51 articles from SATURDAY 3.10.2020

Deadly storm barrels across France, Italy

Two people died and 30 others were missing on Saturday after storms lashed southern France and northern Italy, with roads and bridges damaged or destroyed and thousands left without power.

Better weather won't keep California from grim fire landmark

Red flag warnings of extreme fire danger subsided, but warm and dry weather continued to challenge firefighters battling more than two dozen blazes across California on Saturday as the state approaches an astonishing milestone: 4 million acres burned by wildfires this year.

'Just so hard': how Melbourne's medical staff took on the Covid wave

With dozens dying each day and staff shortages, doctors and nurses banded together, treated and even carried out researchThere is only one Covid-19 patient left in Melbourne’s St Vincent’s hospital, where intensive care physician Dr Barry Dixon works. He still finds it hard not to focus on the bad days he experienced during the peak of Victoria’s second wave when upwards of 60 patients were...

Anti-Covid treatments being given to Trump are still unproven, say experts

Neither remdesivir nor REGN-COV2 have completed large-scale randomised trials, say UK scientistsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageScientists still lack conclusive proof that the two anti-Covid drugs given to Donald Trump are clinically effective.UK researchers point out that both medicines – remdesivir and REGN-COV2 – have still to complete the large-scale,...

Egypt unveils 59 ancient coffins in major archaeological discovery

Egypt on Saturday put on show dozens of coffins belonging to priests and clerks from the 26th dynasty nearly 2,500 years ago, with archaeologists saying tens more were found in the vast Saqqara necropolis just days ago. The 59 coffins were discovered in August at the UNESCO world heritage site south of Cairo, buried in three 10-12 meter shafts along with 28 statues of the ancient Egyptian God...

At the Edge of Time, a Litter of Galactic Puppies

Astronomers announced on Thursday that they had discovered a giant black hole surrounded by a litter of young protogalaxies that date to the early universe -- the beginning of time.The black hole, which powers a quasar known as SDSS J1030+0524, weighed in at a billion solar masses when the universe was only 900 million years old. It and its brood, the astronomers said, represented the infant core...

Egypt reveals 59 ancient coffins found near Saqqara pyramids

Egypt’s tourism and antiquities minster said on Saturday archaeologists have unearthed dozens of ancient coffins in a vast necropolis south of Cairo. Khalid el-Anany said at least 59 sealed sarcophagi, with mummies inside most of them, were found that had been buried in three wells more than 2,600 years ago. The sarcophagi have been displayed and one of them was opened before reporters to show...

Surge of Covid cases in London health workers sparks fear of spread on wards

Scientists concerned that soaring infection rates in capital’s care homes and hospitals may be occurring in other UK regionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageCovid infection rates among doctors, nurses, and other hospital and care home staff have risen more than fivefold over the past month in London, scientists have discovered. The figures – provided by the Francis...

Subsidized cars help low-income families economically, socially

For one low-income woman, not having a car meant long commutes on public transit with her children in tow, sometimes slogging through cold or inclement weather. But after buying a subsidized car through a Maryland-based nonprofit, she was able to move to a home located farther from bus stops, send her children to better schools and reach less expensive medical services.

UK hospitals already using Trump antibody drug, says expert

Oxford University professor says experimental treatment is promising and ‘very potent’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe experimental coronavirus drug that Donald Trump is receiving is in use in a small number of UK hospitals, according to an Oxford University professor.The US president was given an artificial antibody treatment at the White House on Friday after...

Nobel Prizes and COVID-19: Slow, basic science may pay off

While the world wants flashy quick fixes for everything, especially massive threats like the coronavirus and global warming, next week's Nobel Prizes remind us that in science, slow and steady pays off. Science builds upon previous work, with thinkers “standing on the shoulders of giants," as Isaac Newton put it, and it starts with basic research aimed at understanding a problem before fixing...

What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19?

The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, and prevent them from spreading it to others. Health experts say contact tracing is key to containing the virus and allowing places to reopen more safely. The focus is on close contacts, or people who were within 6 feet of the infected person for at least 10 minutes or...

Astronaut Tim Peake: ‘Coming home was a harsh transition. Gravity sucks!’

Four years after leaving orbit, and with a second mission on the horizon, how is life on Earth for the first Briton to walk in space?• Read an exclusive extract from Limitless, Tim Peake’s autobiography When the astronaut Tim Peake was living aboard the International Space Station (ISS) back in 2016 – he was the first Briton ever to do so – he got into the habit of taking his toothbrush to...

‘A crash could have left us rolling through space': an extract from Tim Peake’s autobiography

The British astronaut describes a close call on arriving at the International Space Station• ‘Coming home was a harsh transition. Gravity sucks!’: read an interview with Tim Peake Yuri Malenchenko is one of the most accomplished Russian cosmonauts in history. By December 2015 he is already the veteran of five separate missions and has logged just over 641 days in orbit, which means he has...

Coronavirus live news: Trump in hospital after Covid diagnosis as ex-aide Kellyanne Conway tests positive

World Health Organization gives green light to second test that gives results in up to 30 minutes; Melbourne cluster growsWhite House doctor: president is ‘fatigued but in good spirits’Trump’s symptoms include low-grade fever and cough, reports sayBiden: Trump’s test ‘bracing reminder’ to ‘take this virus seriously’Biden and his wife test negative for coronavirus 5.13am BST Back to...