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...

US deaths near 150,000; half of people living in Mumbai slums have had the coronavirus; China records 100 new cases

Inside of VSS Unity unveiled, showing the cabin in which six passengers will be able to float in zero gravity on the edge of spaceVirgin Galactic has revealed the interior of its centrepiece space plane, showing off a cabin with new 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.For $250,000 a ticket, passengers who have signed up for the suborbital flight aboard the air-launched plane VSS Unity will strap into six tailored seats and be able to peer out of the cabin’s 12 circular windows as they ascend 97km (60 miles) above Earth. The plane has five other windows. Continue reading...

With no evidence of seasonal variations, the WHO warns the initial coronavirus pandemic is continuing and accelerating

During the pandemic, we saw ideological nonsense and prejudice mostly put aside – and we saw what we could accomplish when it wasCarl Sagan – one of my heroes and a scientist with a gift for communicating complex ideas in accessible ways – wrote back in 1994: “If we continue to accumulate only power and not wisdom, we will surely destroy ourselves … If we become even slightly more violent, shortsighted, ignorant, and selfish than we are now, almost certainly we will have no future.”Clearly I don’t know what he would write if he were alive today. But he could hardly say that in the intervening 26 years we have become even slightly less violent, shortsighted, ignorant and selfish; I suspect that he would be dismayed at how much worse we have become; and how much more power has been accumulated without wisdom. Continue reading...

Six projects will help researchers explain the disproportionate BAME death rate

Studies measuring levels of the protein tau in blood offer hope of developing treatmentsScientists say they have made progress towards a test for Alzheimer’s that could help researchers in the hunt for treatments for the disease.Several studies, presented at a conference in Chicago, showed it was possible to measure the levels of a protein called tau in the blood. Tau and another protein called amyloid have been targets for developing tests and treatments for Alzheimer’s for many years. They form clusters known as tangles and plaques in the brain that are well-known features of the disease. Continue reading...

Scientific modelling shows different approaches to testing could catch up to 94% of cases

Microbes had lain dormant at the bottom of the sea since the age of the dinosaursScientists have successfully revived microbes that had lain dormant at the bottom of the sea since the age of the dinosaurs, allowing the organisms to eat and even multiply after eons in the deep.Their research sheds light on the remarkable survival power of some of Earth’s most primitive species, which can exist for tens of millions of years with barely any oxygen or food before springing back to life in the lab. Continue reading...

Project aims to show clean fusion power can be generated at commercial scaleThe world’s largest nuclear fusion project began its five-year assembly phase on Tuesday in southern France, with the first ultra-hot plasma expected to be generated in late 2025.The €20bn (£18.2bn) Iter project will replicate the reactions that power the sun and is intended to demonstrate fusion power can be generated on a commercial scale. Nuclear fusion promises clean, unlimited power but, despite 60 years of research, it has yet to overcome the technical challenges of harnessing such extreme amounts of energy. Continue reading...

Exclusive: megafires ‘one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history’, say scientistsNearly 3 billion animals were killed or displaced by Australia’s devastating bushfire season of 2019 and 2020, according to scientists who have revealed for the first time the scale of the impact on the country’s native wildlife.The Guardian has learned that an estimated 143 million mammals, 180 million birds, 51 million frogs and a staggering 2.5 billion reptiles were affected by the fires that burned across the continent. Not all the animals would have been killed by the flames or heat, but scientists say the prospects of survival for those that had withstood the initial impact was “probably not that great” due to the starvation, dehydration and predation by feral animals – mostly cats – that followed. Continue reading...

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...

Reducing deforestation and the exploitation of wildlife are the first steps in breaking the chain of disease emergence

What do you do when your loved ones flout the law – or nag you about going out? As lockdown eases, attitudes to Covid-19 seem more polarised than everMichael, a 35-year-old university lecturer from Sheffield, barely speaks to his brother nowadays. For years, they had been drifting apart over political differences such as Brexit. “He hates my leftwing, liberal beliefs as much as I hate his way of looking at the world,” Michael says. “We used have a pint together occasionally, or go to a match.” But coronavirus was the final straw.Even before masks became mandatory in English shops, Michael always wore a face covering when he went shopping and did his best to maintain social distancing. His brother did not. “He says he doesn’t care if he gets Covid-19 and has flouted all the rules,” says Michael. “He loves the conspiracy theories that it came from a Wuhan lab, or that it doesn’t really exist. I am incensed by his selfish and unthinking approach.” Continue reading...

With evolving evidence on airborne transmission of Covid-19 and early super-spreading events linked to choir practices, musicians have been left wondering how risky it is to sing and play instruments in person. Investigating a listener question, Nicola Davis speaks to Prof Jonathan Reid about the science of aerosols and why he’s getting musicians to sing into funnels — in the middle of an operating theatre Continue reading...

Europe braces for second wave; Vietnam sees first locally transmitted cases since April. This blog is now closed

There is growing evidence from around the world that some people continue to experience debilitating symptoms of Covid-19 months after contracting the virus. They have been dubbed the ‘long-haulers’. Melissa Davey explains what we know about how patients in Australia who were diagnosed in March and April are recovering more than three months laterYou can read Melissa Davey’s article about the St Vincent’s hospital study on the lasting effects of Covid-19 here. You can also read first-hand accounts from ‘long-haulers’ here: Continue reading...

Covid-19 is lingering such that the public believes things are getting better, long after they are going wrongAnother day, another sadly predictable U-turn from the government of Boris Johnson. A few weeks ago ministers were encouraging the public to go abroad for their holidays. They did so without a comprehensive airport testing regime for passengers, unlike in many parts of the world. As restrictions have been lifted across Europe, countries have reported rises in Covid-19 cases. People returning from Spain, which has seen a spike in infections, now face mandatory quarantine. The farce means that the transport secretary will be one of those self-isolating.Britain continues to record a higher number of coronavirus cases and deaths than Spain, which had one of the most stringent lockdowns in Europe. Madrid has every right to be frustrated. It is unclear why passengers from the relatively unaffected Canaries and Balearics are treated the same as those returning from Covid-19 hotspots in Catalonia. Continue reading...

UK-based company hopes deal with Daiichi Sankyo will lead to new breast and lung cancer treatmentAstraZeneca has agreed a deal worth as much as £4.7bn with a Japanese drug company to develop and market a potential new cancer treatment.The British–Swedish pharmaceutical company said it would pay $1bn (£800m) upfront to its partner, Daiichi Sankyo, in what is the latest of a series of bets by the pharma company on oncology treatments. Continue reading...

The answers to today’s geometrical riddlesEarlier today I set you the following two puzzles. Here they are again, together with solutions.1. A 12cm x 12cm square piece of paper is marked as below. Continue reading...

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...