The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has welcomed the 'promising news' on Oxford University's coronavirus vaccine. Researchers working on the experimental vaccine said it was safe and generated a strong immune response in the people who volunteered to help trial it, raising hopes it could contribute to ending the pandemic.'Very encouraging news. We have already ordered 100m doses of this...

The foreign secretary tried to take a tough line but found it wasn’t enough to satisfy any MPsSometimes you just can’t win. Just a week after announcing he was barring Huawei from the UK’s 5G network by 2027 – the Chinese had apparently promised they wouldn’t do any spying in the next seven years – Dominic Raab was back in the Commons to make yet another ministerial statement. This...

The combination of anti-vaxxers on the march and a government with woeful health messaging could be lethal for BritainCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe world has moved a step closer to ending the Covid-19 horror as researchers from Oxford University, among the 200 global teams working on vaccines, published promising results in The Lancet. The UK has already ordered...

Melting Arctic sea ice could cause starvation and reproductive failure for many as early as 2040, scientists warnScientists have predicted for the first time when, where and how polar bears are likely to disappear, warning that if greenhouse gas emissions stay on their current trajectory all but a few polar bear populations in the Arctic will probably be gone by 2100.By as early as 2040, it is...

More than 140 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccineResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 140 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue...

Researchers say SNG001 can reduce need for ventilation and improve survival chancesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageTrials of an experimental drug inhaled by patients have found a significant reduction in hospital patients with Covid-19 needing to be put on a ventilator or dying from the disease, according to researchersThe drug, called SNG001, is delivered via an...

Early results also indicate vaccine is safe, raising hopes it could help end pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageOxford University’s experimental coronavirus vaccine is safe and generated a strong immune response in the people who volunteered to help trial it, researchers have said, raising hopes it could contribute to ending the pandemic.Professor Sarah...

4,000 music fans to attend gig as part of study into how virus spreads in large gatheringsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGerman scientists are planning to equip 4,000 pop music fans with tracking gadgets and bottles of fluorescent disinfectant to get a clearer picture of how Covid-19 could be prevented from spreading at large indoor concerts.As cultural mass...

Ruth May tells MPs she was told she was no longer needed after failing to back Johnson adviserCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEngland’s chief nurse has confirmed she was dropped from a daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing after refusing to back Dominic Cummings.In a trial run for the 1 June briefing, Ruth May said she was asked about Boris Johnson’s chief...

Mixed messages from government don’t help, but face masks must become a social norm to have an impact on coronavirusCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageLater this week, the wearing of masks in shops and supermarkets will become mandatory in England. The question then will be how quickly the public accepts this new law – whether face masks become a social norm could be...

The narrative is that Covid-19 patients are either hospitalized near death, or ride out a ‘mild’ Covid flu at home. The reality is more complexThis spring, I wrote an essay for the New York Times about my experience as a young, apparently healthy person hospitalized by a brutal attack of Covid-19. After my essay came out, I was contacted by media outlets all over the world. In many ways, I was...

UK secures agreement for 30m doses of drug being developed by BioNTech and Pfizer and a deal in principle for 60m doses of one by ValnevaTest and trace failures risk exponential case growth in EnglandSenior doctors warn second wave could ‘devastate’ NHSGlobal coronavirus updates – live 11.04am BST Here is the press notice (pdf) from Synairgen with more details of the successful trial of the...

Government says agreements ensure Britain has best chance of protecting those at riskCoronavirus vaccine tracker: how close are we to a vaccine?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe UK government is investing millions to secure two more experimental vaccines against Covid-19, increasing the chances of obtaining a vaccine that works for the population.The agreement is to...

Twenty-two new cases reported day after ‘wartime’ measures introduced in UrumqiCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA coronavirus outbreak in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang has spread to a second city, one day after authorities announced “wartime” anti-pandemic measures in a district in the city of Urumqi.On Monday, the national health commission...

Sprinkling rock dust on fields can suck up some carbon − but reducing emissions must be the mainstay of our effortsWhat should we do? The world is rapidly approaching 1.5C of warming above pre-industrial levels − the target limit of the Paris agreement − and is on track for 3C unless we take action. So what is the best action to take?In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change...

South Africa Covid-19 deaths pass 5,000; UN makes urgent appeal for Sudan pandemic help; France to issue mask fines. Follow the latest updatesTrump calls Fauci ‘alarmist’ in Fox news interviewHong Kong makes masks mandatory indoorsBitter coronavirus summit exposes trust deficit among EU leadersGlobal coronavirus report: masks made mandatory in Hong Kong, France and MelbourneSee all our...

Members of National Academy of Sciences sign open letter News comes as White House seeks to block funding for testingMore than 1,200 members of the US National Academy of Sciences have rebuked Donald Trump’s “denigration of scientific expertise”, an unusual move for a community which has historically avoided the political sphere. Related: Short and to the point: five Fauci quotes to get you...

Nigel Lawson’s thinktank is pushing dirty energy on the continent with the greatest capacity for creating clean fuel The power of climate science denial in the UK, thankfully, has been in retreat over the past decade. Nigel Lawson’s Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) may still boast a prime Westminster address, but its influence has waned. In fact, its decline aptly mirrors the fortunes...

Irish-made app has more than 1.3m downloads, in stark contrast to the UK’s effortsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA government minister once compared Ireland’s health care system to Angola – a political minefield of dysfunction, bureaucracy, waste and inefficiency. The nickname stuck.Yet this morass has just produced a shiny success: a Covid-19 contact-tracing...

Planetary scientist Sarah Stewart Johnson describes how the latest mission to Mars builds on centuries of discoveries about the red planet, our nearest neighbourNasa plans to launch its latest mission to Mars this month, which aims to place the Perseverance rover on the surface of the planet in February 2021. It is the latest attempt to explore a planet that has loomed large in the popular...

A rocket carrying the unmanned probe, known as Al-Amal in Arabic, joins China and US in race to red planetThe first Arab space mission to Mars has blasted off aboard a rocket from Japan, with its unmanned probe – called Al-Amal, or Hope – successfully separating about an hour after liftoff.A live feed of the launch showed the rocket carrying the probe lifting off from the Tanegashima Space...

Life Sciences-Charity Partnership Fund aims to reverse impact of Covid-19 on study into biggest killersAt least 50 cross-party MPs are calling on the government to back a UK medical research fund they say will reverse the devastating impact of Covid-19 on research into the UK’s biggest killers, including dementia, coronary heart disease and cancer.The Life Sciences-Charity Partnership Fund,...