Analysis of ancient DNA from Siberia finds human hunting probably not to blameThe woolly rhino may have been wiped out by climate change rather than human hunting, researchers have revealed.Enormous, hairy and with a huge hump, the woolly rhino roamed northern Eurasia until about 14,000 years ago. The cause of its demise has been much debated, with remains found near prehistoric human sites...

Rob Delaney’s frank and funny account of his vasectomy revives memories for readers including Mike Cashman and the Rev Trevor SmithRob Delaney’s article about having a vasectomy (‘Could I feel what they were doing? Yes’, 12 August) brought back memories from when I had one because my wife and I did not want more children.The surgeon gave me a local anaesthetic and I was cut above my penis....

More than 900 healthcare workers have died in this pandemic. Many of those deaths could have been preventedHealthcare workers usually bear the brunt of an epidemic. Doctors, nurses and other medical personnel are in constant contact with people who may be infected. The cruel math of such potential exposures, multiplied over and over, inevitably takes a toll.Covid-19 is no exception. Lost on the...

More than 170 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine. Here is their progressResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 170 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue...

Update to long-running study finds screening from age of 40 rather than 50 could save livesScreening women from the age of 40 for breast cancer has the potential to save lives, according to a study that will reopen the debate over the timing as well as the risks and benefits of routine mammograms.A group at Queen Mary University of London looked at data on 160,000 women between the ages of 39 and...

Imperial College home testing programme suggests 13% of Londoners have antibodiesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAbout 3.4 million people in England – 6% of the population – have had Covid-19, with infections more common among members of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, according to the results of a large home antibody testing study.The results from...

I use a ventilation machine at night and by early March, I could see that if I were to catch coronavirus, I’d be in serious troubleTowards the end of last year, I’d just got my life back on track after a long stay in hospital. I was discharged with round-the-clock care that transformed my life.I am disabled and the care package I was on before I was admitted to hospital didn’t provide enough...

The Science Weekly team are taking a summer break – well, some of them – and so we’re bringing you an episode from the archive. And not just any episode, one of Nicola Davis’s favourites. Back in 2017, Nicola sat down with with Dr Kathryn Harkup to discuss a shared love of crime fiction and the chemistry contained within their poisonous plots Continue...