Researchers at the University of Florida planted thale cress in harsh lunar dirt returned by Apollo 11 astronauts
For the first time, scientists have grown plants in soil from the moon collected by Nasa’s Apollo astronauts.
Researchers had no idea if anything would sprout in the harsh moon dirt and wanted to see if it could be used to grow food by a new generation of lunar explorers. The results stunned them.
Continue reading...Hawksbill turtles often travel circuitous routes for short distances – one swam 1,306km to reach an island just 176km away
How migrating animals like sea turtles navigate hundreds to thousands of kilometres across the open ocean has intrigued biologists since Charles Darwin. But some sea turtles might not really know where they’re going, new research suggests.
Analysis by an international team of scientists has mapped the movements of hawksbill turtles as they swam from their nesting grounds in the Chagos Archipelago to foraging sites also in the Indian Ocean.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Tensions rise again as lockdowns grind on and the city’s population tire of strict zero-Covid policy
Tensions between Shanghai residents and China’s Covid enforcers are on the rise again, amid a new push to end infections outside quarantine zones to meet President Xi Jinping’s demand for achieving “dynamic zero-Covid”.
Videos shared on China’s social media platforms showed suspected Covid-positive patients forcibly quarantined in central facilities. In some neighbourhoods a single positive case could lead to residents in the entire apartment building be sent for quarantine.
Continue reading...Giandomenico Iannetti, a pain expert at UCL, angrily denies that his research suggests foetuses can feel pain before 24 weeks
A University College London scientist has accused lawyers in the US of misusing his groundbreaking work on the brain to justify the dismantling of Roe v Wade, the landmark ruling that legalised abortion nationally in America.
Giandomenico Iannetti said his research, which used imaging to understand the adult brain’s response to pain, had been wrongly interpreted to make an anti-abortion argument.
Continue reading...Key areas such as conservation, the arts, science and education have been neglected in a narrowly focused campaign
With two weeks to go until the 2022 federal election, most of the key policy offerings from the major parties have already been outlined – but there are some big gaps. From conservation to education and the arts, both Labor and the Coalition have been short on detail. Here are six areas where voters are left in the dark:
Continue reading...Angus Rose starved himself for more than five weeks outside parliament until Green MP Caroline Lucas arranged compromise
The climate hunger striker who starved himself for more than five weeks outside parliament has said he did not expect ministers would ignore his demands and potentially let him die.
Angus Rose had said he would not eat until Greg Hands, the energy minister, arranged for Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientist, to give politicians and, via broadcast, the public, the climate change briefing he gave to Boris Johnson before the Cop26 climate summit.
Continue reading...Davina McCall documentary highlights benefits and postcode lottery of previously rejected utrogestan
A sought-after hormone replacement therapy is being reassessed for use in Scotland after TV presenter and menopause campaigner Davina McCall revealed a postcode lottery in its prescription across the UK.
Amid an ongoing supply crisis of HRT products, McCall spoke to specialists about the benefits of utrogestan, a “body identical” micronised progesterone, which is derived from plants, in her Channel 4 documentary Sex, Mind and Menopause, broadcast on Monday.
Continue reading...Chinese capital ramps up efforts to control Omicron outbreak and avoid lockdowns
Beijing has reopened a mass isolation centre as authorities seek to contain an outbreak of Covid-19 in the city.
The Xiaotangshan Fangcai hospital, which holds at least 1,200 beds and testing facilities, was first opened during the 2003 Sars epidemic, and used again in early 2020 to treat Covid patients. Its reopening signals a ramp up in efforts by China’s capital to manage the rising number of cases without going into a city-wide lockdown.
Continue reading...Rocket Lab test successfully hooks booster in midair before having to drop it into South Pacific
A space company has briefly managed to catch a falling rocket using a helicopter and a hook in a test described by its chief executive as “something of a supersonic ballet”.
The test was part of Rocket Lab’s attempts to find relatively low-cost ways of recovering rockets for multiple missions to space.
Continue reading...Vaccinated people from about 60 visa-waiver countries now able to enter as part of pandemic reopening plan
Māori songs, tearful embraces and a beloved New Zealand chocolate bar awaited international visitors arriving in New Zealand on Monday – the first foreign guests, other than Australians, to set foot in Aotearoa in more than two years.
Since March 2020, the arrival terminals at New Zealand’s international airports have been desolate as the country swiftly closed the border to prevent the arrival of Covid-19.
Continue reading...Staff raise concerns after incoming chief executive Andrew McConville emphasises agricultural outcomes in introductory letter
The new chief executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Andrew McConville, has caused consternation after sending an all-staff memo outlining his approach to the job which failed to mention the regulator’s environmental role.
A former chief executive of the Australian Petroleum Producers & Exporters Association (APPEA), McConville was appointed to the top job at the MDBA by the Morrison government just days before the federal election was called.
Continue reading...Concerns rise about surge as scientists say lack of exposure to viruses during Covid restrictions could be factor
The number of children in the UK suffering from severe hepatitis has risen to 145 as concerns mount about the mysterious surge in cases.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced an increase of 34 cases but said most children have recovered and no children have died. There has been no increase from the 10 children who have required a liver transplant, reported on Monday.
Continue reading...Research into C difficile found antibiotic resistance is growing as a result of overuse on farm stock
Scientists have uncovered evidence that dangerous versions of superbugs can spread from pigs to humans. The discovery underlines fears that intensive use of antibiotics on farms is leading to the spread of microbes resistant to them.
The discovery of the link has been made by Semeh Bejaoui and Dorte Frees of Copenhagen University and Soren Persson at Denmark’s Statens Serum Institute and focuses on the superbug Clostridioides difficile, which is considered one of the world’s major antibiotic resistance threats.
Continue reading...Strain reported in 12 countries causing at least 169 cases in young children, most of them in the UK
At least one child has died from a mystery strain of severe hepatitis which has now been reported in 12 countries, the World Health Organization has confirmed.
The UN body said on Saturday that it is aware of 169 rare cases of acute hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, in young children. Of these, 17 became so sick they needed liver transplants.
Continue reading...The canine is an intermediary between wolves and domestic dog breeds, research shows
Dingoes are genetically distinct from domestic dogs and their evolution has been shaped by Australia’s environment, scientists who have fully decoded the dingo genome have said.
An international team of researchers have analysed the genetic makeup of a pure desert dingo called Sandy Maliki, finding that dingoes are an intermediary between wolves and domestic dog breeds.
Continue reading...Putin boasts new intercontinental ballistic weapon will provide rivals with ‘food for thought’
Russia has said it had test-launched its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a new addition to its nuclear arsenal, which Vladimir Putin said would give Moscow’s enemies something to think about.
The Russian president was shown on television being told by the military that the missile had been launched from Plesetsk in the north-west and hit targets in the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east.
Continue reading...Scientists don’t yet know if the microbes are causative, but if proven it could save thousands of lives
Scientists have discovered bacteria linked to aggressive prostate cancer in work hailed as a potential revolution for the prevention and treatment of the most deadly form of the disease.
Researchers led by the University of East Anglia performed sophisticated genetic analyses on the urine and prostate tissue of more than 600 men with and without prostate cancer and found five species of bacteria linked to rapid progression of the disease.
Continue reading...Bristol study finds that for every five extra BMI units a woman’s risk of endometrial cancer increases by 88%
Lifelong excess weight may almost double a woman’s risk of developing womb cancer, research suggests.
Scientists and doctors have known for some time that being overweight or obese increases the risk of the disease. About one in three cases in the UK (34%) are linked to excess weight.
Continue reading...According to WHO analysis, figure for country is more than 4 million and not official tally of 520,000
India has been accused of attempting to delay an effort by the World Health Organization to revise the global death toll from Covid-19 after its calculations suggested that the country had undercounted its dead by an estimated 3.5 million.
India’s official number of deaths from Covid is 520,000. But according to in-depth analysis and investigations into the data by WHO, the total is more than 4 million, which would be by far the highest country death toll in the world.
Continue reading...Director of network that processed millions of tests says smart diagnostics could tackle other major diseases
Two years of mass Covid testing have paved the way for a revolution in how we diagnose other diseases, the founding director of the Lighthouse labs network has said.
In his first interview since the pandemic began, Prof Chris Molloy said that people’s familiarity with using swabs for Covid tests meant that they could also discover and monitor their risk of other conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.
Continue reading...