Group calls for change to statutory sick pay to help prevent spread of coronavirus

Seiko Hashimoto says country is planning for event next year even though a widely available vaccine is unlikely

The numbers point to a second wave. Without strong action, hospitalisations will increase and deaths will follow

Restrictions could be reimposed amid claims people have ‘relaxed too much’

Comments from Robert Jenrick come amid stricter measures for parts of Scotland and Wales

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...

Researchers say people with prolonged symptoms at risk of being forgotten as they struggle to get helpUp to 60,000 people in the UK may have been suffering from “long Covid” for more than three months, unable to get the care they need to recover from prolonged and debilitating symptoms.Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London who runs the app-based Covid symptom study, said around 300,000 people had reported symptoms lasting for more than a month. Continue reading...

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, flu season is quickly approaching. This raises an important question: what will it mean for Covid-19? Could hospitals be overloaded? Is co-infection likely and could it make symptoms worse? Or, will transmission of Sars-CoV-2 prevent the spread of seasonal influenza? In the first of two parts, Ian Sample addresses the question of flu and Covid-19 by investigating how different respiratory viruses interact. Speaking with Prof Pablo Murcia, Ian explores the interplay when viruses meet – both on a population level, and on the human scale Continue reading...

Spain case total now at 525,549; French expert warns over case rate in France; Scottish government could ‘put brakes’ on lockdown easing. This blog is now closed

Image of 15th-century Abbot John of Wheathampstead bears likeness to contemporary figuresScholars involved in the digital reconstruction of the face of a medieval Benedictine abbot admit there is something “faintly familiar” about the results.The image was extrapolated by experts from CT scans of a well-preserved skull of Abbot John of Wheathampstead, whose skeleton was discovered during excavations for a new visitor centre at St Albans Cathedral in December 2017. Continue reading...

Denial of the basic facts of the coronavirus outbreak is not confined to conspiracy theorists but has crept into what passes for government policy. Covidiocy is now mainstream

Rates growing fastest among those aged 10-29, and decreasing in the older age groups

Discovery of early bony fish casts doubt on accepted ideas about evolutionary history of vertebrates

The answer to today’s puzzleEarlier today I asked you to construct a triangle whose existence seems to defy reason.Show that there is a triangle, the sum of whose three heights is less than 1mm, that has an area greater than the surface of the Earth (510m km). Continue reading...

Five teachers in Suffolk test positive, with cases in Cardiff, Yorkshire and elsewhere

Researchers call for age-based symptom checklists as virus presents differently in children

The conditions appeared to cause structural changes that harmed memory and thinkingHigh blood pressure and diabetes bring about brain changes that impair thinking and memory, research suggests.Doctors examined brain scans and medical data from 22,000 volunteers enrolled in the UK Biobank project and found significant structural changes in the grey and white matter among those with diabetes and high blood pressure. Continue reading...

The Earth ain’t big enough for this tiny shapeToday’s puzzle is simple and spectacular. It asks you to construct a triangle whose existence seems to defy reason.Show that there is a triangle, the sum of whose three heights is less than 1mm, that has an area greater than the surface of the Earth (510m km). Continue reading...

Significant rise in UK with 2,988 new cases; Netanyahu backtracks on lockdowns for cities with high infection rates; thousands attend protests against measures in Croatia and Italy. This blog is closed

Giving home monitors to those with high blood pressure would reduce heart attacks and other conditionsBlood pressure monitors should be handed out on prescription to slash the number of people who die or are left with disabilities from strokes and heart attacks, a medical charity has said.Making the home monitors available to anyone diagnosed with high blood pressure would allow people to control the condition more effectively and reduce the demand on GPs’ surgeries, Blood Pressure UK said. Continue reading...

Austrian research shows how recovery can be slow process for those with severe infection

Capricornus is one of the fainter constellations, but at the moment there are two bright planets pointing the way

Exclusive: John Dargavel says his professional body ‘damaged and demeaned’ all foresters by dismissing links between logging and bushfire risksA veteran Australian forestry scientist has launched a blistering attack on his professional association after it used the retraction of a scientific paper to dismiss links between logging and increased bushfire risks.In an open letter to the Institute of Foresters Australia seen by Guardian Australia, Dr John Dargavel said the institute’s reaction “damages our standing” and “demeans all foresters in the public eye”. Continue reading...

Public toilets | National anthem | Local poo | Comfort blanket | OverkillThe closure of public toilets has caused a panic, not least for those travelling by car (The Shewee revolution: how 2020 has changed urination, 3 September). When our parish council decided to close the village centre toilets a splendid initiative took them over. Now, they are a pristine facility, funded and run by volunteers. Significantly, they are the only roadside toilets on the 50 miles between Harrogate and Kirby Lonsdale. Closure would have been a disaster for visitors to the Dales and the Lakes.

It was only when I started collapsing – violently, dangerously – for no apparent reason, that I began to understand the impact of being kidnapped 25 years earlierYou might say the first major fault lines made their appearance just as I arrived at the door of a hard-earned adult-made happiness. It was 1992 and my husband Thomas and I, newly married, were in Paris visiting his sister and her husband.While there, we went to the cinema one evening and afterwards had a bite to eat. I felt shaky, listening as the others discussed the film. It was rare for me not to offer an opinion, but the harder I tried to formulate a coherent thought, the more it eluded me. The interest I felt a minute before disappeared. I felt nothing. An emotional lens closed. Continue reading...

There is speculation that the age of those infected is playing a part, while social distancing is also having an impact

To dream of imminent solutions is only human. But progress will come from controlled expectationsAt the end of any summer we brace ourselves – for back to school, returning to work and even for Christmas plans. But this year, the reality bump is like no other.As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to reverberate globally, there is no doubt that we must be ready to face a long road ahead, certainly beyond the end of this year. The fact that a vaccine, alongside effective treatments, is our only true exit strategy remains unchanged. The speed and scale of vaccine development have been remarkable but it’s important to avoid false hope. Continue reading...

Drugs now under development are unlikely to end the pandemic, the Wellcome Trust’s Jeremy Farrar warns

Letters reveal that the 19th-century pioneer’s radical approach to healthcare was inspired by a strict family regimeShe was the 19th-century pioneer of modern nursing, dubbed the “lady with the lamp” for her continuous care of wounded soldiers in the Crimean war. In an earlier age of contagion, she was far ahead of her time in realising that cleanliness, fresh air and open-air exercise helped patients recover from injury and disease.Now a previously unpublished letter that Florence Nightingale received as a teenager from her father reveals that he was a major inspiration in shaping her radical approach to a healthy mind and body. Continue reading...

Several missions this year are seeking out life on the red planet. But would we recognise extraterrestrials if we found them?In July, three unmanned missions blasted off to Mars – from China (Tianwen-1), the US (Nasa’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover) and the United Arab Emirates (Hope). The Chinese and American missions have lander craft that will seek signs of current or past life on Mars. Nasa is also planning to send its Europa Clipper probe to survey Jupiter’s moon Europa, and the robotic lander Dragonfly to Saturn’s moon Titan. Both moons are widely thought to be promising hunting grounds for life in our solar system – as are the underground oceans of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus.Meanwhile, we can now glimpse the chemical makeup of atmospheres of planets that orbit other stars (exoplanets), of which more than 4,000 are now known. Some hope these studies might disclose possible signatures of life. Continue reading...

Protesters seen chanting ‘freedom’ and hurling abuse at police and media while not wearing masks

Brazil total cases near 4.1m; no widespread vaccination until mid-2021, says WHO; Cuba welcomes first plane of tourists in months. This blog is now closed

Analysis of brain scans finds increase in white and grey matter in regions involved in physical movementBrain scans of cosmonauts have revealed the first clear evidence of how the organ adapts to the weird and often sickness-inducing challenge of moving around in space.Analysis of scans taken from 11 cosmonauts, who spent about six months each in orbit, found increases in white and grey matter in three brain regions that are intimately involved in physical movement. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Britain approaching ‘pivotal moment’ in attempt to avoid surge in cases, scientists say

Daily case numbers have been rising for two months now, with 1,940 more today. This live blog has now closed - please follow the global live blog for the latest updates6.24pm BSTThe latest seven-day infection figures show Leeds as having a rate of 32.4 cases per 100,000 people and a positivity rate on testing of 3.5%.The latest data suggests that a lot of the cases are in different areas of the city, meaning they may be linked to social interaction and leisure activities.Related: Coronavirus live news: no widespread vaccination until mid-2021, says WHO; Berlusconi hospitalised in Milan6.11pm BSTHere is a list of the 50 areas in England with the highest rate of new coronavirus cases. It has been calculated by PA Media and is based on the Public Health England data published this afternoon on the government’s coronavirus online dashboard.After the name of each council area, there are four numbers. They are: rate of new cases in the seven days to 1 September, expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people; actual number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to 1 September; rate of new cases in the seven days to 25 August; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to 25 August. Continue reading...

A generous act by the creator of the detective Vera reminds us that reading can help people in the hardest timesThe library of Pharaoh Ramesses II is said to have borne the inscription “the house of healing for the soul”. Dylan Thomas reportedly liked to relax by reading Agatha Christie while he sucked sweets in the bathtub. The novelist Yiyun Li turns to War and Peace in the toughest times; when she launched a virtual reading group on Tolstoy’s masterpiece in lockdown, 3,000 people signed up.In recent years, a growing body of research has backed up what we know intuitively: that books not only entertain and educate, but can also help us to recover and grow. They offer companionship to the lonely, insight to the anxious, and release to those who feel trapped. Continue reading...

Former Italian PM hospitalised as a precautionary measure after testing positive for Covid

The Oscar winner falters on a pioneering mission to Mars, in a glossy, saccharine Netflix series that’s more mundane than out of this worldThere is an unexpectedly old-fashioned feel to Away (Netflix), the glossy and ambitious new space drama led by two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank. At times, it resembles a blockbuster film from the 90s, at others, a big, mainstream television show from the 00s, but somehow, it has lost the essence of modernity that you might expect from a series set in the near future, made today.Related: Houston, we have a parent: what draws sci-fi to motherhood? Continue reading...

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...

Research suggests stomach trouble more predictive of virus in young people than a cough

Mission proposals include analysis of sun’s atmosphere and its unseen polar regionsNasa is to fund concept studies on five mission proposals that aim to study the dynamic nature of the sun and the changing space environment this causes around Earth.Such information will help understand how the “space weather” affects satellites in orbit, which provide navigation and communications; technology on Earth, such as power stations; and the health of astronauts on interplanetary voyages. Continue reading...

The anarchist and author of bestselling books on capitalism and bureaucracy died in a Venice hospital on WednesdayDavid Graeber, anthropologist and anarchist author of bestselling books on bureaucracy and economics including Bullshit Jobs: A Theory and Debt: The First 5,000 Years, has died aged 59.On Thursday Graeber’s wife, the artist and writer Nika Dubrovsky, announced on Twitter that Graeber had died in hospital in Venice the previous day. The cause of death is not yet known. Continue reading...

Researchers looking at whether human remains cause changes that could be detected by dronesThey can’t shout “whodunnit” but plants could offer vital clues when it comes to finding clandestine graves, researchers say.Forensic experts in the US have begun experiments at a body farm – a facility where decay processes can be studied – to explore whether decomposing human remains leave their mark on surrounding vegetation, for example by affecting the colour of the leaves. Continue reading...

Scientists warn embryos that have had DNA edited should not be used in pregnancies

UK study shows dorsal fin of prehistoric mega-fish was similar height to adult human

As countries entered lockdowns to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, many citizens came out to protest against measures such as social distancing, face masks and potential vaccination programmes. Demonstrations have subsequently erupted around around the world, with causes ranging from the Black Lives Matter movement to protests against inequality and corruption.Taking a look at some of the social psychology underpinning such action, Nicola Davis asks Prof Clifford Stott why pandemics can trigger social unrest, how disease outbreaks should be policed, and what Covid-19 might mean for community relationships Continue reading...

With a diameter of 5km, Ora Banda is one of the largest meteorite craters discovered in the worldA massive 100 million-year-old meteorite crater has been found while a company was drilling for gold in outback Western Australia.The impact crater is estimated to have a diameter of about 5km. Although not visible from the surface, experts found the crater using electromagnetic surveys. Continue reading...

Since lockdown, sales of devices that help women and trans men pee standing up have gone through the roof. But would it be healthier for everyone to just sit down?Natasha Bright watched in horror as she saw her friends drinking beer after beer in the park. She had gone out to meet them as lockdown restrictions eased and maybe have a drink herself. But one thought plagued her: what if I need the toilet?It was the same when she went to walk her dog in the Peak District near her home in Sheffield. With the already dwindling numbers of public toilets closed, and pubs and cafes shuttered, the options were to hold it in or find a bush. “There’s a lot that can go wrong when you’re squatting outside,” says the 33-year-old charity communications manager. “It takes longer to get your trousers up than it does for men, there’s nettles and the fear of being caught … oh God. If the choice was to have a drink and have to go in the bushes, or not have a drink and wait until I got home, it was easy.” Continue reading...

Experts are frustrated after months of inconsistent information and concerned that a mass vaccination plan will stumbleMillions of Americans are counting on a Covid-19 vaccine to curb the global pandemic and return life to normal.While one or more options could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to a population of 330 million people remains unclear for the local health officials expected to carry out the work. Continue reading...