Campaigner for better treatments for people with brain cancerThe communications consultant Jessica Morris did much to give a voice to people who lacked one. In the years up to her death at the age of 57 from brain cancer, she made her illness the basis of a campaign to find treatments for others.In January 2016 she was hiking in a valley north of New York when she found herself trying to speak:...

Research finds number of recorded cases is nearly 100 times smaller than adults estimated to have had conditionCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGPs in England may be failing to recognise thousands of cases of long Covid, according to research that raises questions about how the condition is diagnosed, recorded and managed in the NHS.Researchers at Oxford University...

Prof Iain Buchan, the principal investigator for the Events Research Programme at Liverpool, explains how the trial events generated a large amount of valuable data about Covid transmission As lead researcher for the Liverpool pilots in the Events Research Programme (ERP), I would like to set out some important facts in response to your article regarding the phase one report (Covid event pilots...

David Curtis says publisher of Annals of Human Genetics blocked call for protest at treatment of UyghursThe editor of a long-established academic journal has said he resigned after his publisher vetoed a call to boycott Chinese science in protest at Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.Prof David Curtis, from University College London’s Genetics Institute,...

Prof Stephen Reicher says restrictions may have to be reimposed if reopening leads to surge in infectionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA scientific adviser to the government’s Covid-19 response has expressed fears England could be in danger of repeating “the mistakes of last summer”.Prof Stephen Reicher, from the University of St Andrews and a member of the...

This is serious enough for the 1% to start building bunkers ready for environmental collapseA few years ago, the author and academic Douglas Rushkoff got invited to a swanky private resort to talk to a bunch of obscenely rich hedge fund guys about the future of technology. He thought they were going to ask him how technology was going to improve the world, but they were far more interested in...

People with ME/CFS face debilitating symptoms but often feel dismissed by doctors. The focus on long Covid could help change that In the fall of 2016, Ashanti Daniel, a nurse in Beverly Hills, California, went to an infectious disease physician looking for answers about a weird illness she couldn’t shake. After falling sick with a virus four months earlier, she still felt too tired to stand up...

Guardian Australia picture editor Carly Earl explains the dos and don’ts of taking pictures of the moonWhen a full moon rises, many people will pull out their mobile phones to try and get an Instagram-worthy photograph, but unfortunately it’s really challenging to take a great picture of the moon.Two reasons: it is very far away and unless you have a telephoto lens (which makes the moon appear...

This is an economic issue, and a ‘torture device’ that stops you opening your mouth properly isn’t the solutionWant to hear a weight-loss idea so ingenious it’s guaranteed to make your jaw drop by exactly 2mm? Introducing the DentalSlim Diet Control: a terrifying contraption that uses magnets cemented to your teeth to stop you opening your mouth by more than a couple of millimetres. That...

Remains of man found in Latvia had DNA fragments and proteins of bacterium that causes plagueA hunter-gatherer who lived more than 5,000 years ago is the earliest known person to have died with the plague, researchers have revealed.Stone-age communities in western Europe experienced a huge population decline about 5,500 years ago, an event that is thought to have subsequently enabled a huge...

Researchers say that people who can come up with convincing explanations for concepts they don’t understand are more intelligentName: Blaggers.Age: Any age. Continue reading...

Nearly 400,000 pupils absent within a week as scientists raise concerns about plan to replace isolation with testsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAt least one in 20 children were absent from state schools in England because of Covid within the last week, as official figures reveal a 66% increase in the number of pupils with confirmed coronavirus infections.The data,...

No date agreed for planned reopening as health officials warn of risks of a Delta-driven new waveCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIreland has delayed the reopening of indoor hospitality and plans to limit indoor dining to people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.The government announced the changes on Tuesday after health officials warned of a possible...

Spacetime-altering shock waves came from massive neutron stars crashing into black holes millions of years agoThere are moments when life as an astrophysicist is like hanging around at the bus stop. You wait ages for a cataclysmic cosmic event to send shock waves through the fabric of spacetime and then two come along at once.Years after scientists began their search for quivers in spacetime...

Use of FFP3 respirators on coronavirus units at Addenbrooke’s ‘may have cut ward-based infection to zero’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAn NHS hospital that upgraded the type of face masks used by staff on Covid-19 wards recorded a dramatic fall of up to 100% in hospital-acquired coronavirus infections among those workers, research has...

Long Covid is highlighting conditions that have been around much longer than the pandemic. Ten readers share their experiences“The endless cycle of seeing doctors and never seeing any change or improvement” is how one 43-year-old woman from the US described what it’s like to live with chronic overlapping pain conditions. Long Covid has helped highlight issues surrrounding chronic illness but...

Fears of a possible fifth week as Tokyo reported 317 infections on Monday and the ninth week-on-week riseA rise in daily cases of the coronavirus in Tokyo has triggered fears of a possible fifth wave of infections, less than a month before the city is due to host the Olympics.Tokyo reported 317 infections on Monday – an increase of 81 from the same day last week and the ninth week-on-week rise...

Before Covid, dementia was the biggest killer in the UK and Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type. A controversial new drug for Alzheimer’s, aducanumab, is the first in nearly 20 years to be approved in the US, which will trigger pressure to make it available worldwide. The Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Bosley, talks Shivani Dave through the mixed evidence of its efficacy Continue...

Fishermen alerted authorities to ‘suspicious’ items floating in the seaThe Algerian coastguard has seized almost half a tonne of cocaine after fishers alerted authorities to “suspicious” items floating off the north-west coast.The coastguard fished out 490kg (1,080 pounds) of cocaine split up into 442 packages from the water six nautical miles (11 kilometres) off Oran’s Cap Carbon on...

Analysis: scientists say the Delta variant should make the government think twice about resting all its hopes on vaccines If the new health secretary is to be believed, we are about to embark on an “exciting new journey” come 19 July. Sajid Javid, like the prime minister, appears confident that restrictions will be lifted irreversibly on that date. The data, however, is beginning to tell a...

Strong adherence to public health guidelines and luck will be needed, experts say, forecasting ‘dicey’ times aheadThe spread of the more infectious Delta variant of Covid-19 throughout Australia can be contained with a combination of strong adherence to public health guidelines and good luck, infectious diseases and virology experts say.On Monday the number of locally acquired cases in New...

Experts says scientific advances are making it easier to attribute the damages of climate breakdown to companies’ activitiesBusinesses could soon be facing a fresh wave of legal action holding them to account for their greenhouse gas emissions, owing to advances in climate science, experts have warned.More than 1,500 legal actions have already been brought against fossil fuel companies whose...

The answers to today’s puzzlesEarlier today I set you the following two puzzles, inspired by a money-saving trick devised by Carl Friedrich Gauss. (Click to the original for the explanation of the trick, and what it has got to do with Gauss).1. The double bill. Continue...

Technology could be used for patients who need only temporary help to regulate their heartbeatA wireless pacemaker that can dissolve in the body has been created for patients who need only temporary help to regulate their heartbeat.Since the first pacemaker was implanted in 1958, millions of people have benefited from the devices. According to the national audit for cardiac rhythm management,...