Crew onboard Norwegian cruise ship test positive for virus; Vietnamese tourist hotspot Da Nang to test entire city; Boris Johnson warns of second UK lockdown. Follow all the developments live

Emily and Laurence Alison specialise in communication and co-operation with criminal suspects. But their methods work in the home and at work, too“The more you push someone, the more they close up,” say Emily and Laurence Alison, a husband-and-wife psychology team. “The hungrier you are for information, the harder it will be to get that out of someone. But give the person a choice about what they say; give them some autonomy and you begin to build the rapport that may lead to a better conversation,” says Laurence.This sounds like parenting advice and yet the Alisons’ specialism is helping counter-terrorism officers and the police to improve communication and co-operation with criminal suspects. When the atmosphere turns adversarial and competitive, as it so often does, they turn to the Alisons to help them navigate and negotiate. Continue reading...

Scientists have discovered the tool our stone-age ancestors used to manufacture twine – a milestone in technological developmentForty thousand years ago, a stone-age toolmaker carved a curious instrument from mammoth tusk. Twenty centimetres long, the ivory strip has four holes drilled in it, each lined with precisely cut spiral incisions.The purpose of this strange device was unclear when it was discovered in Hohle Fels cave in south-western Germany several years ago. It could have been part of a musical instrument or a religious object, it was suggested. But now scientists have concluded that it is the earliest known instrument for making rope. And its impact would have been revolutionary. Continue reading...

Urgent annual cash injection of £650m needed for cardiovascular conditions to match threat to nation’s health of cancerA severe deficit has emerged in the funding of major health conditions such as cardiovascular disease and mental health, according to a new study calling for an urgent cash injection.While an estimated £29 per person is invested in cancer research each year, only half as much is spent on neurological and mental health, and just £9 per person goes to cardiovascular disease research and development, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and health management consultancy CF. Continue reading...

Government modelling expert Graham Medley says reopening schools is a priority

For better protection, you may need to ... look a little weird and shield your peepersAt first, wearing a face mask felt a bit strange. Now, over five months into North America’s battle with Covid-19, I feel naked in public without one. Will goggles – previously the purview of steampunks and snowboarders – become the next article of protective equipment to go from weird to widespread? According to Dr Anthony Fauci, the answer is yes. In an ABC News Instagram Live Q&A this Wednesday, Fauci told viewers: “If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it.”Related: I'm a viral immunologist. Here's what antibody tests for Covid-19 tell us Continue reading...

Your questions answered on what type of mask to wear to cut the risk of getting Covid-19

Daniel Andrews says total includes 49 ‘mystery cases’ as NSW reports 17 new infections and a death linked to Crossroads hotel cluster

The past few weeks in Victoria highlight how quickly things can turn. We have a long way to goEven though it’s been only six months since we first heard about a novel coronavirus circulating in China, so much has happened that it’s all a bit of a blur. What we do know is that we have a long way to go and there are many challenges that lie ahead of us. Although many countries have managed to gain control over virus transmission for now, these past few weeks in Victoria have highlighted how quickly things can turn and how little it takes for a resurgence in case numbers to occur.There is still much that we don’t understand completely, including key matters like how it affects the body and the way the immune system responds to infection. But every day we spend with this virus we are gaining a greater understanding of it, which means we are better placed to bring this pandemic under control and save lives. Here are five of the most important things we’ve learnt so far. Continue reading...

Scientists suggest move may stabilise infections, but stricter rules needed to reduce rates

Academics analyse whether hair and hearing loss may also be linked to coronavirus

First minister allows families to be reunited and says there are no plans to close border

PM pauses easing of England’s coronavirus lockdown and says government ‘may need to go further’

Even Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro have accepted that wearing a face covering in return for saving thousands of lives works. But who nailed the look – and who was left with egg on their face?

Had Britain devised clear, tough outbreak control measures, the latest Covid-19 restrictions wouldn’t have been necessary

Nasa has successfully launched its next-generation Perseverance rover on a seven-month journey to Mars in search of evidence of ancient microbial life on the red planet.The car-sized robot will attempt to land on the Jezero crater – which may have been a lake more than 3.5bn years ago – where it will gather information about Mars’s geology, atmosphere and environmental conditions.Scientists hope the samples it collects could hold clues about whether there was ever life on the planet.

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...

Spain reports 1,229 new infections; France rules out full lockdown despite rise in cases; Japan sees record high for new cases for second day in a row. This blog is now closed. Stay up to date on our new blog below

Exclusive: scientists demand to see evidence behind decision to drop shielding on 1 August

While England did not have highest peak mortality, it had longest continuous period of excess mortality, data shows

Addressing 12 factors such as excessive drinking and air pollution exposure may have significant effect, experts sayExcessive drinking, exposure to air pollution and head injuries all increase dementia risk, experts say in a report revealing that up to 40% of dementia cases worldwide could be delayed or prevented by addressing 12 such lifestyle factors.Around 50 million people around the world live with dementia, including about 850,000 people in the UK. By 2040, it has been estimated there will be more than 1.2 million people living with dementia in England and Wales. There is currently no cure. Continue reading...

Decision not based on new evidence but is reaction to rising European infections

Nasa's most sophisticated rover yet, Perseverance, has successfully blasted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral on a $2.7bn mission to search for traces of ancient life on Mars.Perseverance will travel for about seven months before attempting to land on the Jerezo crater, which scientists suspect could bear evidence of potential past microbial life on Mars.The car-sized, six-wheel scientific vehicle will also test out equipment for future human missions to the red planet

Perseverance rover will also trial technologies for future expeditions including oxygen productionNasa’s new car-sized robotic spacecraft is on its way to Mars in a mission to search for evidence of ancient life.The Perseverance rover successfully blasted off from the Cape Canaveral air force station in Florida on Thursday at 7.50am local time (1250 BST), onboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Continue reading...

‘Completely unexpected’ finding is significant as harmful effects of plastic might increase as particle size decreasesSmall crustaceans can fragment microplastics into pieces smaller than a cell within 96 hours, a study has shown.Until now, plastic fragmentation has been largely attributed to slow physical processes such as sunlight and wave action, which can take years and even decades. Continue reading...

The shill, the grifter, the egomaniac and the ideological fool: each distorts the urgent global debate in their own wayA new book, described as “deeply and fatally flawed” by an expert reviewer, recently reached the top of Amazon’s bestseller list for environmental science and made it into a weekly top 10 list for all nonfiction titles.How did this happen? Because, as Brendan Behan put it, “there’s no such thing as bad publicity”. In an article promoting his book, Michael Shellenberger – with jaw-dropping hubris – apologises on behalf of all environmentalists for the “climate scare we created over the last 30 years”. Continue reading...

Since contracting Covid-19, I have witnessed first-hand the limitations of expert advice for a novel pandemicAs Covid-19 spreads across the United States, it leaves a slew of misinformation and conspiracy theories in its wake. The racist myths and Trumpian attempts to discredit public health officials are driven by a fundamental disbelief in science and the experts who understand it. The rise of such thinking on the right has led to a virulent defense of the scientific establishment from the left, and even the blind celebration of experts as pandemic heroes. While it’s crucial to correct misinformation and defend scientists from fascist censorship, it is also necessary to question and examine the information these experts provide us with. Science is not immune from political influence, and scientific experts should not be treated as such.“Blind faith in science, as if it were entirely neutral and uncontaminated by politics, is naive and dangerous.” Aids activist Douglas Crimp wrote these words in 1988. In the absence of comprehensive information from a slow-moving scientific establishment, activists like Crimp sought to self-educate. “We cannot afford to leave anything up to the ‘experts’,” Crimp wrote, “we must become our own experts.” Continue reading...

Your questions answered on what type of mask to wear to cut the risk of getting Covid-19

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...

A comprehensive look at the experiments that could eradicate cancer. Plus: spiced chicken skewers on chef Tom Kerridge’s barbecue. Here’s what to watch tonight Continue reading...

Research suggests standard definition of life may be too restrictive for complexities of spaceWhen the Perseverance rover takes off from Cape Canaveral in Florida as scheduled on Thursday it will be Nasa’s first mission to the surface of the red planet with the primary goal of finding signs of past life.For astrobiologists, this search for life beyond Earth can be compared to a game of darts. Hitting the bullseye would mean finding “life as we know it”. In other words, life based on a biology analogous to that found on Earth. But as any darts player knows, the bullseye is a small target, hard to hit and not even the highest scoring area on the board. Continue reading...

Perseverance mission aims to land on crater to search for possible microbial MartiansNasa’s most sophisticated rover yet is due to blast off for Mars on a mission to answer one of the most profound questions: did life ever emerge on another planet?Mission controllers have set their sights on the 28-mile-wide (45km) Jezero crater north of the planet’s equator. The landing site is one of the most promising spots for any microbial Martians to have been preserved in rock formed when the crater held a lake nine times larger than Loch Ness. Continue reading...

State of Victoria reports 723 new cases and 13 deaths; US deaths pass 150,000; Japan lifts ban on re-entry or some foreign residents

Ian Sample speaks to marine biologist Prof Maoz Fine about his surprising research on the relationship between increasing ocean temperatures and the Red Sea’s coral reefs Continue reading...

American deaths pass grim milestone; French authorities report 1,392 new cases; Hong Kong outbreak ‘overwhelming’ medical system. This blog is now closed

Fund will offer up to $2m to rapidly find ways of locating water or building power systemsNasa has asked American universities to propose new technologies that will help the space agency conduct sustainable exploration of the moon. Successful applicants will receive up to $2m (£1.5m) from the newly inaugurated lunar surface technology research (Lustr) opportunity to rapidly develop technology in two key areas: finding and extracting water from the lunar “soil” or regolith, and developing power systems that will maintain technology through the long lunar nights.Both are necessary for astronauts to stay on the moon for long periods. The water is essential for life support and can be split into hydrogen and oxygen for use as rocket fuel. Each lunar night is equivalent to 14 Earthdays and so reliable batteries will be needed, along with power distribution and control systems that can work well in the moon’s harsh radiation environment. Such power systems will also be needed to extract the water, much of which is thought to exist in permanently shadowed craters near the moon’s south pole. Continue reading...

The picture in Europe and further afield is grim. But we must not resign ourselves to a large-scale recurrence of coronavirusIs the brief respite over? In England, and other European nations hit hard by coronavirus, bars and cafes have reopened, and people have begun to fly abroad again for holidays. Guests have gathered for weddings. Babies have met their grandparents for the first time.Though many remain wary, the government’s keenness to get back to business has encouraged a dangerous sense of complacency; some are increasingly casual in following the rules. Less than two weeks ago, Boris Johnson made the remarkable suggestion that there could be a “return to normality” by Christmas, with even distancing requirements dropped. Now the prime minister has warned there are signs of a second wave in Europe. Spain’s sharp rise in cases has already prompted England to reimpose quarantine for returning travellers; it may soon do so for Belgium, Luxembourg and Croatia. Niall Dickson, who heads the NHS Confederation – representing NHS leaders – has told MPs that managers are very worried about a second spike, perhaps before winter, citing exhausted staff and the need to rebuild other services. Continue reading...

Scientists predict 43 to 84 people will still be dying from Covid-19 every day by mid-August

Stones in Wiltshire woodland found to be exact match for majority of site’s sarsens

Britain takes its stockpile to 250m doses after most recent agreement

Countries around the world battle to contain rises in numbers of new infections

GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur could supply vaccine by early next year if successful

Made from cow’s bile, garlic and onions, Bald’s eyesalve was meant to cure styes, but scientists believe it could deal with antibiotic-resistant bacterial infectionsName: Bald’s eyesalve.Age: 1,000 years old. Continue reading...

Authorities warn of rise in cases after shocking footage of young revellers in Spain and Bulgaria

Oldham hospital data shows south Asian patients are 31 years younger than white counterparts on average

Virgin Galactic has revealed the interior of its centrepiece space plane, showing off a cabin with custom seats and a 'space mirror', in a virtual tour of what its passengers can expect to experience on flights to the edge of space

The singer claimed a vaccine had been found but was being concealed to ‘let the rich get richer’Instagram has deleted a post by Madonna in which the pop star shared a coronavirus conspiracy theory with her 15 million followers.She captioned the video with claims that a vaccine for Covid-19 has “been found and proven and has been available for months”. She continued: “They would rather let fear control the people and let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” Continue reading...

Ministers monitoring potential second wave of pandemic in parts of Europe

Downing Street continues to come under pressure over quarantine plans

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...