Changes in our lifestyles, from diet to washing habits, and in the world surrounding us, may explain why so many are strugglingThe Met Office offers a daily pollen guide, in tones not unlike the storm warning of the shipping forecast: poetic for those not affected, alarming if you are facing a force 8. Saturday’s reads: “The grass pollen risk is on the rise, as more grasses come into flower....

Vaccine plans devised during Covid crisis have been systematically dismantled by ministers, says former head of vaccine taskforceMinisters have “systematically dismantled” critical vaccine plans drawn up during the Covid crisis and left the country recklessly exposed to another pandemic, one of the most senior figures shaping Britain’s scientific response to the virus has warned.In a...

Silicon chip transistors are so small they are approaching their physical limits. And the firm that makes many of them may be somewhat hampered if Xi Jinping decides to invade TaiwanIn the 1950s I spent a significant chunk of my pocket money buying a transistor. It was a small metal cylinder (about 5mm in diameter and 7mm deep) with three wires protruding from its base. I needed it for a little...

There are no signs yet that last year’s 40C will be breached again, but meteorologists predict such peaks could become the normTemperatures have soared above 30C for the first time this year – and meteorologists forecast the chance of Britain experiencing a hot summer is now 45% – 2.3 times the normal figure.The warning leaves the nation braced for a possible repeat of last year’s...