28 articles from SUNDAY 21.6.2020

Trump’s data-hungry, invasive app is a voter surveillance tool of extraordinary power

Ahead of President Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his 2020 re-election campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted about the event. “Just passed 800,000 tickets,” he wrote. “Biggest data haul and rally signup of all time by 10x. Saturday is going to be amazing!” Parscale’s numbers for the rally—originally scheduled for Juneteenth and still set to occur…

Starwatch: the moon meets the lion's brightest star

The moon moves through Leo the lion every month, and this week is a good time to identify the constellation and the blue-white star RegulusEvery month the moon slips past the bright star of Regulus in Leo, the lion. It is a good opportunity to identify the constellation, which doesn’t need too much imagination to turn it into a lion. This month the pairing takes place on 25 June. The chart shows...

If I must wear a face mask, I'll do so with a look of ironic detachment | Zoe Williams

I can’t help being sceptical about government rules, but I will cover up when I’m told to. Over to you, eyesIts not only ethnonationalists who myth-make around the second world war – any idiot can make use of mass destruction for parable purposes.One of the favourite tales of my kind of idiot was about saucepans. In 1940, the story goes, Lord Beaverbrook, the press baron turned minister of...

Picture a pandemic: how Guardian photographers adapted to lockdown life

Our photojournalists explain how the pandemic has changed their practice – and why physical distancing is no barrier to producing intimate portraits Throughout the pandemic it has been important to show our readers and viewers what’s happening in the world outside, to make a historical document and to chart the progress of those on the frontline. During the first weeks, it was difficult to...

Smile! Could the pandemic lead to happier times?

What lessons can we learn from Laurie Santos, the Yale professor whose ‘happiness’ course became a global hit? And could the current health crisis lead to a wellbeing revolution?In January 2018, a Yale University professor named Laurie Santos launched a course, Psychology and the Good Life, which quickly became the most popular class in the institution’s 319-year-history. After 13 years at...

Police say Reading stabbings now treated as a terrorist incident - live updates

One man in custody after three people die and three are seriously injured in Berkshire townFull story: Reading stabbings declared terrorist attack 11.29am BST 11.19am BST Counter-terrorism police have declared the Reading stabbings, in which three people were killed and three people were seriously injured, is a terrorist incident.| UPDATE- Murder investigation Reading@TerrorismPolice can now...

Total number of aliens? You couldn't make it up… | David Mitchell

The truth is out there. Only this probably isn’t itThe US presidential election night of 2000 is the only one I’ve ever properly watched on TV. I didn’t have much else to do that evening and my middle-aged intoxication with the prospect of an early night was years ahead of me. Also, thinking about it, the lovely general election of 1997 was still a recent memory; I probably fancied another...

Winning by a nose: the dogs being trained to detect signs of Covid-19

In the battle against the virus, we have an unlikely ally. Already used to detect drugs and weapons, dogs are now being trained to sniff out when humans have the virus. Tim Lewis meets the trainers and their houndsAsher was a problem dog. A hyperactive and unruly chocolate-brown cocker spaniel with ears like pittas and a Rudi Völler frizzy shag, he was shunted from owner to owner, maybe as many...

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

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,...

‘The wondrous map’: how unlocking human DNA changed the course of science

Thanks to the success of the Human Genome Project, 20 years ago this week, scientists can track biology and disease at a molecular level Twenty years ago this week, an international group of scientists announced it had put together the first genetic blueprint of a human being. After 10 years of effort, the team – made up of thousands of scientists working on both sides of the Atlantic –...

Unemployment rose like a rocket but will only fall like a feather | Torsten Bell

Research suggests joblessness will stay high for years after the pandemicWe are in a jobs crisis with 600,000 fewer employees on payroll and 2 million more of us on universal credit. Tackling this economic and human tragedy will become the central economic challenge of the early 2020s.The Bank of England expects almost one in 10 of the workforce to be unemployed, the highest for 25 years. But will...

Not so robust: robusta coffee more sensitive to warming than previously thought

A new study of the plant that produces robusta coffee suggests its heat tolerance has been consistently overestimated. Worse yet, when temperatures just slightly cross this point, yields plummet. The findings suggest the multibillion-dollar coffee industry could be facing a much tougher future on even a slightly warmer planet. The study's findings contrast with current estimates, based on...

Profiling of lone terrorists is flawed

Terrorism has typically been considered an organised activity undertaken by networks of individuals who share a collective identity and purpose. However, in recent years, media, law enforcement and scholarly attention has increasingly focused on the construct of the lone terrorist - although Flinders University criminology expert Associate Professor David Bright argues that this approach may be...

What does the "love hormone" do? It's complicated

Much of what we know about the actions of neuromodulators like oxytocin comes from behavioral studies of lab animals in standard lab conditions. These conditions are strictly controlled and artificial, in part so that researchers can limit the number of variables affecting behavior. A number of recent studies suggest that the actions of a mouse in a semi-natural environment can teach us much more...

Which came first?

What did the very first proteins look like -- those that appeared on Earth around 3.7 billion years ago? Prof. Dan Tawfik of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Prof. Norman Metanis of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have reconstructed protein sequences that may well resemble those ancestors of modern proteins, and their research suggests a way that these primitive proteins could have...