40 articles from SATURDAY 24.10.2020

Crews vacuum 'murder hornets' out of Washington nest

Heavily protected crews in Washington state worked Saturday to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets discovered in the United States. The state Agriculture Department had spent weeks searching, trapping and using dental floss to tie tracking devices to Asian giant hornets, which can deliver painful stings to people and spit venom but are the biggest threat to honeybees that farmers...

Interactive: see how your favourite dog breeds are related to each other

The origin of modern dogs lies tens of thousands of years ago, but how does a wolf become a pomeranian?Now renowned as a steady family pet, the labradoodle was invented in the 90s to be a low-allergen seeing-eye dog. The breed’s recent origin and portmanteau name makes it rather obvious that labradors and poodles were blended in the creation of the labradoodle. But what about the other 400 or so...

Resting places for Boeing’s moon rovers win Washington state landmark status

Three spots on the moon are now official Washington state historic landmarks, thanks to a unanimous vote by a state commission. The thumbs-up, delivered on Friday during a virtual public hearing organized by the Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, provided state landmark status to the rovers that Boeing built during the 1960s at its facilities in Kent, Wash., and that NASA...

How to stop being a people pleaser

Do you find it hard to say no? Are you always trying to second guess what someone else wants you to do? It’s time you learned to stop being so eager to please“Can you come to this meeting?” No. “Yes.”“Are you free on Saturday night?” No, I’m watching Spiral. “Yes.” Continue...

In Colorado, It Feels Like a Fire Season Without End

GRANBY, Colo. -- "Pray for snow," is the refrain every autumn across Colorado's high country as people wait for blizzards to blanket ski slopes, recharge reservoirs and bring in the wintertime tourists.But on Friday, people were praying for the snow to save their homes. It was their only hope for relief from a spree of late-season wildfires that have choked skies with smoke and sent...

Drug companies shouldn’t play favorites in granting access to experimental covid-19 treatments

In the past month, US President Donald Trump and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie were diagnosed with covid-19 and spent time in the hospital, just like tens of thousands of other Americans nearly every day since the pandemic began. But Trump and Christie were special cases. They received experimental covid-19 treatments that are not readily available to the general public. They have...

Neil Ferguson: easing Covid rules for Christmas is 'political judgment'

The scientist whose modelling influenced the UK-wide lockdown says family meetups ‘risk some transmission’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe scientist whose modelling led to the original UK lockdown has said it would be a political judgment whether restrictions on households mixing should be relaxed over Christmas.Prof Neil Ferguson said policymakers would have...

Boris Johnson is learning that in politics you cannot simply 'follow the science'

The prime minister is trying to pretend that nakedly political decisions are driven by data. But almost no one buys itWhat happened to following the science? In the spring, when Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers were proceeding in lockstep, there was no disagreement about the necessity of shutting the country down. Now the government is coming to its own conclusions about what is needed,...

Coronavirus live news: Vaccine trial restarts as cluster worsens in Victoria, Australia

Dr Fauci says White House task force meeting less despite rising infection rates; WHO warns of ‘exponential’ rise in cases. Follow updates 7.05am BST Thailand reported one more locally transmitted case of the coronavirus on Saturday, after confirming five domestic infections last week.The new patient is a 57-year-old French woman in the southern province of Surat Thani who tested positive for...

UK could be urged to keep windows open in effort to curb Covid-19

Scientists call for information campaign as evidence on role of poor ventilation mountsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBritons could be urged to throw open the windows in an effort to keep coronavirus at bay as scientists call for a public information campaign to stress the importance of ventilation in reducing its spread.A paper by the Environmental and Modelling...

Cause of Alzheimer's disease traced to mutation in common enzyme

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered a new mechanism by which clumps of tau protein are created in the brain, killing brain cells and causing Alzheimer's disease. A specific mutation to an enzyme called MARK4 changed the properties of tau, usually an important part of the skeletal structure of cells, making it more likely to aggregate, and more insoluble. Getting to grips...