Category Archives: Science

Chinese woman jailed for reporting on Covid in Wuhan to be freed after four years

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Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan’s search for the truth during the early days of the pandemic was seen as a threat by the authorities

A Chinese citizen journalist who has been in prison for four years after reporting on the early days of the Covid-19 epidemic in Wuhan is due to be released on Monday.

Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, travelled to Wuhan in February 2020 to document the Chinese government’s response to what became the start of a global pandemic. She shared her reports on X (then known as Twitter), YouTube and WeChat. She was one of the few independent Chinese reporters on the ground as Wuhan and the rest of China went into lockdown.

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Warning over solar storm that could give US rare view of northern lights

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Noaa issues warning for extreme G5 geomagnetic storm, with effects due to last through weekend and possibly into next week

A ferocious solar storm powerful enough to knock out or disrupt satellite and communications systems, the power grid and radio signals was raging on Friday, space weather researchers warned.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) issued a rare warning for extreme G5 geomagnetic storm conditions when a solar outburst reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours sooner than anticipated. The effects were due to last through the weekend and possibly into next week. The last extreme G5 event was in 2003.

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Australia urged to boost Antarctic science and use second ship to increase number of voyages

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Senate inquiry finds axed scientific programs, toxic workplace culture and a trouble-plagued icebreaker among problems

The Australian government should consider introducing a second ship to increase the number of voyages to the southern continent to significantly boost Antarctic science, a cross-party parliamentary committee has recommended.

The Senate inquiry into the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) found axed scientific programs, a toxic workplace culture and a trouble-plagued icebreaker were some of problems stemming from failures in the division’s funding and governance model.

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Malaysia plans to give orangutans to countries that buy palm oil

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‘Orangutan diplomacy’ strategy aims to ease concern over environmental impact of palm oil production, says minister

Malaysia plans to give orangutans as gifts to countries that buy its palm oil as part of an “orangutan diplomacy” strategy to ease concerns over the environmental impact of the commodity.

The south-east Asian country is the world’s second biggest producer of palm oil, which is found in more than half of supermarket packaged goods – from pizza and biscuits, to lipstick and shampoos. Global demand for palm oil has been blamed for driving deforestation in Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia.

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Boeing’s first astronaut launch called off due to faulty valve

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Countdown halted hours before liftoff in latest delay for long-planned flight, with no word on next attempt

Boeing called off its first astronaut launch because of a valve problem on its rocket on Monday night.

Two Nasa test pilots had just strapped into Boeing’s Starliner capsule when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the planned liftoff. A United Launch Alliance engineer, Dillon Rice, said the issue involved an oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the company’s Atlas rocket.

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Warning over asthma drug after 500 neuropsychiatric reactions reported in young children

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UK medicines regulator says information on boxes of montelukast will alert users to risk of mood and behaviour changes

More than 500 adverse neuropsychiatric reactions have been reported in children under the age of nine involving an asthma drug which is to get new warnings over its risks.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced last week that more prominent warnings would be added to the information provided on boxes of the asthma drug montelukast, sold under the brand name Singulair.

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Video of sun’s surface shows solar rain, eruptions and coronal moss

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Ethereal scenes of flowing super-heated material may help explain why atmosphere is hotter than surface

The sun’s otherworldly landscape, including coronal moss, solar rain and 6,000-mile-tall spires of gas, is revealed in footage from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft.

The observations, beamed back by the European Space Agency probe, reveal feathery, hair-like structures made of plasma and also capture eruptions and showers of relatively cooler material falling to the surface.

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Dorset auction house withdraws Egyptian human skulls from sale

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MP says trade in remains is ‘gross violation of human dignity’, as skulls from Pitt Rivers collection removed

An auction house has withdrawn 18 ancient Egyptian human skulls from sale after an MP said selling them would perpetuate the atrocities of colonialism.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Afrikan reparations, believes the sale of human remains for any purposes should be outlawed, adding that the trade was “a gross violation of human dignity”.

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Prostate cancer screening methods trialled in ‘pivotal moment’

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Transform project has potential to reduce deaths from the disease by 40%, savings thousands of lives a year in UK

Methods of screening men for prostate cancer will be trialled in an attempt to save thousands of lives in the UK each year, in what has been hailed as a “pivotal moment” by experts.

The £42m project, known as Transform, will compare various screening methods to current NHS diagnostic processes, which can include blood tests, physical examinations and biopsies.

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First scientist to publish Covid sequence in China protests over lab ‘eviction’

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Zhang Yongzhen stages sit-in protest, as government attempts to avoid scrutiny over handling of outbreak

The first Chinese scientist to publish a genomic sequence of the Covid-19 virus, in defiance of government orders, has been staging a sit-in protest after claiming he was locked out of his laboratory.

Zhang Yongzhen, a virologist, said in an online post on Monday that he and his team had been given a sudden eviction notice from their lab, and guards had barred him from entering it over the weekend. The post, published on Weibo, was later deleted, Associated Press (AP) reported.

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PFAS increase likelihood of death by cardiovascular disease, study shows

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In a first, researchers were able to compare records of people who drank polluted water in Veneto, Italy, with neighbors who did not

For the first time, researchers have formally shown that exposure to toxic PFAS increases the likelihood of death by cardiovascular disease, adding a new level of concern to the controversial chemicals’ wide use.

The findings are especially significant because proving an association with death by chemical exposure is difficult, but researchers were able to establish it by reviewing death records from northern Italy’s Veneto region, where many residents for decades drank water highly contaminated with PFAS, also called “forever chemicals”.

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Women should give up vaping if they want to get pregnant, study suggests

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Research finds hormone that indicates fertility at lower levels in vapers and tobacco smokers

Women should give up vaping if they are hoping to get pregnant, according to a study that suggests it may affect fertility.

In the first research to demonstrate a link between fertility prospects and electronic cigarettes across a large population, analysis of blood samples from 8,340 women revealed that people who vape or smoke tobacco had lower levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), which indicates how many eggs women have left in their ovaries.

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Soiled nappies and karate: AI-rendered Putin biopic to be released

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Polish director Besaleel’s film will feature an AI-rendered Russian president and footage shot by Ukrainian film-makers during the Russian invasion

The “world premiere” of a new biopic of Russian president Vladimir Putin featuring an AI-rendered central character, has been announced for 26 September. In a statement released via PR Leap, Polish studio AIO said the film, titled Putin, will be released in 35 countries, and describes itself as “up close and personal with the Kremlin leader’s story”.

First announced in May 2022, Putin is the English-language debut of Polish director Besaleel, also known as Patryk Vega, who was responsible for a string of homegrown box-office hits characterised by grisly violence and glossy production values including Pitbull, Mafia Women and Botoks.

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Australian taxpayers paid $466,000 for training of nation’s first female astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg

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With Bennell-Pegg unlikely to go to space anytime soon, there are questions about the value of the spending by the cash-strapped Australian space program

Australia’s first female astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, graduated from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) training program on Monday night.

She may be unlikely to take a giant leap into space anytime soon, but is on a mission to bolster the space industry and inspire women and girls.

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Hilary Cass warned of threats to safety after ‘vile’ abuse over NHS gender services review

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The paediatrician, who has been advised to stop using public transport, describes ‘straight disinformation’ about report

The doctor behind a landmark review of the NHS’s gender identity services for children and young people has said fears had been raised about her personal safety amid online abuse after the report’s release.

Dr Hilary Cass told the Times she wished to address the “disinformation” circulating about the findings and recommendations handed down by the Cass review when it was published on 10 April.

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Fossil of ‘largest snake to have ever existed’ found in western India

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Scientists estimate Vasuki indicus was up to 15m long, weighed a tonne and would have constricted its prey

Fossil vertebrae unearthed in a mine in western India are the remains of one of the largest snakes that ever lived, a monster estimated at up to 15 metres in length – longer than a T rex.

Scientists have recovered 27 vertebrae from the snake, including a few still in the same position as they would have been when the reptile was alive. They said the snake, which they named Vasuki indicus, would have looked like a large python and would not have been venomous.

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Mentally stimulating work plays key role in staving off dementia, study finds

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People in routine and repetitive jobs found to have 31% greater risk of disease in later life, and 66% higher risk of mild cognitive problems

If work is a constant flurry of mind-straining challenges, bursts of creativity and delicate negotiations to keep the troops happy, consider yourself lucky.

Researchers have found that the more people use their brains at work, the better they seem to be protected against thinking and memory problems that come with older age.

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Fossils found in Somerset by girl, 11, ‘may be of largest-ever marine reptile’

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Experts believe remains belong to a type of ichthyosaur that roamed the seas about 202m years ago

Fossils discovered by an 11-year-old girl on a beach in Somerset may have come from the largest marine reptile ever to have lived, according to experts.

The fossils are thought to be from a type of ichthyosaur, a prehistoric marine reptile that lived in the time of dinosaurs. The newly discovered species is believed to have roamed the seas towards the end of the Triassic, about 202m years ago.

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Tasmanian devil analysis challenges study suggesting facial tumour disease decline

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Cambridge scientists critique research that concluded the disease is no longer a threat to the species’ survival

Cambridge researchers have challenged a previous study which had concluded a facial cancer that devastated the Tasmanian devil population was on the decline.

Devil facial tumour disease, a fatal cancer spread through biting and sharing of food, first emerged in the 1980s. The spread of DFTD led to the species being listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2008.

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Rare lunar event to shed light on Stonehenge’s links to the moon

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Archaeologists and astronomers to study Wiltshire site’s lesser understood connection to the moon

The rising and setting of the sun at Stonehenge, especially during the summer and winter solstices, continues to evoke joy, fascination and religious devotion.

Now a project has been launched to delve into the lesser understood links that may exist between the monument and the moon during a rare lunar event.

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