35 articles from SATURDAY 23.7.2022
‘We’re all tired’: the everyday exhaustion of Australia’s third Covid winter
After enduring more than two years of pandemic, we’re facing yet another fresh wave. How can we push through the malaise?Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcastWhen Angie attended a funeral last week, she wore a mask. “I was very much a minority,” she says. As a close family member of the deceased, the...
Climate, conflict, collapse: How drought destabilized the last major precolonial Mayan city
The city of Mayapán was the largest Mayan city from approximately 1200 to 1450 AD. It was an important political, economic and religious center, and the capital of a large state that controlled much of northwestern Yucatan in present day Mexico.
If our datacentres cannot take the heat, the UK could really go off the rails | John Naughton
It is understandable that railway infrastructure could not cope with last week’s temperatures, but why did Google and Oracle’s facilities go offline?One of the unexpected delights of the heatwave was the sound of a Conservative transport secretary talking sense. Grant Shapps was on the Today programme on Tuesday morning explaining a basic principle of good engineering design: get the...
Declaring monkeypox an international emergency, WHO chief rejects expert panel’s advice
The World Health Organisation (WHO) today declared the global spread of monkeypox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), even though a special advisory committee has declined, again, to recommend the action. This is the first time since the PHEIC system was created in 2005 that the agency has made such a declaration without the panel’s endorsement.
“This...
Canada's bee colonies see worst loss in 20 years, explosion of mites blamed
Nearly half of Canada's honeybee colonies didn't survive the winter, the largest rate of colony loss in the country in the last 20 years, according to preliminary data. The president of the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists calls the finding "pretty...
Monkeypox declared global health emergency by WHO as cases surge
Declaration is strongest call to action agency can make, with most recent such announcement being for CovidThe global monkeypox outbreak has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) – the strongest call to action the agency can make.It is the seventh time such a declaration has been made since 2009, the most recent being for...
Expect more wildfires — in Europe and beyond — as society grapples with warming climate
The frightening wildfires afflicting Europe during bouts of extreme heat this summer are a scourge that experts say the world can expect to see more of in the future, but prevention and growing public awareness around climate change can help what has become an enduring...
Monkeypox is in Bay Area wastewater
Last month, Stanford’s Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network, or SCAN, added monkeypox to the suite of viruses it checks wastewater for daily. Since then, monkeypox has been detected in 10 of the 11 sewer systems that SCAN tests, including those in Sacramento, Palo Alto, and several other cities in California’s Bay Area.
As of July 21, the US had recorded 2,593 monkeypox cases. Globally, the...
Giant Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank to become space light show
The giant Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank is transformed into a space-themed light and sound show.
US takes emergency action to save sequoias from wildfires
The U.S. Forest Service announced Friday it's taking emergency action to save giant sequoias by speeding up projects that could start within weeks to clear underbrush to protect the world's largest trees from the increasing threat of wildfires.
Italy's famous Po Valley rice paddies decimated by drought
The roar of Dario Vicini's motorcycle cuts through the silence as he drives across his rice paddy to survey the destruction wrought by Italy's worst drought in 70 years.
Halos and dark matter: A recipe for discovery
About three years ago, Wolfgang "Wolfi" Mittig and Yassid Ayyad went looking for the universe's missing mass, better known as dark matter, in the heart of an atom.
Scientists encode 'Wizard of Oz' in a vanishingly small plastic
Imagine being able to hide an extremely complex encryption password or detailed financial information for an organization inside the chemical structure of ink. It might sound like something out of a spy movie, but scientists at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Massachusetts Lowell recently proved it possible.
Wildlife photography: Magic of Skomer's puffins captured
As puffin breeding season draws to a close, Drew Buckley shares his photos of the birds.
‘I’m very pleased we’ve got the same name’: Brian Cox meets Brian Cox
The actor Brian Cox used to be irked by the success of his upstart namesake. Now, for the first time, he and Prof Brian Cox talk science, Succession and what Shakespeare and black holes have in commonWhen anyone mentions Brian Cox, the first question invariably asked is: which Brian Cox are you talking about? Do you mean Prof Brian Cox, physicist, or actor Brian Cox, from Succession? So imagine...
Huge jellyfish swarm surrounds boat in Israel
Aerial footage shows the swarm of jellyfish in the waters of Haifa Bay during the annual migration.
The audacious PR plot that seeded doubt about climate change
Thirty years ago, a bold plan was hatched to persuade people that climate change was not a problem.