More than 10,000 people have died on average every day in the past week, according to latest figuresCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAt least 1.5 million lives across the globe have been lost to Covid-19, according to a tally of cases maintained by Johns Hopkins University, as vaccinations look set to be rolled out in a handful of nations this month.Reuters reported...

Footage released by the National Science Foundation shows the moment a huge radio telescope collapsed in Puerto Rico on Tuesday. The Arecibo Observatory played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a century but had been scheduled for demolition because of pre-existing damage. The telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform fell on to the reflector dish more than 400ft...

Chang’e-5 spacecraft carrying first samples of lunar rock since Soviet space mission in 1976A Chinese space probe has left the surface of the moon to return to Earth, bringing with it the first samples of lunar rock to be collected in four decades.China has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022 and eventually sending humans to...

It’s safe, it works, and it gives a tantalising glimpse of what else might be achieved given sufficient political willDr Charlotte Summers is a lecturer in intensive care medicine at the University of CambridgeMost of us have had endured some very dark days in 2020, whether trying to juggle working from home alongside schooling children, worrying about how to pay the bills as a consequence of...

Images will enable scientists to measure the acceleration of the solar system and the mass of the galaxyAstronomers have unveiled the most precise 3D map yet of the Milky Way, an achievement that promises to shed fresh light on the workings of the galaxy and the mysteries of the broader universe.The vast electronic atlas was compiled from data gathered by the European Space Agency’s Gaia...

Education secretary lauds vaccine rollout saying scientists in UK better than in France, Belgium or USCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has claimed the UK was the first country in the world to clinically approve a coronavirus vaccine because the country has “much better” scientists than France, Belgium or the US.Williamson...

Wildlife recordist Chris Watson and sound artist Prof Tony Myatt conclude their three-part odyssey to the west coast of Mexico to record the songs of blue whales in the Sea of Cortez. In the port of Loreto, Chris and Tony visit a local organisation set up to protect local wildlife, and Chris talks to whale communication expert Dr Valeria Vergara. They also turn to spectral analysis to see if they...

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing was 94 and served as France’s leader from 1974 to 1981; Lilly to supply 650,000 more doses of bamlanivimab to US government; Spain caps parties at 10 peopleFormer French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing dies aged 94Beware fake coronavirus vaccines, says InterpolRural US hospitals ravaged by surge in casesUS braces for Covid surge after Thanksgiving holidaysDozens...