by Haroon Siddique and Kevin Rawlinson (earlier) on (#56KK0)
Latest figures show just 72% of close contacts reached; PM defends scheme; UK reports 950 new cases; Aberdeen outbreak cases increase by 25. This live blog is now closed - please follow the global live blog for the latest updates.
Scans suggest Tanystropheus, which lived 242m years ago, lived in water, researchers sayThe mystery of an ancient reptile with a tremendously long neck has been solved, according to researchers who say the creature lived in the water.Fossils of the creature, known as Tanystropheus, were first unearthed in Germany around 150 years ago and further specimens have turned up over the decades, largely at Monte San Giorgio on the Swiss-Italian border. Continue reading...
Overheated polemics won’t solve this emergency – and the apocalypse is a needlessly high bar for actionProtesters march in the streets in an “extinction rebellion” against the climate crisis, with some (but not all) of their leaders claiming that climate tipping points could kill billions in the coming decades. Others dismiss the importance or reality of the crisis, while new books loudly proclaim “apocalypse never” and “false alarm”.The popular discourse around the climate emergency all too often highlights fringe voices that predict the end of the world or suggest that there is little to worry about. But as the climatologist Steven Schneider presciently remarked a decade ago, when it comes to the climate “the end of the world” and “good for us” are probably the two least likely outcomes. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay with Ma on (#56KVY)
When it comes to the expansion rate of the universe, trying to get a straight answer isn’t easy. That’s because the two best ways of measuring what’s known as the Hubble constant are giving different results. As each method becomes increasingly accurate, the gap between widens. Is one of them wrong? Or is it time to rejig the Standard Model of Cosmology? Madeleine Finlay investigates the so-called ‘Hubble tension’ with Prof Erminia Calabrese Continue reading...
Think only fringe people believe in outlandish conspiracy theories? Think againWhen a childhood friend, a stay-at-home mom with a flourishing Pinterest account, sent me a copy of Plandemic – a 26-minute viral video falsely claiming manipulated origins of the coronavirus and the medical dangers of vaccines – I realized that conspiracy sympathizers weren’t as fringe as I thought.My friend was the third person, along with a work colleague and neighbor who is a doctor, to recently jump into the conspiracy theory abyss. I often dismissed conspiracy adherents as delusional cult members. But this was different. I knew these women. They were bright and led full, busy lives. Continue reading...
Chronic loneliness has little to do with being alone, experts say – could a pharmaceutical treatment help lonely people form meaningful relationships?Shortly after relocating to Texas from California three years ago, Cheryl Webster started hosting a game night at her home as a way of meeting new people. They stopped meeting due to Covid-19, and Webster has only heard from one person in the group in the months since they were able to play.Eventually, she decided to pick up the phone herself – but nobody called back. Continue reading...
Astrophysicist who studied the interaction between the rotation and magnetic field of the sun behind sunspots and solar flaresNigel Weiss, who has died aged 83, was a world authority on the physics of sunspots and the mechanisms driving a cycle of solar activity that lasts for 11 years.Sunspots appear as darker, cooler patches on the sun’s surface that may last from a few days to a few months. They were noticed by ancient Chinese and Greek astronomers and came to prominence following telescopic observations by Galileo and others. The number of spots on the Sun at any time follows the 11-year cycle and the sun is slightly brighter during maximum activity. Continue reading...
Geriatrician who pioneered the idea of strength training for elderly peopleUnlike other exercise researchers in the 1980s who were focusing on heart health, the geriatrician Archie Young, who has died aged 73, was interested in strength and balance. To live independently and avoid falls, it is fundamental to have sufficient balance to stand upright and the muscle strength to get up from the toilet or a low chair, but before Young’s discoveries many assumed that deteriorating muscle strength was both inevitable and irreversible in elderly people.In the early 80s Young was a doctor in a rehabilitation unit in Oxford, where among other things he introduced ultrasound imaging to physiotherapy. In 1985 he became a consultant and then professor and head of geriatric medicine at the Royal Free hospital in London, where he helped set up Queen Mary’s, a rehabilitation facility for elderly people. In both Oxford and London he conducted experiments with elderly volunteers, for example measuring their quadriceps (thigh muscle) and studying the effect of strengthening exercises. Continue reading...
by Jamie Grierson Home affairs correspondent on (#56JAH)
Surge in tablets sold as benzodiazepines, used to treat anxiety or insomnia, linked to hospitalisations and deathsA surge in illicit prescription drugs that have been linked to hospitalisations and deaths in England has prompted health officials to issue a rare national alert.Public Health England (PHE) issued the alert to drug treatment services and healthcare providers about the availability of illicit tablets being sold as benzodiazepines, such as Xanax and diazepam, which can be prescribed to treat anxiety or insomnia. Continue reading...
I fell sick on 25 March. Four months later, I’m still dealing with fever, cognitive dysfunction, memory issues and much moreI just passed the four-month mark of being sick with Covid. I am young, and I had considered myself healthy.My first symptom was that I couldn’t read a text message. It wasn’t about anything complex – just trying to arrange a video call – but it was a few sentences longer than normal, and I couldn’t wrap my head around it. It was the end of the night so I thought I was tired, but an hour later I took my temperature and realized I had a fever. I had been isolating for 11 days at that point; the only place I had been was the grocery store. Continue reading...
Fertility and Sterility took seven years to take down Italian study, which was criticised by doctors for ethical concerns and dubious justificationsA widely criticised peer-reviewed study that measured the attractiveness of women with endometriosis has been retracted from the medical journal Fertility and Sterility.The study, Attractiveness of women with rectovaginal endometriosis: a case-control study, was first published in 2013 and has been defended by the authors and the journal in the intervening years despite heavy criticism from doctors, other researchers and people with endometriosis for its ethical concerns and dubious justifications, with one advocate calling the study “heartbreaking” and “disgusting”. Continue reading...
Typhoon Morakot left country with more quakes after changing stress pattern in Earth’s crustEleven years ago, Typhoon Morakot slammed into Taiwan, deluging the country with 3,000 litres of rain per square metre in three days. Catastrophic flooding and landslides followed and more than 600 people died.It is considered one of the worst tropical cyclones in Taiwan’s recorded history. But that wasn’t the end of it. New research reveals that the typhoon also left Taiwan with a legacy of extra earthquakes for the next few years. Continue reading...
Jeremy Cushing on the tragic consequences of the pandemic response, Prof W Richard Bowen on the need for more scientifically educated politicians, Joseph Palley on England’s excess deaths, and Betty Cairns on how the dead are being remembered in ItalyI was left confused by Devi Sridhar’s article (The northern lockdown represents government failure. There is a better way, 31 July). She urged the adoption of “an objective with a timeline, forming a gameplan, appointing a high-level official to oversee things”, but none of these have any specific content. The content, far from reflecting the title, actually suggests a localised approach. Insofar as I detected any recommendations, they were to use “a robust testing and tracing system” and local expertise. These are ideas being widely shared, and show that our government has adopted almost the opposite approach, starving local authorities of information and resources in favour of corporations. The government has refrained from testing at the UK border, which other countries have made standard.It brings us back to the basic nature of this government – distrust of the public sector, tight centralisation, poverty-stricken government agencies and overall incompetence, with leadership confined to those unquestioningly loyal to the prime minister. The similarities between our government and Donald Trump’s are many and the result the same – large numbers of people dying.
by Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph Stiglitz, Mariana Mazzucato, on (#56GXK)
The carbon economy amplifies racial, social and economic inequities, creating a system that is fundamentally incompatible with a stable futureFrom deep-rooted racism to the Covid-19 pandemic, from extreme inequality to ecological collapse, our world is facing dire and deeply interconnected emergencies. But as much as the present moment painfully underscores the weaknesses of our economic system, it also gives us the rare opportunity to reimagine it. As we seek to rebuild our world, we can and must end the carbon economy.Related: Environmental racism is killing Americans of color. Climate change will make it worse | Mustafa Santiago Ali Continue reading...
Most experts agree containment of Covid-19 has failed so far, but what is the threshold for reaching herd immunity?Pandemics typically end in one of two ways: cases are tracked and isolated or a population achieves herd immunity, often with the help of a vaccine. Most experts agree containment of the coronavirus has failed so far. What about herd immunity?What is herd immunity? Continue reading...
by Presented by Nicola Davis and produced by Madelein on (#56GFH)
Since the beginning of the pandemic, ‘test, test, test’ has been the key message from epidemiologists, infectious disease specialists and healthcare professionals alike. But how does a country know if it’s doing sufficient testing? Or that it’s catching enough of the asymptomatic cases? Nicola Davis speaks to Prof Rowland Kao about the positivity rate, a value that can help to answer some of these difficult questions Continue reading...
Rare find includes skin, tendon and excrement of what is thought to be an adult maleRussian scientists are poring over the uniquely well-preserved bones of a 10,000-year-old woolly mammoth after completing the operation to pull them from the bottom of a Siberian lake.Experts spent five days scouring the silt of Lake Pechenelava-To in the remote Yamal peninsula for the remains, which include tendons, skin and even excrement, after they were spotted by local residents. About 90% of the animal has been retrieved during two expeditions. Continue reading...
by Damien Gayle (now); Amy Walker, Sarah Marsh and He on (#56EY6)
Covid-19 survivors have higher rates of mental ill-health, study says; Belgium sees ICU admissions double; Singapore to use electronic tags to monitor some travellers. This live blog is closed. Follow our new one below
Researchers discover links with earlier puberty and signs of more rapid cellular ageingChildren who experience violence or trauma seem to age faster, going through puberty earlier and showing greater signs of ageing in their cells, researchers have found.They say the findings add to a growing body of work that suggests early adversity can become “biologically embedded” with the potential for adverse health effects later in life. Continue reading...
by Presented by Anushka Asthana and reported by Ian S on (#56FW3)
New evidence on how our bodies combat the virus has huge implications for the development of a coronavirus vaccineThis episode first aired on Today in Focus, the Guardian’s global daily news podcast.It’s a familiar refrain of the past six months: “When will we get back to normal?” The premise is that once a vaccine arrives or enough people have had Covid-19 we will be immune from its terrible effects. But new evidence on how our bodies combat the virus is casting doubt on the prospects for long-term immunity. Continue reading...
by Niko Kommenda and Frank Hulley-Jones on (#56F9J)
More than 140 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccineResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 140 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading...
US astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who flew to the International Space Station in SpaceX's new Crew Dragon, splashed down in the capsule in the Gulf of Mexico after a two-month voyage. The successful splashdown, the first of its kind by Nasa in 45 years, was a final key test of whether Elon Musk's spacecraft can transport astronauts to and from orbit - a feat no private company has accomplished before
Patients to be given treatments less likely to damage immune system and in some cases able to be taken at homeNHS England is spending £160m on new “Covid-friendly” cancer drugs that will be less likely to damage the immune system and, in some cases, can be taken at home so that patients do not have to visit hospital.NHS England said 2,000 patients had already benefitted from a range of treatments approved for use as “swaps” for existing drugs. More will be available from this week, after a series of deals struck between the NHS and pharma companies, it said in a statement.
Deneb in Cygnus, Vera in Lyra and Altair in Aquila feature in Chinese folk story The Cowherd and the Weaver GirlThe summer triangle is a prominent pattern of stars that soars high in the northern summer sky. Marked out by Deneb in Cygnus, the swan; Vega in Lyra, the lyre; and Altair in Aquila, the eagle, these three stars feature in the Chinese folk story The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The girl is Vega, the cowherd is Altair. They are separated by the great celestial river, the Milky Way. Continue reading...
University College London has removed the names of eugenicists from three of its buildings. How far this goes to address an abhorrent past is much contestedThe provost of University College London announced in June this year that its Galton Lecture Theatre, Pearson Lecture Theatre and Pearson Building had all been renamed. They are now known by the perfectly unmemorable names of, respectively, Lecture Theatre 115, Lecture Theatre G22 and the North-West Wing.What sounds like a dull piece of administrative news is in fact a complex tale of a racist legacy, student politics, academic disputes and an impassioned debate about the history of science and how it is taught. It also goes to the heart of an issue that looks set to become one of great contention in the months and years ahead: by what criteria do we judge who should no longer be commemorated – at universities and in society at large? Continue reading...
by Niko Kommenda and Frank Hulley-Jones on (#56EAF)
More than 140 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccineResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 140 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading...
What have resurgences around the world taught us about how local clusters emerge?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt is not always possible to pinpoint the origin of a local spike in cases, particularly in countries like the UK, where the disease is still circulating at relatively significant levels.But in countries where overall caseloads are lower, and with rigorous test-and-trace schemes, it has been possible to pinpoint the factors that have sparked or fuelled local outbreaks. Continue reading...
The 5,000-year-old bristlecone pine in California is a vivid example of how resourceful and resilient life can beAs old-timers go, the Methuselah tree in California’s White Mountains takes some beating. According to research released last week, this ancient bristlecone pine will be 4,851 years old this year. Not a bad performance when it comes to avoiding the Grim Reaper.Nor is the Methuselah on its own in making recent headlines about longevity. Researchers announced last week they had found beds of kelp off Shetland, and in Irish and French Atlantic waters, that had survived for 16,000 years. A day later, an international group of scientists announced that they had revived microbes which had lain dormant in seabed mud for 100 million years. Continue reading...
Amy Lamé rejects criticism that she hasn’t done enough to save the capital’s night-time culture hit hard by the lockdownIf Amy Lamé feels bruised by calls for her to quit her job, she is determined not to show it. The UK’s first “night tsar” has faced brutal criticism ever since she was hired in 2016 to champion London’s night-time culture. Nightclubs and music venue owners have claimed they do not know what she does, while at least one music magazine has asked what is the point of Lamé.Now, with the capital’s cultural life facing catastrophe, the industry is taking out its frustrations on Lamé. Last week, a petition with several hundred signatories from the nightlife sector was submitted to the mayor of London, demanding she be removed from her role, and that the position be re-evaluated. Continue reading...
As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb on Japan, it must wake up to the new rearmamentRussia’s apparent test-firing of an anti-satellite weapon in outer space on 15 July, as alleged by the US and Britain, could be dismissed as another of Vladimir Putin’s annoying provocations. That would be a mistake. The alleged new space weapon should be seen in the broader context of a rapidly evolving, hi-tech, high-risk international arms race involving all the major nuclear powers that, largely undiscussed, is spinning out of control.This week sees the 75th anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed over 200,000 people, but the absence of public debate or a sense of alarm about the grim advent of sophisticated new nuclear, hypersonic, cyber and space weapons is striking. In the decades after Hiroshima, noisy anti-nuclear “ban the bomb” protests by CND and others spanned the globe. Today, by comparison, an eerie silence reigns. Continue reading...
The crew from the SpaceX commercial flight will land off Florida on Sunday as Hurricane Isaias fears easeTwo Nasa astronauts are preparing to make the first splashdown return to Earth in 45 years as the threat posed by Hurricane Isaias off the coast of Florida eased.Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are set to come back to Earth from the International Space Station on Sunday after launching into space in May on a commercial spacecraft built by SpaceX. Continue reading...
Science | The Guardian