WHO says pandemic is still accelerating; Hundreds of Romanians check themselves out of hospital; Serbia considers new lockdown. This blog is now closed

Design review stage passed for craft intended to visit iron-and-nickel mini-world in 2026

Cases make it ‘harder to imagine bringing our campus community back’ as planned, university saysPlans for the fall semester at the University of California, Berkeley, are in question after 47 new Covid-19 cases tied to fraternity parties emerged in the past week. University officials warn the outbreak could jeopardize the ability to move forward with in-person classes in the months ahead.“We have seen the number of University Health Services positive cases increase from a running total of 23 since the start of the pandemic, to 47 new cases in just one week,” university officials wrote in a letter. Continue reading...

Inquiry to examine claims remains were found strewn around and dismembered

An estimated 14,000 people had infection over past two weeks, according to ONS data

Windows can stay open say scientists behind speaker array that emits opposing pressure sound waves to counteract dinIf the hum of passing cars and the clatter of trains drives you to slam windows shut on a hot day, a new noise cancelling system could be music to your ears.Scientists have developed a sound control system that can be fitted on to an open window, allowing a breeze to waft in while sounds from outside are quietened. Continue reading...

The government’s preference for centralisation and the private sector has undermined England’s response to the pandemic

Melbourne is undergoing a suburban testing blitz after Victorian premier Daniel Andrews revealed hotspots in suburbs were largely caused by extended families

How often should you wash a cloth mask? And how effective are the disposable ones? The expert guide to choosing, wearing and caring for your face coveringThe British have been slow to embrace face masks, despite calls from public health experts. Uptake has been just 25% in the UK, compared with 83.4% in Italy and 65.8% in the US. The president of the Royal Society, Venki Ramakrishnan, said this week that wearing one “is the right thing to do” and that a refusal to do so should be seen as socially unacceptable as drink-driving or not wearing a seatbelt.Perhaps one of the problems has been the changing advice as new evidence emerges. The World Health Organization (WHO) now recommends people wear cloth masks. Ramakrishnan said that in the UK, “the message has not been clear enough, so perhaps people do not really understand the benefits or are not convinced”. It also doesn’t help that the guidance across the UK is different. Continue reading...

Could there really be other civilisations out there in the Milky Way? Nicola Davis talks to Prof Chris Conselice, whose recent work revises the decades-old Drake equation to throw new light on the possibility of contactable alien life existing in our galaxy Continue reading...

Move comes after two people absconded from quarantine, including a man later found to have Covid-19Police officers will patrol New Zealand’s quarantine hotels around-the-clock after a number of people – including a man who tested positive for coronavirus – escaped the managed isolation facilities.In two separate incidents in Auckland hotels guests in isolation left their quarantine hotels, with one woman escaping over a hedge, and another man over a small fence. Continue reading...

Experts say new climate data shows how close world already is to breaching 1.5C Paris agreement pledgeThere is a one-in-five chance annual global temperatures will be at least 1.5C warmer than in pre-industrial times in the next five years, experts have said.Annual global temperatures are likely to be at least 1C above the levels they were before the industrial era in each year between 2020 and 2024, a long-range forecast by experts led by the UK Met Office shows. Continue reading...

Gathering ‘likely contributed’ to surge; Bolsonaro vetoes measures to help indigenous people; Melbourne goes into full lockdown after rises in cases. This blog is now closed

WHO adviser says results from well-designed studies are needed before it changes its advice

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

This absorbing documentary tracks how participants in the Biosphere 2 project lived, grew food and disagreed in giant biodomesIf ever a documentary was in tune with the spirit of lockdown it is this very absorbing film about Biosphere 2 – a colossal eco-experimental project in the Arizona desert in the early 90s, which had its roots in 60s counterculture and which I knew nothing about before this.My ignorance was so complete, in fact, that for the first few minutes of this film I kept suspecting some kind of docu-spoof. But it’s all real, right up to the disclosure of a horribly familiar villain right at the end, whose identity it would be unsporting to reveal. Continue reading...

UK neurologists publish details of mildly affected or recovering Covid-19 patients with serious or potentially fatal brain conditions

Anti-trafficking organisations say widespread trust in white outsiders makes children an easy target for abusers from the westChild protection organisations in Kenya say more needs to be done to protect young people from exploitation by overseas perpetrators, as the country reports a rising number of abuse cases.The warning follows the arrest of Gregory Dow, a 61-year-old missionary, who last month pleaded guilty in a US court to sexually abusing girls at an orphanage he ran in Kenya. Continue reading...

Man charged over latest breach of quarantine as country deals with influx of returning citizens during the coronavirus pandemic

Actions by Hamish Walker have dealt a blow to the National party weeks away from an election

Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for Covid-19; thousands protest against renewed lockdown in Serbia; Kenya emerges from quarantine. This blog is now closed

Study claims tiny creatures can order things in sequence, but researchers say it does not confirm they can count

Top public health expert urges further action as new cases surge to record highs of around 50,000 a day across countryThe United States is “still knee-deep in the first wave” of the coronavirus pandemic, one of the country’s top public health experts has warned, as the country surpassed 130,000 Covid-19 deaths and new polling indicates Donald Trump’s approval rating over his handling of the crisis has remained low.Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Monday that America’s grasp of the pandemic was “really not good” and urged further action as new cases of the virus continue to surge to record highs of about 50,000 a day across the country. More than 131,200 have died in the US as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins figures. Continue reading...

Ministers have been accused of trying to shift the narrative over response to pandemic

At least four premises say they will shut after staff or customers contract virus

Minister proposes mandatory hospital care as country grapples with fresh outbreaks

Kongonaphon lived 237m years ago and paved way for gigantic successors, scientists sayA small, insect-eating reptile that lived 237m years ago was a miniature ancestor of the giant dinosaurs that went on to dominate the Earth, according to scientists examining fossils in Madagascar.The Kongonaphon kely measured about 40cm (16in) long and stood 10 cm (4in) tall at the hip, scientists said on Monday. It inhabited a floodplain region of what is now south-western Madagascar during the Triassic period about 237m years ago. Continue reading...

Criticism comes as government launches public information campaign amid low takeup

AI is on the march in the movie industry – but what would an android-written film actually look like? And will it be any good?A few years ago I moved to San Francisco, and almost everybody I met there immediately told me they were working on a startup. These startups all had the same innocent names – Swoon, Flow, Maker – and the same dreadful mission: to build AIs that automated some unfortunate human’s job. I always responded by pitching my own startup, Create. Create would build an AI that automated the creation of startups.The tech bros never cared for my joke, but I did. In fact, I cared for it so much that I eventually began a novel about an android who wanted to become a screenwriter. It seemed an intriguingly comic premise, because unlike everybody else’s job, my job was clearly far too human to ever actually be automated. Continue reading...

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

President of science body issues call amid evidence coverings protect wearer as well as others

Goyt valley, Derbyshire: Wych elms have been pleasingly resilient to the fungal infection that has decimated populations across Europe, and this area boasts hundredsMy interest in elm trees was piqued this spring when someone happened to mention on social media that there were probably no more than 100 mature examples left in England.This instantly had the whiff of urban legend because just that week I had chanced upon a grove of 19 wych elms in a lesser known part of the Derbyshire Dales national nature reserve called Hay Dale. Admittedly those few trees are a remnant of a much larger stand, which has, in turn, been ravaged by Dutch elm disease. It is this fungal infection that has devastated European and American elms, especially after the late 1960s, since when an estimated 25m have been killed in Britain alone. Continue reading...

Weeks and months after having a confirmed or suspected Covid-19 infection, many people are finding they still haven’t fully recovered. Emerging reports describe lingering symptoms ranging from fatigue and brain-fog to breathlessness and tingling toes. So why does Covid-19 cause lasting health problems? Ian Sample discusses some of the possible explanations with Prof Danny Altmann, and finds out how patients might be helped in the future Continue reading...

The city is undergoing a suburban testing blitz after premier Daniel Andrews revealed hotspots in suburbs were largely caused by extended families

Donald Trump’s handling of US crisis under microscope; Israel reimposes restrictions after infections spike. This blog is now closed

Controversial restrictions brought in to ease strain on quarantine system after rush of New Zealanders arriving at the border

Pork and possibly chicken became more popular in England after arrival of William the Conqueror

Country has third highest number of cases in world after 25,000 new infections recorded a day

My friend Dick Jefferies, who has died aged 88, was an authority on fossils that are too strange to identify and which are sometimes referred to as “problematica”. Central to his work, which he pursued as principal scientific officer in the natural history section of the British Museum, were extinct animals called carpoids.Dick was something of a contrarian in the field of evolutionary biology, and was not afraid to adopt occasionally outlandish positions, some of which were proven to be well wide of the mark. However, a number of his predictions did turn out to be correct. He successfully hypothesised, for instance, that early marine animals (echinoderms) had gill slits equivalent to those of fish, but lost them; and he was also proven right in his conjecture that the closest relatives of vertebrates were sea-squirts (ascidiacea), rather than the more fish-like lancelets (amphioxus).

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

Psychologist was due to get life-saving NHS cancer treatment until coronavirus struck

Venus is back in our sky before the sun rises, and will rise earlier as July progressesVenus has returned to the sky. Following its passage between Earth and the sun on 3 June, it can now be seen in the pre-dawn sky. The planet is bright and unmistakable lying in the eastern sky. It is currently located in the constellation of Taurus, the Bull, directly in the group of stars that marks its head. It is close to the bright red star of Aldebaran, which should also be visible in the lightening sky. Continue reading...

Countries where face mask use is widespread have seen fewer Covid-19 deaths, writes Prof David Smith, while Philip Rundall thinks shops should do more to encourage customers to wear themYour comment (Editorial, 2 July) that disparagement of face masks might have come at a cost is well illustrated by comparing different countries. In Hong Kong (population 7.45 million), a survey in March found that 98.8% wore masks in public; just seven people have died from Covid-19 there since the start of the pandemic. Austria (population 8.9 million) adopted early on a rule that face masks must be worn and has had 706 deaths. By contrast, in the UK, the use of masks is very rare, and there have been 44,198 deaths. A recent modelling study supports the view that the universal wearing of face masks is crucial to reduce the spread of this disease. A key message is “my mask protects you, your mask protects me”.

Exclusive: ex-chief prosecutor’s lawyers say behaviour of Boris Johnson’s aide warrants ‘thorough investigation’The former chief prosecutor for north-west England has urged the Metropolitan police to launch an immediate investigation into Dominic Cummings’ trip from London to Durham at the height of the coronavirus outbreak.Lawyers for Nazir Afzal have written to the Met commissioner, Cressida Dick, arguing that the behaviour of Boris Johnson’s chief adviser during the lockdown warrants a “thorough investigation”. Continue reading...

Open letter says there is emerging evidence of potential for aerosol transmission

Relief as concerns about overwhelmed emergency services fail to materialise

Celebration planned for 5pm backed by politicians and head of health service

I’d come to think of myself as a sad wizard, burdened with rituals to prevent catastrophes. Then the pandemic made those threats realFor many of us, coronavirus has inspired a bit of a germ obsession. We wash our hands until they’re chapped. We see other people as potential vectors. We wipe down our groceries with Lysol, apparently having decided that, if it comes to it, we’d rather die of disinfectant poisoning than a virus.In our efforts not to contract Covid-19, many of us are getting a taste of a different kind of illness: obsessive-compulsive disorder. And for some who have spent years learning to cope with OCD, the latest crisis is undermining everything we’ve learned about our own brains. Continue reading...

The paediatrician and member of Independent Sage on Matt Hancock, the likelihood of a vaccine and why 50,000 deaths were preventableAnthony Costello is a paediatrician and international expert on child health who has been an outspoken critic of the British government’s response to Covid-19. He is a member of Independent Sage, a group of experts set up to provide “robust, independent advice” in regard to the UK’s coronavirus policies, and former director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London. He has worked in a number of low-income nations, developing effective strategies for cutting newborn and maternal mortality rates. He also served as director of maternal, child and adolescent health at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva.What do you think about the decision to open pubs yesterday?