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9 articles from Guardian Unlimited Science

SpaceX delays astronauts’ return due to weather – cutting time without a toilet

International Space Station crew completing six-month stayCapsule problems mean astronauts must wear diapers to flyHigh wind off the Florida coast prompted SpaceX to delay the return of four astronauts who have been in orbit at the International Space Station since spring.The good news for the American, French and Japanese astronauts was that their return is now projected to take eight hours...

The pandemic has been challenging for children, but if we stop and listen, we can find out what they need | Saretta Lee

Kids usually have something to say and they need us to hear it. So it’s time to start listening – for their future and oursThe modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their workIn nearly two years of lockdown interruptions, I’ve often been asked for my professional opinion about the impact of Covid-19 measures on children. A great many views have...

Sutton Hoo of the north: £10.4m visitor centre to celebrate Anglo-Saxon site

Story of Ad Gefrin, a royal complex in Northumberland valley discovered in 1950s, to be told at new attraction“Just here would have been the great hall,” says Chris Ferguson to a Guardian reporter and a dozen indifferent sheep chewing grass in a stunning Northumberland valley.“Over there would have been the royal residence and behind that, a grandstand. We are on top of one of the most...

The billion dollar race to defy ageing is the last thing the planet needs | John Harris

Instead of investing to cheat death, we should be trying to make old age livable and dignified for allWelcome to the era of immortalists: scientists, dreamers and – crucially – billionaires, who want us to think of age as a curable disease, and our final end as something that could be indefinitely postponed. According to one estimate, the revenues of the global anti-ageing industry will...

‘Extraordinarily rare’: intact 1,200-year-old canoe recovered from Wisconsin lake

The 15-foot dugout canoe was first noticed by a maritime archeologist and her friend while joyriding on underwater scootersA 1,200-year-old, 15-foot (4.5-metre) dugout canoe has been taken from Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, after two divers stumbled upon it while riding underwater scooters.The vessel was recovered from roughly 27ft of water and brought to shore this week. Continue...

Will the magic of psychedelics transform psychiatry?

Psychedelics have come a long way since their hallucinogenic hippy heyday. Research shows that they could alleviate PTSD, depression and addiction. So will we all soon be treated with magic mushrooms and MDMA?Imagine a medicine that could help people process disturbing memories, sparking behavioural changes rather than merely burying and suppressing symptoms and trauma. For the millions suffering...

We can be confident there have been far more than 5 million global Covid deaths | David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters

Estimating ‘excess’ fatalities, a more robust analysis method, puts the pandemic’s grim toll between 10m and 19m people• Coronavirus – latest updates•See all our coronavirus coverage On 1 November, news organisations reported the global Covid-19 death toll had exceeded 5 million. But, as these articles highlight, this figure is likely to be a massive underestimate.Johns Hopkins...

Covid live news: ‘Get booster to save Christmas,’ UK health secretary urges; Sydney social distancing curbs to ease

Three million more in England to be invited to get booster next week; relaxation in NSW will lift limits on house guests and outdoor gatheringsFor returned Australians, open borders bring new dilemmasThose eligible for boosters to be invited a month earlier in EnglandExperts on their worst pandemic predictionsRelief and reunions in sight as US finally lifts Covid travel restrictionsSee all our...

The dawn of tappigraphy: does your smartphone know how you feel before you do?

Tech companies are seeking to analyse data on the way we tap, scroll, text and call to monitor our mental health – with potential consequences for privacy and healthcareWe all fear our smartphones spy on us, and I’m subject to a new type of surveillance. An app called TapCounter records each time I touch my phone’s screen. My swipes and jabs are averaging about 1,000 a day, though I notice...