18 articles from SUNDAY 15.8.2021

Forgetful, confused and a bit cranky? Here are some scientifically proven ways to lift your lockdown mood

Studies show prolonged isolation takes a toll on our memory and attention. Fortunately, there are small steps you can take to mitigate lockdown brainRifling through his cupboards for an unopened ballroom dance class DVD was an evidence-based decision for Brett Hayes. A professor of psychology at University New South Wales who focuses on cognition, Hayes was reviewing the literature that has...

Vaccine hesitancy is a symptom of people’s broken relationship with the state | Nesrine Malik

From Khartoum to Kansas, vaccine conspiracy theorists share one thing in common: they have lost their faith in governmentCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt’s hard to explain what it feels like when someone you thought you knew intimately starts to repeat conspiracy theories about the pandemic and vaccines. You don’t really grasp what’s happening immediately:...

Readers reply: how does your brain know that you know something when you can’t remember it?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsHow does your brain know that you know something without being able to remember it at the time? For example, knowing a word that could be used perfectly in context but not being able to remember the word. Felix BudaSend new...

Covid live news: all 16- and 17-year-olds in England to be offered first jab by 23 August

UK department of health says the date will give teenagers change to build up immunity before school startsNew variants ‘will set us back a year’, experts warn UK governmentA million jobs in peril as one in 16 UK firms say they are at risk of closureFifth consecutive weekend of protests in France over Covid passIran to impose six-day lockdown to combat coronavirus ‘fifth wave’See all our...

At least 304 dead, 1,800 hurt as powerful quake slams Haiti

A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southwestern Haiti on Saturday, killing at least 304 people and injuring at least 1,800 others as buildings tumbled into rubble. Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was rushing aid to areas where towns were destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with incoming patients.

Interoception: the hidden sense that shapes wellbeing

There’s growing evidence that signals sent from our internal organs to the brain play a major role in regulating emotions and fending off anxiety and depressionIf you’re sitting in a safe and comfortable position, close your eyes and try to feel your heart beating in your chest. Can you, without moving your hands to take your pulse, feel each movement and count its rhythm? Or do you struggle...

It’s now or never: Scientists warn time of reckoning has come for the planet

The IPCC is unequivocal: we must take urgent action to curb global heating and prevent catastrophe. Will our policymakers and the Cop26 conference be up to the task?At the end of the 60s sci-fi classic, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, the camera pans across the Daily Express case room to a front page proof hanging on a wall. “Earth Saved”, screams the headline. The camera pans. “Earth...

New Covid variants ‘will set us back a year’, experts warn UK government

Vaccine-beating variant is ‘realistic possibility’, say scientists, amid calls for contingency plans to be revealedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMinisters are being pressed to reveal what contingency plans are in place to deal with a future Covid variant that evades current vaccines, amid warnings from scientific advisers that such an outcome could set the...