Sir Arnold Wolfendale wrote an article on John Harrison and the invention of his maritime clock (2008) for The Historian, the members’ journal of the Historical Association. On making his acquaintance, I discovered that, along with being a physics professor and astronomer royal, he attended the lectures and other activities of the Historical Association branch in Durham.Trevor JamesIn 2000...

Health secretary hails latest inoculation figures as ‘magnificent achievement for the country’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMore than 20 million Britons have received their first coronavirus vaccine dose, the UK government has said.In a video uploaded to his Twitter profile, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, said it was a “magnificent achievement for the...

As hotels and gyms reopen in Israel, governments elsewhere are considering a similar certificate scheme – raising ethical concernsFour key questions on a Covid certification scheme in EnglandCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAs the UK and other governments consider whether to give Covid-vaccinated people certificates that allow entry to bars, hotels, and swimming...

When the pandemic hit, the song of birds offered joy and hope. The author of a new book recalls that glittering spring and explains the science behind bird calls and how to identify themIt’s six in the morning and still dark, 24 March 2020. I wake early and, knowing the children will soon be up, decide to steal half an hour’s solitude in the park. From the dense latticework of trees and shrubs...

At first I felt relieved that my symptoms aren’t too grim. Then I felt bad about my relief, as if I’d failed a basic solidarity dutyIt started with a text that was doing the rounds from Lambeth council’s director of public health: the South African variant of Covid had been discovered in a tiny box of postcodes that included our house, and we were all encouraged to get tested. I forwarded it...

Ministers urged to help families struggling to protect children with underlying health conditionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThousands of the UK’s most vulnerable children are being “forgotten” in the coronavirus vaccine rollout, charities have said, as they urged ministers to help struggling families.The country has met its target of vaccinating the most...

Groups including the Geological and Linnean societies say government’s 3,000% rent rise could force them to quit their Burlington House premises after 167 yearsSome of Britain’s most distinguished learned societies say they may be forced to leave their central London premises because the government has imposed rent rises of more than 3,000% over the past few years.Last week the Geological...

There is mounting evidence that HRT can help menopausal women recover from the virus, but little action is being takenCoronavirus - latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage‘To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” wrote George Orwell, and seeing in front of our masks in this endless pandemic turns out to be even harder. Take the compelling case of the effect of...

Scientists emphasise safety but younger women still hesitantCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAmy Taylor was chatting to friends over a Zoom drink when the conversation took an unexpected turn. One of the group – all in their early 30s, mostly university-educated and in professional jobs – mentioned that she had concerns about the Covid vaccine because she wanted to...

The latest answers to the important medical questions about the vaccines and the pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe prospects of vaccines failing to trigger immune responses are dismissed as remote by scientists. “If a vaccine has not been properly refrigerated that might pose problems but doctors take great care to ensure that doesn’t happen,” said...

Regulator concedes process had ‘somehow gone wrong’ and is set to approve vaccineCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGermany could soon authorise the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for seniors after the head of the country’s vaccination committee said his body’s advice to give the Oxford-developed vaccine only to those under 65 had “somehow gone wrong”.Unlike...

Prioritising eye protection and face masks will prevent the spread of coronavirus more than disinfecting surfaces, research showsAustralia vaccine tracker: when will you get the jab?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWhen cases of Covid-19 first began emerging in Australia, some people reported disinfecting their groceries before bringing them into their homes, and there...

Well-preserved iron, bronze and tin carriage discovery is ‘without precedent in Italy’Archaeologists have unearthed a unique Roman ceremonial carriage from a villa just outside Pompeii, the city buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD.The almost perfectly preserved four-wheeled carriage made of iron, bronze and tin was found near the stables of an ancient villa at Civita Giuliana, about 700...

Planned multi-million Lighthouse facilities cut by up to 50%, with smaller labs decommissionedNew Lighthouse labs, created by the government to boost the nation’s Covid testing capacity, are to be dramatically scaled back before they open. It is understood that new multi-million pound labs in Gateshead and Plymouth, announced last year but yet to open, are among those to see a big cut in daily...

For one mother, a potentially challenging choice turned out to be amazingly fulfillingWhen Margaret Reynolds was in her mid-40s, she was a successful writer, academic and broadcaster. One winter’s morning, she asked herself what she would like in her life that she did not already have. The answer was clear and quick: she realised she’d like to have a child. She wanted to be a mother. She was...

Rishi Sunak warns of risk to economy; Joe Biden tells US ‘now is not the time to relax - follow all the day’s news as it happensVan-Tam warns against giving up on Covid rulesExperts criticise Boris Johnson for putting dates in Covid roadmapSee all our coronavirus coverage 10.01am GMT People may “drop their guard” and adhere to coronavirus restrictions less closely after being vaccinated, a...

Queensland border reopened to greater Melbourne as New South Wales reports no new cases for 41st consecutive dayThe Queensland border has been reopened to greater Melbourne after the region was declared a hotspot on 13 February following a Covid-19 outbreak at the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel in the city.It means travellers can enter Queensland without a border pass or quarantining, with Victoria...

We know vaccination is very effective in preventing serious illness, but whether it stops coronavirus transmission is another storyAs Australia joins the worldwide Covid-19 vaccine rollout, researchers keep emphasising that while we know the various vaccines in use are strong at preventing hospitalisation and severe disease, it’s less clear how well they stop the virus spreading to other people....

Without modifying human behaviour we run the risk of violent weather swings and a drastic effect on crops and ocean lifeThe ocean circulation that keeps our relatively northern corner of Europe warm(ish) is often likened to a gigantic conveyor belt bringing warm equatorial water northwards at the surface, balanced by cold southward flow at great depth. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning...

Cambridge doctors record sharp fall in infections after 12 days in Covid test analysis on healthcare workersCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA single dose of the Pfizer vaccine can reduce asymptomatic infections by 75%, according to research that suggests the jab could substantially curtail transmission of the disease.Doctors in Cambridge recorded the sharp fall in...

With Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine close to distribution in the US, the end of the pandemic seems a big step closer. But not everything will return to normal right awayPublic health authorities want people to keep wearing masks and social distancing, even after they receive a vaccine. This might seem counterintuitive – after all, if someone gets a vaccine, aren’t they protected...

French PM says worrying Covid spread in 20 areas; global death toll passes 2.5m; Brazil death toll passes 250,000. Follow latest updatesBiden hails 50m vaccine doses since he took office Moderna forecasts $18bn in sales of Covid vaccine this yearQueen urges Britons to ‘think about others’ and get vaccinatedRevealed: four in five Oxford Covid jabs delivered to EU not yet usedSee all our...

Absence of smaller dinosaurs may be result of adolescent megatheropods crowding them outTeenage T rexes and other carnivorous dinosaurs the size of lions or bears may have crowded out smaller species, explaining why there are so few of them preserved in the fossil record, research suggests.Despite dominating the land for more than 150 million years, dinosaurs were not particularly diverse, and...

Decline in system underpinning Gulf Stream could lead to more extreme weather in Europe and higher sea levels on US east coastThe Atlantic Ocean circulation that underpins the Gulf Stream, the weather system that brings warm and mild weather to Europe, is at its weakest in more than a millennium, and climate breakdown is the probable cause, according to new data.Further weakening of the Atlantic...