Research suggests that changes in air pressure can cause changes in brain volume, in humans as well as in animalsA study by New England researchers looks at how weather and season influence brain size, comparing over three thousand MRI scans and finding small but distinct effects. “Basically, on a stormy day or in the winter, the cerebellum is larger than normal, while the rest of the brain is...

The best wildlife pictures from around the world, from golden frogs to homebound birds Continue reading...

Sage experts say poor quarantine compliance is also bringing virus into countryCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGovernment scientists have warned of a “developing situation” over people bringing coronavirus into the UK after travelling abroad and returning home without being tested.People who travel overseas are required to quarantine for two weeks on their return...

Test, which is only offered to children in British Columbia, involves gargling saline solution and spitting it into a tubeAuthorities in Canada have unveiled a new non-invasive coronavirus test which avoids the need for intrusive nasal swabs, in a development which they hope will making testing easier and more accessible for students as they return to schools.The new testing method, unveiled...

Up to half the world’s population may have natural immunity to coronavirus, writes Prof Moin Saleem. Plus Dr David Grimes on the evidence that vitamin D provides some protectionYour article (‘Confounding’: Covid may have already peaked in many African countries, 16 September) hints that there may be natural immunity in African countries where Covid-19 has settled down. This is likely to be...

What are the new restrictions coming in on Tuesday and whom do they apply to?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageTougher coronavirus restrictions have been announced in large parts of north-west England, West Yorkshire and the Midlands from Tuesday, as the UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, refused to rule out a national lockdown in the face of surging infections.But with...

Scientists tracking the virus have uncovered a major mutation, but it may not be as scary as it sounds Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageScientists have had eyes on Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, since the beginning of this pandemic.They can see it is evolving, but it is happening at a glacial pace compared with two other viruses with pandemic potential:...

Neuropharmacologist who searched for new gateways for drugs to treat the brain and mindAfflictions of the mind and brain, from stroke to schizophrenia, remain among the most challenging to treat, even after more than half a century of discoveries about the brain’s biochemistry and how it responds to drugs. The neuropharmacologist Leslie Iversen, who has died aged 82, devoted his career to making...

A scientific report in July made several recommendations to avoid a resurgence. We look at the government responseIn mid-July, an Academy of Medical Sciences report urged the government to use the remainder of the summer to prepare for a second wave of coronavirus during the winter.Commissioned by the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, the 79-page study warned that a...

Health secretary Matt Hancock refuses to rule out second national lockdown as ‘last line of defence’ ‘Circuit break’ plans for England to prevent new lockdownUK test and trace ‘barely functional’ as 11 million face lockdownNHS worker attacked on London bus in Covid mask row, say policeGlobal coronavirus updates – live 10.34am BST The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told LBC that Cobra...

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...

Songwriter uses new material to condemn UK government, scientists and celebritiesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageVan Morrison has described the British government as “fascist bullies disturbing our peace” in one of three new tracks he has written to protest against safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.On No More Lockdown, Morrison sings: Continue...

Noxious nettles with venom similar to that of scorpions are helping scientists understand pain and how to control itAustralia is home to some of the world’s most dangerous wildlife. Anyone who spends time outdoors in eastern Australia is wise to keep an eye out for snakes, spiders, swooping birds, crocodiles, deadly cone snails and tiny toxic jellyfish.But what not everybody knows is that even...

Victoria reports 45 new cases and five more deaths as NSW announces six cases; Queensland will reopen border to ACT residents from 25 September. Follow liveFollow our global coronavirus live blogFlight caps fight looms at national cabinet as Morrison pledges pandemic health funding‘A moment of cheer’: 100-year-old Victorian man leaves hospital after surviving coronavirus fight‘I volunteered...

Lopsided sourdough, cupboards full of toilet paper, or matching trackpants. What does your Australia 2020 scrapbook look like?There will be, for most of us living in Melbourne, no holiday snaps to memorialise this year. No big weddings. No gathering of old friends at the comedy festival. Instead our lives, for much of the past six months, have been spent inside our homes and nodding politely to...

Physicist Ivan Maksymov and applied mathematician Andriy Pototsky placed worms on subwoofer in ‘what if’ momentBlasting a speaker to move garden worms in a regional Victorian backyard might sound more like a high school science experiment than a breakthrough in neuroscience.What started as an exercise in curiosity of two academics from Melbourne’s Swinburne University has found vibrations...

Suitable for clinics but not homes, the DnaNudge test is unlikely to fulfil the government’s ‘Moonshot’ testing goalsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA rapid test for coronavirus made by DnaNudge that was said by ministers to be part of a grand plan to deliver millions of tests in England, works well in hospitals but will not scale up to help the government’s...