Category Archives: Science

Coronavirus live news: WHO reports worrying infection trends in southern Europe and Balkans

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WHO says Americas remain global hotspot but cases accelerating in southern Europe, Balkans and Africa; Trump urges people to wear masks

As the coronavirus spreads around the world, there are concerns that it will mutate into a form that is more transmissible, more dangerous or both, potentially making the global health crisis even worse.

What do we know about the way the virus is evolving?

Related: Will Covid-19 mutate into a more dangerous virus?

The US federal government has signed a contract with Pfizer for 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, once it is approved.

The health and human services secretary, Alex Azar, said on Fox News:

We just signed a contract with global pharmaceutical leader Pfizer to produce 100 million doses of vaccine starting in December of this year with an option to buy a half a billion doses.

Now those would of course have to be safe and effective.

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First active leak of sea-bed methane discovered in Antarctica

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Researchers say potent climate-heating gas almost certainly escaping into atmosphere

The first active leak of methane from the sea floor in Antarctica has been revealed by scientists.

The researchers also found microbes that normally consume the potent greenhouse gas before it reaches the atmosphere had only arrived in small numbers after five years, allowing the gas to escape.

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Mike Pompeo attacks WHO in private meeting during UK visit

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US secretary of state said the World Health Organization was responsible for Britons who had died from Covid-19

The US secretary of state Mike Pompeo launched an extraordinary attack on the World Health Organization during a private meeting in the UK, accusing it of being in the pocket of China and responsible for “dead Britons” who passed away during the pandemic.

Pompeo told those present that he believed the WHO was “political not a science-based organisation” and accused its current director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of being too close to Beijing.

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UK must ramp up coronavirus efforts to avoid second wave, scientists warn

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Senior scientists say it is ‘critical’ Britain improves capacity to spot and contain outbreaks before winter

Britain must ramp up its capacity to spot and contain coronavirus outbreaks if it is to avoid a potentially devastating second wave of infections this winter, senior scientists have warned.

The next two months are “critical” for building a more effective test-and-trace system and ensuring that local outbreak teams are ready to handle the resurgence of infections that is feared as temperatures fall, the experts told the Lords science committee.

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Researchers say blood test can detect cancer years before symptoms

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Team based in China develop test that identifies cancers up to four years before signs appear

A blood test can pick up cancers up to four years before symptoms appear, researchers say, in the latest study to raise hopes of early detection.

A team led by researchers in China say the non-invasive blood test – called PanSeer – detects cancer in 95% of individuals who have no symptoms but later receive a diagnosis.

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Global report: Trump says masks ‘patriotic’ as EU leaders agree to deal

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US president to restart daily briefings; Melbourne records 374 cases; WHO warns South Africa’s crisis could be precursor for more outbreaks in Africa

Donald Trump has announced his daily US coronavirus briefings will resume and that wearing face masks were “patriotic” as European leaders agreed a huge coronavirus rescue plan and Australia announced it was scaling back economic support as one of its states battles a growing Covid-19 outbreak.

Having almost entirely avoided wearing a mask in public during the pandemic, the US president tweeted that “many people say it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance”. The post came with a photo of the president in a mask, possibly taken at his visit about 10 days ago to the Walter Reed military hospital outside Washington.

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Likely active volcanoes found on Venus, defying theory of dormant planet

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Researchers identify 37 ring-like structures known as coronae that are believed to be living volcanoes

Scientists have identified 37 volcanic structures on Venus that appear to have been recently active – and probably still are today – painting the picture of a geologically dynamic planet and not a dormant world as long thought.

The research focused on ring-like structures called coronae, caused by an upwelling of hot rock from deep within the planet’s interior, and provided compelling evidence of widespread recent tectonic and magma activity on Venus’s surface, researchers have said.

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Matt Hancock hails ‘promising news’ on Oxford University coronavirus vaccine – video

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The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has welcomed the 'promising news' on Oxford University's coronavirus vaccine. 

Researchers working on the experimental vaccine said it was safe and generated a strong immune response in the people who volunteered to help trial it, raising hopes it could contribute to ending the pandemic.

'Very encouraging news. We have already ordered 100m doses of this vaccine, should it succeed,' Hancock said

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Most polar bears to disappear by 2100, study predicts

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Melting Arctic sea ice could cause starvation and reproductive failure for many as early as 2040, scientists warn

Scientists have predicted for the first time when, where and how polar bears are likely to disappear, warning that if greenhouse gas emissions stay on their current trajectory all but a few polar bear populations in the Arctic will probably be gone by 2100.

By as early as 2040, it is very likely that many polar bears will begin to experience reproductive failure, leading to local extinctions, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change.

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Trial of Covid-19 drug given via inhaler ‘very promising’, say scientists

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Researchers say SNG001 can reduce need for ventilation and improve survival chances

Trials of an experimental drug inhaled by patients have found a significant reduction in hospital patients with Covid-19 needing to be put on a ventilator or dying from the disease, according to researchers

The drug, called SNG001, is delivered via an inhaler and is based on interferon beta, a protein produced naturally in the body that plays an important role in coordinating the body’s antiviral response.

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Oxford coronavirus vaccine triggers immune response, trial shows

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Early results also indicate vaccine is safe, raising hopes it could help end pandemic

Hopes for a vaccine to address the global spread of coronavirus have been raised after Oxford University’s experimental version was revealed to be safe and to generate a strong immune response in the people who volunteered to help trial it.

After intensive research, Prof Sarah Gilbert, from Oxford’s Jenner Institute, said they were more than happy with the first results, which showed good immunity after a single dose of vaccine.

“We’re really pleased that it seems to be behaving just as we thought it would do. We have quite a lot of experience of using this technology to make other vaccines, so we knew what we expected to see, and that’s what we have seen,” she told the Guardian.

The prime minister, Boris Johnson, called the results “very positive news”, adding: “There are no guarantees, we’re not there yet and further trials will be necessary – but this is an important step in the right direction.”

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Africa can become a renewable energy superpower – if climate deniers are kept at bay

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Nigel Lawson’s thinktank is pushing dirty energy on the continent with the greatest capacity for creating clean fuel

The power of climate science denial in the UK, thankfully, has been in retreat over the past decade. Nigel Lawson’s Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) may still boast a prime Westminster address, but its influence has waned. In fact, its decline aptly mirrors the fortunes of the coal industry, including US titans such as Peabody Energy, which saw its share price plunge 99% between 2008 and 2016 before filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

With countries rightly phasing coal out of their energy mix, the GWPF has turned its sights on Africa to peddle its misinformation about the merits of burning fossil fuels. It has published a new report, derisively titled Heart of Darkness: Why Electricity for Africa is a Security Issue, and launched a glossy website for “energy justice”, which uses the language of climate justice campaigners to try to undermine renewable energy.

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Coronavirus live news: jump in new cases in Belgium; signs of compromise on EU recovery fund

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Belgium sees 66% jump in new infections; EU leaders shows signs of compromise; South Africa Covid-19 deaths pass 5,000

The British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has bought a 10% stake in a German biotech company that is a key player in the global race for a coronavirus vaccine as part of a deal that could eventually be worth more than £800m.

GSK on Monday said it will pay £130m for the stake in CureVac. GSK will also make a separate payment of £104m that will fund research into CureVac’s development of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines.

Related: GSK buys £130m stake in German coronavirus vaccine maker

Denmark will allow merchant sailors stranded at sea since the outbreak of the coronavirus to come ashore and be reunited with their friends and families, the Business Ministry has said.

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Coronavirus live news: Trump says Fauci ‘alarmist’; Hong Kong makes masks mandatory indoors

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South Africa Covid-19 deaths pass 5,000; UN makes urgent appeal for Sudan pandemic help; France to issue mask fines. Follow the latest updates

The United Nations has made an urgent appeal for US$283 million to help Sudan tackle the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences, as millions in the country face hunger.

An official said the pandemic had worsened an economic crisis, hitting purchasing power, while movement restrictions had restricted people’s access to food, healthcare and basic services.

South Africa’s death toll from coronavirus has passed the 5,000 mark, according to official figures released on Sunday by the continent’s hardest hit country, AFP reports.

South Africa registered 85 new deaths from the virus in the previous 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 5,033. A total of 13,449 new infections were also officially diagnosed, taking the number to 364,328, figures released by the health ministry showed.

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New Zealand scientists invent volcano warning system

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Researchers claim system could save lives in situations like the Whakaari/White Island eruption in 2019, which killed 21 people

New Zealand scientists say they have invented a warning system to predict volcanic eruptions that may prevent future tragedies such as the blast that killed 21 people on White Island/Whakaari in 2019.

University of Auckland academics David Dempsey and Shane Cronin say their research “shows patterns of seismic activity before an eruption that make advance warning possible”.

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Global wrap: Hong Kong ‘critical’ as Covid cases rise worldwide

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Lam says situation out of control, while Melbourne makes face masks compulsory

The coronavirus situation in Hong Kong is “really critical”, with a record 100 new infections recorded on Sunday, the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, said, as Melbourne became the first city in Australia to make wearing masks compulsory in response to a resurgent and aggressive outbreak there.

Hong Kong was held up months ago as a model for its success in keeping down Covid-19 cases in the crowded city-state of 7.5 million people, but its caseload – although still low by European and American standards – had grown by a third in the past fortnight to nearly 1,800. Lam has shuttered bars, gyms and nightclubs in the past week and on Sunday announced new guidelines including mandatory mask-wearing indoors.

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Coronavirus live news: cases spreading out of control in Hong Kong; UK infection rate flat, says ONS head

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Record 100 new daily cases confirmed in Hong Kong; UK’s head of Office for National Statistics calls for scaling up of testing; South Africa’s cases become fifth-highest worldwide

Thirty-nine people were detained after police were attacked with “a hail of bottles” at an open-air party in central Frankfurt attended by thousands of youngsters, police in the German city said today..

Five officers were injured in the riot that began at around 3:00 am (0100 GMT) when police intervened to stop a brawl involving around 30 people in Frankfurt’s historic Opera square.

People who travel outside of Ireland have been warned they will invalidate their travel insurance even if the place they visit is on a so-called ‘green list’ of safe countries to by published this week, the Irish Times reports.

It added that travel insurance exclusions denying cover to people who travel contrary to official guides are the norm across the sector. At present, the advice from the Irish Government is that non-essential journeys overseas should be avoided.

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What happens when flu meets Covid-19?

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How seasonal viruses interact with the coronavirus is unknown – it may lessen or sharpen the pandemic – so flu vaccinations are vital

Optimists had hoped Covid-19 might not withstand the blistering heat of a British summer. However those hopes have faded: the virus staged a recent resurgence in Iran amid actual blistering temperatures, and has had no trouble persisting in sultry Singapore.

But what happens to Covid-19, and us, when the rain and chill – and flu and sniffles – of autumn set in? Especially, how will the annual winter flu epidemic play out amid a Covid-19 pandemic?

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Israel returns to partial lockdown with immediate weekend shutdown

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Government unveils measures after marathon emergency cabinet session as infections rise

Israel has reimposed some lockdown measures following a vigorous second surge in the number of coronavirus infections, putting in place stringent weekend shutdowns in which shops, hairdressers and attractions will be closed.

The government announced the measures in the early hours of Friday morning, following a marathon emergency cabinet session called after daily infection rates climbed to close to 2,000.

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UK coronavirus live: Johnson to unveil £3bn plan to get NHS ‘battle ready’ for winter

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News updates: PM set to make announcement in press conference on Friday

The news that the court of appeal decided yesterday to allow Shamima Begum to return to Britain makes many front pages this morning, and is now under discussion on the Today programme.

Richard Walton, former head of counter terrorism command at the Met, says the court has made a “profound mistake”. “It’s quite alarming to see the court of appeal taking over the home secretary’s job of deciding who should be allowed into the UK,” he says.

With much discussion today of how to encourage people to embrace the reopening of the economy, Joanna Partridge reports grim findings for England’s pubs, bars and restaurants. Figures released overnight find that sales since they reopened are about 40% down compared on the same period last year.

On the other hand, argues Karl Chessell, director of the consultancy CGA which released the findings, that’s actually better bounceback for the sector than in many other countries. You can read more about that here:

Related: England yet to embrace reopened restaurants and pubs, data suggests

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