Science | The Guardian

Cédric O comments follow revelation PM and other ministers had not downloaded app

More than 170 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine. Here is their progressResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 170 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading...

Prof Peter Doherty says monoclonal antibodies are ‘really powerful’ and could be manufactured in large quantities in Australia

A magician asks you to explain his tricksToday’s puzzles are four optical illusions devised by the magician Matt Pritchard. He calls them ‘perspec-tricks’. Each image is a photograph that seems to show something impossible. The puzzle is to work out exactly how Matt created the illusion.The magic he used is old school: none of the photographs has been digitally modified. What you see is exactly what the camera saw. All the illusions involve mirrors in some way. Continue reading...

Man buried with spears and a sword and scabbard at site overlooking River Thames

Increasing number of scientists believe risk from contaminated surfaces may have been overplayed

This blog is now closed. We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:

With no bright stars in the same part of the sky, the red planet will be unmistakeableMars will be closer to Earth this week than at any other time for the next 15 years. The fourth planet from the sun, it is currently sitting just north of the celestial equator. That means it is almost perfectly placed to be seen from both hemispheres, and it is shining with brilliant intensity in the evening sky. The chart shows its position on 5 October, looking east-south-east from London at 22:00 BST. Continue reading...

Dexamethasone ‘normally reserved for people going into respiratory failure’, says expert

Pandemic stress can be relieved by cultivating greenery, which makes people happier and more relaxedThe essayist Jia Tolentino wrote last year about people being in the grip of “houseplant fever”; ads for houseplants called “Ken” or “Pippa” pop up on the internet; a Zoom call isn’t complete without a plant somewhere in evidence; and social media abounds with tips and pictures. It should surprise no one that greenery offers an antidote to pandemic anxiety.Caring for a living object and creating a tranquil indoor sanctuary can be soothing activities in an uncertain and stressful time. The Royal Horticultural Society reported a 23% rise in plant sales in July compared to 2019. Rare plants are sold on eBay and traded on Facebook. Many come from overseas and might look green in a living room but leave a large ecological footprint. Before the pandemic, in the US, getting paid to style houseplants was becoming a career. We are nowhere near the levels of mania that led to tulip bulb prices soaring and then collapsing in the 17th century. Still, today’s rarity-chasers will pay £4,000 for a four-leaf variegated minima – and such high prices pose a temptation to others: a variegated monstera, a cutting of which might fetch £1,500, was stolen last month in New Zealand. Continue reading...

Experts say the policy prompts people happy to vaccinate their children but doesn’t work on those who oppose vaccination scienceAustralia’s “no jab, no pay” policy has been associated with a drop in the number of children catching up on their first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, suggesting the policy has had little impact on those who reject vaccination science.However, the policy was associated with more children catching up on their second dose of the vaccine and on their diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis vaccine, especially in lower socioeconomic status areas, the study published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday found. Continue reading...

Can how much you love someone be judged by how comfortable you are in their kitchen?I am always falling in love in kitchens.Or rather, I suppose it’s not so much that I’m falling in love in kitchens but that I’m always realising I’m in love in kitchens; that the kind of love I love to fall into is the kind of love that’s most at home in the kitchen; a domestic kind of love; an intimate, easy, buttery kind of love. Continue reading...

Variety has only ever been found in Caribbean more than 4,000 miles across AtlanticEurope’s rarest fern has been discovered in Killarney, Ireland, leaving botanists baffled over how it remained undetected for so long.The neotropical fern, Stenogrammitis myosuroides, has only ever previously been found in the mountainous cloud forests of Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic – more than 4,000 miles across the Atlantic. Continue reading...

Cardiologists are finding that problems aren’t related to age or severity of infection

Research into antibodies could explain children’s protection against disease, or why virus causes life-threatening effects

This coronavirus blog has closed. Head to our latest blog for all the developments3.01am BSTThere’s a lot of news around today, so we will shortly be consolidating our live blogs. For continuing global coverage of the pandemic as well as the latest on President Donald Trump, please head here:Related: Trump says 'I feel much better now' in video posted from hospital – live2.46am BSTAAP: after New South Wales recorded its ninth consecutive day with no community transmission cases, state premier Gladys Berejiklian said today the state’s public sector workers would be urged to return to offices over coming weeks in a move considered to be a significant step in the virus recovery.“The health and safety of the people of NSW has always been our number one priority, however we are also focused on firing up the economy,” she said.

With dozens dying each day and staff shortages, doctors and nurses banded together, treated and even carried out researchThere is only one Covid-19 patient left in Melbourne’s St Vincent’s hospital, where intensive care physician Dr Barry Dixon works. He still finds it hard not to focus on the bad days he experienced during the peak of Victoria’s second wave when upwards of 60 patients were in the facility.At one point, a person he knew well was admitted to the intensive care ward, their lungs struggling, and Dixon worried about their prognosis. They pulled through, but he says it was a traumatising time. Continue reading...

Neither remdesivir nor REGN-COV2 have completed large-scale randomised trials, say UK scientists

Scientists concerned that soaring infection rates in capital’s care homes and hospitals may be occurring in other UK regions

Oxford University professor says experimental treatment is promising and ‘very potent’

The British astronaut describes a close call on arriving at the International Space Station• ‘Coming home was a harsh transition. Gravity sucks!’: read an interview with Tim PeakeYuri Malenchenko is one of the most accomplished Russian cosmonauts in history. By December 2015 he is already the veteran of five separate missions and has logged just over 641 days in orbit, which means he has spent more time off the planet than almost anybody.He is also the calmest man I have ever met. A quietly spoken, undemonstrative 53-year-old, Yuri is one of those naturally composed people who can reassure you with the smallest gesture. All in all, I could not have hoped for a steadier commander to be strapped in beside on my first voyage into space. Continue reading...

Four years after leaving orbit, and with a second mission on the horizon, how is life on Earth for the first Briton to walk in space?• Read an exclusive extract from Limitless, Tim Peake’s autobiography

This blog has closed – coverage of the coronavirus pandemic continues here12.25am BSTThis blog has closed – our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic continues here.12.15am BST Continue reading...

President’s doctor reveals treatment with experimental antibody cocktail REGN-COV2

Donald Trump’s positive test after hectic week puts White House into crisis mode

Infections among year 7 to 11 pupils show steady increase since end of August

Almost all planned work against the disease has gone ahead this year, delivering nets, drugs and the world’s first malaria vaccineMore than 90% of anti-malaria campaigns planned this year across four continents are on track, despite disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to new research.The delivery of insecticide-treated nets and provision of antimalarial medicines in the majority of malaria-affected countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas were still going ahead, a high-level meeting organised by the RBM Partnership to End Malaria heard on Thursday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: concerns raised that switch to prioritising NHS could delay identification of outbreaks

More than 170 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine. Here is their progressResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 170 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading...

The president has been cavalier throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Now, a month before the election, this changes everything

To survive the challenges we must reinforce respect for science and nature, sensible public policy and the interconnected world

This blog is now closed. We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:

The new $23m loo better accommodates women with a tilted seat, new shape and redesigned funnels for urinationNasa’s first new space potty in decades – a $23m titanium toilet better suited for women – is getting a not-so-dry run at the International Space Station before eventually flying to the moon.It’s packed inside a cargo ship set to blast off late Thursday from Wallops Island, Virginia. Continue reading...

Covid pandemic sets back exploration that aims to shed light on origin of life on Earth

Researches find that athletes with larger gluteus maximus are more likely to be faster sprintersA large gluteus maximus - the muscle that forms the bottom - is key to athletes achieving top speeds on the track, according to a study.After examining the anatomy of elite athletes, researchers discovered that a large bottom is key for sprint performance. Continue reading...

Issues over production, efficacy and public trust mean restrictions may be needed for some time

Analysis of thousands of swabs show high level of infections but rate of increase has begun to come down

Measures restricting travel out of Spanish capital disputed; Germany declares 11 European risk zones; Northern Ireland records worst daily case toll

According to a UN study published last year, smart assistants with female voices are often programmed with contrite and demure responses to verbal abuse or harassment, entrenching harmful gender biases. In the second of two episodes, Alex Hern takes a look at the sexualisation of female AI and robots, what this means for how we treat them, and asks how we can give them a feminist reboot Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:

Effect seen across much of world will have profound consequences, warn scientistsThe climate crisis is heating up nights faster than days in many parts of the world, according to the first worldwide assessment of how global heating is differently affecting days and nights.The findings have “profound consequences” for wildlife and their ability to adapt to the climate emergency, the researchers said, and for the ability of people to cool off at night during dangerous heatwaves. Continue reading...

Strand of DNA inherited by modern humans is linked to likelihood of falling severely ill

Angela Merkel says ventilation may be one of cheapest and most effective ways of containing virus

Campaign scoring countries for global access efforts calls for more British transparency

Nick Forbes says even council enforcement officers do not know how to interpret rules

Local leaders say financial support needed when new restrictions are imposedThe Merseyside economy may collapse and leave a legacy of poverty “for generations to come” without urgent financial support tied to new coronavirus restrictions, according to the region’s political leaders.

Policy could be fine-tuned to help different groups, such as young people, whose lives are currently on holdCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDuring a pandemic, the virus and the economy feed back in a continuous circular loop of causality. You don’t need to be a trained economist or epidemiologist to see that.As the virus progresses, consumers respond to the risk to their health by cutting back spending on risky activities in leisure and hospitality, such as visits to pubs, cinemas, gyms, nightclubs and restaurants. How much they alter their behaviour depends on how much the virus is a threat to them and those they care for, or how much they know about it. And of course it also affects companies (whose profitability and outlook for the future worsens) and workers who, ultimately, may fall sick and not be able to work, or may fear turning up to risky workplaces. So the virus affects the economy. Continue reading...

Fever, runny nose, headache? Lost your sense of taste or smell? Your guide to differentiating between the three illnesses

Just like every emergency, Covid-19 is racist, ageist, classist and sexist. The world response to the pandemic must reflect thisIn the early days of coronavirus, there was a view that a global pandemic would act as a great equaliser. “A virus doesn’t discriminate,” they said. “We’re all in this together.” It didn’t take long for such a credulous perspective to vanish.Just like every emergency, every disaster, Covid-19 absolutely does discriminate. It’s ageist, it’s racist, it’s classist and it’s worst of all for those with pre-existing health conditions or disabilities. Continue reading...

Nasa officials stress that the leak on ISS remains small and poses no danger but will send extra air supply on the next deliveryA small air leak at the International Space Station finally has been traced to the Russian side, following a middle-of-the-night search by astronauts.Nasa said on Tuesday that the two Russians and one American on board were awakened late Monday to hurriedly seal hatches between compartments and search for the ongoing leak, which appeared to be getting worse. It was the third time in just over a month that the crew had to isolate themselves on the Russian side, in an attempt to find the growing leak. Continue reading...