49 articles from SUNDAY 21.2.2021

Fantastic beasts, but where to find them? | Letters

Neanderthals | Royal family | Unicorn shortage | Grace Dent | CrosswordsThe fanciful painting used to illustrate the print version (19 February) of your article discussing possible reasons for the demise of the Neanderthals offers yet another explanation. There appears to be just one identifiable female individual shown, breastfeeding a baby. Though the painter has modestly covered all genital...

NASA's Mars helicopter reports in

Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have received the first status report from the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which landed Feb. 18, 2021, at Jezero Crater attached to the belly of the agency's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. The downlink, which arrived at 3:30 p.m. PST (6:30 p.m. EST) via a connection through the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, indicates that...

Power failure: How a winter storm pushed Texas into crisis

Two days before the storm began, Houston's chief elected official warned her constituents to prepare as they would for a major hurricane. Many took heed: Texans who could stocked up on food and water, while nonprofits and government agencies set out to help those who couldn't.

Israel shuts Mediterranean shore after oil devastates coast

Israel closed all its Mediterranean beaches until further notice on Sunday, days after an offshore oil spill deposited an estimated dozens of tons of tar across more than 100 miles of coastline in what officials are calling one of the country's worst ecological disasters.

UK doctors pioneer use of 'heart in a box' transplant technique in children

Procedure previously deemed suitable only for adults saved the lives of six young patients last yearNHS doctors have pioneered the use of a “dead” heart transplant technique – previously deemed suitable only for adults – in children, saving the lives of six young patients last year.Surgeons typically use for transplants hearts donated by patients who are declared brain stem dead but whose...

After the Nobel, what next for Crispr gene-editing therapies?

Hailed as the ‘molecular scissors’ that will allow us to rewrite our genes, the DNA tool is being trialled in treatments for everything from sickle-cell anaemia to cancerWhen last year’s Nobel prize for chemistry was awarded to biochemist Jennifer Doudna and microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier for their work in developing the technique of gene editing known as Crispr-Cas9 (pronounced...

Boris Johnson’s Covid roadmap must not repeat the prime minister’s past mistakes | Andrew Rawnsley

If he’s honest with the public, the prime minister will stress there is no quick or easy escape back to normalityIt is a sign of our times that the only live theatre currently available is that staged by politicians. Boris Johnson will tomorrow unveil his “roadmap” for easing out of coronavirus restrictions, a moment that is being fanfared as a big, dramatic event. The journey planner will...