40 articles from SATURDAY 21.11.2020

Boris Johnson under pressure as scientists back tight rules for Christmas

PM set to announce end to lockdown before trying to broker national agreement on family gatheringsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson will meet his cabinet remotely on Sunday to decide how people will be able to gather with loved ones at Christmas, before the announcement of a new Covid winter plan.The prime minister, who is self-isolating, will then confirm...

'Endometriosis made zero sense to me': what will it take to stop women suffering needlessly?

Doctors behind new Australian guidelines for treatment of the painful disease say they are hampered by a lack of quality scientific evidenceProf Jason Abbott’s interest in gynaecology was piqued in the early 1990s when he treated a significant number of women complaining of troubling symptoms including – but not limited to – pelvic pain, fatigue, heavy bleeding, painful sex and painful bowel...

NASA, US and European Partners Launch Mission to Monitor Global Ocean

Portal origin URL: NASA, US and European Partners Launch Mission to Monitor Global OceanPortal origin nid: 466378Published: Saturday, November 21, 2020 - 12:55Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: A joint U.S.-European satellite built to monitor global sea levels lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force...

Meave Leakey: 'Definitely, Africa is where it all began'

The renowned fossil hunter on the anti-African prejudice in palaeontology, her dream discovery, and bathing her daughter beside a baby hippoFor over 50 years, British-born palaeoanthropologist Meave Leakey has been unearthing fossils of our early ancestors in Kenya’s Turkana Basin. Her discoveries have changed how we think about our origins. Instead of a tidy ape-to-human progression, her work...

Science reveals secrets of a mummy's portrait

How much information can you get from a speck of purple pigment, no bigger than the diameter of a hair, plucked from an Egyptian portrait that's nearly 2,000 years old? Plenty, according to a new study. Analysis of that speck can teach us about how the pigment was made, what it's made of - and maybe even a little about the people who made it.

Folding of SARS-CoV2 genome reveals drug targets -- and preparation for 'SARS-CoV3'

Researchers report having observed the RNA folding structures of the SARS-CoV2 genome with which the virus controls the infection process. Since these structures are very similar among various beta corona viruses, the scientists not only laid the foundation for the targeted development of novel drugs for treating COVID-19, but also for future occurrences of infection with new corona viruses that...

Bodies of man and his slave unearthed from ashes at Pompeii

Skeletal remains of what are believed to have been a rich man and his male slave attempting to escape death from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago have been discovered in Pompeii, officials at the archaeological park in Italy said Saturday.

Rise to the challenge: my very own bake off | Emma Beddington

For many, baking is therapeutic. But is cooking along with Bake Off really such a good idea?An acquaintance speculated recently that we would only realise after the fact what kind of mad we went during the pandemic, but I already know: I became Bake Off mad.I used to love baking, especially the showy kind where you produce something slightly flashy to a chorus of coos of admiration. Mine almost...

Independent Sage scientists to join climate crisis battle

Sir David King’s temporary organisation, formed in response to government’s Covid policy failings, will fight onIt began in the summer when a group of scientists decided to give the government a short, sharp lesson on how to use scientific advice in a transparent manner when tackling Covid-19. Once they had done that, the men and women of the Independent Sage organisation intended to...

Michael J Fox: ‘Every step now is a frigging math problem, so I take it slow’

After living with Parkinson’s for 30 years, the actor still counts himself a lucky man. He reflects on what his diagnosis has taught him about hope, acting, family and medical breakthroughsThe last time I spoke to Michael J Fox, in 2013, in his office in New York, he was 90% optimistic and 10% pragmatic. The former I expected; the latter was a shock. Ever since 1998, when Fox went public with...

After Trump fires CISA’s director, the agency is poised to become even more powerful

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump fired Chris Krebs, who was one of the government’s most senior cybersecurity officials. Trump fired him—by tweet—because Krebs had thoroughly debunked election disinformation, much of which came from the White House itself. Trump had appointed Krebs director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in 2017. CISA is charged...

Accelerator makes cross-country trek to enable laser upgrade

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has shipped the final new section of accelerator that it has built for an upgrade of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). The section of accelerator, called a cryomodule, has begun a cross-country road trip to DOE's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where it will be installed in LCLS-II, the world's...

‘It was a total invasion’: the virus that came back from the dead

In 1978, a photographer at a Birmingham lab fell ill with smallpox, prompting a race against time to prevent an epidemic. Does the outbreak carry lessons for Covid-19? Sally Williams reportsOn Friday 11 August 1978, Janet Parker was getting ready for work when her head started to pound. She thought she was coming down with flu: she felt sore all over. But she had lots to do that day, so her...

Streaming: Proxima and the rise of female astronaut movies

Eva Green’s career-best performance as a single-mother astronaut is an ideal launchpad for a look at cosmic adventurers from Jane Fonda to Juliette BinocheFor too long in the movies – as in life – space exploration was presented as a boy’s realm: brave, lantern-jawed men soaring off to the final frontier while their wives waited and fretted on terra firma. A recent spate of films and TV...

Covid vaccine technology pioneer: 'I never doubted it would work'

Katalin Karikó’s mRNA research helped pave way for Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna’s successful workCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Hungarian-born biochemist who helped pioneer the research behind the mRNA technology used in the two Covid-19 vaccines showing positive results believes it was always a no-brainer.“I never doubted it would work,” Katalin Karikó...

Bite-size view of brain space

A new study adds another layer to the remarkable evolutionary transition of life from water to land on Earth.The international study of the prehistoric 'relic' tetrapods, including salamander and lobe-finned lungfish and coelacanths, adds another perspective to the evolution of other four-legged land animals, including related animals such as frogs and reptiles which live in both terrestrial and...

From lab to industry? Ideally ordered porous titania films, made at scale

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have realized high-throughput production of thin, ordered through-hole membranes of titanium dioxide. Titania layers were grown using anodization on mask-etched titanium before being crystallized. Applying a second anodization, they converted part of the layer back to an amorphous state. The amorphous portion was then selectively dissolved to free the...

Researchers develop more efficient method to recover heavy oil

The current global supply of crude oil is expected to meet demand through 2050, but there may be a few more drops to squeeze out. By making use of a previously undesired side effect in oil recovery, researchers have developed a method that yields up to 20% more heavy oil than traditional methods. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) team published their results on August 24 in...

Screening may bypass one-quarter of child abuse cases

Up to one-quarter of people who suffer child sexual abuse might be passed over for treatment because of current screening procedures, according to UC Riverside psychology researchers. Their just-published study also finds that whether survivors of child sexual abuse identify themselves as abuse survivors influences the outcomes they experience in young adulthood. The study surveyed 2,195...

Coronavirus live news: Brazil passes 6m cases as South Australia reports new case

Donald Trump Jr tests positive for Covid; South Australia makes pizza worker scapegoat for failures; German doctor arrested on suspicion of killing two Covid patients. Follow latest updatesDonald Trump Jr tests positive for coronavirusUS records highest number of daily coronavirus deaths since MayNHS could start using vaccine next month, says HancockTrials to begin in UK for antibody cocktail drug...

Trials to begin in UK for Covid antibody cocktail drug treatment

Scientists say jab could be used to protect those who cannot be given vaccines Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMajor trials will begin this weekend of an antibody cocktail that scientists hope will protect people against Covid-19 and could be swiftly used in care homes or on cruise ships in the event of an outbreak.A UK volunteer will be given the first dose of a drug...