181 articles from FRIDAY 20.3.2020

What the massive locust swarm in Africa and the Middle East means to the US

Amid worldwide concerns over the new coronavirus, an age-old but now "extremely alarming" problem is developing in several countries that represents "an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods" as the start of growing season approaches for these parts of the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.New swarms of...

Coronavirus SARS-CoV2: BESSY II data accelerate drug development

A coronavirus is threatening human health. SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious and can cause severe pneumonia (COVID-19). A team has now found a promising approach to understanding the virus. Using the high-intensity X-ray light from the Berlin synchrotron source BESSY II, they have decoded the 3D architecture of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2. This protein plays a central role in the reproduction of...

Reanalysis of global amphibian crisis study finds important flaws

Last year in the journal Science, a research review concluded that the chytrid fungus caused the decline of at least 501 amphibian species, of which 90 have gone extinct. A team has reanalyzed a study, finding that the paper's main conclusions lack evidence and are unreproducible. The authors argue that transparent data collection and analysis are crucial -- both for science and conservation...

Water-balloon physics is high-impact science

Researchers have established the definitive physical rules governing capsule impact, a research area that had gone virtually unexplored until now. The results reveal a surprising relationship between the behavior of capsules and water droplets.

'We feel compelled': the doctors planning to return to NHS frontline

Doctors not currently practising respond to government ‘your NHS needs you’ pleaCoronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Doctors not currently practising have told the Guardian how they plan to return to the NHS frontline, in response to the government plea reminiscent of wartime Britain in which they were told: “Your NHS needs you.”They described the crisis as a...

After just half a day of home-schooling, I am officially in awe of all teachers | Emma Brockes

While the world outside panicked over coronavirus, I was to be the calm, efficient teacher to my child. It didn’t last long Coronavirus latest updates See all our coronavirus coverageWe are doing a writing exercise at the kitchen table, about 90 minutes into home-schooling. So far, it’s gone quite well. I’ve drawn a grid with alphabetised headers and I’m dictating words for my...

When Johnson says we'll turn the tide in 12 weeks, it's just another line for the side of a bus | Marina Hyde

There’s something unsettling in seeing the prime minister repurpose his Brexit media strategy for a deadly contagion Coronavirus latest updates See all our coronavirus coverageBritain. A nation of shopfighters, presided over at a time of mortal peril by a newspaper columnist, who has for three decades moonlighted as his generation’s leading liar. Still, as the words clawed into the side of the...

Chinese inquiry exonerates coronavirus whistleblower doctor

Report on Li Wenliang’s death says he did not disrupt public order, but fought bravelyCoronavirus – latest updatesAll our coronavirus coverageThe Chinese doctor who was reprimanded for “spreading rumours” after he sought to warn colleagues about the emergence of Covid-19 has been officially exonerated by an investigation into his death.However the report has also been criticised for not...

NASA suspends work on its Moon and Mars spacecraft due to coronavirus pandemic

NASA has temporarily paused work on the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule that will be used for its forthcoming Artemis missions, which will ultimately return the next American man and the first American woman to the surface of the Moon. The rocket and spacecraft were undergoing production and testing activities ahead of the first Artemis mission, which had been planned for no earlier...

When will a coronavirus vaccine be ready?

Human trials will begin imminently – but even if they go well and a cure is found, there are many barriers before global immunisation is feasibleCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEven at their most effective – and draconian – containment strategies have only slowed the spread of the respiratory disease Covid-19. With the World Health Organization finally declaring...

I'm an ER doctor. Please take coronavirus seriously | Clayton Dalton

Most people don’t understand exponential growth. If they did, they’d be far more frightenedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageI’m an emergency room doctor in Boston. I can’t help but feel like Cassandra these days. A Trojan royal, Cassandra was cursed by Apollo after she rebuffed his advances – she could see into the future, but no one would ever believe what...