Category Archives: Science

Coronavirus live news: Britain records 2,694 new Covid cases; Dominic Cummings criticises government over lockdowns

Posted on by

Germany to bar visitors from UK over Covid variants of concern; sewage samples being tested across England to monitor Covid variants

Australia has now administered more than 3.5m doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, with a further 89,000 jabs delivered around the country.

New South Wales delivered 12,485 doses in the past 24 hours, becoming another one-day record for the state. Around 5000 of them were administered at its Olympic Park mass vaccination hub alone, AAP reports.

Malaysia has reported a further 6,320 coronavirus cases amid a recent surge in infections, as well as 50 new deaths. Saturday’s figures compare with 4,140 cases and 44 deaths a week today.

The nation reported a record high of 6,806 new cases on Thursday when it also saw its highest daily toll of 59 deaths. Taking the total number of cases since the onset of the pandemic to 505,115, Reuters reports.

Continue reading...

Pfizer and AstraZeneca ‘highly effective’ against India Covid variant

Posted on by

A Public Health England study has revealed the vaccines can be up to 88% effective after a second dose

Both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs are highly effective at protecting people from the strain of the Covid-19 virus first found in India, a study by Public Health England (PHE) has found.

The analysis, carried out between 5 April and 16 May, found the Pfizer vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the India variant two weeks after a second dose, compared with 93% effectiveness against the Kent strain. For its part, the AstraZeneca jab was 60% effective, compared with 66% against the Kent variant over the same period.

Continue reading...

Albert Einstein letter with E=mc2 equation in his own hand sells for $1.2m

Posted on by
  • Only two similar examples of world-changing equation known
  • 1946 letter to physicist Ludwik Silberstein auctioned

A handwritten letter by Albert Einstein that contains his famous E=mc2 equation has sold at auction for more than $1.2m, about three times more than it was expected to get, a Boston-based auction house said on Friday.

Related: Albert Einstein's 'God letter' reflecting on religion auctioned for $3m

Continue reading...

Research findings that are probably wrong cited far more than robust ones, study finds

Posted on by

Academics suspect papers with grabby conclusions are waved through more easily by reviewers

Scientific research findings that are probably wrong gain far more attention than robust results, according to academics who suspect that the bar for publication may be lower for papers with grabbier conclusions.

Studies in top science, psychology and economics journals that fail to hold up when others repeat them are cited, on average, more than 100 times as often in follow-up papers than work that stands the test of time.

Continue reading...

Signs of rise in Covid infections in England amid variant warnings

Posted on by

Boris Johnson still plans to end restrictions in June despite experts’ fears over spread of India and Kent variants

Covid infection levels are showing early signs of an increase in England, data has revealed, as experts continue to warn the variant of concern first detected in India could grow exponentially in the UK.

On Friday Boris Johnson told broadcasters in Portsmouth he has seen nothing to suggest it will be necessary to “deviate from the roadmap”, indicating that the planned lifting of all coronavirus restrictions in England on 21 June may yet go ahead.

Continue reading...

New Zealand’s budget needed to allocate more than small change to the climate crisis | Robert McLachlan and Paul Callister

Posted on by

Climate politics is a long game but people must see more positive changes to really appreciate the benefits of ending fossil fuels

The New Zealand emissions trading scheme (ETS), now in its fourteenth year of operation and much criticised for (so far) failing to cut emissions, is the centrepiece of the government’s climate action. Judging from Budget 2021, it will remain that way for years to come.

Auctioning of emissions units began in March, and 2022 will see the introduction of a falling cap on net emissions of long-lived greenhouse gases. (The precise level of the cap will be announced later in the year.)

Continue reading...

Britain in talks to waive Covid vaccine patents to improve global access to jabs

Posted on by

Pressure growing for UK and others to follow Biden’s lead at WTO to avoid ‘moral and public health failure’

The UK government is in talks about a plan to waive Covid-19 vaccine patents to boost the production of shots in low and middle-income countries, the Guardian can reveal.

The discussions come amid growing calls for Britain and other European countries to follow the US in supporting the proposal put before the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Continue reading...

DNA study sets out to establish true origins of Christopher Columbus

Posted on by

Was the explorer from Italy, Spain, Portugal or elsewhere? Researchers hope to find out once and for all

Spanish researchers have launched a new attempt to finally settle the dispute over the true origins of Christopher Columbus after various theories have claimed the explorer hailed from Portugal or Spain, rather than Italy as most scholars agree.

“There is no doubt on our part [about his Italian origin], but we can provide objective data that can … close a series of existing theories,” said José Antonio Lorente, the lead scientist of the DNA study at the University of Granada.

Continue reading...

Help, it’s 1,000 trillion degrees in here! The Big Bang artwork that makes scientists cry

Posted on by

What would it have been like to be inside the Big Bang? We meet the ultra-hi-tech art duo who are using light, sound and sub-atomic astro data to recreate the biggest explosion ever

‘Step into the heart of the Big Bang,” says the advert for Halo, a walk-in, 360-degree, audiovisual installation about to open in Brighton. Come off it, I want to retort. You couldn’t “step” into the Big Bang without first travelling 13.8 billion years back in time and then being extremely miniaturised. After all, the universe was, according to one estimate, just 17cm in diameter at its inception.

What’s more, it was dark inside the Big Bang. In fact, there was no light at all. True, if you stuck around for 380,000 years, according to Nasa, you might have been able to see something because that was when free electrons met up with nuclei and created neutral atoms that would have allowed light to pass through. But who has 380,000 years to hang around waiting in the dark?

Continue reading...

Acid test: scientists show how LSD opens doors of perception

Posted on by

Study analysing brain scans of people finds psychedelic drug lowers barriers that constrain thoughts

When Aldous Huxley emerged from a mescaline trip that veered from an obsession with the folds in his trousers to wonder at the “miraculous” tubularity of the bamboo legs on his garden chairs, he offered an opinion on how the drug worked.

Writing in The Doors of Perception, his 1954 book that took its name from a William Blake poem, Huxley declared that the psychedelic “lowers the efficiency of the brain as an instrument for focusing the mind on the problems of life”.

Continue reading...

Tunisia lockdown ends, despite Africa’s worst Covid death rate

Posted on by

Pandemic fatigue and economic woes blamed for lack of action despite rapid rise in number of cases

Tunisia has ended its one-week lockdown, despite having the highest reported deaths per capita of any country in Africa.

Covid-19 cases in Tunisia were initially low last year, with a sweeping six-week lockdown involving the closure of borders and shutting down all but essential commercial activity appearing to halt the spread of the virus. However, since easing that original lockdown cases have increased, with daily reported infections and deaths now the highest in Africa, according to Our World in Data.

Continue reading...

How worrying is the India coronavirus variant for UK plans to unlock this summer?

Posted on by

Monday’s change in the rules was supposed to be a moment of celebration – but the new variant spreading in the UK meant it came with a cautionary note. Can the next stage of the government’s ‘irreversible’ plan go ahead?

This time last week, most of us were feeling optimistic about the next step in the government’s “irreversible” plan to end lockdown. Then scientists started to warn that the accelerating spread of the India variant of coronavirus meant that we should proceed carefully – and even consider slowing down.

While the plans went ahead on Monday, they came with a heavy dose of caution and warnings that the last stage of the relaxation set for 21 June could be delayed. The Guardian’s science correspondent Nicola Davis tells Anushka Asthana about the latest setback in the fight against Covid – and what it means for what happens next.

Continue reading...

Greenland ice sheet on brink of major tipping point, says study

Posted on by

Scientists say ice equivalent to 1-2 metres of sea level rise is probably already doomed to melt

A significant part of the Greenland ice sheet is on the brink of a tipping point, after which accelerated melting would become inevitable even if global heating was halted, according to new research.

Rising temperatures caused by the climate crisis have already seen trillions of tonnes of Greenland’s ice pour into the ocean. Melting its ice sheet completely would eventually raise global sea level by 7 metres.

Continue reading...

India variant will be dominant UK Covid strain ‘in next few days’

Posted on by

Scientists’ warning comes as government comes under pressure to explain border policy

The Covid variant first detected in India is set to be the dominant strain in the UK within days, experts have said, with the government and health teams struggling to contain cases, which have risen by more than 75% since Thursday.

With the rapid spread of the more transmissible B.1.617.2 variant threatening to reverse moves to ease lockdown, the government faced intense pressure to more fully explain the delay in adding India to the so-called red list of countries.

Continue reading...

Daniel Kahneman: ‘Clearly AI is going to win. How people are going to adjust is a fascinating problem’

Posted on by

The Nobel-winning psychologist on applying his ideas to organisations, why we’re not equipped to grasp the spread of a virus, and the massive disruption that’s just round the corner

Daniel Kahneman, 87, was awarded the Nobel prize in economics in 2002 for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making. His first book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, a worldwide bestseller, set out his revolutionary ideas about human error and bias and how those traits might be recognised and mitigated. A new book, Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, written with Olivier Sibony and Cass R Sunstein, applies those ideas to organisations. This interview took place last week by Zoom with Kahneman at his home in New York.

I guess the pandemic is quite a good place to start. In one way it has been the biggest ever hour-by-hour experiment in global political decision-making. Do you think it’s a watershed moment in the understanding that we need to “listen to science”?
Yes and no, because clearly, not listening to science is bad. On the other hand, it took science quite a while to get its act together.

Continue reading...

Johnson ‘must think again on plans to relax Covid rules’

Posted on by

Top adviser warns of India variant impact as scientists urge delay in lockdown changes

Boris Johnson was under mounting pressure on Saturday to reconsider Monday’s relaxation of Covid rules in England because of the threat posed by the India variant. His own advisers and independent health experts raised fears that it could lead to a surge in hospital admissions, especially among young adults.

From Monday people will be able to meet in groups of up to 30 outdoors, while six people or two households will be permitted to meet indoors. Pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants will be allowed to serve customers indoors. Indoor entertainment such as museums, cinemas and children’s play areas can also open along with theatres, concert halls, conference centres and sports stadiums.

Continue reading...

How to cure type 2 diabetes – without medication

Posted on by

It can be debilitating and last a lifetime, but type 2 diabetes, if caught early, can be reversed with weight loss

It’s 10 years since Professor Roy Taylor revolutionised treatment for type 2 diabetes with a groundbreaking study that showed the disease could be reversed through rapid weight loss. Until his research was published, type 2 diabetes was thought to be an incurable, lifelong condition. Now, for many people, we know it is not.

But his achievements – and the thousands of people he has cured – are not something he dwells upon. “I’m in a very lucky position of being able to do this research,” he says, “which really extends what I’ve been doing as a doctor throughout my life.” He laughs at the suggestion that he must occasionally marvel at his own success: “No, no,” he chuckles. “Lots of occupations make a useful contribution to society. I wouldn’t set myself apart.”

Continue reading...

Coronavirus: England to continue lockdown easing despite India variant fears; Taiwan raises Covid alert; Australia runs first repatriation flight from India

Posted on by

China cancels spring Everest climbing season from Tibetan side while Portugal to reopen to UK tourists from Monday

Across Poland, bars and restaurants have opened their outdoor terraces for the first time in over six months, with masks not being required outdoors where social distancing can be observed.

On Friday, Poland had 3,288 new coronavirus cases compared with a high of 35,251 on 1 April. Some 35.7% of adult Poles have received at least one dose of vaccine and 13.6% are fully vaccinated, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Bars and restaurants can now offer outdoor service, with indoor service due to reopen with limited capacity on May 28. Since October, they have been able to serve only take-away food.

“We’ve been closed for so long, over 200 days, and it was very stressful and exhausting for different reasons, we didn’t know if we could survive at all,” said Zuzia Mockallo, 34, co-owner of Bar Studio, located in the capital’s landmark building, the Palace of Culture and Science.

Thailand has planned to allow restaurants to resume dine-in services in its capital, Bangkok, a senior official has said, but opening hours and the number of diners will be limited as the country faces a third wave of infections.

Since April, Thailand has faced its deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Thailand reported 3,095 new coronavirus cases and 17 deaths today, bringing total cases to 99,145 and 565 deaths. Of the new cases, 1,163 were in Bangkok.

Restaurants in dark red zones like Bangkok will be allowed to reopen for dine-in services but at a limited capacity of 25% and will have to close at 9pm (1400 GMT), said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a coronavirus taskforce spokesman.

Restaurants in dark red zones, which have the highest risk of infection and the strictest restrictions, could previously only open for delivery.

Continue reading...

What can England do to combat the Indian Covid variant?

Posted on by

A list of possible measures that could be taken by the government to limit the spread of the variant

The possible spread of the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 variant of Covid, first identified in India, threatens to hamper the timetable for removing lockdown restrictions, since a series of localised outbreaks have been detected.

Here are some possible actions that could be used to limit the spread of the variant:

Continue reading...

India variant could lead to serious third wave of Covid in UK

Posted on by

Analysis: If B.1.617.2 proves highly transmissible, hospitalisations could peak again, models show

It was all looking so good. After a brutal second wave in the winter, the lockdown combined with the swift rollout of vaccines forced infections, hospitalisations and deaths down to levels not seen since last summer. The vaccines performed better than expected, not only in preventing deaths, but in hampering the spread of the virus. Scientific advisers were confident about England’s cautious roadmap back to a life more normal: the worst, it seemed, was over.

Now, those same advisers are deeply worried that the new variant of concern from India, B.1.617.2, could undermine the hard-won achievement. The government strategy has been to ease restrictions as vaccines reach more people, aiming for a delicate balance that opens up society while preventing another wave that overwhelms the NHS.

Continue reading...