Patients must be given better access to the latest drugs, technology and clinical trialsCancer has been hitting the front pages again, and it can be difficult from the headlines to judge whether it is good news or bad.We seem to lurch from a game-changing new treatment one day to reports of rising rates the next - most recently, alarming news about the increase in global incidence of cancer among the under-50s. Continue reading...
This bold and forensic history of the pandemic, drawing on previously unpublished diaries, underlines the sheer scale of suffering, with the poor and isolated particularly badly hitCovid-19 is the best documented pandemic in history. From the moment it became clear that the coronavirus would trigger a series of global lockdowns, every twist and turn in the pandemic has been chronicled in blogs, diaries and by print and digital media.The desire to historicise the event has been just as urgent. As early as March 2020, the Pulitzer prize-winning writer Thomas Friedman declared that Covid-19 was our new historical divide" and predicted that henceforth there would be BC", the time Before Corona, and AC", the time After Corona. Continue reading...
19th-century trailblazers Annie Maunder and Alice Everett finally earn due recognition for decades of largely unattributed workThey charted the stars for pitiful wages, knowing their observations about the universe would be attributed to male colleagues, and died in relative obscurity, their scientific achievements unrecognised and overlooked.Now, in a tribute to trailblazing British female astronomers, two asteroids have been named for Annie Maunder and Alice Everett, among the first women in the world to earn a living in astronomy. Continue reading...
Where science leads, British industry must speak with one voice to force politicians to re-establish vital links with the European UnionIt was a moment when it became clear that the high-water mark of Brexit had been reached and the tide was going out fast on what is now a disgraced and palpable failure. The universal and enthusiastic welcome to Thursday's news that Britain was to rejoin the 81bn EU Horizon programme for scientific collaboration, albeit as an associate member, was a surprise - not least to the prime minister, who had dragged his feet for months in fear of the reaction of his Europhobic right.But there was no Brexiter fury that Britain should stick to the plan B, the go-it-alone 14bn Pioneer programme, as part of a vision for Britain becoming a scientific global superpower". It was obvious that any such argument would have been drowned out by the entire scientific community saying the proposition was nonsense. To have any scientific heft, leave aside Brexit hyperbole about superpower ambitions, Britain needed to work with the world's biggest programme of scientific, collaborative research. Just ask the president of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith; Nobel prize-winner and chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute Sir Paul Nurse; the Academy of Medical Sciences; the Wellcome Trust and a plethora of others. Pioneer might have had a chance in the first flush of victory amid excitement over an oven-ready" Brexit deal and the vast opportunities of global Britain" that awaited. Now the claim would have been greeted with a loud raspberry. Time to beat a retreat. Continue reading...
Monkeys and dogs were usually used to test whether humans could survive outside Earth's atmosphere - but 60 years ago the French tried something a little differentIn a few weeks, space scientists will celebrate a remarkable event - the 60th anniversary of the launch of the first cat into space, an astronautical feat that has never been repeated.A small black-and-white Parisian stray, Felicette, flew on a French rocket on a sub-orbital mission in October 1963 that reached an altitude of 154km, taking her to a place where no feline had gone before - or since. Continue reading...
Democrats say deaths will follow false claim by Dr Joseph Ladapo that new boosters were not tested on humansCovid-19 deaths are inevitable in Florida, Democrats are warning, after rightwing Republican governor Ron DeSantis joined the state's controversial surgeon general in urging residents to ignore public health advice and avoid new vaccines targeting a resurgence of the virus.The extraordinary advice came at a feisty press conference in Jacksonville this week that was also marred by an unseemly shouting match between DeSantis, a candidate for his party's presidential nomination, and a Black Air Force veteran. Continue reading...
Relief at rejoining flagship research scheme tempered by anger over loss of top academics since BrexitBritain may have rescued its scientific fortunes with a last-minute decision to rejoin the EU's Horizon research programme - but the move should not be treated as a cause for jubilation, scientists have warned.The sluggish pace at which the agreement was reached has had too severe an impact on UK research for widespread elation, say many British researchers, who believe that science in this country suffered a major blow after being locked out of the 82bn programme for almost three years since Brexit. Putting it right has taken far too long, they argue. Continue reading...
New genetic research has reignited the controversy over which type of creature was the first to branch off the evolutionary tree from the common ancestor of all animalsWhile life on Earth has flourished for billions of years, much of it has been single-celled and microscopic. None of the first organisms had brains, or even neurons (nerve cells). None of them could think". The first animals to evolve were also brainless: harnessing hormones or other chemicals, rather than neurons, to coordinate their bodies. But some soon evolved central nervous systems - and the first thoughts" were pulsed.For decades, biologists have assumed that this only happened once and was a one-way process. Once animals had evolved brains, why would they lose them? But in the past 15 years, evidence has accumulated that this may be wrong; that sponges and other brainless animals that exist today may be descended from brainy ancestors that lost their minds. Continue reading...
Billions were sunk into the Human Genome Project and the promise of precision treatments personalised to the individual. Now many believe the money might have been better spent on public health interventionsAfter spending 13 years and $2.7bn, the Human Genome Project announced in 2003 that it had successfully mapped our DNA, paving the way for a new era of medicine that would deliver the right treatment, for the right patient, at the right time".The UK's then health secretary, John Reid, welcomed the news by echoing a popular belief at the time. Genetics promises a more personalised approach to healthcare," he said. With interventions tailored to each person's own genetic profile." Continue reading...
Josh Green, the state governor, approved $25m for business recovery and said Maui will reopen for tourism on 8 OctoberOne month after the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century leveled the historic town of Lahaina, the governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, said Friday that the number of missing has dropped to 66, the confirmed death toll remains at 115 and authorities will soon escort residents on visits to their property.Tens of millions of dollars in aid will make its way to families and businesses as they recover, Green said, and beginning 8 October, travel restrictions will end and West Maui will reopen to visitors. Continue reading...
Regulators insist on 63 corrective steps after world's largest and most powerful rocket blew up on debut in AprilSpaceX's Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, must stay grounded until the company takes dozens of corrective actions after the rocket's April debut ended in an explosion, federal regulators said on Friday.The Federal Aviation Administration said it closed its investigation into SpaceX's failed debut of Starship. The agency is requiring SpaceX to take 63 corrective steps and to apply for a modified FAA license before launching again. Continue reading...
Research suggests a sharper decrease in the number of women reporting recent sexual partners after 70 compared with menA study has shed light on how the number of sexual partners British people have changes as they age, and new findings have surprised researchers.While the frequency of sexual partners among heterosexual people declines steadily from age 40, the study found stark gender disparities within some age groups. Continue reading...
Lack of awareness blamed for many patients being sent for psychological therapy instead of screeningsGPs are ignoring cancer warning signs in young people, with too many referred for psychological therapy instead of screening, a leading oncology expert has warned.The symptoms of young people repeatedly presenting with pain are too often ignored because there is still a lack of awareness among patients and GPs of how early onset cancer has increased, according to Dr Bhawna Sirohi, the president of oncology at the Royal Medical Society. This means that when symptoms are finally picked up, cases are more likely to be terminal, she added. Continue reading...
The factors suspected to be causing the rise, the most common types arising, and how to reduce your riskA global study published in BMJ Oncology this week reported a surge in the number of people under the age of 50 being diagnosed with cancer. Here are nine things everyone needs to know. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6EJQ5)
BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola, causing concern among scientists because of fear it could be more transmissibleThe latest Covid-19 variant, BA.2.86, appears to be spreading in the UK, health surveillance data suggests.The variant, nicknamed Pirola, has prompted concern among scientists because of the high number of mutations it carries, which raises the possibility that it could evade the immune system more easily or be more transmissible. Continue reading...
An MP, a standup comic, a barrister, a divorce expert and a debating coach give tips on the art of debate - and why you need to listen, not just argueWhether or not history will determine that we are living in an ever more divided culture, it certainly feels that way. Perhaps there is just more to argue about when facing a never-ending Ninja Warrior course of crises. The culture wars, meanwhile, strip words of their meaning and debates of their nuance, further pitting communities, generations, families and friends against each other.Among the many casualties of this 21st-century slanging match is - arguably - the art of debate itself. So how do you win an argument in such fractious times without fuelling division? And if arguing is indeed an art, what can we learn from its masters? Continue reading...
The UK's limited vaccine offer ignores the serious threat of long Covid - and the knock-on effects on the economyRecent headlines have been flagging that Covid may be coming back, but, as weary as we all may be of this pesky virus, the truth is that it never really went away. Unlike viruses such as flu, there is no evidence that Covid has settled into a seasonal pattern. Its constant presence means that it has plenty of opportunity to gather new mutations that continue to make it worrisome.While we can limit the likelihood of exposure by enhancing ventilation or wearing masks, vaccination remains an important cornerstone of protection. As such, the plans to offer autumn vaccine boosters are really important. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has the tricky task of making decisions about the UK's booster plans. Factors such as population susceptibility and infection severity are typically considered, but this autumn, the JCVI has begun to include cost-effectiveness considerations in the development of its advice". Continue reading...
Analysis of thousands of species finds some invertebrates and plants also getting smaller, while others are increasing in body sizeA global analysis of thousands of animal and plant sizes has found that species are shrinking, an effect most clearly found by researchers in changes to the body size of fish, which are getting smaller.Species such as the thorny skate, a north Atlantic fish that can grow up to a metre in length, have become smaller, while smaller-bodied species such as mackerel are growing in abundance, according to the researchers, changing the composition and functioning of ecosystems. Continue reading...
UK's return to science programme raises hope of more deals, including suspension of planned EV tariffsA dramatic thaw in relations between Britain and the EU has raised hopes that the Horizon science deal could be the first of many breakthroughs, diplomats in Brussels have said.They claimed the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, had a close relationship that was in stark contrast to the hostility EU officials faced from Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6EHXT)
Hybrid organs raise prospect of fully human body parts being grown inside animals for transplantsScientists have grown humanised kidneys in pigs, raising the prospect of human organs being grown inside animals.The research involved creating human-pig chimeric embryos containing a combination of human and pig cells. When transferred into surrogate pig mothers, the developing embryos were shown to have kidneys that contained mostly human cells, marking the first time that scientists have grown a solid humanised organ inside another animal. Continue reading...
This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereIn the Commons Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, is making a statement to MPs about the escape of Daniel Abed Khalife from Wandsorth prison. Mabel Banfield-Nwachi is covering this on our separate live blog about this story.Rishi Sunak has been speaking to journalists about the government's decision to rejoin the EU's Horizon science research programme on a visit to the University of Warwick. Here are the main points he made.Sunak defended the length of time it took to rejoin Horizon, saying the government had to negotiate the right deal. Labour says the delay has been damaging. (See 9.52am.) But Sunak said:We are associated to Horizon, which is the world's largest international research partnership including countries not just from the EU but also Norway, Israel, New Zealand, with hopefully Canada and South Korea to join soon too.We've taken the time to negotiate the right deal for the UK, a bespoke deal which works in our interests.You would have seen today just overwhelming support for what the Government has agreed.I listened to the science and research community here. They said that association to Horizon was a priority. That's what I've delivered.He sidestepped a question about whether the Horizon agreement would lead to the UK collaborating more closely with the EU in other areas. Asked about this, he said collaboration was important - but that it did not have to be with the EU. He said:When it comes to the research world, collaboration is really important. The best research is often done across borders, but it's not just about with EU countries. It's actually much more global than that. And that's why this programme is important. It includes EU countries but also Norway, Israel, New Zealand with hopefully Canada and South Korea as well. But that's not the extent of our international collaboration. Continue reading...
Gill Coombs and Ben Whitmore respond to Zoe Williams' article on Carl Jung and how much her father loathed himCarl Jung, who was hated by Zoe Williams' father (My late father hated Carl Jung. Should I shun him for ever too?, 4 September), is famous for his work on dreams. It's perhaps less well known that from his long experience of treating others and observing themes and patterns, he developed a personality type theory as well. Isabel Myers and Katharine Briggs turned this into the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a personality test widely used for half a century in educational and business settings.I've seen the MBTI evoke reactions similar to Zoe's father's distaste for Jung. It's not scientifically validated, some people complain; and (less heard these days) a mother and daughter came up with it, round a kitchen table. Continue reading...
Event generated regular outbursts of light about every 25 daysAstronomers have observed a star like the sun being repeatedly shredded and consumed" by a black hole about 500m light years away.The dramatic event generated regular outbursts of light about every 25 days, which was detected by scientists at the University of Leicester. Continue reading...
From sexist objections to the challenges faced by female crew on Earth and in space, this is a vital record of a giant leap for womenIn 1973, four years after Neil Armstrong's space boot hit moon dust in the most celebrated step ever taken by a man, a Nasa report observed that: There have been three females sent into space by Nasa. Two are Arabella and Anita - both spiders. The other is Miss Baker - a monkey." The report's co-author Ruth Bates Harris, who the space agency had originally hired to run its equal opportunities office, was described as a disruptive force" and fired a month later.The prospect of women in space was hardly outlandish. Ten years earlier, 26-year-old Soviet parachutist Valentina Tereshkova had orbited Earth 48 times - a feat not greeted with delight by US officials, who swapped rumours (which Tereshkova denied) that she had suffered some kind of emotional breakdown" during the flight. At Nasa itself, Jerrie Cobb had already passed the same gruelling physical and psychological tests the agency set for its all-male Mercury crews by 1960. (This milestone achievement was marked by the headline: No 1 Space Gal Seems a Little Astronaughty".) In 1962, Cobb appeared before a House subcommittee to argue for women's place in the US astronaut cadre. Her evidence was promptly dismissed by the Mercury hero John Glenn, who remarked flatly: The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order." Continue reading...
Mark Dickey developed gastrointestinal bleeding while down in Morca cave with other explorersTurkish rescue teams are racing to save an American who developed internal bleeding while exploring a cave more than 1,000 metres (3,300ft) below ground level.Turkey's caving federation said on Thursday that 150 rescuers were trying to reach Mark Dickey, 40, who developed gastrointestinal bleeding while deep inside the Morca cave, near Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Continue reading...
Polls suggest a majority of Britons regret our exit. Rejoining the scientific programme could be the start of something biggerIs this the dawn? Have we reached the glimmer of a new beginning? Rishi Sunak's about-turn on joining the European Union's Horizon programme is a first note of sanity in the two and a half tortured years since Britain formally left the EU. Let it not be the last.The story itself is miserable. Horizon is an 81bn continent-wide programme to give Europe's scientific research community a critical mass to compare with that of the US or China. It acknowledges the obvious truth that advanced scientific research needs collaboration rather than competition. Britain's universities had been leaders of the pack, and they were among Horizon's principal beneficiaries. If anything made sense of a united Europe, it was Horizon. Continue reading...
by Hannah Devlin Science correspondent on (#6EHJK)
Scientists analysing DNA of object that could be an egg from an unknown sea creature or a marine spongeA mysterious golden orb that may be an egg laid by an unknown sea creature has been discovered on the ocean floor off the Pacific coast of Alaska.The smooth object with an intriguing hole at the centre was found at a depth of about two miles by a remote-controlled submarine explorer. Continue reading...
The Duchess of Sussex is among fans of stickers from brands like NuCalm, which claim to have a calming effectThis month, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was photographed wearing a biosignal processing disc" affixed on her left wrist. The product, sold by a company called NuCalm, promises to transmit signals to the brain that makes the wearer feel peaceful and relaxed. NuCalm has reportedly been used by sports coaches and active military members to combat the high-stress lifestyle that comes with their jobs.The brand's website is filled with so much jargon that it should be studied in every marketing class: allegedly, NuCalm's neuroacoustic technology" harnesses oscillations, frequencies and vibrations to change a person's brain waves. The NuCalm experience" is reportedly fast-acting, deep, and long-lasting". Continue reading...
Tweet viewed millions of times claimed ground temperature was being confused with air temperatureAs thermometers creep upwards, it has become harder and harder to deny the reality of the climate crisis. Some, however, are questioning whether temperatures are being measured properly in the first place.In a tweet seen millions of times, the influencer Robin Monotti said in July that media outlets were repeating a report from the European Space Agency (ESA) that confused air temperature with ground temperature, which is generally higher. Continue reading...
Japan has launched a rocket carrying a small lunar lander and an X-ray telescope that will explore the origins of the universe.The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or XRISM, will measure the speed and makeup of what lies between galaxies in an effort to discover how the universe was created. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon is expected to attempt a lunar landing early next year.Japan's launch comes after recent lunar missions from India and Russia and plans announced by the US and China
Smart Lander for Investigating Moon will aim to touch down within an unprecedented 100 metres of its targetJapan's Moon Sniper" mission has blasted off on its mission to make Japan the fifth country to touch down safely on the lunar surface, and the first to do it with unusual precision.The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) got its Sniper nickname because it is designed to land within 100 metres of a specific target on the surface - much less than the usual range of several kilometres. Continue reading...
by Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay, with C on (#6EH8K)
Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian's east Africa global development correspondent, Caroline Kimeu, about the challenges and tensions at play at the inaugural climate summitRead more reporting from Caroline Kimeu here Continue reading...
Stargazers in the northern hemisphere get a once-in-437-year chance to observe the comet as it reaches peak visibility just weeks after being identifiedA comet called Nishimura discovered just a month ago could be visible to the naked eye this weekend, offering stargazers a once-in-a-437-year chance to observe the celestial visitor.The ball of rock and ice, whose exact size remains unknown, is named after the Japanese amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura who first spotted it on 11 August. Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll, Kiran Stacey and Ian Sample on (#6EGNA)
Post-Brexit return to 85bn scheme discussed this week, say sources, and is set to be announced on ThursdayBritain is to rejoin the EU's flagship 85bn science research programme, Horizon Europe, in a long-anticipated deal welcomed by scientists.Britain's membership of Horizon, which funds research projects tackling crucial issues from the climate crisis to terminal diseases and improving food and energy security, was agreed as part of the post-Brexit trade deal in 2020. But it was never ratified in a tit-for-tat row between the EU and the UK over Northern Ireland Brexit arrangements. Continue reading...
Sunak screwed across the board | Animal behaviour | Spot the ball | Fresher ingredients | Raac in Ancient RomeAnother German word for Rishi Sunak's situation (Letters, 3 September) is zugzwang, a term in chess for a poor position, where any move would make the current bad situation even worse.
Sphericalness is likely to have been produced intentionally' - but why it was done remains a mysteryEarly ancestors of humans 1.4m years ago deliberately made stones into spheres, according to a study - though what the prehistoric people used the balls for remains a mystery.Archaeologists have long debated exactly how the tennis ball-sized spheroids" were created. Did early hominins intentionally chip away at them with the aim of crafting a perfect sphere, or were they merely the accidental byproduct of repeatedly smashing the stones like ancient hammers? Continue reading...
Tiny structures are not identical to human embryos, but could have various uses in medical researchResearchers have created complete" models of human embryos from stem cells in the lab and grown them outside the womb, in work that paves the way for advances in fertility, pharmaceutical testing and transplants.The tiny balls of tissue were made by combining stem cells that arranged themselves into structures that mimic the 3D organisation of all the known features found in human embryos from one to two weeks old. Continue reading...
States face challenges getting federal aid amid dwindling Fema funds and laws that don't consider heat a climate disasterThe spiraling costs of extreme weather in the US are hitting hard as more than 60 million Americans are under heat alerts this week, experts say, even though federal law does not explicitly consider heatwaves to be climate disasters.Temperatures on Tuesday climbed toward record highs across the north-east, upper midwest and mid-Atlantic, with the south also bracing for soaring temperatures later in the week. Continue reading...
More than a million under-50s a year dying of cancer and figure projected to rise by another 21% by 2030The number of under-50s worldwide being diagnosed with cancer has risen by nearly 80% in three decades, according to the largest study of its kind.Global cases of early onset cancer increased from 1.82 million in 1990 to 3.26 million in 2019, while cancer deaths of adults in their 40s, 30s or younger grew by 27%. More than a million under-50s a year are now dying of cancer, the research reveals. Continue reading...
Nine in 10 of all cancers affect people over 50 but research shows a worrying rise in early onset casesThere are many upsides to growing old, but one of the downsides, unfortunately, is a higher risk of developing cancer. Increasing age is a key risk factor. And with more of us living longer worldwide, millions of older people will have to contend with the disease.Now a new study adds weight to previous work warning of a grim trend in global health: cancer in people under the age of 50 is becoming more common. Continue reading...
Remains pillaged in colonial era for scientific' experiments are DNA matched to Tanzanian descendantsResearchers in Berlin have identified living relatives of people whose remains were stolen from Tanzania and taken to Germany for scientific" experiments during the colonial era.Berlin's Museum of Prehistory and Early History has been carrying out research since 2017 on about 1,100 skulls taken from what was then known as German East Africa. Continue reading...
by Presented by Madeleine Finlay with Ian Sample; pro on (#6EF2E)
The UK Health Security Agency has announced plans to bring forward its autumn Covid-19 vaccination programme, and scale up testing and surveillance, after the emergence of the BA.2.86 variant. Madeleine Finlay and Ian Sample discuss where current infection rates stand, the characteristics of the new variant, and how prepared the UK is for a new waveRead the latest on Covid-19 from science correspondent Nicola Davis here Continue reading...
Scientists find that most partners have shared traits including political views, education levels and drinking habitsThe power of animal magnetism has brought countless couples together, but when it comes to who we fall for, scientists say there's little truth in the old adage that opposites attract.A study on romantic relationships found that for more than 80% of traits analysed - from political views to drug taking and the age at which people first had sex - partners were often remarkably similar. Continue reading...
The answer to today's puzzleEarlier today I set you this puzzle, created by Kirsty Land, a former student of King's Maths School, the school that topped this year's A-level rankings. (To read more about King's Maths School, see my original post.)The amazing word machineAdd any vowel to the start of a word. i.e. MAZE ->AMAZE.Add any consonant to the end of a word. i.e. CARD -> CARDS.Delete two or more consecutive vowels. i.e. PLEASE ->PLSE.Delete two or more consecutive consonants. i.e. STRING -> SING, RING, ING or STRI.Double the entire word. i.e. AYE -> AYEAYE.OX...XOXO...XOXO...OXOX...OX Continue reading...
Members of mission run by Nasa and SpaceX parachute in capsule off coast of Florida after spending six months at ISSFour astronauts splashed down to Earth early on Monday, returning home after spending six months on a rotation mission at the International Space Station.SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule parachuted off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, bringing a spectacle to many residents of the north-east part of the state just after midnight. Continue reading...
Isro, the Indian space agency, has released footage of the Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram completing a hop experiment, shortly after the spacecraft made a historic landing on the moon's south pole