Category Archives: Science

Brazil poised to overtake Italy as country with third-highest death toll – as it happened

Posted on by

Sweden death rate now higher than France; Pakistan records largest single day rise in new infections; global deaths pass 380,000. This blog is now closed

We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:

Related: Coronavirus live news: Germany reveals major stimulus plan as global cases grow by 100,000 a day

At least three people were reported dead as coronavirus-hit Mumbai appeared to escape the worst of Cyclone Nisarga Wednesday, the first severe storm to threaten India’s financial capital in more than 70 years, AFP reports.

The city and its surrounds are usually sheltered from cyclones - the last deadly storm to hit the city was in 1948. Authorities had evacuated at least 100,000 people, including coronavirus patients, from flood-prone areas in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat ahead of Nisarga’s arrival.

Continue reading...

Ancient DNA is offering clues to puzzle of Dead Sea scrolls, say experts

Posted on by

Study may shed light on material and debated origins of some of the 25,000 fragments

With myriad fragments and an extraordinary past, the Dead Sea scrolls are quite a puzzle. Now experts say ancient DNA has helped them piece together which fragments come from the same scrolls, as well as which texts may have travelled a distance, and how widespread the writings were.

The scrolls are one of the most remarkable discoveries of the 20th century. Found in the caves of Qumran as well as other sites around the Judean desert, the ancient texts cover parts of the Hebrew bible canon as well as writings about religious practices, legal documents, and hymns.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: cases in Africa pass 150,000; Germany lifts travel warning for Europe

Posted on by

Wuhan doctor who worked with whistlebower dies; Abu Dhabi closes borders; Dr Fauci says he hasn’t spoken to Trump in two weeks

In England, an official study has found that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people are up to 50% more likely to die after being infected with Covid-19.

The report, published today by Public Health England (PHE), reveals that people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death than people of white British ethnicity.

It’s Simon Murphy here covering the global live blog while my colleague, Damien Gayle, takes a break.

Continue reading...

All UK chief medical officers rejected lower virus threat level, source says

Posted on by

Guardian told all four CMOs discussed and refused No 10 proposal, not just Chris Whitty

All four of the UK’s chief medical officers rejected suggestions from No 10 that the coronavirus threat level could be reduced because it contradicted evidence that showed the virus was still widespread, the Guardian has been told.

A senior source in one devolved government said the chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland discussed and refused Boris Johnson’s proposal.

Continue reading...

Cutting edge: Japanese paper art inspires a non-slip shoe

Posted on by

Scientists use kirigami techniques to create a sole with pop-up, high-friction spikes

The Japanese art of paper cutting and folding, or kirigami, has led to mind-bending 3D structures from 2D sheets, including spectacular pop-up designs. But now researchers have been getting to grips with the technique for a very down-to-earth reason: creating non-slip shoes.

Scientists have revealed they have developed a kirigami-inspired sole, where tiny spikes pop up from its surface as the shoe is bent during walking. The team found the spikes enhance grip, which could help prevent potentially fatal falls.

Continue reading...

K number: what is the coronavirus metric that could be crucial as lockdown eases?

Posted on by

The K value sheds light on how the transmission rate varies and can help identify clusters

When deciding how and when lockdown restrictions will be lifted across the UK, the government has said the R value, denoting how many people on average one infected person will themselves infect, is crucial. But experts say another metric is becoming increasingly important: K.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: Spain’s prime minister seeks final two-week extension of state of emergency

Posted on by

Brazil becomes fourth worst country for deaths; pressure builds on South African president over his handling of outbreak

Bosnia’s state court has ordered the release of a regional prime minister and two other men suspected of corruption in connection with the import of defective ventilators for coronavirus patients.

The court of Bosnia-Herzegovina said their detention was unnecessary, and turned down the prosecution’s requests to detain the three men for 30 days.

Senior public health officials have made a last-minute plea for ministers to scrap Monday’s easing of the coronavirus lockdown in England, warning the country is unprepared to deal with any surge in infection and that public resolve to take steps to limit transmission has been eroded.

The Association of Directors of Public Health said new rules, including allowing groups of up to six people to meet outdoors and in private gardens, were “not supported by the science” and that pictures of crowded beaches and beauty spots over the weekend showed “the public is not keeping to social distancing as it was”.

Related: Health officials make last-minute plea to stop lockdown easing in England

Continue reading...

Crab blood to remain big pharma’s standard as industry group rejects substitute

Posted on by

Animal rights groups have been pushing a synthetic alternative to horseshoe crab blood in drug safety testing

Horseshoe crabs’ icy-blue blood will remain the drug industry’s standard for safety tests after a powerful US group ditched a plan to give equal status to a synthetic substitute pushed by Swiss biotech Lonza and animal welfare groups.

The crabs’ copper-rich blood clots in the presence of bacterial endotoxins and has long been used in tests to detect contamination in shots and infusions.

Continue reading...

SpaceX successfully launches Nasa astronauts into orbit

Posted on by
  • Donald Trump and Mike Pence witness launch in Florida
  • First attempt was cancelled minutes from blast-off

A rocketship named Dragon breathed new fire into America’s human spaceflight programme on Saturday, carrying two astronauts on a much-anticipated adventure.

Related: Trump wants America looking at the stars as he drags it through the gutter

Continue reading...

Could nearly half of those with Covid-19 have no idea they are infected?

Posted on by

As studies confirm many infected people show no symptoms, contact tracing and face masks assume even greater importance

When Noopur Raje’s husband fell critically ill with Covid-19 in mid-March, she did not suspect that she too was infected with the virus.

Raje, an oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, had been caring for her sick husband for a week before driving him to an emergency centre with a persistently high fever. But after she herself had a diagnostic PCR test – which looks for traces of the Sars-CoV-2 virus DNA in saliva – she was astounded to find that the result was positive.

Continue reading...

Ruby Princess passengers warned after crew member tests positive to tuberculosis

Posted on by

Scientists prepare to examine sewage in attempt to try to find the source of a Covid-19 infection that killed Nathan Turner

Passengers on the ill-fated Ruby Princess cruise ship have been sent another warning from the New South Wales health department, that they could have been exposed to tuberculosis.

The Ruby Princess voyage that arrived in Sydney on 19 March is responsible for about 10% of all coronavirus infections in Australia, and the bungled management of the outbreak has sparked two separate inquiries.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: deaths surge in Brazil and Russia as Trump says US is quitting WHO

Posted on by

Afghanistan similarly reports worst day yet; Angela Merkel said she will not attend G7 if Trump insists on holding it. All the developments live

Colombia issued new measures to control the spread of coronavirus in three of its most affected cities on Saturday, including the capital Bogota, as the rest of the country prepares for quarantine rules to start lifting, Reuters reports.

The country has reported more than 26,600 coronavirus cases and 853 deaths.

Italy’s total number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 232,664 on Saturday, as daily new infections fell to 416, down from 516 on Friday, the Civil Protection Agency said.

The country’s overall Covid-19 death toll rose by 111 to 33,340, a slight increase from the 87 deaths reported in the 24 hours to Friday. On Thursday, 70 deaths were reported.

Continue reading...

SpaceX’s Starship rocket prototype explodes during test

Posted on by
  • 394ft rocket designed to carry humans and cargo to moon and Mars
  • No immediate indication of injuries after explosion in Texas

A prototype of SpaceX’s upcoming heavy-lift rocket, Starship, exploded on Friday during ground tests in south Texas as Elon Musk’s space company pursued an aggressive development schedule to fly the launch vehicle for the first time.

The testing explosion was unrelated to SpaceX’s upcoming launch of two Nasa astronauts from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center using a different rocket system, the Falcon 9 with the Crew Dragon capsule fixed on top.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: Paris no longer a Covid-19 ‘red zone’ as France moves into new lockdown phase

Posted on by

France prepares to enter phase two of lockdown relaxation; South Korean officials re-implement lockdown measures in Seoul; Kenya records highest one-day case rise

France announced further easing of lockdown restrictions on Thursday, with life slowly returning to normal for much of the country, writes Kim Willsher, the Guardian’s Paris correspondent. However, certain restrictions will remain in the Paris area and the overseas territories Mayotte and Guyane for at least the next three weeks.

In a 90 minute press conference, the prime minister, Édouard Philippe, said the Covid-19 figures in the country were better than expected, but urged the French to continue respecting the rules and remain careful and vigilant.

French PM Édouard Philippe has arrived for the press conference on Phase 2 of the easing of the lockdown. (I will be trying to translate and type as he speaks, so please forgive lapses in translation and grammar!).

The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has said he would sign an executive order allowing businesses to deny entry to customers who are not wearing masks, the Guardian US coronavirus blog reports.

“That store owner has a right to protect himself,” Cuomo said of the order. “That store owner has a right to protect the other patrons in that store.”

Today I am signing an Executive Order authorizing businesses to deny entry to those who do not wear masks or face-coverings. No mask - No entry.

Related: Coronavirus US live: Cuomo to sign 'no mask, no entry' order for businesses

Continue reading...

UK coronavirus live: groups of six people can meet outside in England from Monday; No 10 backs Cummings

Posted on by

Johnson unveils lockdown relaxation measures; Durham police say they won’t take further against against Cummings; UK death toll rises by 377 to 37,837

Q. In Northern Ireland the R has been increasing and is barely below 1 – should that cause alarm?

Vallance says the R remains below 1 everywhere but may be very close to 1 in some places.

Q. Do you really have the capacity to trace all the contacts of infected people?

Q. Why is the UK still only listing three symptoms for the disease compared to other countries?

Continue reading...

SpaceX-Nasa launch scrubbed due to poor weather

Posted on by

The first crewed flight from US soil since 2011 was called off 16 minutes before lift off; the next opportunity is on Saturday

The United States’ long-anticipated return to human spaceflight will have to wait a few more days after poor weather forced mission managers to scrub Wednesday’s planned launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida.

The first crewed flight from US soil since 2011 was called off 16min 53sec before the scheduled 4.33pm lift-off time, with SpaceX and Nasa officials blaming “strength of electric fields in the atmosphere”, translating to lightning near the launchpad.

Continue reading...

Ancient Roman mosaic floor discovered under vines in Italy

Posted on by

Pristine ‘archaeological treasure’ near Verona may date to 3rd century AD, say experts

A perfectly preserved ancient Roman mosaic floor has been discovered near the northern Italian city of Verona.

Archaeologists were astonished by the find as it came almost a century after the remains of a villa, believed to date to the 3rd century AD, were unearthed in a hilly area above the town of Negrar di Valpolicella.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: WHO sounds alarm over surge of Covid-19 cases in Latin America

Posted on by

Longest official mourning period in Spain’s democracy; unrest grows in UK PM’s party over Dominic Cummings lockdown breach; WHO says Americas are new Covid-19 epicentre. Follow the latest updates

There have now been 118,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the 54 nations of Africa, according to the World Health Organization’s regional office for the continent.

So far, about 48,000 people in Africa who have tested positive for the virus have recovered, while 3,500 have died, according to the latest updated from WHO African region on Wednesday morning.

Over 118,000 confirmed #COVID19 cases on the African continent - with more than 48,000 recoveries & 3,500 deaths. View country figures & more with the WHO African Region COVID-19 Dashboard: https://t.co/V0fkK8dYTg pic.twitter.com/W1hbvugno1

Hi, this is Damien Gayle taking the reins of the live blog now, bringing you the latest headlines and stories, and the best of the Guardian’s coverage, from the coronavirus pandemic around the world.

If you have any comments, tips or suggestions for coverage please drop me a line, either via email to damien.gayle@gmail.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: US deaths from Covid-19 have passed 100,000

Posted on by

Qatar Covid-19 app ‘exposed 1m people’s personal details’; WHO sounds alarm over surge of Covid-19 cases in Latin America

Tom McCarthy writes that one of the key problems facing American efforts to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis is the population’s aversion to vaccines.

Only about half of Americans say they would get a Covid-19 vaccine if available, according to a poll, as a top US government scientist tempered claims by Donald Trump that the United States would be able to invent, manufacture and administer hundreds of millions of vaccine doses by the end of the year.

Related: Just half of Americans plan on getting Covid-19 vaccine, poll shows

Further to our story at 20.29, data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the United States has recorded more than 100,000 deaths from Covid-19, moving past a grim milestone even as many states relax mitigation measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The US has recorded more deaths from the disease than any other country in the pandemic, and almost three times as many as the second-ranking country, Britain, which has recorded more than 37,000 Covid-19 deaths.

Related: US passes 100,000 coronavirus deaths as states relax lockdown measures

Continue reading...