Category Archives: Science

Man’s severe migraines ‘completely eliminated’ on plant-based diet

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Migraines disappeared after man started diet that included lots of dark-green leafy vegetables, study shows

Health experts are calling for more research into diet and migraines after doctors revealed a patient who had suffered severe and debilitating headaches for more than a decade completely eliminated them after adopting a plant-based diet.

He had tried prescribed medication, yoga and meditation, and cut out potential trigger foods in an effort to reduce the severity and frequency of his severe headaches – but nothing worked. The migraines made it almost impossible to perform his job, he said.

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Can I give you a call bark? DogPhone lets pets ring their owners

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When dog moves ball containing device it sends a signal to a laptop and launches a video call

Whether it is a silent stare or simply a rousing bark, dogs have found myriad ways to communicate with humans. Now researchers have created a hi-tech option for canines left home alone: a ball that allows them to call their owners on the old dog and bone.

The device – nicknamed the DogPhone – is a soft ball that, when moved, sends a signal to a laptop that launches a video call, and the sound of a ringing telephone.

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Why does Covid-19 make things smell disgusting? – podcast

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Growing numbers of people catching coronavirus are experiencing an unpleasant distortion of smells. Scientists are still unsure what causes this often distressing condition, known as parosmia, where previously enjoyable aromas trigger feelings of disgust. Madeleine Finlay talks to science correspondent Linda Geddes about her own parosmia, and chemist Dr Jane Parker discusses research into why the smell of coffee seems to be a trigger for so many people

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US accuses Russia of ‘dangerous’ behavior after anti-satellite weapons test

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Russia fired missile at its own satellite, generating debris that US says ‘threatens interests of all nations’

The US has accused Russia of “dangerous and irresponsible behavior” after it conducted an anti-satellite weapons test that forced astronauts on the International Space Station to prepare for evacuation.

Russia fired a missile at one of its own satellites over the weekend, generating more than 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of pieces of smaller debris, which the US said “now threaten the interests of all nations”.

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Covid booster jabs extended to people aged 40 to 49, says JCVI

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Extension approved by government’s vaccine watchdog as well as second doses for 16- and 17-year-olds

Covid booster vaccines can be extended to those aged between 40 and 49 in the UK after being approved by the government’s vaccines watchdog, which also gave approval for teenagers aged 16 and 17 to receive second jabs.

While such decisions are devolved, all devolved nations tend to accept JCVI guidance. Ministers in England, Scotland and Wales have already said they would extend boosters.

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UK firm to trial T-cell Covid vaccine that could give longer immunity

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Exclusive: Oxfordshire-based Emergex gets go-ahead for trials in Switzerland for skin patch vaccine

An Oxfordshire-based company will soon start clinical trials of a second-generation vaccine against Covid-19, an easy-to-administer skin patch that uses T-cells to kill infected cells and could offer longer-lasting immunity than current vaccines.

Emergex was set up in Abingdon in 2016 to develop T-cell vaccines, the brainchild of Prof Thomas Rademacher, the firm’s chief executive and professor emeritus of molecular medicine at the University College London medical school.

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I used to hate exercise, but with support from my parents, I’m now jumping for joy

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I was turning 40 and very unfit. Now my super-healthy parents, both in their 70s, have inspired me to exercise and I love it

It’s Saturday morning and I’m standing in the middle of Osterley Park, west London, between my mum and dad, getting ready for the weekly parkrun. My dad is jogging on the spot, my mum is doing the same. I am thinking how do I get out of this? Both of them are full of energy, encouraging me to get warmed up. All I want is a chocolate and nice masala chai – my favourite spicy tea. I hear the countdown, getting nervous now, and off we go. My dad has sped ahead and with his hand he signals to me to keep up. Behind me is my mum. I can’t go anywhere, they are both watching me and I will have to finish this run stuck between them. Finally, we get to the finishing line and I’m shattered. My dad can do a 5km in 33 minutes. I can barely do it in 45. My mum and I walk and run together.

Later on my dad will encourage me to do some skipping, and Mum will get me hula-hooping. This, along with their nutritional advice, has been my daily routine for the past six months. Who needs expensive personal trainers when I can turn to Mum and Dad?

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Science YouTuber Philipp Dettmer: ‘Getting cancer was super-interesting’

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The online star with 15 million subscribers on demystifying everything from black holes to the immune system, the trouble with anti-vaxxers, and what his cancer taught him

Skim Philipp Dettmer’s CV and you’d have to say he was an improbable candidate to become one of the world’s foremost science communicators. The 35-year-old from Munich dropped out of high school in Germany aged 15. He eventually did a history degree, and only became involved in science through his interest in infographics. This led, in 2013, to him creating Kurzgesagt (AKA “In a nutshell”), one of the most popular science channels on YouTube. The platform’s irreverent, kaleidoscopic videos – stripped-back guides to everything from black holes to Covid – have more than 15 million subscribers and have clocked up almost 1.5bn views.

Dettmer has now written a book about the human immune system, which has intrigued him for more than a decade. Everyone has an opinion on theirs – whether it’s good or not up to much; how best to “boost” it – but it can be a struggle to understand how it works. In Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive, Dettmer uses eye-catching graphics and simple language to untangle the strange, compelling, sometimes grisly methods our bodies use to defend us from disease.

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Transform approach to Amazon or it will not survive, warns major report

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Panel of 200 scientists tells Cop26 Indigenous people, business, governments and scientists must collaborate

The world’s approach to the Amazon rainforest must be transformed to avoid an irreversible, catastrophic tipping point, according to the most comprehensive study of the region ever carried out.

More than 200 scientists collaborated on the new report, which finds that more than a third of the world’s biggest tropical forest is degraded or deforested, rainfall is declining and dry seasons are growing longer.

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Blood pressure drugs could prevent type 2 diabetes, study finds

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Lowering high blood pressure may slash the risk of the disease in millions of people in future

Blood pressure drugs could prevent millions of people worldwide from developing type 2 diabetes, a large study suggests.

Lowering high blood pressure is an effective way to slash the risk of the disease in the future, according to the research published in the Lancet.

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As Covid recedes in US a new worry emerges: wildlife passing on the virus

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New study shows that deer can catch the virus from people and give it to other deer in overwhelming numbers

As America’s pandemic – for now – seems to be moving into a new phase with national rates in decline from the September peak and vaccines rolling out to children, a new worry has appeared on the horizon: wildlife passing on the virus.

A new study shows that deer can catch the coronavirus from people and give it to other deer in overwhelming numbers, the first evidence of animals transmitting the virus in the wild. Similar spillover and transmission could be occurring in certain animal populations around the world, with troubling implications for eradicating the virus and potentially even for the emergence of new variants.

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Chakras, crystals and conspiracy theories: how the wellness industry turned its back on Covid science

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Its gurus increasingly promote vaccine scepticism, conspiracy theories and the myth that ill people have themselves to blame. How did self-care turn so nasty?

Ozlem Demirboga Carr is not really into all that woo‑woo stuff. “I’m definitely a full-science kind of person,” says the 41-year-old telecoms worker from Reading. She doesn’t believe in crystals, affirmations or salt lamps. But she did find herself unusually anxious during the UK’s Covid lockdown in March 2020 and, like many people, decided to practise yoga as a way to de-stress.

“I tried to be open-minded and I was open to advice on trying to improve my wellbeing and mental health,” she says. So she followed a range of social media accounts, including the “somatic therapist and biz coach” Phoebe Greenacre, known for her yoga videos, and the “women’s empowerment and spiritual mentor” Kelly Vittengl. The Instagram algorithm did its work. “I suddenly found myself following so many wellness accounts,” she says.

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Joy, toys and bumper cars as Manila’s children reclaim the city

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Malls, restaurants and arcades in the Philippines capital are packed with children as Covid curbs ease

Ten-year-old Gabriel Estrella beams as he talks about T-shirts he bought on his first day out at a shopping mall after nearly two years of staying away due to coronavirus restrictions in the Philippines.

“Before the pandemic, buying T-shirts used to be boring,” he said, sweaty after playing with his eight-year-old sister. “Now, it’s exciting! I bought four shirts. They’re anime shirts.

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Ten Republican-led states sue over vaccine mandate for healthcare workers

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Lawsuit follows similar ones challenging new Biden administration rules for federal contractors and large businesses

A coalition of 10 states sued the federal government on Wednesday to try to block a Covid-19 vaccine requirement for healthcare workers, marking a new front in the resistance by Republican-led states to the pandemic policies of President Joe Biden’s administration.

The lawsuit filed in a federal court in Missouri contends that the vaccine requirement threatens the jobs of millions of healthcare workers and could “exacerbate an alarming shortage” in healthcare fields, particularly in rural areas where some health workers have been hesitant to get the shots.

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People testing negative for Covid-19 despite exposure may have ‘immune memory’

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Study says some individuals clear virus rapidly due to a strong immune response from existing T-cells, meaning tests record negative result

We all know that person who, despite their entire household catching Covid-19, has never tested positive for the disease. Now scientists have found an explanation, showing that a proportion of people experience “abortive infection” in which the virus enters the body but is cleared by the immune system’s T-cells at the earliest stage meaning that PCR and antibody tests record a negative result.

About 15% of healthcare workers who were tracked during the first wave of the pandemic in London, England, appeared to fit this scenario.

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Hesitancy, inequity: is the US ‘making the same mistakes’ with kids’ vaccines?

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Only half of children aged 12 and above have been vaccinated, despite vaccine being available for months

When Nia Heard-Garris’s son found out the Covid vaccines were authorized for adults in the US late last year, he was thrilled, then asked, “But what about us? What about kids?”

The eight-year-old is finally signed up for his first shot later this week. Even though he’s afraid of needles, he can’t wait to get vaccinated so he can return to a greater semblance of normal kid life – hanging out with his friends, going to school, playing sports – without worrying about getting sick or bringing the virus home.

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‘He drives me mad!’ Why don’t we dump toxic friends?

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According to psychologists, ‘ambivalent’ relationships can cause us more stress than being with people we actively dislike. Is it time to let go – or can these friendships be salvaged?

Roger and Jim have been friends for more than 30 years. When they were younger they were in a band together, and their friendship was forged over a shared love of music and beer. Even now, despite family commitments on both sides, they manage to catch up every couple of months. “Even though he drives me mad,” says Roger.

It is Jim who leaps to Roger’s mind at the mention of toxic friendships. Every time they meet, Roger says, they “tend to have the same conversation”, because Jim never listens to what he says.

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Chinese city offers cash for clues as Covid outbreak declared a ‘people’s war’

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Authorities announced the 100,000 yuan ($15,640) rewards for residents in Heihe, saying illegal hunting or crossing the border should be reported

Residents of a Chinese city bordering Russia have been offered major cash rewards for tips on the continuing Delta outbreak, with local officials declaring a “people’s war” on the virus.

Authorities announced the 100,000 yuan ($15,640) rewards for residents in Heihe, in the north-eastern Heilongjiang Province, as its total tally of cases in this outbreak reached 240.

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Covid live: ‘Plan B’ restrictions in UK still possible, government advisor says; sharp rise in German infections

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Sage advisor says ‘Plan B’ Covid measures still under consideration in UK; Germany reports 23,543 new cases reported in past 24 hours

Here an update on the global pandemic situation from AFP:

On Saturday, 6,306 new deaths and 411,296 new cases were recorded worldwide.

Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were Russia with 1,179 new deaths, followed by India with 506 and Ukraine with 449.

Last week, Britain became the first country in the world to approve the potentially game-changing Covid-19 antiviral pill, jointly developed by US-based Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

The government said in October it had secured 480,000 courses of the Merck drug, as well as 250,000 courses of an antiviral pill developed by Pfizer Inc.

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