4 metres in diameter and height. Its four solar arrays span 19 metres when unfurled and can generate enough energy to power two households. The ESM’s 8.6 tonnes of fuel powers its main engine and 32 smaller thrusters. Continue reading...

Exclusive: 75% of children worst affected by paediatric inflammatory multi-system syndrome are BAME

Colchicine also found to reduce need for extra oxygen and has potential to be used in outpatient settings

Only 30-50% of melanoma patients given immunotherapy respond to it but research suggests gut could helpFaecal transplants could help patients with a dangerous form of skin cancer respond to immunotherapy, research suggests.Faecal transplants involve stool and the microbes it contains being taken from one individual and introduced into the gut of another person. Continue reading...

We have excellent and capable people in the fields of infectious diseases, epidemiology and public health who understand the problem, writes Dr Aamir AhmedIt is a remarkable admission of failure that after a year of Sars-CoV-2 community transmission, the UK does not have a functional and efficient test-and-trace system (MPs urge test and trace chief to prove system curbs spread of Covid, 3 February). This is galling, as we pride ourselves on a long tradition of scientific excellence, particularly in the fields of virology, epidemiology and public health. An excellent example of research-led policy to mitigate infectious diseases was through the work of Sir Sheldon Francis Dudley, a physician, epidemiologist and administrator, in the early 20th century.Sars-CoV-2 is a virus and a public health problem that will be with us for the foreseeable future. We need effective testing and tracing strategies in place, not just for immediate protection, but also future mitigation. We have excellent and capable people in the fields of infectious diseases, epidemiology and public health who understand the problem and can implement informed and effective policies around testing and tracing. The government must take the issue of testing and tracing seriously. One way of showing seriousness is to put knowledgable experts in charge.

Exclusive: experts also find neolithic pottery and mysterious C-shaped enclosure at A303 excavation site

The ability of the virus to mutate means we’ll be living with it for years to come, and may need a new generation of vaccines

The UK vaccine deployment minister, Nadhim Zahawi, says volunteers are being sought for a world-first trial giving a first dose of one vaccine type and a second dose of another. Run by the University of Oxford, it will recruit 820 people over the age of 50 to receive a first dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

Scientists aim to establish level of immunity in trial of 820 people, giving some a substitute vaccine at second appointment

Using animation, archive and clips from the movie franchise, Rodney Ascher’s genre-bending doc gives philosophers and kooks space to explain why we are living in a synthetic worldWith Room 237, a deep dive into theories about Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, writer-director-animator Rodney Ascher practically invented a new sub-genre of documentary: the fathoms-five-low inspection of fandom theories and nuttery. Tonally blending sympathetic dispassion and ever-so-slight amused mockery over a fast-shuffling montage of clips that just fit under the bar of fair use, Ascher’s technique created a fascinating brainstorm essay equally about cinema, spectatorship and the ability of works of art to generate interpretations well beyond the intentions of their makers.His latest, A Glitch in the Matrix, pulls off the trick again, appropriately enough on an even bigger scale. This time the subject is simulation theory: the hypothesis that we are all living inside a synthetic world, like the human beings in The Matrix movies who are kept in pods, jacked into a giant supercomputer that injects a delusion straight into their brainstems. The film interviews individuals with differing opinions on simulation theory: some philosophers, some journalists and some likable kooks who fervently believe they’re living in a simulacrum, a few of whom appear disguised in digital avatar get-ups that add a bizarre comic layer. Continue reading...

For many people infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus, the first sign of contracting the disease is a loss of smell and taste; something we reported on last May. Studies have now shown that months later an unlucky minority will still be lacking these senses – while for others they may have returned somewhat distorted. While scientists try to fathom what exactly causes this and what treatments could help, we return to the archives to explore what it’s like to live without a sense of smell. The episode was part of a special series from the Guardian called Brain waves exploring the science and emotion of our everyday lives Continue reading...

New analysis runs counter to earlier study which suggested one dose may not give adequate protection

About 15% of population has been offered first jab, as experts call for focus on hotspots

Exclusive: Health service urged to rethink safety for frontline staff and provide better PPE and ventilation

Donating your jab would undermine the rationale behind the prioritisation scheme, writes John Main. Plus letters from Ruth Eversley and Linda MurgatroydIt would be noble to give your vaccine slot to others (Letters, 2 February), but it would undermine the rationale behind the prioritisation scheme. The elderly and vulnerable are hugely more likely to get seriously ill if they catch Covid and require hospitalisation. The chief aim of the strategy is to prevent the NHS being even more overwhelmed. So your morally responsible readers would, as well as forgoing vaccination, also need to refuse hospitalisation should they catch Covid.Incidentally, that is also the unstated corollary of any “libertarian” strategy that argues that the toll of shutdown will outweigh the toll of unrestricted Covid. That argument might even be true, but only if you think it is acceptable for every hospital bed in the country to be filled with a Covid sufferer. Or, more probably, think it would be OK to refuse hospital admission to Covid sufferers deemed to have had their good innings.

Even a partially protective vaccine may reduce the risk of more severe illness. But that doesn’t mean we can let our guard down

New age group eligible from Thursday while focus remains on older at-risk people