28 articles from SUNDAY 31.1.2021

A pandemic that should never be forgotten | Letters

Readers respond to an article by Jonathan Freedland, which suggested that the coronavirus outbreak may quickly fade from collective memoryAs ever, Jonathan Freedland writes more powerfully and movingly than any other commentator (History suggests we may forget the pandemic sooner than we think, 29 January). His appeal for us to find a means of perpetuating some memory of those who died, who were...

Is it possible to change a chicken's sex before it hatches?

Billions of unwanted male chicks are slaughtered by the farming industry. Now a startup claims to have found a surprising solution to the problemThe eggs we eat have a hidden cost. About 7bn male chicks are killed worldwide every year to produce them. Farmers need to replenish their supply of egg-laying hens but, by nature, half the chicks that hatch are male and growing them for meat is...

Israel Covid vaccine data shows extremely low rates of infections

Only 0.04% of people caught virus a week after second dose and 0.002% needed hospital treatmentCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageStudies in Israel have offered tentative optimism on the effectiveness of vaccines in curbing the coronavirus pandemic, with initial data suggesting even the early stages of inoculation campaigns might have marked decreases in both...

I'm an NHS consultant anaesthetist. I see the terror in my Covid patients' eyes

As a hospital consultant working in intensive care, the reality of coronavirus and patients’ fear is brought home to me every dayI’m not ready,” the patient implores me through her CPAP [continuous positive airway pressure] hood. She’s breathing at more than triple her normal rate and I’ve been asked to intubate her as she’s deteriorating, despite three days in intensive care. She is...

The vaccines are safe. We would urge all minority groups to get one

Two politicians from Asian immigrant families seek to reassure every community of the importance of the vaccination rollout Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageLast week, we reached the sombre milestone of 100,000 Covid-19 deaths in the UK. Every death is a tragedy and leaves behind a bereft family, but it is evident some communities have been hit harder than...

Professor Avi Loeb: 'It would be arrogant to think we're alone in the universe'

When Harvard professor Avi Loeb discovered possible signs of extraterrestrial activity, it caused a scandal in the research community. Is fear and conservatism stopping science from considering plausible evidence that there are aliens out there?By the time humanity noticed the object, it was already leaving the galaxy. 19 October 2017. Astronomers at the University of Hawaii notice an odd shape...

What a great shot! Vaccination selfies become the latest social media hit

A new trend has emerged – public figures posting ‘vaxxies’ showing the moment they received their jabCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe latest social media trend involves no ice buckets, no filters and certainly no sea shanties. Now celebrities and politicians around the world are vying to post the best “vaxxies” – selfies of the moment they receive their...

Co-use of alcohol and marijuana and beliefs among teens

New research from the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation examines whether recreational marijuana legalization in Oregon and marijuana and alcohol retail outlet density levels are associated with co-use and beliefs supportive of use of each among teens.

Increasing snow depth prevented wintertime soils from cooling during the warming hiatus

Scientists investigated snow cover along with other direct and indirect soil temperature influences in northeastern China. The research further showed that the increasing snow depth in northeastern China may be the main reason for the continued warming trend in soil temperatures. In addition to the thermal insulation effect of snow cover, the ability for soil to record human changes and...