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PM leads daily briefing; former PMs condemn merger of FCO and DfID; Johnson makes U-turn on free school meals after Rashford campaign

Boris Johnson has claimed the biggest breakthrough yet in treating patients with coronavirus has been made by a team of British scientists after the biggest controlled trial of treatments in the world. Dexamethasone, a cheap steroid, is widely available for use in the NHS already

Morrisons phone line | Two-metre distancing | Panting jogger | Testing shambles | Alien civilisations

Exclusive: Prof John Drury says cooperation more prevalent than selfish behaviour

The biggest randomised controlled trial of drugs against Covid-19 in the world is already producing results

The government was shown how to contain coronavirus – but chose to prioritise centralised control and private interests

Buxton, Derbyshire: Some mysterious mechanism – hunger possibly – caused the shoal to wind onwards and entwine a rockIt is remarkable how the signal to breed hardwired into the brains of toads brings the creatures to the ponds at Lightwood in such numbers. Yet thereafter one is struck by their almost total invisibility. Since the April frenzy involving perhaps 10,000 adults I have seen one. And that was in Staffordshire.Yet those adults have left us a multitude of offspring, which now form a long winding oil-slick of primal life in the top pond at Lightwood. The differing depths of water in the four pools have an inbuilt Goldilocks benefit: whatever the seasonal conditions, one of them will meet the needs of the hour, and in our drought state it is the toads in the deepest water that flourish. Continue reading...

Following on from several listener questions about the role of air conditioning in spreading or dissipating Covid-19 in buildings and on public transport, Hannah Devlin asks Dr Lena Ciric whether we should be turning our AC systems on or off Continue reading...

Professor says early vaccines may not stop virus being contracted but prevent recipients developing severe Covid-19 illness

Food and Drug Administration says drug is unlikely to work against coronavirus and notes heart risks

Global cases pass 8 million; WHO says Beijing cluster tops 100 infections; Covid-19 mutation increases chance of infection, says study. This blog is now closed. Follow our live coverage below

With or without a new GCSE, pupils must be taught to think about life on EarthThe lockdown edition of the BBC’s Springwatch ended on Friday, with a series of clips sent in by viewers to illustrate their wildlife enthusiasms. But the latest stage in a campaign to extend the reach of natural history beyond television schedules has only just begun. The idea for a new GCSE in the subject came from the author Mary Colwell. A public consultation on the proposals now being developed by an English exam board runs until July.Helping children to connect with nature is prominent among the campaign’s aims. In recent years, a number of concerns have coalesced around the view that young people do not spend enough time outdoors. Health is one source of anxiety, particularly the rise in obesity and mental distress. Increased reliance on technology for entertainment is another. Evidence shows that the danger from road traffic, and fear of crime, have contributed to reducing children’s freedom, particularly the opportunity to play outside or travel to school unsupervised. Continue reading...

Organs of some who die after over a month in hospital sustain ‘complete disruption’, peers told

The solution to today’s puzzleEarlier today, I set this puzzle:Is it possible to cover an 8x8 chessboard with 32 dominos (which are each a 1x2 block) in such a way that any line parallel to a side of the chessboard always passes through the interior of at least one of the dominoes? Continue reading...

New calculations come up with estimate for worlds capable of communicating with othersThey may not be little green men. They may not arrive in a vast spaceship. But according to new calculations there could be more than 30 intelligent civilisations in our galaxy today capable of communicating with others.Experts say the work not only offers insights into the chances of life beyond Earth but could shed light on our own future and place in the cosmos. Continue reading...

Survey finds people married or in civil partnerships feeling more anxious than single people

Health officials need to emphasize the relation between obesity and Covid-19, and we need to treat it like other chronic diseases

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

A riddle about rectanglesUPDATE: To read solution click hereIt’s a sin! Yes, I used a picture of the Pet Shop Boys to entrap you into reading my puzzle column. What did you do to deserve it?Today’s poser (no, not him) concerns the playful positioning of domino-shaped tiles on a chessboard. Continue reading...

Manufacturers warn they will struggle to meet demand as governments seek to ease pressure on health services

Refugee advocates defy court order in Sydney as Victorian GP among nation’s new coronavirus casesThousands of people have taken part in Black Lives Matter and pro-refugee protests and marches across Australia, with refugee advocates in Sydney defying a court order to take to the city’s streets.The protests came as Victoria recorded eight new coronavirus cases in the past day, including a GP who worked at three medical clinics while he may have been infectious. Continue reading...

Warning from UK government advisers reflects concerns over plans to reopen pubs and cafes

Psychedelic therapy | Statues | Veganism | Boris Johnson | The Archers monologuesRobin Carhart-Harris says that the impact of psychedelic therapy is profound, with people experiencing emotional catharsis and physical rejuvenation (We can no longer ignore the potential of psychedelic drugs to treat depression, 8 June). Yet studies only focus on treating patients with depression. Why are these life-enhancing benefits not available to everybody?

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

Minister accused of ‘litany of failures’ and misleading public over protecting care homes

New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet peer reviewers did not see raw data behind findings before publication

Brazil reports 30,000 new cases in 24 hours; Sweden says keeping schools open did not lead to outbreaks; shortage of test kits ‘leading to spread in Africa’. This blog is now closed

Study prompts further criticism that chances to suppress infection early in outbreak were missed

Northrop Grumman subsidiary awarded $187m contract for habitation and logistics outpostNasa has finalised the contract for the design of the Gateway lunar space station’s crew cabin. Astronauts will dock at this outpost upon arriving in lunar orbit, before embarking on their descent to the surface of the moon.The $187m (£147m) contract will allow Orbital Science Corporation in Dulles, Virginia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, to design the crew compartment. Known as the habitation and logistics outpost (Halo), progress will be reviewed at the end of this year and a second contract is then expected to cover its fabrication and its integration with the Gateway’s power and propulsion unit, currently being made by Maxar Technologies. Continue reading...

Science editor Ian Sample explains how vaccines work, runs through some of the main obstacles to creating one for coronavirus and preparing it for public use, and tells us which scenario he thinks is most realistic in the next 18 months Continue reading...

Experts reveal why the 2-metre guidance matters and the importance of opening doors and windows

The Misbehaviour screenwriter on Jane Goodall, the TV adaptation of Normal People and why fungi is the key to our very evolutionWe’re in lockdown with my 20-year-old daughter and one of our 27-year-old twin sons. On good days, life in lockdown is idyllic. All of the sunshine and blossom makes it feel as if the planet is celebrating us humans retreating behind closed doors. On bad days, it can feel as if we’re slipping down some dystopian plughole. So I’m careful what I watch. There’s only so much angst I can take if I want to sleep at night.I’ve been happily immersed in Normal People. It’s an elegiac reverie on first love, and I greatly prefer the BBC’s adaptation to the book. It brings to life a complex romantic dynamic that somehow eluded me on the page. I also highly recommend Unorthodox and its remarkable companion documentary, One of Us, both on Netflix. Each offers a remarkable window on the Satmar Hasidic community of Jews living in Brooklyn. I was both touched by the poignancy of Holocaust trauma that lead the sect to its extremism and horrified at the decimating psychological effects on anyone who attempts to leave the group. Continue reading...

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

Questions continue for Surgisphere and CEO Sapan Desai as universities deny knowledge of links to firm behind Lancet’s now-disputed blockbuster studyDozens of scientific papers co-authored by the chief executive of the US tech company behind the Lancet hydroxychloroquine study scandal are now being audited, including one that a scientific integrity expert claims contains images that appear to have been digitally manipulated.The audit follows a Guardian investigation that found the company, Surgisphere, used suspect data in major scientific studies that were published and then retracted by world-leading medical journals, including the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. Continue reading...

From ‘underlying health conditions’ to ‘suicide by cop’, structural racism has a vocabularyChokeholds, or “lateral vascular neck restraints”, have been banned by many American police departments since the 1990s. This is sometimes hard to remember because there have been so many deaths since then, using precisely this technique. Chokeholds look like a kind of judo manoeuvre: an arm thrown around the neck followed by a slow squeezing pressure applied to the carotid artery. It can quickly disable an adversary, although more than a few seconds of applied pressure can kill. As in judo, a knee to the neck accomplishes much the same end.The police chokehold is a sensitive issue among African Americans. The history of black death by suffocation evokes an ugly history that is not limited to lynching with nooses. Many do not remember that Rodney King was not only beaten with batons, but that one officer, Theodore Briseno, put his foot on King’s neck to hold him down. Perhaps because King did not die, that small fact is lost in today’s discussions. Continue reading...

Location of the Red Lion, which predated the Globe, has been subject of debate for yearsArchaeologists believe they have found remains of one of the most elusive of all known Elizabethan structures – the earliest purpose-built playhouse in Britain and a prototype for a theatre that staged plays by a young William Shakespeare.The Red Lion is thought to have been built around 1567 and probably played host to travelling groups of players. Its precise location has been the subject of conjecture and debate for a number of years, but archaeologists are as certain as they can be that they have found its remains at a site in the East End of London where a self-storage facility once stood. Continue reading...

No change announced by Alok Sharma at No 10 briefing despite Boris Johnson’s desire to loosen rule

In May a single study published in one of the world’s leading medical journals led to trials of a possible coronavirus treatment being halted around the world. Weeks later the study was retracted and the company behind the data used is facing serious scrutiny. Melissa Davey tells us how it all unravelledYou can read Melissa Davey’s feature on how unreliable data in Covid-19 research was questioned Continue reading...

Business, charity and trade body leaders urge Johnson to tackle inequality and climate crisis

Repairing damage ‘central’ to ensuring people follow UK self-isolation rules, say Sage experts

Instead of following false claims, we should be focusing our efforts on the regions where the next pandemic is likely to emerge

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

As the world begins to unlock, many of us will be seeing friends and family again - albeit with guidelines on how close you can get to one another. But why is it more difficult to stay physically apart from friends and family than a stranger in a supermarket queue? Nicola Davis speaks to Prof John Drury about the psychology of physical distancing and why we like to be near those we feel emotionally close with

Arab world’s first interplanetary mission will see probe orbit planet for a Martian year to study its climateThe Arab world’s first interplanetary mission, due to launch in 40 days’ time and reach the orbit of Mars in February next year, is about the survival and future of the entire Middle East, the leaders of the United Arab Emirates project have declared.The launch of the unmanned probe is also the latest sign that the old cartel of space exploration, once confined to the superpowers, is being broken up by new national entrants or private sector firms. Continue reading...

Study shows impact of restrictions; global cases pass 7 million, deaths pass 400,000. This blog is now closed - follow our latest coverage here

Doctors and campaigners seek judicial review of government’s efforts to provide PPE for NHS

Study’s findings highlight potential long-term damage of UK’s early testing strategy

At Imperial College we’ve been comparing psilocybin to conventional antidepressants – and the results are likely to be game-changingThe world is experiencing a devastating physical health emergency. But the coronavirus pandemic has also seen a renewed focus on our psychological wellbeing. Loneliness, uncertainty and grief may be intensifying an already acute mental health crisis, and in the US there has been a 20% spike in the number of prescriptions for antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs during lockdown. Demand for key antidepressants is threatening to exceed supply in the UK – where prescriptions have already more than doubled over the last decade.I head the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London, the first of its kind, supported by about £3m in philanthropic donations. For 15 years, my research has focused on how drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, DMT and MDMA work in the brain, and how they may be useful in treating disorders such as depression. Like the present pandemic, a psychedelic drug experiences can be transformative – of the individual – and of society. Both illuminate the extent to which the condition of the world we inhabit is dependent on our own behaviours. And these, in turn, are a consequence of how we feel, think and perceive. Continue reading...

As a scientist, it’s clear to me that the collective action vital to success relies on leaders being honest about their strategy