Science

Russia’s Ukraine invasion and space impacts: Live updates

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Refresh 2022-03-08T03:04:05.879Z Russian space chief trades barbs with astronaut Scott Kelly NASA astronaut Scott Kelly gives two thumbs up while resting up from a 340-day mission to the International Space Station. Kelly and two Russian crewmates landed their Soyuz capsule in a remote area of Kazakhstan on March 2, 2016 (Kazakh time). (Image credit: NASA/Bill … Read more

Dying Light 2 review: Avoiding zombies in a game with nods to covid-19

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In Dying Light 2, a variant of a virus has turned people into zombies Techland Dying Light 2 Stay Human Techland PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S IN APRIL 2020, soon after the UK entered its first lockdown, I reviewed the zombie-packed Resident Evil 3, describing it as noticeably “pre-pandemic fiction”. … Read more

Fluorescent silk: Quantum dots make silkworms glow in the dark

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Nanometre-sized semiconductors extracted from mulberry leaves make silkworms and their silk emit a strong red glow Technology 4 March 2022 By Alex Wilkins A silkworm fluorescing under green light Huan-Ming Xiong Silkworms that eat nanometre-sized particles called quantum dots produce fluorescent silk. Researchers have previously used gene editing to make fluorescent silkworms, but these methods … Read more

Covid-19 news: Booster protection against omicron may wane in months

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By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu, Layal Liverpool, Carissa Wong, Alex Wilkins and Alexandra Thompson Covid-19 booster jab information campaign, Putney, London, UK Amer Ghazzal/Shutterstock Latest coronavirus news as of 12pm on 7 March Booster jabs substantially increased protection against omicron but … Read more

Net zero: The UK is building its last big gas power plant

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By Adam Vaughan The Keadby 2 gas power station in Lincolnshire, UK david soulsby/Alamy Climb the stairs to the roof of the cooling tower at Keadby 2, a new gas power plant in the east of England, and you are rewarded with a story of the UK’s energy past, present and possible future. Straight ahead … Read more

Health Check newsletter: How our minds can affect our bodies

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By Clare Wilson Hello, and welcome to this week’s Health Check, the weekly newsletter that gives you the health and fitness news you can really trust. To receive this free, weekly newsletter in your inbox, sign up here. Last week, I read a fascinating book called The Expectation Effect: How your mindset can transform your life. I … Read more

Mars: China’s Zhurong rover finds hints landscape was shaped by water

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The first reported findings from China’s Mars rover suggest the plain it is exploring was shaped by winds – and perhaps also by water Space 7 March 2022 By Chen Ly China’s first Mars rover Zhurong with the landing platform Xinhua / Alamy China’s Zhurong Mars rover landed at Utopia Planitia – a large plain … Read more

Huge Study Finds Blood Proteins That Could Increase Risk of Severe COVID

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Multiple factors play a role in complex diseases like COVID, and knowing what they are is important for predicting how different people will be affected. Early on in the pandemic, being older, overweight, or smoking were identified as increasing your risk of developing severe COVID. This then informed public health decisions – the elderly were … Read more

Orcas: Fossil hints that killing whales is a recent adaptation

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A 1.4-million-year-old fossil relative of killer whales had teeth that suggest it ate small fish rather than large marine mammals Life 7 March 2022 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre Artistic reconstruction of Rododelphis stamatiadisi Rossella Faleni A 1.4-million-year-old ancestor of orcas and false killer whales seems to have dined on small fish – which suggests its descendants … Read more