As a microbiologist and infectious disease clinician, it has been tough to watch the recent devolution of public discourse on Covid-19 origins. It has been especially difficult for me to read the comments of Anthony Fauci about the origins debate in his now-public diary. And it has been painful to watch the televised spectacle hosted by the US senator Rand Paul on 29 July involving a hostile interrogation of Fauci. Despite many early pleas, including my own, for a dispassionate, objective assessment of what we know, don’t know and need…
Tag: Science
Anthony Fauci’s diaries take aim at News Corp journalist Sharri Markson’s ‘nonsense’ Covid-19 investigation
Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’s chief medical adviser at the start of the pandemic, has described a book by News Corp investigative journalist Sharri Markson backing the “lab leak” theory of Covid-19’s origins as a “bunch of nonsense” in his newly released diaries. This week, Fauci, 85, was subpoenaed by the Republican senator Rand Paul to appear at a Senate hearing into Covid-19 and his handling of the pandemic. The physician and veteran former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who retired in 2022, accused Paul…
Are robots nearing their ChatGPT moment? – podcast
Last month at Beijing’s half marathon, a robot named Lightning beat the human world record by nearly seven minutes. It’s the latest in a string of AI-powered milestones that have got people wondering whether robots are about to enter our everyday lives, just as chatbots have. And the country leading the charge is China, where the government has pledged to invest more than £100bn in robotics over the next 20 years. To find out how robots are already entering the workforce, and what needs to happen to get them cleaning…
China launches three-crew spaceflight as part of lunar ambitions
China has launched its Shenzhou-23 mission in which an astronaut will spend a full year in orbit for the first time, a crucial step in Beijing’s ambition to send humans to the moon by 2030. The Long March 2-F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan launch centre in north-western China on Sunday, carrying three astronauts to the Tiangong space station. The mission marks the first spaceflight ever undertaken by an astronaut from Hong Kong: Lai Ka-ying, 43, who previously worked for the territory’s police. The other crew members are the…
UK Biobank has my data, but I’m not worried. I know the benefits are too great to consider pulling out | Polly Toynbee
One thing Britain is exceptionally good at is collecting and using health data for research, studying cohorts of people over many decades. A shudder of alarm rippled through the research world at the news this week that UK Biobank’s data had been put up for sale on China’s Alibaba site, with the science minister, Patrick Vallance, saying that more attempts to sell the data in China were expected. Some sensationalised reporting failed to make clear enough that no names, addresses, NHS numbers or other identifiers were included, nor that the…
The tortoise and the hare: will China beat the US in the race back to the moon?
The world watched earlier this month as Nasa sent four astronauts around the moon – but to actually land on the surface the US is once again in a space race, this time with China. And China may well win. Both countries plan to build inhabited lunar bases – the first settlement on another celestial body – as well as searching for rare resources and using the deep space environment to test technology for future crewed missions to Mars. The well-funded China National Space Administration (CNSA) is pitted against the…
Congratulations to the Artemis II crew – but the case for sending astronauts into space is rapidly shrinking | Martin Rees and Donald Goldsmith
The 2020s has seen a revival of the “Apollo spirit”. The US and China are seemingly in a race to send humans to the moon by the end of the decade – and thereafter, perhaps, even to Mars. Nasa astronauts have just returned from a 10-day journey looping around the moon. Although they arrived back safely, Nasa accepts that the lack of data makes it impossible to quantify the risks involved – this represents only the second launch for the Artemis system and the first to carry astronauts. To date,…
Will China own the green energy future? – podcast
The conflict in the Middle East has sent energy prices soaring, and for countries that import a high proportion of their fuel, it’s a reminder of the perils of energy dependence. As the recipient of almost 90% of Iran’s crude oil, China knows this only too well. Which partly explains why the country spent the last decade heavily investing in clean power. To find out what else could be driving the strategy, Madeleine Finlay speaks to senior China correspondent Amy Hawkins. And energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose reflects on how China’s…
China’s Yangtze River shows signs of remarkable recovery after fishing ban
The Yangtze River in China, which has been in ecological decline for 70 years, is showing signs of recovery thanks to a sweeping fishing ban. The ban was made more effective by the implementation of “evolutionary game theory”, which included finding alternative employment for fishers. One veteran biologist said it was the most positive freshwater conservation story he had seen anywhere in the world in 20 years. “It is really fantastic news. It is one of the first times that we can say that government measures have not just worked,…
Menstrual blood test could offer alternative to cervical screening for cancer
A pioneering test of period blood for signs of cervical cancer could be a convenient, non-invasive and accurate way of screening for the disease, researchers have said. A regular sanitary pad topped with a blood sample strip can pick up human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cases of cervical cancer, and could be used by women at home, the results of a study indicate. Currently, most women undergo cervical screening under the care of a clinician, who collects a sample via a brush inserted into the vagina. But millions of…