Scientists use powerful new instrument in outback WA to map three million galaxies in 300 hours, unlocking deepest secrets of the universe A powerful new telescope developed by Australian scientists has mapped three million galaxies in record speed, unlocking the universe’s deepest secrets.The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (Askap) broke records as it conducted its first survey of...

The solutions to today’s puzzlesEarlier today I set you the following chess-themed conundrums:1. The quintet of queens. Continue reading...

Increase in women being diagnosed with depression partly behind rise in useAn increase in women being diagnosed with depression is partly behind a significant rise in prescriptions of the antidepressant sertraline – sold under the brand name Zoloft – which is in the list of Australia’s most commonly prescribed drugs for the first time.On Tuesday Australian Prescriber published its annual...

Program solves scientific problem in ‘stunning advance’ for understanding machinery of lifeHaving risen to fame on its superhuman performance at playing games, the artificial intelligence group DeepMind has cracked a serious scientific problem that has stumped researchers for half a century.With its latest AI program, AlphaFold, the company and research laboratory showed it can predict how...

More than 300,000 farmers head to capital for ‘decisive battle’ with governmentHundreds of thousands of Indian farmers have marched upon Delhi and set up vast camps blocking entry into the city in protest at agriculture laws they say will destroy livelihoods.More than 300,000 farmers marched from the states of Punjab and Haryana – on foot and in convoys of tractors – at the weekend to...

Our success with mass flu vaccination bodes well for getting Covid-19 under controlCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe first death from Covid-19 was confirmed on 11 January 2020. In less than a year, we have not one but three promising vaccines. Subject to regulatory approval, the focus will be on the next phase: getting the frontrunner vaccines to the people who need...

US company submits data kickstarting approval process with regulators around the worldCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFinal results from the trials of Moderna’s vaccine against Covid-19 confirm it has 94% efficacy and nobody who was vaccinated with it developed severe disease, says the company, kickstarting the approval process with regulators around the world.The...

George Eustice says up to 100 Tory MPs have concerns over post-lockdown tier systemCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageUp to 100 Conservative MPs are concerned at England’s new coronavirus tiers, meaning the government may have to rely on Labour votes to get the system approved by parliament, the UK environment secretary, George Eustice, has said.Amid increasing Tory...

Puzzles to have you in piecesThanks to the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, chess is having a moment. Today’s three puzzles are in homage to world-class female players, both fictitious and real.1. A quintet of queens. Continue reading...

Turkey suffers seventh straight day of record deaths; Lebanon to slowly relax restrictions; New York begins reopening schools. Fauci warns of ‘surge upon surge’ in US cases after ThanksgivingLife after Covid: will our world ever be the same?A year after Wuhan alarm, China seeks to change Covid origin storySee all our coronavirus coverage 12.53am GMT China reported 18 new Covid-19 cases on Nov....

The brightest star in this ancient constellation is Capella, a yellow giant just 43 light years awayThis week, use one of the most prominent winter constellations to find one of the fainter ones. The constellation we are searching for is Auriga, the charioteer. It is an ancient constellation, having been among the 48 listed by Ptolemy in the second century AD. The easiest way to find Auriga at...

A retreat for grieving parents provides therapeutic benefits, writes a mother whose daughter was stillborn 22 years agoAfter my daughter Grace died when I was eight months pregnant, my first impulse was to write it all down: the birth, surrounded by candles; the coffin and funeral where there should have been a christening; how her death had been accompanied by snowdrops fighting their way through...

Months after coming down with the virus, Eleanor Morgan is still struggling with ‘long Covid’. What is it and how can the burden be eased?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageOne night in early March, I had a fever that reminded me of being a child. My pyjama top stuck to me with sweat, my joints ached and, at some point, the walls looked like they were breathing. The...

Four-letter words were once rebellious and cool, but the denizens of the finance sector have put paid to thatDoes Prince Charles ever swear at his plants, I wonder. Somehow I doubt it. We all know he talks to them, of course, because he said so in an interview in 1986 when discussing his garden. “I just come and talk to the plants, really,” he said. “Very important to talk to them. They...

Trials will not reveal all the facts on prevention for each new drug – that process could last for yearsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIn a few days, researchers plan to solve a medical mystery that threatens to erupt into a major transatlantic battle. Scientists at Oxford University say they intend to publish full, peer-reviewed data, in the journal Lancet, about...

UK business minister to take on additional role as NHS prepares for mass deploymentCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageNadhim Zahawi, minister for business and industry, has been placed in charge of overseeing the deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine, Downing Street has announced.No 10 said the Stratford-on-Avon MP would take on the role until at least next summer. Continue...

Prof Neil Ferguson says relaxing coronavirus restrictions for five days ‘will increase transmission’ Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe scientist whose modelling led to the first UK lockdown has said the decision over whether to see elderly relatives over Christmas comes down to “individual judgment”, warning that the relaxed measures during the five-day...

US surpasses 13m Covid cases as experts urge caution over Thanksgiving weekend; Trudeau previously warned country would not get first doses; Italy to ease measures in five regionsHospitals in England told to prepare for vaccine rollout in 10 days’ timeHow an anti-lockdown ‘truthpaper’ bypasses online factcheckersCovid-19 infections ‘could easily double’ over Christmas, Sage experts say...

Those with conditions such as blood, bone or lung cancer put in same category on interim guidance list as over-70sCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePeople at very high risk of contracting coronavirus due to health problems, who were made to shield during the pandemic, have been given the same priority as the over-70s to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.People aged 18 or older...

Painting of astrophysicist joins male-dominated collection at organisation’s London HQA British astrophysicist who made one of the most significant scientific discoveries of the 20th century but was overlooked by the Nobel prize committee has joined the male-dominated portrait collection of the Royal Society.Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was a 24-year-old graduate student when in 1967 she discovered...

Modelling was presented to government before decision to allow three-household festive ‘bubbles’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageCovid-19 infections could double over Christmas, scientists advising the government have said.The warning comes in the latest tranche of files from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). The documents were presented to...

Scientists hope remains, thought to be up to 5,000 years old, will deepen knowledge of whale species and of rising sea levelsA whale skeleton thought to be up to 5,000 years old has been discovered, almost perfectly preserved, by researchers in Thailand.The skeleton, believed to be a Bryde’s whale, was found in Samut Sakhon, west of Bangkok. Researchers have excavated 80% of the remains and have...

Plan hatched by new ‘Union unit’ to counter rise in Scottish nationalismCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDowning Street tried to get doses of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine labelled with an image of the union jack, it has emerged, as scientists and statisticians raised more questions over the press release that proclaimed the trial’s...

Head of MHRA has ‘devoted whole life to public health’, says former colleagueCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIn the summer of 2019, Dr June Raine seemed close to finally putting her feet up. At 67, she was director of the vigilance and risk management of medicines at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, a role that is roughly as important and...