21 articles from SUNDAY 27.9.2020
TikTok's fate in the balance as U.S. judge weighs app store ban
Lawyers for TikTok pleaded with a U.S. federal judge on Sunday to delay the Trump administration's ban of the popular video sharing program from app stores set to take effect at the end of the day, arguing the move would infringe on First Amendment rights and do irreparable harm to the...
The Harvest Moon – a golden globe to welcome the autumn
The closest full moon to the equinox is known as the Harvest Moon as its extra light allowed farmers to work late into the evening to gather the cropsFor those of us in the northern hemisphere, it is the week of the Harvest Moon. This is defined as the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox, which took place last week on 22 September. In the southern hemisphere, the Harvest Moon takes place in...
New rule may strip pollution protections from popular lakes
Nearly 50 years ago, a power company received permission from North Carolina to build a reservoir by damming a creek near the coastal city of Wilmington. It would provide a source of steam to generate electricity and a place to cool hot water from an adjacent coal-fired plant.
UK market flooded with inadequate Covid tests, experts suggest
Lack of clear rules about certification standards may be allowing manufacturers to sell tests based on poor or dodgy dataCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageInadequate tests for Covid-19, based on poor or dodgy data, are proliferating in the UK because there are no clear rules on what companies have to prove before they can sell them, experts believe.The Royal Statistical...
Robert Audley obituary
My former colleague Robert (Bob) Audley, who has died aged 91, was a leading psychologist at University College London (UCL) for more than 30 years and a major contributor to mathematical psychology in the 1950s and 60s. His research involved creating models to explain how people make choices. The work looked at how people take a sequence of samples of their experience until they have sufficient...
Nearly 1M who died of COVID-19 also illuminated treatment
The nearly 1 million people around the world who have lost their lives to COVID-19 have left us a gift: Through desperate efforts to save their lives, scientists now better understand how to treat and prevent the disease — and millions of others may survive. Ming Wang, 71, and his wife were on a cruise from Australia, taking a break after decades of running the family’s Chinese restaurant in...
Our supportive running shoes might counterintuitively make us more prone to injury, new research suggests
Footwear is designed to maximize comfort when walking and running. But modern shoes might do our feet a disservice, weakening them over...
Britain's failure to learn the hard lessons of its first Covid surge is a disaster | William Hanage
Despite now having evidence that test and trace is the only way to fight the virus, the UK has lost control at the crucial moment• Dr William Hanage is professor of the evolution and epidemiology of infectious disease at HarvardBritain is in the grip of an extraordinarily dangerous outbreak of forgetfulness. During the spring, more than 50,000 people died – far more than the yearly total for...
The irresistible lure of island life
What is it about islands which so fascinates, and soothes after time spent in cities?The love of islands is a widespread affliction – why else are we still reading Robinson Crusoe after 300 years? Why Treasure Island? Why after 75 years and over 2,000 episodes are we still listening to Desert Island Discs? From the blessed isles of Tír na nÓg and Thomas More’s Utopia to the island-dramas of...
Canadian astronomers contend with issue of Indigenous consent over Hawaiian telescope project
The Canadian astronomy community has named the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope its top facilities priority for the decade ahead while also recommending the creation of a policy focused on Indigenous consent in a section of its new long range planning...
The aurora borealis didn't cause the Titanic's crash, contrary to a new theory — but it may have affected rescue efforts
Strong northern lights can indicate huge bursts of energy from the sun — solar storms — that interfere with magnetic, electric, and radio...
Residents of a Texas city told not to drink tap water after a brain-eating microbe was found in the water supply
Water tests were conducted in Texas communities after a 6-year-old boy died from a rare brain illness caused by a microbe found in...
'Two-headed beast': China's coal addiction erodes climate goals
China's surprise pledge to slash its carbon footprint to zero by 2060 was met with cautious applause, but fresh spending on coal to rev up a virus-hit economy threatens to nullify its audacious bid to lead the world into a low carbon future.
Final whale saved from grim Australia mass stranding
A lone whale was rescued from among hundreds of carcasses Sunday, taking to 110 the number of creatures that survived a mass stranding in southern Australia.
Covid vaccine tracker: when will a coronavirus vaccine be ready?
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...