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10 articles from Guardian Unlimited Science

Pollutionwatch: air quality benefits of lockdown continue

There was an average decrease of 31% in nitrogen dioxide levels on London’s roads The start of the UK lockdown brought news of reduced air pollution. Did it last?Measurements from London show that initial improvements in nitrogen dioxide from traffic continued into April and May. Compared with the first 11 weeks of 2020 before lockdown, there was an average decrease of 31% on the capital’s...

Ministers show how world beating they are all over again | John Crace

From Hancock being forced to bin the test and trace app to Raab’s BLM gaffe, who can rival the cabinet for incompetence?For months now the government has been prefacing all its coronavirus briefings as world-beating when the only thing in which we appeared to be global leaders was our mortality rates. But now I’m beginning to think Boris Johnson and his cabinet may have been on to something...

UK abandons coronavirus app in favour of Apple and Google model

Government will switch to contact-tracing model preferred by tech giants in latest embarrassing U-turnCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe NHS has abandoned a near three month attempt to build a centralised coronavirus contact-tracing app and will instead switch to the model preferred by the technology firms Apple and Google.The embarrassing U-turn comes after...

Covid-19: what kind of face mask gives the best protection against coronavirus?

Your questions answered on what type of mask to wear to cut the risk of getting Covid-19Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageYes. Different types of mask offer different levels of protection. Surgical grade N95 respirators offer the highest level of protection against Covid-19 infection, followed by surgical grade masks. However, these masks are costly, in limited supply,...

UK coronavirus live: Treasury opposing bid to use private hospitals to tackle NHS backlog

News updates: health bosses are pushing for a £5bn-a-year deal to treat NHS patients in private hospitals and tackle a spiralling backlog amid the coronavirus pandemicTreasury blocks plan for private hospitals to tackle NHS backlogNHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app for UK will not be ready before winterCoronavirus global updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage 9.22am BST If you haven’t done so...

Footprints reveal giant carnivorous dinosaurs the length of a bus wandered Australia

Researchers say the Queensland dinosaur predates its more famous ‘cousin’ the T rex by about 90 million yearsGiant carnivorous dinosaurs the length of a bus wandered south-east Queensland about 160 million years ago, new research shows.Analysis of fossilised footprints by a University of Queensland research team has shone new light on the diversity of dinosaur life during the mid-to-late...

Global report: Beijing Covid-19 cluster may have begun a month earlier – China health official

Chinese capital reports 21 new cases; New Zealand records new infection in returned traveller; India has highest daily jump in infectionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBeijing’s cluster of new cases may have begun a month earlier than first thought, partly due to asymptomatic infections, according to the director of China’s Center for Disease Control and...

How cephalopod cells could take us one step closer to invisibility - podcast

Watching the mesmerising patterns of squids, octopuses and cuttlefish has been the catalyst for much of Dr Alon Gorodetsky’s recent work, including his attempts to mimic their ability to become transparent. Nicola Davis talks to him about a recent paper where he engineered mammalian cells to share these optic properties - paving the way for exciting potential applications Continue...

Coronavirus live news: Brazil Covid-19 cases near 1m as WHO hails steroid treatment 'hope'

Deaths worldwide near 500,000; US health expert says country is ‘still in first wave’; Argentinian president enters voluntary isolation amid coronavirus surge. Follow the latest updatesBeijing coronavirus outbreak: city raises emergency level and grounds hundreds of flightsBrazil cases near 1mWHO hails steroid treatment ‘hope’Spanish opera house reopens with concert for plantsSee all our...