Declining immunity and new viral variants may mean annual vaccine boosters are neededImmunologists and virologists are questioning the ability of populations to ever achieve herd immunity to Covid-19.They say gradually waning immunity to the virus after infection or vaccination, and the impact of variants, mean it is likely annual vaccinations will be required and cases will continue to occur....

Artists have long been seduced by galactic themes. Now Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes is releasing a celestial epicNick Rhodes, the most concept-friendly and new-romantic of Duran Duran’s line-up, has been in contemplation. Mostly he’s been thinking about the movements of the heavens and their travelling companion, mythology.If the gods are angry, this thinking goes, their mood swings might be...

Suzanne Simard revolutionised the way we think about plants and fungi with the discovery of the woodwide web. The ecologist’s new book shares the wisdom of a life of listening to the forestWhen Suzanne Simard made her extraordinary discovery – that trees could communicate and cooperate through subterranean networks of fungi – the scientific establishment underreacted. Even though her...

After his death, I wanted to know more about his life, and the city that made him and very nearly killed himEvery Hanukkah through my childhood, if I was visiting my grandparents’ Liverpool home, my Grandpa Oskar told me the exact same story. With a pickle on his side plate – my grandma serving up his favourite dinner of latkes, vusht (smoked sausage) and eggs – he’d recount the night...

Four astronauts on board Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft shared hugs and greetings with the incumbent crew on the International Space Station after successfully docking. It is the first time SpaceX has reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for Nasa, after several years of proving the capability on station supply runs. Elon Musk’s SpaceX delivers new crew to...

Tech boss ‘proud’ to be working with space agencies as astronauts begin six-month missionFour astronauts on board Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft have successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month mission.Frenchman Thomas Pesquet is the first European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut to fly in the billionaire tech entrepreneur’s space capsule, alongside...

Scientists advise ‘simple and side-effect free’ exercise for patients who have lost sense of smell due to virusCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageScientists are recommending “smell training” for people who have lost the sense due to Covid, as one in five with the symptom report it has not returned to normal eight weeks after becoming ill.The exercise involves...

Scientists in Exeter are identifying Covid through human faeces – this could be be expanded to monitor other diseasesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThey call themselves the “poo crew” – a team of health detectives who are tracking down and heading off Covid outbreaks by reading the signs in our sewage. And they are expanding. Earlier this month, the...

As lockdown puppy sales soar and the cats of Instagram are liked by millions, endangered species are vanishing from the planet. Can pets teach us how to care about all animals?It was the carefree summer of 2019, and I was on a beach in San Francisco – surrounded by a thousand corgis. Sand is not the natural environment for dogs whose legs are only as long as ice lollies. But this was Corgi Con,...

Exclusive: compulsive hygiene habits and fear of public places could remain for some after lockdown lifted, researchers sayCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageScientists have expressed concern that residual anxiety over coronavirus may have led some people to develop compulsive hygiene habits that could prevent them from reintegrating into the outside world, even though...

Australian Medical Association president Dr Omar Khorshid says state governments are not doing enough to protect those in quarantine from coronavirusContinued leaks from hotel quarantine are “a frustration to all Australians” and state governments are not doing enough to prevent it, the president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Omar Khorshid, has said.Western Australia’s Perth and...