Astronomers say gamma-ray burst may have been result of star collapsing to form black holeA cosmic explosion that blinded space instruments last year may be the brightest ever seen, according to astronomers.The blast took place 2bn light years from Earth, producing a pulse of intense radiation that swept through the solar system in October last year. Continue...

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will briefly appear in a planetary alignment near the crescent moon after sunsetFive planets will align in the night sky for an extraordinary view on Tuesday in a phenomenon dubbed a “planetary parade”.The planets – Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars – will come together on the western horizon, near the crescent moon, for a brief display after...

Bernard Bedford, Dr Andrew Hill and Andrew Scaife respond to an article by Devi Sridhar on the dangers of vaccine scepticism, especially with regard to childrenI wholeheartedly agree with Devi Sridhar’s concern about dwindling childhood protection from infectious diseases (In a sceptical era, understand this: vaccines do work - and our children need them, 27 March). Coming from a small hamlet...

Claims that children recover from brain damage faster than adults are misleading, argues David A JohnsonDr Annie Hickox’s letter (Early diagnosis of brain damage is key for recovery, 15 March) confuses the benefits of early diagnosis with the misleading notion that it is better to have your brain damage early in life. This misconception, often referred to mistakenly as the “Kennard...

Toby Green and Thomas Fazi take issue with a critique of their book on the pandemicWe’re grateful that you have brought attention to our book The Covid Consensus through Richard Seymour’s critical commentary (Three years on, there is a new generation of lockdown sceptics – and they’re rewriting history, 23 March), following Larry Elliott’s supportive one last month (The price Britain...

Researchers believe egg was used by likes of Botticelli and Da Vinci for fine-tuning of oil paint propertiesIt pays to go to work on an egg when painting with oils, researchers have found, as the addition of yolk can prevent wrinkling, yellowing and problems with humidity.The use of egg as a binding medium for pigments, a form of paint known as egg tempera, has a long history, turning up in works...

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will be in alignment near the moon and visible using binoculars from Tuesday eveningFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA planetary alignment is set to light up Australia’s night sky.Five planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus – will be in...

Nasa grants last-minute reprieve to invaluable climate and biodiversity scanner on International Space Station, due to be incinerated in Earth’s atmosphereNasa has extended the life of a key climate and biodiversity sensor for scanning the world’s forests which was set to be destroyed in Earth’s atmosphere.The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (Gedi) mission – pronounced like Jedi in...

Recent auroras have been so intense they have been visible as far north as Auckland The lure of unusually vibrant views of the southern lights in New Zealand has prompted aurora-hunters to drive for hours through the night to capture the “elusive” sight on camera, with social media groups devoted to swapping tips growing in size.The aurora australis is always more visible in New Zealand and...

Dr Peter Attia is an expert on longevity and preventative medicine. He explains how sleep, weight training and other incremental changes can make us much more resilientTwenty years ago, Peter Attia was working as a trainee surgeon at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore, where he saved countless people facing what he calls “fast death”. “I trained in a very, very violent city,” he tells me....

Madeleine Finlay hears from science correspondent Linda Geddes about her experience becoming a faecal transplant donor, how getting a dose of someone else’s gut bacteria could treat illnesses like arthritis, diabetes and cancer, and asks whether a pill made from poo is an idea we are ready to swallow Continue...

Florence Débarre’s discovery of genetic data online showed for first time that animals susceptible to coronavirus were present at marketOne of the most compelling clues to the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic was uploaded without announcement to a scientific database, going unnoticed for weeks.And then, just as suddenly, it vanished from public view. Continue...

Three years after much of the world was forced into Covid lockdowns, the precise origins of the virus are still hazy, and the hunt is bringing scientists into confrontation with political forces that many are not prepared forOne of the most compelling clues as to the origins of a once-in-a-century pandemic was uploaded without announcement – without being noticed for weeks – on a scientific...

Finding from lunar soil samples is important breakthrough for hopes of building bases on the moonTiny glass beads strewn across the moon’s surface contain potentially billions of tonnes of water that could be extracted and used by astronauts on future lunar missions, researchers say.The discovery is thought to be one of the most important breakthroughs yet for space agencies that have set their...

In the northern hemisphere, our natural satellite and the red planet will be high in the sky and unmistakableAfter the moon’s appearance with Jupiter and Venus last week, it is the turn of Mars to receive a visit from our nearest celestial neighbour. It is a week since new moon and Earth’s natural satellite will be 47%-illuminated on 28 March, and 2.3 degrees – or roughly five lunar...

Sarah Barley-McMullen says she felt unable to stay in her post as a senior academic as her employers were unwilling to accommodate her needsTwo-thirds of UK workers with long Covid have faced unfair treatment, says report“Long Covid has had an emotional, social, physical and professional impact on me,” says Sarah Barley-McMullen, 53, who felt forced to leave a job she loved, as a senior...

The row over whether the pandemic started with a lab leak is growing. But the most important question is what we do nowWe may never know for certain how a disease that brought the world to a standstill and has killed almost 7 million people emerged. While many experts believe that Covid-19 arose through human contact with infected animals, most likely via a wet market in Wuhan, China, a...

Earth’s gravity makes it harder to cultivate the proteins needed to study diseases and pathogens. And although the cost of space travel is high, private enterprise is stepping inIn a small lab, squeezed into the corner of a skyscraper in downtown Tel Aviv, Israeli entrepreneur Yossi Yamin is proudly holding what he calls “a little James Bond-style suitcase factory, powered by the sun”.As...

The journalist and academic says that the bias encoded in artificial intelligence systems can’t be fixed with better data alone – the change has to be societalMeredith Broussard is a data journalist and academic whose research focuses on bias in artificial intelligence (AI). She has been in the vanguard of raising awareness and sounding the alarm about unchecked AI. Her previous book,...

Expert urges greater monitoring of side-effect of drug used to treat depression, psychosis and schizophreniaPatients who are prescribed a common antipsychotic used to treat depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis and schizophrenia need to be told there is a risk they could develop a gambling addiction, an expert has warned.The National Problem Gambling Clinic has observed growing numbers of...

Two married therapists reveal 10 ways to improve the many highs and lows of your love lifeWhen couples get together, there is often the unspoken expectation that you will remain the same as you were on those first dates. An assumption that your level of curiosity, generosity, adaptability and interest will endure, or even increase, throughout your relationship. Even though we all know fairytales...

Prof Nita Farahany argues in her new book, The Battle for Your Brain, that intrusions into the mind are so close that lawmakers should enact protectionsPrivate thoughts may not be private for much longer, heralding a nightmarish world where political views, thoughts, stray obsessions and feelings could be interrogated and punished all thanks to advances in neurotechnology.Or at least that is what...

Businesses want to trawl for nickel, manganese and cobalt to build electric cars and windfarmsAn investigation by conservationists has found evidence that deep-seabed mining of rare minerals could cause “extensive and irreversible” damage to the planet.The report, to be published on Monday by the international wildlife charity Fauna & Flora, adds to the growing controversy that surrounds...

Researchers identify ‘microbe signature’ found to be in infants who went on to develop disease in childhood or adolescenceBacteria in the gut of one-year-old infants could be used to predict their chances of developing type 1 diabetes in later life, scientists have announced. The disease most often occurs in children and adolescents and is triggered by the body’s immune system when it...