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Long March-5 rocket has been rolled into position for ignition expected this monthChina is preparing to launch its lunar sample return mission, Chang’e-5. On Tuesday the 57-metre Long March-5 rocket was rolled into position at the Wenchang spacecraft launch site in south China’s Hainan province.This will be the fifth launch of the Long March-5. According to the China National Space Administration, ignition is likely to take place sometime in later November. Chang’e-5 was originally planned for launch in 2017, but the failure of the Long March 5’s second flight delayed the schedule as a rocket engine was redesigned. Continue reading...

Trial suggests that tocilizumab improves outcomes for critically ill patients, say researchers

Putting mass Covid testing in place before financial support for those required to self-isolate is putting the cart before the horse

Further trials required but ‘delight’ after early data reveals strong immune response in over-70s

Study says efforts to prevent spread of disease, such as social distancing, reduce virulence

There’s now evidence that ignoring social distancing rules could help more lethal strains of Covid-19 to win out

Request will be made at WTO meeting in order to allow mass production of treatments

Phase 2 trial data shows strong immune response in over-70s and better tolerance in older adults

Exclusive: Retired doctors, district nurses and physios recruited to administer jab in England’s biggest programme of its kind

The second part of Ian Sample’s 2016 interview with Prof Sir Roger Penrose, which includes a quantum theory of consciousness and the age-old question of whether mathematics is invented or discoveredListen to the first part of the conversation here.We’ll be back next week with two new episodes – see you then! Continue reading...

The CSIRO research vessel, Investigator, has captured vision of a meteor breaking up over the ocean off Tasmania's southern coast. The meteor was filmed at 9.21pm AEDT on November 18 on the ship's 24/7 livestream camera. The ship is currently mapping the ocean floor 100km south of Tasmania, near the Huon Marine Park Continue reading...

Cases and deaths surge in Italy; new Pfizer vaccine data better than first reported; Swiss intensive care beds at full capacity

Costs and overruns on key technology have hit schedule of Artemis programme, says report

Sexual orientation gap for men larger than gap between white and black men, study showsMen in same-sex relationships are significantly less likely to have a degree in a Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subject than their heterosexual male peers, according to research.Until now, studies have focused largely on the gender gap in Stem, where women are still hugely underrepresented in higher education and make up less than a quarter of the Stem workforce in the UK. Continue reading...

Denmark has already launched a nationwide cull of its farmed mink herd after concerns for vaccine efficacy

The UK must use safe vaccines as soon as they become available, not wait for the ‘very best’ to come along, writes the deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-TamI was concerned about the tone and accuracy of your story which appeared on the front page of the Guardian newspaper (Government admits millions may miss out on most effective vaccine, 12 November).This headline, which I view as both misleading and sensationalist, occurred due to a lack of understanding. Vaccines against Covid-19 will not all come at once, or in large quantities in all cases. Nor will they be delivered in volumes or over timeframes we can fully predict currently, and their storage characteristics may differ. We will have to use the vaccines that are authorised, in the quantities they become available, according to expert advice. We should use them as soon as we get them. If the choice is between the eligible public accessing a safe vaccine with a lower interim efficacy or having no vaccine at all, we would always choose the former as some protection is absolutely better than no protection. Continue reading...

Greater social contact over period could have to be followed by tougher Covid measures

Among first 170 Covid cases in trial, eight had received vaccine and 162 were in placebo group

Finding has implications for one-size-fits-all approach to vaccine developmentAntibody levels against the virus that causes Covid-19 appear to fall faster in men than in women, a study suggests – a finding that could have implications for vaccine research.Historically, medical research has often taken a one-size-fits-all approach, lumping women and men together despite growing evidence that the sexes differ in how they catch and fight disease. Covid-19 seems to be a case in point, with women more likely to be infected but men thought to be up to twice as likely to die from the virus. Continue reading...

On the anniversary of the start of the Nuremberg trials, 90-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine confronts her past by visiting the Nazi concentration camp in Germany where her brother was killed. As a young girl, she had been a member of the French resistance and had always refused to set foot in Germany. That changes when a young history student named Lucie enters her life. Prepared to reopen old wounds and revisit the terrors of that time, Marin-Catherine offers important lessons Continue reading...

Talk of ‘moonshots’ is typical of the belief that the UK is an innovative state – but it’s far from itThough many have speculated on what Dominic Cummings’s “legacy” might be, one of the more significant contributions he made to No 10 was his thinking about science and technology. Prime ministerial speeches have been peppered with passé futuristic slogans about how Britain leads the world in quantum computing, genomics and AI, and promises that the country can be a “science superpower” – notions that Cummings made a central part of the Brexit project.Like many a macho innovation guru, Cummings is an amateur not a professional, an artless nerd and not an expert. That his policies and prescriptions have been taken seriously is a measure of our collective credulity about Britain’s place in the world of innovation. But whether this foolishness will leave with the fool is another matter. Continue reading...

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration says coronavirus vaccines can be bought privately. This is a bad idea for many reasonsAs the world continues to grapple with Covid-19, the prospect of a vaccine gives us hope of returning to some kind of “normal” in the not-too-distant future.The Australian government has signed supply agreements with manufacturers of four Covid vaccines in clinical trials. Assuming one or more meets the requirements for safety and effectiveness, everyone will be able to be vaccinated for free Continue reading...

Doctor’s organisation says without tough action NHS will be overwhelmed by Covid patients

Bags are still on sale despite a phasing out in England for amateur usersGrowing plants, both in houses and gardens, has been hugely popular this year, helping to raise spirits during the coronavirus lockdowns. But gardeners and the horticulture industry often use peat compost from peatlands.Peatlands hold vast amounts of carbon that was absorbed by living sphagnum moss. When the moss dies it does not fully decompose in the waterlogged ground, and healthy peatlands can lock away the carbon for thousands of years. Continue reading...

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The drugmaker, whose vaccine candidate has 90% efficacy, will run the programme in Rhode Island, Texas, New Mexico and Tennessee

SpaceX’s newly launched capsule with four astronauts onboard has docked with the International Space Station (ISS), the crew’s home for the next six months.The Dragon capsule arrived after a 27-hour, completely automated flight from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There was a brief delay after the 'sunset' threw shadows across the docking area, making it more difficult for the crew to monitor the procedure

Three Americans and one Japanese astronaut on Nasa mission will remain at orbiting lab until their replacements arrive in April

The country music icon’s $1m donation supported the latest breakthrough by Moderna and several research papers

Medics may have to decide who lives or dies due to scarcity of resources during pandemic

Researchers worry PFAS, commonly found in the bodies of Americans, will reduce the immunization’s effectivenessThe successful uptake of any vaccine for Covid-19, a crucial step in returning a sense of normalcy after a year ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, could be hindered by widespread contamination from a range of chemicals used in everyday products.Small amounts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (or PFAS) chemicals are commonly found in the bodies of people in the US, as well as several other countries. These man-made chemicals, used in everything from non-stick pans to waterproof clothes to pizza boxes, have been linked to an elevated risk of liver damage, decreased fertility and even cancer. Continue reading...

Jenrick says government wants significant easing of controls to have ‘more normal’ December

Researchers plan library of scents from plague repellents to early tobaccoFrom the pungent scent of a cigar to the gentle fragrance of roses, smells can transport us to days gone by. Now researchers are hoping to harness the pongs of the past to do just that.Scientists, historians and experts in artificial intelligence across the UK and Europe have announced they are teaming up for a €2.8m project labelled “Odeuropa” to identify and even recreate the aromas that would have assailed noses between the 16th and early 20th centuries. Continue reading...

SpaceX has launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on the first full-fledged taxi flight for Nasa by a private company. Three Americans and one Japanese astronaut on the Dragon capsule will remain at the orbiting lab for the next six months until their replacements arrive in April 2021 Continue reading...

In the first part of this episode from 2016, Ian Sample speaks with the acclaimed mathematician and physicist Prof Sir Roger Penrose about his then most recent book, Fashion, Faith, and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe. Warning of the potential dangers of dogmatic belief and unheralded faith, the recent Nobel laureate asks whether string theory has become too fashionable and warns of an overreliance on quantum mechanics.Part 2 coming on Thursday Continue reading...

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Chapare virus, which causes haemorrhagic fevers, was transmitted to health workers in La Paz and resulted in three deathsResearchers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have discovered human-to-human transmission of a rare virus in Bolivia belonging to a family of viruses that can cause haemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola.The news is a reminder that scientists are working to identify new viral threats to humankind, even as countries around the world battle a new wave of Covid-19 outbreaks. Continue reading...

Britain strikes rapid deal for Moderna vaccine showing 95% effectiveness in early results

Moderna becomes second firm to reveal positive results with nearly 95% protection in trials

Phase 3 success rate of 95% for US firm’s treatment is promising for UK vaccine trial

The sloioutn to tdoay’s pzulze and the wnienr of the wirnitg cmtiopteionEarlier today I set a puzzle about scrambled numbers and set a competition for ‘unscrambleable’ sentences.The puzzle is as follows: for each of the four numbers in the following addition, the first and last digits are correct, but the intermediate digits have been scrambled. Restore the original addition. Continue reading...

Experts say there is no evidence UK’s £100bn mass Covid testing scheme will provide any benefit

Experiment put a human in one box, a dog in another and saw which the ticks preferredConfining a young researcher in one box and a dog in another and unleashing blood-sucking ticks to scamper between the boxes sounds like a stunt from I’m A Celebrity.But the stomach-churning scientific experiment has revealed that ticks carrying the deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) disease are more than twice as likely to shift their feeding preference from dogs to humans when temperatures rise. Continue reading...

Moderna results show Pfizer success was not flash in the pan, but poorer countries may have to look elsewhere

Available online

PM says he is in good health and has no coronavirus symptoms ahead of crucial week

Bestselling writer says no state has moral right to close bookshops