28 articles from SUNDAY 6.9.2020

Starwatch: follow Jupiter and Saturn to find the sea goat

Capricornus is one of the fainter constellations, but at the moment there are two bright planets pointing the wayThis is the best time of year to search out Capricornus, the goat. It is most often represented on sky maps as the mythical sea-goat, a half-goat half-fish creature. Capricornus is one of the 12 zodiacal constellations, occupying its station between Sagittarius and Aquarius. Continue...

Blaze extinguished on stricken oil tanker off Sri Lanka

A massive fire on a stricken oil tanker off Sri Lanka's coast has been extinguished, the island nation's navy said Sunday, as international salvage experts began to assess the damage over fears of an environmental disaster if there is a leak.

Why people with knee osteoarthritis experience different kinds of pain

People with more pain sensitization were more likely to suffer from constant and unpredictable pain, rather than just intermittent pain. This study has identified for the first time a potential underlying mechanism in the nervous system responsible for why people experience varying pain patterns with knee osteoarthritis.

Common cold jumpstarts defense against influenza

As the flu season approaches, a strained public health system may have a surprising ally -- the common cold virus. Rhinovirus, the most frequent cause of common colds, can prevent the flu virus from infecting airways by jumpstarting the body's antiviral defenses, researchers report.

Prominent scientist slams forestry association for dismissing logging links to bushfire risk

Exclusive: John Dargavel says his professional body ‘damaged and demeaned’ all foresters by dismissing links between logging and bushfire risksA veteran Australian forestry scientist has launched a blistering attack on his professional association after it used the retraction of a scientific paper to dismiss links between logging and increased bushfire risks.In an open letter to the Institute...

Village effort saves those caught short

Public toilets | National anthem | Local poo | Comfort blanket | OverkillThe closure of public toilets has caused a panic, not least for those travelling by car (The Shewee revolution: how 2020 has changed urination, 3 September). When our parish council decided to close the village centre toilets a splendid initiative took them over. Now, they are a pristine facility, funded and run by...

Climate activists gathered at Trient glacier mourn Switzerland's receding ice

Climate activists gathered at Switzerland's Trient glacier on Sunday to urge authorities to take action to reduce CO2 emissions and draw attention to the disappearance of ice shelves and glaciers in the Alps and beyond. More than 200 people gathered at the foot of the Trient glacier, situated along one of Western Europe's tallest mountain ranges, the Mont Blanc massif, to call attention to the...

PTSD insulated me – until I was forced to confront a terrible trauma

It was only when I started collapsing – violently, dangerously – for no apparent reason, that I began to understand the impact of being kidnapped 25 years earlierYou might say the first major fault lines made their appearance just as I arrived at the door of a hard-earned adult-made happiness. It was 1992 and my husband Thomas and I, newly married, were in Paris visiting his sister and her...

Why Facebook’s political-ad ban is taking on the wrong problem

When Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would stop accepting political advertising in the week before the US presidential election, he was responding to widespread fear that social media has outsize power to change the balance of an election.   Political campaigns have long believed that direct voter contact and personalized messaging are effective tools to convince...

Typhoon unleashes rain, strong winds in southern Japan

The second powerful typhoon to slam Japan in a week unleashed fierce winds and rain on southern islands on Sunday, blowing off rooftops and leaving homes without power as it edged northward into an area vulnerable to flooding and mudslides.

Crowds pack beaches as California bakes in weekend heat wave

California is sweltering under a dangerous heat wave Labor Day weekend that was spreading triple-digit temperatures over much of the state, raising concerns about power outages and the spread of the coronavirus as throngs of people packed beaches and mountains for relief.

Sudan declares state of emergency over deadly floods

Sudanese authorities declared their country a natural disaster area and imposed a three-month state of emergency across the country after rising floodwaters and heavy rainfall killed around 100 people and inundated over 100,000 houses since late July.

Why is it that while Covid-19 cases are rising, deaths continue to fall?

There is speculation that the age of those infected is playing a part, while social distancing is also having an impactCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe government’s Covid-19 dashboard shows cases have risen steadily from their lowest point on 1 July when the rolling seven-day average was down to 574. By 30 August it had more than doubled, to 1,402 a day. Yet the...

Let’s get real. No vaccine will work as if by magic, returning us to ‘normal’ | Jeremy Farrar

To dream of imminent solutions is only human. But progress will come from controlled expectationsAt the end of any summer we brace ourselves – for back to school, returning to work and even for Christmas plans. But this year, the reality bump is like no other.As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to reverberate globally, there is no doubt that we must be ready to face a long road ahead, certainly...

Political leaders are raising ‘false hopes’ about coronavirus vaccines

Drugs now under development are unlikely to end the pandemic, the Wellcome Trust’s Jeremy Farrar warnsFinding a vaccine will take time and global cooperationVaccines will not be a silver bullet to end the Covid-19 pandemic and leaders must avoid creating false hope, a key government adviser has warned.Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, writes in today’s Observer that the first...

Coronavirus live news: Melbourne lockdown extended; anti-mask protests held in Europe

State premier Daniel Andrews extends lockdown by two weeks; Victoria reports 63 new cases and five deaths; thousands attend protests against coronavirus measures in Croatia and Italy. Follow the latest updatesWhy Australia’s Covid jobs crisis could last yearsMelbourne stage 4 coronavirus lockdown extended for two weeksCovid-19 ‘could be endemic in deprived parts of England’Kamala Harris says...

COVID-19 patients suffer long-term lung and heart damage but it can improve with time

Two studies on COVID-19 to be presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress show that 1) coronavirus patients can suffer long-term lung and heart damage but, for many, this tends to improve over time (findings from first, prospective follow-up of COVID-19 patients); 2) the sooner COVID-19 patients started a pulmonary rehabilitation programme after coming off ventilators, the...

Thyroid inflammation linked to anxiety disorders

Patients with autoimmune inflammation of their thyroid may be at greater risk of developing anxiety, according to a study being presented at e-ECE 2020. The study found that people with anxiety may also have inflammation in their thyroid gland that can be reduced by taking the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, ibuprofen. These findings suggest that thyroid function may play an important role in the...