Covid vaccines cut risk of virus-related heart failure and blood clots, study finds
Researchers say jabs substantially reduce for up to a year the chances of serious cardiovascular complicationsCovid vaccinations substantially reduce the risk of heart failure and potentially dangerous blood clots linked to the infection for up to a year, according to a large study.Researchers analysed health records from more than 20 million people across the UK, Spain and Estonia and found consistent evidence that the jabs protected against serious cardiovascular complications of the disease.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 12, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Ian Sample Science editor Tags: Medical research Coronavirus Science Health Vaccines and immunisation World news Infectious diseases Society Source Type: news
Diane Abbott says it is ‘frightening’ to hear what Tory donor Frank Hester said about her – as it happened
Hackney MP says she feels more vulnerable after Tory donor said looking at her makes you ‘want to hate all black women’Black Britons ‘hurt by Hester attack on Diane Abbott’Biggest Tory donor said looking at Diane Abbott makes you ‘want to hate all black women’Kwasi Kwarteng, the Conservative former chancellor, has said that the remarks about Diane Abbott attributed to Frank Hester were clearly racist and sexist. But he said he did not know for sure that Hester actually used those words.Speaking on the BBC ’s Politics Live, Kwarteng said:[Those comments] are clearly racist, and they ’re clearly sexist.And I ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 12, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Andrew Sparrow Tags: Politics UK news Conservatives Labour Diane Abbott Race Keir Starmer Rishi Sunak Michelle Donelan Science Lee Anderson Shami Chakrabarti Green party Energy Gas Prisons and probation Humza Yousaf House of Commons India Source Type: news
Shells from Captain Cook ’s final voyage saved from skip
Important collection rediscovered during house-clearing includes numerous rare speciesAn internationally important collection of shells, including specimens from Captain Cook ’s final voyage, has been rediscovered 40 years after it was thought to have been thrown into a skip.More than 200 shells have been returned to English Heritage, which will put some of them on display in Northumberland this week.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 12, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Mark Brown North of England correspondent Tags: Archaeology UK news Heritage Culture Science Environment Roman Britain Source Type: news
‘You don’t want to get better’: the outdated treatment of ME/CFS patients is a national scandal | George Monbiot
From harmful ‘therapies’ to social services referrals, the notion that this illness is psychosomatic is having devastating effectsIt ’s the greatest medical scandal of the 21st century. For decades, patients with ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) have been told they can make themselves better by changing their attitudes. This devastating condition, which afflicts about250,000 people in the UK, was psychologised by many doctors and scientists, adding to the burden of a terrible physiological illness.Long after this approach was debunked in scientific literature, clinicians who championed it h...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 12, 2024 Category: Science Authors: George Monbiot Tags: ME / Chronic fatigue syndrome Health National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Society Mental health Science Freedom of information NHS Psychology UK news Source Type: news
Why do we lose our hair as we age, and what can we do about it? – podcast
For some people, going bald or experiencing thinning hair can have a significant impact on mental wellbeing and self confidence. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Rudi Zygadlo about how it affected him and what he eventually did about it, and to consultant dermatologist and hair specialist Dr Sharon Wong about what exactly is going on when our hair thins, which treatments are available to help, and what we can expect from new technologies in the pipelineRead Rudi Zygadlo ’s description of his hair transplantSign up to the TechScape newsletter to read Alex Hern ’s weekly look at how technology is shaping our livesContinue read...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 12, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Presented by Madeleine Finlay, with Rudi Zygadlo, produced by Madeleine Finlay and Joshan Chana, sound design by Joel Cox, the executive producer is Ellie Bury Tags: Science Men's hair Women's hair Hair loss Beauty Medical research Cosmetic surgery Source Type: news
‘Larger than Everest’ comet could become visible to naked eye this month
Halley-type comet that orbits once every 71.3 years will be easier to spot as it passes by bright stars, say astronomersA comet that is larger than Mount Everest could become visible to the naked eye in the coming weeks as it continues its first visit to the inner solar system in more than 70 years, say astronomers.The icy body is a Halley-type comet – meaning it will turn up once, or possibly twice, in a lifetime. Indeed 12P/Pons-Brooks, as it is known, completes its orbit once every 71.3 years, and is due to make its closest approach to the sun on 21 April.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 11, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Nicola Davis Science correspondent Tags: Comets Space Astronomy Science World news Source Type: news
UK report reveals bias within medical tools and devices
Experts say action needed as report finds minority ethnic people, women and those from deprived backgrounds at risk of poorer healthcareMinority ethnic people, women and people from deprived communities are at risk of poorer healthcare because of biases within medical tools and devices, a report has revealed.Among other findings, the Equity in Medical Devices: Independent Review has raised concerns over devices that use artificial intelligence (AI), as well as those that measure oxygen levels. The team behind the review said urgent action was needed.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 11, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Nicola Davis Science correspondent Tags: Health Artificial intelligence (AI) UK news Race Inequality Medical research Science Coronavirus Society World news Source Type: news
A Million Days review – low-budget sci-fi thriller asks if we should trust AI with our survival
In the near future humanity is doomed and our options are being determined by AI simulation – unfortunately for us, the AI doesn’t seem particularly bothered if we surviveThis intriguing sci-fi thriller is a throwback to the kind of cerebral teleplays and low-budget movies that flourished in the 1960s: ripe with gloomy lighting and dystopian pessimism, but with barely enough money in the budget to pay for more than two sets. Think On the Beach from 1959, or Seconds from 1966 – but then lower your expectations because it’s not anywhere in their league. But it’s not bad, and the subject is timely.The time is a coup...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 11, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Leslie Felperin Tags: Film Science fiction and fantasy films Artificial intelligence (AI) Space Computing Consciousness Culture Human biology Neuroscience Psychology Technology Source Type: news
Staff at Alan Turing Institute speak out after four men given top roles
Employees say there is a trend of limited diversity among the senior scientific leadership at the London centre for AIStaff at the UK ’s national institute forartificial intelligence and data sciencehave expressed “serious concerns” about the organisation’s approach to diversity after it appointed four men to senior roles.A letter addressed to the leadership of the Alan Turing Institute(ATI) said the appointments showed a “‘continuing trend of limited diversity within the institute’s senior scientific leadership”.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 11, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Dan Milmo Global technology editor Tags: Alan Turing Gender Science Gender pay gap UK news Source Type: news
Discovered in the deep: tiny ‘sucker-bum squid’ with martial arts moves
The two species of pygmy squid the size of a fingernail live on Japanese coral reefs. Spotting them is a sign of a healthy ecosystem, say scientistsIn Japan, stories have been told of forest-dwelling magical spirits calledkodamasince ancient times. Over the centuries, they ’ve adopted many guises: sometimes they’re invisible, sometimes they look like trees. The Studio Ghibli animated movie Princess Mononoke portrayedkodama asrotund little humanoids with rotating bobble heads. Now, a genus of miniature squid has been named in honour of thekodama and their role as nature ’s guardians.“If you see them, it’s a sign t...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 11, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Helen Scales Tags: Environment Oceans Animals World news Marine life Zoology Biology Science Source Type: news
Starwatch: the crescent moon and Jupiter in beautiful conjunction
From London the pair will be best seen setting in a fully dark sky on 13 MarchThere is a beautiful conjunction this week between the crescent moon and Jupiter.The chart shows the view looking west from London at 21:00 GMT on 13 March. By this time the pair will appear in a fully dark sky, but will be setting. Jupiter is so bright, however, that it will be easily visible before this time, as will the moon, shining through the twilight.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 11, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Stuart Clark Tags: Science Astronomy Space The moon Jupiter Source Type: news
Deep sea exploration: what ’s it like to take a trip on a submersible?
Submersibles allow us to witness the wonders of the depths of our planet like nothing else. But after the OceanGate disaster, how safe are they? Cal Flyn goes aboard …When we climb on board the ship, the submersible is waiting for us on deck. It is sleek and gleaming and slightly comic, like a tiny spaceship. It has a banana-yellow deck and a huge,Jetsons-style cockpit contained within a transparent bubble: an acrylic globe that is perfectly clear and spherical, temporarily shrouded in a thick grey cover to protect the interior from super-heating in the Bahamian sun.It is at once impossibly futuristic and yet intriguingl...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 10, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Cal Flyn Tags: Exploration Oceans Environment Science Source Type: news
How an epic climb lifted one woman out of life ’s lowest point
In emotional pain, Jessica Hepburn decided to climb to the top of the world and listen to every single available episode of Desert Island DiscsIt is hard for Jessica Hepburn to pinpoint the exact moment she decided to climb to the top of the world as well as to listen to every single available episode ofDesert Island Discs.“They’ve become so inextricably linked in my mind,” says the author, adventurer and self-described “unlikely athlete” who, in 2022, at the age of 51, successfully summited Mount Everest.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 10, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Donna Ferguson Tags: Life and style Psychology Science Health & wellbeing Desert Island Discs Source Type: news
Controversial new theory of gravity rules out need for dark matter
Exclusive: Paper by UCL professor says ‘wobbly’ space-time could instead explain expansion of universe and galactic rotationDark matter is supposed to account for 85% of the mass in the universe, according to conventional scientific wisdom. But proponents of a radical new theory of gravity, in whichspace-time is “wobbly”, say their approach could render the elusive substance obsolete.The proposition, outlined in a new paper, raises the controversial possibility that dark matter, which has never been directly observed, is a mirage that a substantial portion of the physics community has been chasing for several decad...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 9, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Hannah Devlin Science correspondent Tags: Physics Astronomy Science Space UCL (University College London) UK news Source Type: news
Scientists move step closer to making IVF eggs from skin cells
Procedure could overcome common forms of infertility and help people have children who share their DNAScientists are a step closer to making IVF eggs from patients ’ skin cells after adapting the procedure that created Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, more than two decades ago.The work raises the prospect of older women being able to have children who share their DNA, and to overcome common forms of infertility caused by a woman ’s eggs becoming damaged by disease or cancer treatment.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 8, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Ian Sample Science editor Tags: IVF Medical research Science Health Fertility problems Genetics Embryos Biology World news Source Type: news
