Michael Collins, who was part of the Apollo 11 moon landing crew and kept the command module flying while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 90, his family said on Wednesday. He was sometimes known as the ‘forgotten astronaut’ because he did not get to land on the moon, while Armstrong and Aldrin became household names. But his...

Examination of 1,400 living and extinct species finds evolutionary selection may not be reason for larger brainsBig-brained mammals are typically considered intelligent – but a study has found that the body size of a species could have evolved smaller to adapt to environmental changes, making the brain appear proportionally bigger. In other words, relative brain size may have nothing to do with...

Latest updates: Matt Hancock says UK has secured 60m doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be used for booster shots later this year. This live blog is now closed – please follow the global live blog for Covid updatesUK orders 60m more doses of Pfizer Covid vaccine for booster jabsUK drops plans for mandatory Covid passports in pubs and restaurantsNHS app will be used as Covid ‘vaccine...

Collins, known as the ‘forgotten astronaut’, kept command module flying while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moonMichael Collins, who was part of the Apollo 11 original moon landing crew and kept the command module flying while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 90, his family said on Wednesday. Related: Mars...

Leaders across continent look to gathering pace of vaccinations as key to easing restrictionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEuropean leaders are lifting restrictions across a lockdown-weary bloc as they take what Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, has admitted is a “calculated risk” that accelerating vaccination campaigns will keep stubbornly high infection...

Discovery could accelerate development of easy-to-use treatments for mental health conditionsResearchers have identified a psychedelic that doesn’t trigger hallucinations, a key discovery that could allow scientists to accelerate the development of easy-to-use treatments for mental health and neurological conditions.Researchers are racing to harness the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for...

Malcolm Hole spent seven years working on island of volcanological significanceA geologist who spent seven years working in the Antarctic has had a peninsula on the continent named after him in recognition of his work.Dr Malcolm Hole became only the second person to visit Rothschild Island when he arrived there in 1985 and part of it has now been called the Hole peninsula. Continue...

Sticky property of bacteria used to create microbe nets that can capture microplastics in water to form a recyclable blob Microbiologists have devised a sustainable way to remove polluting microplastics from the environment – and they want to use bacteria to do the job.Bacteria naturally tend to group together and stick to surfaces, and this creates an adhesive substance called “biofilm” –...

If those who can afford to share treatments and equipment choose not to, this pandemic will drag on for all of usReport: leading scientists urge UK to share Covid vaccines with poorer nationsDr Jeremy Farrar is director of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundationIn the last few days, major powers have responded to the horrific crisis unfolding in India. The US government’s decision to...

Study in England says single treatment can have dramatic impact on curbing spread; Fiji fears ‘Covid tsunami’ after India variant outbreak; New Zealand donates $1m; Mutations, politics, vaccines: the factors behind India’s Covid crisisHarry and Meghan to join Biden at concert to boost global vaccinationGlobal faith leaders call for drug firms to vaccinate worldSee all our coronavirus...

Covid-19 outbreak in Pacific nation has forced lockdowns across the country, after the island nation avoided transmission for a year Fijian health officials are bracing for a “tsunami” of Covid-19 cases, after the Indian variant was detected in the Pacific nation this week, with lockdowns announced in an attempt to stem the outbreak.The Pacific country had largely managed to avoid community...