Lessons from other parts of the world show we should lock down early, rely on evidence – and get used to wearing masksVictoria and Melbourne trend mapVic hotspots list; Australia interactive; NSW trend mapMelbourne’s stage 4 rules; Victoria’s ‘step 3’ rulesSign up for Guardian Australia’s Covid emailAs Victoria reaches the end of its second wave of the coronavirus, the focus is now on...

Art gives way to science in yet another sport. But won’t we all lose out when the magic is gone?Bryson DeChambeau sounds like a character from a novel, one perhaps set on the Côte d’Azur in the 1930s, a raffish figure with a taste for the high life. He is, in fact, a 27-year-old golfer from California, and the only high life that interests him is the flight of a golf ball, which when hit by...

Researchers around the world are training canines to sniff out the virus – could they be deployed for mass testing?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt is simple and pain-free, could be used to test for coronavirus in care homes, airports and schools, and might just be more realistic than the UK government’s £100bn “Operation Moonshoot” mass screening plan. Its...

Researchers will test length of time virus stays infectious in different climatic conditionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt is the question scientists around the world are trying to answer: how long can the coronavirus survive in the tiny aerosol particles we exhale? In a high-security lab near Bristol, entered through a series of airlock doors, scientists may be...

Analysis suggests too little attention is paid to gender disparities in medical trialsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHistorically, medical research has often taken a one-size-fits-all approach, lumping women and men together despite growing evidence that the sexes differ in how they catch and fight disease.A stark example was the heart drug digoxin, which was widely...

Once watering holes for mammoth and elk, Herefordshire’s neglected ancient ponds are being restored Ecologist Will Watson is hunting for Britain’s largest blood-sucking leech in a 14,000-year-old pond in Herefordshire. The elusive medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis), grows up to 20cm long and has only officially been recorded three times in the county in the past two decades. In the ice age...

Coronavirus cases in France jump to record high as Spanish government calls for Madrid lockdownCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe number of new Covid-19 cases in France has jumped to a record high, while in Spain, the western European country hardest hit by the virus, the Madrid authorities have rejected the central government’s call for a lockdown across the...

Side-effects of bexarotene rule out use but trial suggests other drugs may halt multiple sclerosisDoctors believe they are closer to a treatment for multiple sclerosis after discovering a drug that repairs the coatings around nerves that are damaged by the disease.A clinical trial of the cancer drug bexarotene showed that it repaired the protective myelin sheaths that MS destroys. The loss of...

US scientists believe virus is mutating, becoming more contagious; 100 cases in Reykjavík linked to two French visitorsRio cancels Carnival for first time in a century as global deaths near 1mWhat lessons can Europe learn from Sweden’s Covid-19 experience?Helsinki airport enlists sniffer dogs to detect CovidMarseille fury at Paris decree to shut its bars amid record case riseUK coronavirus...

More than 170 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine. Here is their progress Researchers 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...