29 articles from SUNDAY 4.7.2021

Whole genome sequencing of all UK newborns ‘would have public support’

Consultation shows positivity towards screening programme to spot those at heightened risk of certain health conditionsPlans to sequence the whole genome of every newborn in the UK in order to spot those at heightened risk of certain health conditions have been given a boost, with consultations suggesting the approach could have public support.The potential for genomics to improve health was at...

A psychiatrist’s life is nothing like a Woody Allen film. I treat cancer, trauma and stroke patients | Saretta Lee

Our hospital psychiatry team comprises doctors, nurses and allied health – no elbow patches or Sigmund Freud beard in sightThe modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their work“Are you a psychiatrist? Can you analyse me?” I was at a small airport heading home from my regular clinic in a rural town. Like many Australian towns it’s a friendly...

UK scientists caution that lifting of Covid rules is like building ‘variant factories’

Experts react with dismay to ‘frightening’ attitude of Sajid Javid towards removing protectionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageUK scientists have warned that the lifting of all Covid-19 restrictions is like building new “variant factories” at a very fast rate, and said the attitude of the new health and social care secretary, Sajid Javid, is...

Deep sea robots will let us find millions of shipwrecks, says man who discovered Titanic

A revolutionary new class of amphibious vehicle will transform the search for lost vessels on the ocean floor, says marine archaeologist Dr Robert BallardHe is the celebrated deep-sea explorer who discovered the Titanic, as well as the German battleship Bismarck and other historic sunken vessels around the world.Now Dr Robert Ballard is pioneering cutting-edge technology – autonomous underwater...

The City of David and the sharks' teeth mystery

Scientists have found an unexplained cache of fossilized shark teeth in an area where there should be none—in a 2900 year old site in the City of David in Jerusalem. This is at least 80 km from where these fossils would be expected to be found. There is no conclusive proof of why the cache was assembled, but it may be that the 80 million-year-old teeth were part of a collection, dating from just...

This space race has its downside… Rocketwoman Wally Funk joins crew for Jeff Bezos’s ego trip

The veteran US pilot is set to become the oldest woman in space – the only snag is she has to go with the Amazon billionaire You have to feel for the American pilot Wally Funk. You would sympathise with anyone with that name, but she has had a particularly mixed week. On one hand, at 82, she is set to finally fulfil her life’s ambition and travel into space. Funk was one of the most promising...

Shall we vaccinate our children? We could start by asking them first | Russell Viner

If under-18s are vulnerable, let’s jab straight away. Then we need a wider plan that doesn’t leave teenagers as the unvaccinated ‘class apart’The UK vaccination programme has been an extraordinary success. However, as most adults become “double jabbed”, it is the unvaccinated who are left to catch and spread this virus. This throws the spotlight on to children, teenagers and schools....

Why science can’t resist the allure of Venus: new missions to Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour

With a surface hot enough to melt lead, Venus has been left alone by space agencies for a decade. Now we are about to learn more about its climate – and the chances of life on other planetsA fleet of robot spaceships is to descend on Venus in a few years and begin probing the most inhospitable world in the solar system. One craft will drop through the planet’s crushingly dense – and...

Astronauts at China’s new space station conduct first spacewalk

Astronauts dock at the Tiangong station where they will remain for three months as Beijing presses on with extraterrestrial ambitionsAstronauts at China’s new space station conducted their first spacewalk Sunday, state media reported, as Beijing presses on with its extraterrestrial ambitions.It was only the second time the country’s astronauts have stepped out of their craft while in space....

Aboveground biomass and its spatial distribution pattern of herbaceous marsh vegetation in China

Based on field survey data of aboveground biomass of herbaceous marsh and the distribution data set of marsh wetland in China, a study led by Prof. JIANG Ming from the Northeast the Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed for the first time the aboveground biomass and its spatial distribution pattern of herbaceous marsh in China. The result was published on...

Goldfinder: scientists discover why we can find gold at all

Why are gold deposits found at all? Gold is famously unreactive, and there seems to be little reason why gold should be concentrated, rather than uniformly scattered throughout the Earth's crust. Now an international group of geochemists have discovered why gold is concentrated alongside arsenic, explaining the formation of most gold deposits

Observation, simulation, and AI join forces to reveal a clear universe

Japanese astronomers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) technique to remove noise in astronomical data due to random variations in galaxy shapes. After extensive training and testing on large mock data created by supercomputer simulations, they then applied this new tool to actual data from Japan's Subaru Telescope and found that the mass distribution derived from using this method...

Scientists reconstruct Mediterranean silver trade, from Trojan War to Roman Republic

Scientists have reconstructed the Eastern Mediterranean silver trade, over a period including the traditional dates of the Trojan War, the founding of Rome, and the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The team of French, Israeli and Australian scientists and numismatists found geochemical evidence for pre-coinage silver trade continuing throughout the Mediterranean during the Late Bronze...

Study of T cells from COVID-19 convalescents guides vaccine strategies?

A KAIST immunology research team found that most convalescent patients of COVID-19 develop and maintain T cell memory for over 10 months regardless of the severity of their symptoms. In addition, memory T cells proliferate rapidly after encountering their cognate antigen and accomplish their multifunctional roles. This study provides new insights for effective vaccine strategies against COVID-19,...