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10 articles from Guardian Unlimited Science

Terrawatch: dust is speeding up melting of Himalayan snow

Human activities are increasing wind-blown dust, depleting crucial freshwater supplyHimalayan snow and ice is diminishing fast. Global heating is certainly playing a significant role, but now a recent study in Nature Climate Change reveals that wind-blown dust is worsening the melting effect.Winter snowfall and spring snowmelt provide more than half of the annual freshwater needs of around 700...

Scientists hail earwax test for checking stress hormone levels

Researchers say cortisol sampling technique could transform diagnostics for people with depressionA test that uses earwax to measure levels of the stress hormone cortisol could “transform diagnostics and care for millions of people with depression or stress-related conditions”, scientists have said.The researchers believe the test, which can be done at home without clinical supervision, may...

Rich states' Covid deals 'may deprive poor of vaccine for years'

Wealthy countries already have agreements for 3.73bn doses, with another 5m under negotiation, study findsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGovernments in predominantly wealthy countries are negotiating to buy nearly 8.8bn doses of prospective Covid-19 vaccines in a “frenzy of deals” that could mean many poor countries would not get access to immunisation until at...

Pests, pathogens and pandemics: Australia's biosecurity needs an overhaul, CSIRO warns

Covid-19 crisis offers ‘unique opportunity to make transformational changes’Australia’s biosecurity needs a major overhaul within a decade to protect people, environments and industries from a wave of invasive pests, pathogens and future pandemics, a CSIRO report has found.Interceptions of materials that were a biosecurity risk – such as insects, soils and plants – rose by 50% between...

UK coronavirus live: SNP fury at lack of firm commitment on furlough funding; 978 deaths in England in one week

Latest updates: SNP’s Treasury spokesperson calls Treasury measures ‘clear as mud’; latest ONS figures show rise in Covid deathsEngland lockdown will end on 2 December, Johnson insistsSharma faces safety questions as staff member tests positive£45m deal for NHS masks collapses amid fraud claimsMinisters add to confusion over England lockdown rulesGlobal coronavirus updates - live 2.03pm GMT...

Coronavirus live news: rule-breaking prompts new Paris curfew threat; hundreds of thousands of Germans in quarantine

German health minister says country at decisive phase; French government frustrated at rule breaking amid spiralling cases £45m deal for NHS masks in England collapses amid fraud claimsChina writes Covid response propaganda into school curriculumLatest coronavirus lockdowns spark protests across EuropeUK coronavirus latest - live 1.27pm GMT Around 85,000 more people have claimed temporary...

Birx warns US entering ‘deadly phase’ of Covid, contradicting Trump’s message

Deborah Birx says ‘we are entering the most concerning and most deadly phase’ as Trump claims US is ‘rounding the corner’White House scientific adviser Dr Deborah Birx warned the United States is entering a new “deadly phase” of the coronavirus pandemic, and urged an “aggressive” approach to containing its spread.Birx gave the warning in a written memo delivered to top...

China changes school curriculum to reflect Beijing's positive Covid narrative

Content added to classes will say the state ‘always put the life and safety of its people first’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageChinese government-endorsed content about the pandemic and the “fighting spirit” of the country’s response will be added to school curriculum, the country’s ministry of education has said, in a move to enshrine the country’s...

Covid-19: How do you make a vaccine? – podcast

With any future Covid-19 vaccine requiring its manufacturing process to be signed off as part of its regulatory approval for use on the general population, Madeleine Finlay talks to Dr Stephen Morris from the Future Vaccine Manufacturing Research Hub about how vaccines are made at the volume and speed required for a mass vaccination programme Continue...

Covid-related cybercrime drives attacks on UK to record number

Criminal gangs target NHS while hostile states hit vaccine research, says cybersecurity centreBritain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has dealt with 194 coronavirus-related incidents involving hostile states and criminal gangs, which led to the overall number of serious hacker attacks reaching an all time record of 723 over the past year.The intelligence unit said that while Russia and...