Science | The Guardian

Downing Street’s hostility to the civil service is a dangerous distraction from the task of governing in difficult timesEvery prime minister has at some stage been frustrated with the machinery of government. They feel it is not geared to delivering their manifestos or, in more paranoid moments, that civil servants are engaged in sabotage. But the current intensity of Downing Street’s hostility to Whitehall is abnormal. Boris Johnson does not stoop to public attacks on senior mandarins, but his aides and parliamentary outriders talk about the civil service as an enemy. That view flows from the belief – not always wrong; usually exaggerated – that most civil servants thought Brexit was a mistake and approach it in terms of damage limitation. Mr Johnson wants the company of people who see only glorious opportunities in the UK’s separation from the EU. That prejudice breeds impatience with evidence and disregard for people who rely on it. That is a recipe for bad government.Mr Johnson has already lost a chancellor by demanding that the Treasury surrender any independence from No 10. Sajid Javid resigned rather than tolerate institutional debilitation. Whether his successor, Rishi Sunak, puts up with it has yet to be seen. There might be gains in political efficiency from a submissive Treasury, but there are costs in downgrading a powerhouse of experience in economic policy. Suspicion of Whitehall also radiates from Downing Street’s defence of Priti Patel, the home secretary, over allegations of bullying. It is normal for the prime minister to take an ally’s side when there are rival accounts of what has happened, but the anonymous Conservative “sources” who have been pressing Ms Patel’s case go much further. They accuse Home Office officials of campaigning against their boss because of her political stances. The ugly inference is that officials who say they have been bullied are lying and their motive is softness on immigration and crime. Continue reading...

All major sporting events to be behind closed doors until April as national death toll hits 107The Italian government has ordered the closure of all schools and universities nationwide until 15 March as it grapples to contain Europe’s worst outbreak of coronavirus, which has claimed 107 lives, an increase of 28 in 24 hours.On Wednesday evening, it confirmed that all major sporting events, including Serie A football, would be played behind closed doors due to the outbreak until 3 April. Continue reading...

A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak

Even No 10 has realised the value of the ‘impressive’ chief medical officer for EnglandCoronavirus – all the latest developmentsTo the broader public, Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, has emerged as the calm voice of authority, the clear-headed expert at the helm of the nation’s strategy to fend off coronavirus. But in medical circles, Whitty has long been regarded as a legend. Those who work with him speak in glowing terms: amazing, extraordinary, fantastic, brilliant, though perhaps not so good at tennis.Such plaudits were not always on the cards, it seems. In a lecture at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, soon after he was made a professor there, Whitty put up a copy of his school report. “Don’t think about sending this boy to university, he can barely read,” one audience member recalls it saying. Continue reading...

Astronomer and television presenter whose passion for her subject captivated audiencesThe astronomer and broadcaster Heather Couper, who has died aged 70 after a short illness, helped, with her passion for the subject, to redefine the way her science was presented on television.She made her name with two series in particular, The Planets (1985) and The Stars (1988), both on Channel 4. In these programmes, rather than presenting from a TV studio, Couper took viewers inside the observatories that shaped the subject she loved. Her scripts were often laced with tales of stargazers from the past, and this historical context, presented from a personal point of view, showed the process of the science, and humanised it. Continue reading...

Probability of Fire Weather Index reaching levels of 2019-20 summer increases 30% due to climate change, researchers sayThe hot and dry conditions that helped drive Australia’s bushfire crisis would be eight times more likely to happen if global heating reached 2C, according to new analysis.An international team of scientists also found the risk of Australia being hit by intense fire weather had already risen since 1900 “by more than a factor of four”. Continue reading...

It may take up to a month to see outcome of attempt to treat inherited form of blindnessScientists say they have used the gene editing tool Crispr-Cas9 inside a person’s body for the first time, a new development in efforts to operate on DNA to treat diseases.A patient recently underwent a procedure at the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for an inherited form of blindness, the companies that make the treatment announced on Wednesday. They would not give details on the patient or when the surgery occurred. Continue reading...

Confirmed cases of Covid-19 now span 79 countries, with more than 3,100 deaths, all but 215 in mainland China – data correct at 12:59pm, 3 March

Thousands of medicinal samples to be tested in Belgium for inhibiting impact on virus

Skyhooks, railguns and growing sweet potatoes on Mars … a nerdily engaging discussion of how humans might settle other planetsIn 2007, China demonstrated a new anti-satellite missile by blowing one of its own defunct weather satellites to smithereens: a cloud of shards that still orbits the Earth. The message was not lost on the US, and just before Christmas last year Donald Trump launched his “Space Force”. The heavens are being remilitarised in a new superpower space race; China is planning manned Moon missions, and Elon Musk wants to build a city on Mars. But what exactly is space good for, apart from being the ultimate sniper’s nest for violence directed back at Earth’s surface? In particular, why would anyone want to live there?Science writer Christopher Wanjek’s book is a nerdily engaging (and often funny) attempt to answer that question, though he begins by challenging many of the reasons that people give for colonising space. It’s not a necessary defence against imminent extinction, he argues: pandemic disease or nuclear war might kill a lot of us, but a few would survive to carry on. Wanjek seems to underrate the danger of asteroid impact: a big enough space rock could sterilise the face of the whole planet. There is one threat, though, that everyone agrees could be curtains, which is a gamma-ray burst from an imploding star near enough to ours. When that arrives without warning (as it is bound to do at some point) and destroys the atmosphere, it might be handy to have a spare planet to live on. Continue reading...

What are the symptoms caused by the virus from Wuhan in China, how does it spread, and should you call a doctor?

The situation is too serious for Johnson and Cummings’ personal vendettas and destructive tendencies to continueWhen the weather changes in politics, it changes fast. It’s only a few weeks since Brexit was the biggest peacetime challenge in a generation, a task so huge many wondered if Boris Johnson could pull it off, but now it’s no longer even the most pressing problem on his list.As of this week, his government is at war not only with coronavirus but with some of its own civil servants; the BBC; swaths of businesses opposed to Brexit; and possibly soon the judiciary, depending on the outcome of a review led by the new attorney general, Suella Braverman. All while trying to deliver a trade deal with Europe on a timetable that many in Brussels already thought was impossible. Get either the first or the last of those wrong, and the worst-case scenario is a 2008-style economic crash, not to mention the potential loss of life in a pandemic. Get both of them wrong, and the consequences don’t bear thinking about. Continue reading...

A couple called the Tschirharts spent $50,000 to recreate their beloved pooch. If I had the cash, I would definitely do the sameYou are at level one of crazy dog parent when you throw your pooch a birthday or bark mitzvah. You are at level two when your dog has more clothes than you do. And you are at level 100 when you store your dog’s skin samples and spend $50,000 (£39,000) to clone it.David and Alicia Tschirhart are level 100 pet parents. The Californian couple made headlines recently for cloning Marley, their pet Labrador. Marley was an extremely good boy; he once fought off a rattlesnake, possibly saving a pregnant Alicia’s life. When Marley died from cancer, his owners had a hard time letting him go, so they didn’t: they used a pet cloning company to create a genetically identical puppy called Ziggy. “They have the same personality, they play the same, they favour the same toys,” Alicia told reporters. Continue reading...

Some former workers say going back would threaten their mental and physical health• Coronavirus – latest• Tell us: have you been affected by the coronavirus?Scores of retired NHS doctors and nurses have told the Guardian that they are against returning to work to help tackle coronavirus, with many saying it would threaten their physical and mental health. The government confirmed contingency plans on Tuesday to call back to work NHS “leavers and retirees” to help relieve pressure on an NHS workforce that is expected to be overwhelmed by the virus.But a majority of 120 former NHS employees who responded to a Guardian callout were resistant, and in some cases hostile, to the idea. Many respondents said unprompted they did not want to a return to a working environment where they suffered stress, bullying, burnout and even breakdowns. Continue reading...

Advertising authority censures companies that appear to stoke coronavirus fearsThe Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a series of “alarmist” and “scaremongering” ads for face masks that it said played on people’s fears over the coronavirus outbreak.In rulings published on Wednesday, the regulator found that online ads from two companies breached its code and were misleading, irresponsible and “likely to cause fear without reasonable justification”. Continue reading...

A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak

The partner of the woman, who flew to Auckland via Singapore and is now in isolation, is also showing symptoms and is being tested

Study finds chromosomes offer clue to longer life of different sexes in different species

Up to one-fifth of UK workforce could be off sick at peak of epidemic, government warns

A measured response is appropriate. But important questions remain about our ability to tackle Covid-19As Covid-19 has spread, to more than 70 countries already, people are learning not only about the new coronavirus, but about their governments’ ability to respond to it. In many countries, from China to South Korea and Iran, anger at the shortcomings is widely held and deeply felt. With a low but fast-growing tally of 51 cases in the UK, the British government, none too soon, has published its action plan.This is a government that believes in providing opportunities rather than a safety net; it seems reluctant to employ the powers of the state to shield or protect. Nor does it want to take the blame for problems. One might have been forgiven for thinking that Boris Johnson had self-isolated, given how little we have seen of him recently. The public has already taken matters into its own hands, with consumers stockpiling canned goods and hand sanitiser. But this is not the kind of situation that can be managed without the state, and Mr Johnson, too, can see the political perils of simply disappearing from the scene. Continue reading...

Without urgent government funding and an increase in the number of doctors specialising in addictions, the numbers of people sleeping on the streets will only rise, writes Dr Jenny DrifeWhile discussions about the accuracy of the latest government figures for numbers of rough sleepers in England and Wales will no doubt continue (Homelessness: Ministry accused of under-reporting issue, 27 February), it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that even this estimate is an increase of 141% since 2010.We need to remain focused on interventions that will prevent people ending up on the streets, or help them back into stable housing as quickly as possible. Continue reading...

Up to 100 million people died in 1918-19 in the world’s deadliest pandemic. What can we learn?

Many have underlying conditions, making fight against Covid-19 more complex

The UK government encourages quarantine to limit the spread of coronavirus. For insecure workers, it may not be an optionCoronavirus isn’t just a disease – it’s a test of the systems that are part of our everyday lives. In the recent guidance it released to the public, the government said it would encourage self-isolation as the primary way to contain the spread of the virus. Yet for many of the low-paid workers in Britain who look after your parents, deliver your food or drive your Uber, self-isolation means forgoing wages in order to protect others from disease.Related: Explained: UK's coronavirus action plan Continue reading...

Researchers say it is the first time such skill has been shown outside of humans and great apesSome parrots weigh up probabilities to help them make choices, researchers have found, in a study that provides the first evidence of this skill outside great apes.Among previous studies, African grey parrots have been found to selflessly help their peers complete tasks and seem able to identify colours and count. Cockatoos meanwhile can keep track of an object’s location – even when it is hidden – and have been found to invent dance moves. Continue reading...

Chairman and chief executive of General Electric with a fearsome reputation who set the trend for ‘downsizing’

What the government’s measures to fight the spread of Covid-19 mean in practice

Putting Mike Pence in charge is proof that the White House wants to protect its political line, not protect Americans

It has been a bleak few weeks for Chinese business owners amid the coronavirus outbreak but there are signs of a revival

Almost 5,000 cases of Covid-19 recorded in South Korea as WHO chief says the world is in ‘uncharted territory’

Did the virus originate in a US weapons lab, or is it a plot to destabilise Iran? The ‘infection’ of social media by these stories is a deliberate strategyAs coronavirus continues to spread and scientists project how many people are likely to be infected, there has been much talk of contagion. It is easy to imagine red streaks that trace the path of illness extending across the globe like in a Hollywood movie.Predictably, conspiracy theories about coronavirus have spread alongside the virus itself. Thousands of social media accounts linked to Russia claim the US created the coronavirus to “wage economic war on China”, and a US senator repeated a rumour that it began in a Chinese bio-weapons lab and not an outdoor market. Continue reading...

Health officials suggest a wave, a pat on the back or even just a look in the eye are safer alternatives

Global survey finds average figure is higher than that caused by smoking tobaccoHumans are missing out on almost three years of life expectancy on average because of outdoor air pollution, researchers have found.However, the study reveals more than a year of life expectancy could be clawed back if fossil fuel emissions are cut to zero, while if all controllable air pollution is cut – a category that does not include particles from natural wildfires or wind-born dust – global life expectancy could rise by more than 20 months. Continue reading...

Six deaths now confirmed in America, as South Korea reports almost 500 new cases

Guardian readers say they are concerned about being forced to self-isolate at homeFood, medicines and other essentials are being stockpiled by people across the UK over fears the coronavirus outbreak may leave them house-bound or unable to buy necessities.As the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise, Guardian readers said they were concerned about being forced to self-isolate at home, along with the prospect of city “lockdowns” limiting the availability of goods, and many are now taking matters into their own hands. Continue reading...

Chemical signatures in ancient ocean crust point to a planet without continentsScientists have found evidence that Earth was covered by a global ocean that turned the planet into a “water world” more than 3bn years ago.Telltale chemical signatures were spotted in an ancient chunk of ocean crust which point to a planet once devoid of continents, the largest landmasses on Earth. Continue reading...

UK on course to lose a quarter of its sandy coast because of human-driven erosionAlmost half of the world’s sandy beaches will have retreated significantly by the end of the century as a result of climate-driven coastal flooding and human interference, according to new research.The sand erosion will endanger wildlife and could inflict a heavy toll on coastal settlements that will no longer have buffer zones to protect them from rising sea levels and storm surges. In addition, measures by governments to mitigate against the damage are predicted to become increasingly expensive and in some cases unsustainable. Continue reading...

A widespread halt in economic activity could put the viability of banks in question and spread financial disruption furtherThe first cases of coronavirus were recorded in China’s landlocked Hubei province, which has a population of about 59 million. Despite the Covid-19 virus and the respiratory disease it causes starting out as a local healthcare problem, it has become a global and an economic one because of the ways in which humans are profoundly interconnected through the world’s economy.The first kind of interconnectedness is the one epidemiologists study: the human travel network. How a disease spreads depends on the number of physical encounters, and the probability of the virus jumping from carrier to new host. These encounters, caused mostly by global air and sea travel, are the ones policymakers have been trying to stop, albeit belatedly. Continue reading...

World Health Organization recommends people take these simple precautions against coronavirus to reduce exposure and transmission

Global warming caused by humans as powerful as weather phenomenon, say expertsMany parts of the world are likely to experience above-average temperatures over the next few months, even without a natural El Niño effect, according to weather experts.The UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said the signal from human-induced climate change was now as powerful as the natural phenomenon, which drives warmer temperatures. Continue reading...

South Korea reports 599 new cases and Indonesia confirms its first infectionsLatest coronavirus updatesThe global death toll from the coronavirus outbreak exceeded 3,000 on Monday as South Korea reported almost 500 new cases of the disease and a second person died in the US.Covid-19 has now infected more than 88,000 people and spread to more than 60 countries after first emerging in China late last year. Indonesia, which has so far claimed to be virus-free, registered its first two cases on Monday. Continue reading...

What are the symptoms caused by the virus from Wuhan in China, how does it spread, and at what point should you call a doctor?

A NSW health worker who has not travelled overseas in three months has been diagnosed with the disease along with a 41-year-old womanAustralia now has 30 patients who have been diagnosed with coronavirus, including the first confirmed cases of community transmission.On Monday afternoon the New South Wales health minister, Brad Hazzard, said a 41 year-old NSW woman caught the disease and that her case could be traced back to her 43-year-old brother who had returned from Iran. Continue reading...

Two women hospitalised in Jakarta, following mounting concern that world’s fourth most populous country is failing to identify cases

Watch out later this week as the moon, approaching full, passes the blue-white quadruple star system in the constellation LeoThis coming weekend, keep an eye out for the moon as it passes Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, the Lion. Regulus marks the full stop at the bottom of the backwards question mark of stars, also known as the sickle, that makes up the Lion’s head and chest. Once identified, this asterism will be instantly recognisable on subsequent nights. Regulus appears as a blue-white star but is actually a quadruple star system. The chart shows the view looking east from London at 20:00GMT on 7 March. A day later, the moon will appear below Regulus but still close. From Sydney, Australia, the best view comes on 8 March. Look north-east in the evening sky, and the moon will be closer to the star. On 8 March, the moon will be effectively full and any mist or thin cloud could render the fainter sickle stars difficult to see. Regulus, however, should be unmistakable. Return the night after, find Regulus and then trace out the rest of Leo. Continue reading...

Continue reading...

The challenges of a potential pandemic will test Johnson’s leadership skills like nothing before it – and the early signs aren’t greatGive or take the prime minister’s recent 12-day withdrawal from public life, since his party’s victory at the election the government has largely been trading in performance, rhetoric and intrigue. Running through a great deal of what has happened has been the pantomimic presence of Dominic Cummings, showily quoting the animated kids’ series PJ Masks, stoking this or that controversy, and supposedly working on plans for a great national transformation whose practical details may never arrive.But all of a sudden, things have rather changed. If the ongoing floods have seemed to leave too many people at the top untroubled, the decisive arrival in the UK of the coronavirus has highlighted two things that were in danger of being forgotten: the most basic responsibilities of any government, and the necessity of seriousness. Continue reading...