Category Archives: Science

Artemis 1: Nasa cancels moon mission launch over engine problem

Posted on by

US space agency technicians working against the clock to correct ‘engine bleed’ in time for possible rescheduled lift-off on Friday

Nasa is delaying a decision on the timing of its next launch attempt for Artemis 1, the US space agency’s first human-rated moon rocket in 50 years, after calling off Monday’s scheduled liftoff late in the countdown because of an issue related to “engine bleed”.

Engineers at Nasa’s launch complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida, discovered the problem with one of the four core-stage engines of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during overnight loading of 2.76m litres (730,000 gallons) of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel needed to send the spacecraft off on its 1.3m-mile, 42-day journey to the far side of the moon and back.

Continue reading...

Drinking tea may be linked to lower risk of death, study suggests

Posted on by

Data from UK Biobank suggests people who drink two or more cups of black tea a day have lower risk of mortality

It is a welcome piece of research for those who regard having a cup of tea as one of life’s everyday pleasures.

A study has suggested that having a brew could be associated with a lower risk of mortality. When compared with those who do not have tea, people who consumed two or more cups each day had between a 9% and 13% lower risk of mortality, researchers said.

Continue reading...

Program providing free home Covid tests to US households is ending

Posted on by

A dispute over who should fund the free kits will leave test sites or insurance reimbursement as the available options

The US government is suspending its program of free home tests for Covid-19 this week amid disagreements over who should pay for the initiative.

The free home tests, which have provided up to 16 tests for each household, are scheduled to come to a halt on Friday. In the future, people requiring tests for work or travel, or wanting to confirm whether they have the illness, will need to claim the costs of a home test on health insurance or seek results through federally backed testing sites.

Continue reading...

‘The Artemis generation’: Nasa to launch first rocket to the moon since 1972

Posted on by

Test flight that will have no human crew aboard aims to return humans to the moon and eventually land them on Mars

For the first time in 50 years, Nasa on Monday is planning to launch the first rocket that can ferry humans to and from the moon.

The giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is scheduled to take off from Nasa’s Cape Canaveral, Florida, complex at 8.33am ET (1.33pm UK time) atop an unmanned Orion spacecraft that is designed to carry up to six astronauts to the moon and beyond.

Continue reading...

Playing music in childhood linked to a sharper mind in old age, study suggests

Posted on by

Researchers find link between learning instrument while young and improved thinking skills later in life

The ageing rocker clinging on to their youth may be a figure of mockery, but research suggests they should be envied for their sharpness of mind.

Researchers have found a link between learning a musical instrument in youth and improved thinking skills in old age. People with more experience of playing a musical instrument showed greater lifetime improvement on a test of cognitive ability than those with less or no experience, a paper from the University of Edinburgh has said.

Continue reading...

Revealed: black and Asian people wait longer for cancer diagnosis in England than white people

Posted on by

Exclusive: Analysis of 126,000 cases over a decade shows ‘deeply worrying’ racial disparities in NHS wait times

Black and Asian people in England have to wait longer for a cancer diagnosis than white people, with some forced to wait an extra six weeks, according to a “disturbing” analysis of NHS waiting times.

A damning review of the world’s largest primary care database by the University of Exeter and the Guardian discovered minority ethnic patients wait longer than white patients in six of seven cancers studied. Race and health leaders have called the results “deeply concerning” and “absolutely unacceptable”.

Continue reading...

Artemis 1: crowds flock to watch Nasa’s most powerful rocket blast off to the moon

Posted on by

Megarocket to lift off from Florida on Monday morning, one of final crucial test steps before astronauts’ return to the moon

The most powerful space rocket ever to leave Earth will take a 50-year leap across the heavens when it rises from its Florida launchpad on Monday, one of the final crucial test steps before humanity’s return to the moon for the first time since 1972.

Artemis 1, comprising Orion, a six-person deep-space exploration capsule, atop a 98m (322ft), 2,600-tonne (2,875-ton) Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, is scheduled for its maiden liftoff at 8.33am ET (1.33pm UK time) from the same Cape Canaveral launch complex that staged the Apollo lunar missions half a century ago.

Continue reading...

Sunak says it was a mistake to ‘empower scientists’ during Covid pandemic

Posted on by

Ex-chancellor admits being furious about school closures, adding trade-offs of lockdowns were not properly considered by experts

Rishi Sunak has claimed that it was a mistake to “empower scientists” during the coronavirus pandemic and that his opposition to closing schools was met with silence during one meeting.

The Conservative leadership candidate believes one of the major errors was allowing the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to have so much influence on decision making such as closing nurseries, schools and colleges in March 2020.

Continue reading...

Fears over China’s access to genetic data of UK citizens

Posted on by

Biobank urged to review transfer of information for medical research

Rising political and security tensions between Beijing and the west have prompted calls for a review of the transfer of genetic data to China from a biomedical database containing the DNA of half a million UK citizens.

The UK Biobank said it had about 300 projects under which researchers in China were accessing “detailed genetic information” or other health data on volunteers.

Continue reading...

Huge megalithic complex of more than 500 standing stones discovered in Spain

Posted on by

Archaeologists says prehistoric site in Huelva province could be one of largest of its kind in Europe

A huge megalithic complex of more than 500 standing stones has been discovered in southern Spain that could be one of the largest in Europe, archaeologists have said.

The stones were discovered on a plot of land in Huelva, a province flanking the southernmost part of Spain’s border with Portugal, near the Guadiana River.

Continue reading...

New ‘Parp inhibitors’ could prevent certain tumours appearing

Posted on by

Breakthrough research could see some genetic cancers neutralised before they take hold and is already being used for people at risk

Sue Hayward was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2017. Doctors acted swiftly and she was given a hysterectomy followed by sessions of chemotherapy.

But her cancer returned within a year. “I carry a mutated version of a gene known as BRCA1 which makes me susceptible to breast and ovarian cancers,” said Hayward, who works at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. “It runs in families. My mother died of cancer and we assume her mother did as well.”

Continue reading...

At least 89 Covid deaths; Littleproud tells Nationals he’ll bring pragmatic policies to jobs summit – as it happened

Posted on by

Nationals leader outlines vision for party at federal council meeting. This blog is now closed

White whale calf seen off NSW coast

There’s one newborn hogging all the attention off the NSW coast – a southern right whale calf born whiter than usual, AAP reports:

Southern right whales are mostly very dark, although some have splashes of white called a blaze.

Its white areas will darken to grey as it ages. It’s one of around one-in-30 southern right whale calves born with brindle colouring.

Continue reading...

Perseid meteor shower 2022: how and where to watch in Australia

Posted on by

The annual Perseids meteor shower will peak on 13 August. Find out the best time to view

After the night sky in Australia was illuminated by a trio of meteor showers – the Piscis Austrinids, the Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids late last month, stargazers will be able to see the 2022 Perseid meteor shower peak on 13 August.

The Perseids are considered by Nasa to be “the best meteor shower of the year”. This year, however, they coincide with a full moon on 12 August, resulting in less than ideal viewing conditions. Due to the brightness of the Perseids, though, some meteors should still be visible in a sky illuminated by moonlight.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Discovery of small armoured dinosaur in Argentina is first of its kind

Posted on by

Jakapil kaniukura was about 5ft long and probably walked upright in then-steamy Patagonian landscape about 100m years ago

Palaeontologists have announced the discovery of a previously unknown small armoured dinosaur in southern Argentina, a creature that probably walked upright on its back legs roaming a then-steamy landscape about 100m years ago.

The Cretaceous period dinosaur, named Jakapil kaniukura, would have been well-protected with rows of bony disc-shaped armour along its neck and back and down to its tail, they said. It measured about 5ft (1.5 meters) long and weighed only 9-15lb (4-7kg), similar to an average house cat.

Continue reading...

China overtakes the US in scientific research output

Posted on by

Between 2018 and 2020 China published 23.4% of the world’s scientific papers, eclipsing the US

China has overtaken the US as the world leader in both scientific research output and “high impact” studies, according to a report published by Japan’s science and technology ministry.

The report, which was published by Japan’s National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTP) on Tuesday, found that China now publishes the highest number of scientific research papers yearly, followed by the US and Germany.

Continue reading...

WHO stresses monkeypox surge not linked to monkeys amid attack reports

Posted on by

World Health Organization issues statement after reports of animals being poisoned in Brazil

The World Health Organization has stressed that monkeypox outbreaks are not linked to monkeys, following a number of reported attacks on the primates in Brazil.

“What people need to know is that the transmission we are seeing is happening between humans,” a WHO spokesperson, Margaret Harris, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

CSIRO researchers identify 139 new species, including an ant that ‘babysits’ caterpillars

Posted on by

Other discoveries formally named and described include 131 insects and other invertebrates, four fish, three plants and a frog

A blind cave-dwelling weevil, an ant that protects the caterpillars of one of Australia’s rarest butterflies, and the first millipede to actually have more than 1000 legs were among 139 new species described by scientists at CSIRO in the past year.

Other discoveries formally named and described in scientific journals include 131 insects and other invertebrates, four fish, three plants and a frog.

Continue reading...

Rare collection of bird fossils from 55m years ago donated to Scottish museum

Posted on by

Collection bequeathed to National Museums Scotland includes species that are unknown to science

A remarkable collection of fossilised birds that lived 55 million years ago has been bequeathed to the National Museums Scotland (NMS) in Edinburgh and includes dozens of species that are unknown to science.

Dating from the beginning of the Eocene epoch, they represent the early stages in the evolution of modern birds.

Continue reading...

Mystery man dubbed ‘The Gentleman’ found in North Sea may have spent most of his life in Australia

Posted on by

Breakthrough in the decades-old cold case comes after scientists conducted an isotope ratio analysis of the man’s bones

Perth scientists have breathed life into a decades-old German mystery of an unknown man’s body found floating in the North Sea, by using a new forensic technique that revealed he may have spent most of his life in Australia.

The man, dubbed “The Gentleman” by investigators in 1994 after his body was found by police off the coast of the Helgoland, a German archipelago, was weighed down by cast iron cobbler’s feet.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Splendour in the Grass attenders told to monitor for symptoms of meningococcal disease after Sydney man’s death

Posted on by

Music festival organisers say they are notifying patrons after two infections reported in people who visited Byron Bay site

Authorities have told people who attended Splendour in the Grass to be on alert for symptoms of meningococcal disease, after reporting that one man who attended the festival had since died of the disease.

Two cases of meningococcal have been confirmed in people who attended the Byron Bay music festival, including the man in his 40s from Sydney, who died this week.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...