On 21 December 2020, the planets will align, appearing closer than they have since the middle ages, in what is being called a ‘Christmas kiss’
This year, stargazers will have the chance to see a Christmas “kiss” beneath interplanetary mistletoe when Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer to one another and brighter than they have in 800 years in an event known as a “great conjunction”.
Continue reading...From December 2019, when an unknown virus was found in China, to the release of vaccines for Covid-19 – here are the points where momentum shifted
From December 2019, when an unknown virus was found in China, to the release of vaccines for Covid-19, it has been an extraordinary year. Here’s how the momentum shifted
Continue reading...Dutch PM to speak to the nation tonight; ministers to recommend restrictions are extended in Poland
The US has reported 16,113,148 cases of new coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 1,476,230 cases reported in the last seven days.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday that 17,184 people had died from Covid-19 in the previous week, taking the total US death toll so far to 298,266.
Turkish president has said Turkey will impose a five-day full lockdown beginning on 31 December, as official data showed new daily coronavirus deaths hit a record 229.
Recep Tayip Erdoğan, speaking after a cabinet meeting, said the stay-home order would begin at 9pm on New Year’s Eve and run to 4 January.
Continue reading...Trials have claimed 86% efficacy, but Peru has suspended tests because of ‘an adverse event’ and there is concern about lack of transparency
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Trials in the United Arab Emirates have shown that China’s Sinopharm vaccine has 86% efficacy. So what is the Chinese treatment, where is it being trialled and will it challenge the vaccines being developed in western countries?
Continue reading...Scientists find aberrant immune system in patients with virus could also be cause of ‘long Covid’
Dramatic levels of “friendly fire” from the immune system may drive severe Covid-19 disease and leave patients with “long Covid” – when medical problems persist for a significant time after the virus has been beaten – scientists have said.
Researchers at Yale University found that Covid-19 patients had large numbers of misguided antibodies in their blood that targeted the organs, tissues and the immune system itself, rather than fighting off the invading virus.
Continue reading...Germany introduces new restrictions to combat spread of virus; Turkey changes counting method, almost doubling cases
Here are some striking images of Dr. Luigi Cavanna visiting his patients in their homes in small towns and rural areas in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.
He checks his patients’ oxygen levels, uses ultrasound to scan their lungs and tests them and their relatives for coronavirus.
Residents in Jersey care homes are receiving Covid vaccinations a day earlier than expected, the island’s government has announced.
Officials said the government made the call to start on Sunday rather than Monday “in view of the positive Covid cases in care homes”, which have seen a recent 400% surge, from four on Thursday to 19 by Saturday.
Continue reading...President says he is not scheduled to take vaccine as the most complex distribution project ever in the US gets underway
Trucks hauling trailers loaded with suitcase–sized containers of Covid-19 vaccine rolled out of Pfizer’s manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sunday – launching the largest and most complex vaccine distribution project in the US.
However, public confidence in the vaccine risked being eroded after President Donald Trump – who has had Covid – said he was “not scheduled to take the vaccine” but would do so “at the appropriate time”.
Continue reading...The pandemic is expected to precipitate a mental health crisis, but perhaps also a chance to approach life with new clarity
When the bubonic plague spread through England in the 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton fled Cambridge where he was studying for the safety of his family home in Lincolnshire. The Newtons did not live in a cramped apartment; they enjoyed a large garden with many fruit trees. In these uncertain times, out of step with ordinary life, his mind roamed free of routines and social distractions. And it was in this context that a single apple falling from a tree struck him as more intriguing than any of the apples he had previously seen fall. Gravity was a gift of the plague. So, how is this pandemic going for you?
In different ways, this is likely a question we are all asking ourselves. Whether you have experienced illness, relocated, lost a loved one or a job, got a kitten or got divorced, eaten more or exercised more, spent longer showering each morning or reached every day for the same clothes, it is an inescapable truth that the pandemic alters us all. But how? And when will we have answers to these questions – because surely there will be a time when we can scan our personal balance sheets and see in the credit column something more than grey hairs, a thicker waist and a kitten? (Actually, the kitten is pretty rewarding.) What might be the psychological impact of living through a pandemic? Will it change us for ever?
Continue reading...The Australian mathematician Samuel Blake describes how he and and two other cryptologists finally solved an encrypted message written by the unnamed serial killer 51 years ago.
The FBI confirmed the code, cracked with help from a supercomputer called Spartan, is accurate, but they said it did not help with identification
Continue reading...When Chinese scientists alerted colleagues to a new virus last December, suspicion fell on a Wuhan market. What have health officials learned since then?
Maria van Kerkhove was staying with her sister in the US for the Christmas holidays, but checking her emails. As always. Every day there are signals of potential trouble, said the World Health Organization virologist who was to become a household name and face within weeks.
“There’s always something that happens at Christmas time. There’s always some alert, or a signal of a suspected case. The last several years it’s been Mers [Middle East respiratory syndrome] – a suspect case travelling to Malaysia or Indonesia or Korea or somewhere in Asia from the Middle East. So there’s always some kind of signal. There’s always something that happens,” she said.
Continue reading...They’re loyal, diligent – and have unbeatable noses. Could dogs play a key part in the fight against the pandemic?
A single-storey building in a lonely rural business park, a few miles from Milton Keynes on a grey autumn day. It looks like a location for a bleak thriller: where a kidnap victim is held, perhaps, or the scene of a final shootout. Inside, though, something kind of cool is happening.
In a brightly lit room, four inverted metal cups have been placed on the red carpet, each containing a small glass jar. One of these contains a smell: a “training odour”. Into the room bursts Billy, followed by Jess. Billy is a labrador, and Jess his human trainer. Billy bounces about the place, clearly super excited. He sniffs at everything – furniture, people, the cups – wagging ferociously. When he sniffs at the cup that contains the smell, another trainer, Jayde, indicates success with a clicking noise. Billy is rewarded with his favourite toy, a well-chewed rubber ball, and a chorus of “good boy”.
Continue reading...Trump hails start of immunisation programme; UK coronavirus hospitalisations increase; WHO warns number of deaths surging
Here the latest developments at a glance:
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Trump hails rollout of immunisation program; UK coronavirus hospitalisations increase; WHO warns number of deaths surging
Germany has recorded 28,438 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total in the country to 1,300,516, according to the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.
An additional 496 people died from the virus, taking the total death toll to 21,466.
In Australia, parts of New South Wales and Queensland are on flood watch as heavy rains continue.
Overnight, Coffs Harbour received 180mm in less than 24 hours and Bowraville got 195mm.
Related: Australia storms: NSW flood warnings as torrential rain to hit south-east Queensland
Continue reading...UK and Russian scientists to explore whether vaccines given together improves efficacy
UK and Russian scientists are to test whether combining shots of the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines could result in better protection than two doses of the same one.
Trials will start by the end of the year, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which funded the development of the Sputnik V vaccine by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, said on Friday. AstraZeneca confirmed that it was considering how it could assess combinations of different vaccines, and would soon begin exploring with the Gamaleya Institute whether their two vaccines could be successfully combined.
Continue reading...London bucks trend of declining positive tests in England; Switzerland orders restaurants, bars and shops to close down from 7pm
Companies in America are considering various options to get employees back to work after the Covid vaccine has been rolled out, Reuters is reporting.
Options on the table include giving workers a choice between a free vaccine and a cash bonus if everyone gets inoculated, to being reassigned or even losing your job.
Australia has cancelled the production of a locally made vaccine against Covid-19 after trials showed it could interfere with HIV diagnosis, Reuters is reporting.
The government has instead securing additional doses of rival vaccines.
Continue reading...Research shows people who have a dog with type 2 diabetes are 38% more at risk of having disease themselves
It’s said that dogs resemble their owners, but the similarities may also extend to their risk of diabetes, research suggests. The same cannot be said of cat owners and their companions, however.
Previous studies had hinted that overweight owners tend to have porkier pets, possibly because of shared health behaviours such as overeating or not taking regular exercise. To investigate whether this extended to a shared risk of type 2 diabetes, Beatrice Kennedy, of Uppsala University in Sweden, and colleagues turned to insurance data from Sweden’s largest pet insurance company, using owners’ 10-digit national identification numbers to pull their anonymised health records.
Continue reading...Recommendation signals formal FDA approval for Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in the US could be imminent
An advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration has recommended the emergency approval of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The recommendation is expected to signal that the first approval of a Covid-19 vaccine for use in the US is imminent. That would mark a major milestone in a pandemic that has killed more than 285,000 Americans and 1.5 million people globally.
Continue reading...Deals struck by wealthy nations to secure treatments could leave the world’s poorest people unvaccinated without urgent action
It could be too late for any kind of fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines because of the deals already made by rich countries, according to Mark Suzman, chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Despite the unprecedented pace of scientific progress on the development of vaccines, he said it remains “really, really complicated” to ensure they are produced and distributed fairly.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Life expectancy has regressed to 2010 levels, say scientists, with poor hardest hit
The Covid-19 pandemic has cut life expectancy in England and Wales by roughly a year, scientists have estimated, reversing gains made since 2010.
A study, conducted by Oxford researchers, found that life expectancy at birth (LEB) had fallen by 0.9 and 1.2 years for females and males relative to 2019 levels respectively.
Continue reading...Elon Musk tweets ‘Mars here we come’ after fireball engulfs prototype
SpaceX’s Starship prototype has exploded while attempting to land after its test launch from the company’s rocket facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Live video of Wednesday’s test showed the self-guided rocket landing at speed following a controlled descent before disappearing in a ball of flame.
Despite the catastrophic end to the six-and-a-half-minute test, SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk was thrilled. “Mars, here we come!!” he tweeted.
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