10 h. ago Covid vaccines may increase the lifespan of cancer patients – this could be a game changer | Devi Sridhar

A study suggesting mRNA vaccines help the body fight malignant cells raises the tantalising prospect of a low-cost, low-risk treatment that could help with all cancersI’m often asked whether we’re better prepared for the next pandemic. It’s a mixed answer, but the bright spot is scientific progress on vaccines. The Covid vaccines were produced faster than any previous effort, and are credited with saving millions of lives from 2021 onwards. The mRNA vaccines – Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna – were designed within days of the Sars-CoV-2 genome being published in January 2020, and went into safety trials over the following months before finally being approved in the UK at the end of 2020.But could they have additional benefits? According to a recent study published in Nature, mRNA vaccines seem to trigger a powerful immune response that increases the median survival time by about 75% for certain cancer patients. These findings – which are being further developed – could indicate the powe...

Science

58 h. ago If this government is serious about climate change, it should increase tax on petrol and diesel rather than taxing EV drivers

A potential three pence per mile levy on electric car drivers has brought much criticism, and EV Editor Steve Fowler thinks it shows how little the government knows, or cares, about the car business and car owners

Events

6 d. ago Another slip Keir? Starmer narrowly escapes a tumble as he arrives at COP30... before telling summit that Labour is 'all in' on Net Zero despite admitting climate consensus 'is gone'

In a speech to the global gathering in Belem, Brazil , the Prime Minister vowed the UK under his Government would be 'doubling down' on its climate commitments.

Politics

6 d. ago Still a chance to return to 1.5C climate goal, researchers say

Report calls for scaling-up of renewable energy and electrification of key sectors to limit peak of global heatingThere is still a chance for the world to avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown and return to the goal of 1.5C if governments take concerted action on greenhouse gas emissions, a new assessment argues.The Climate Analytics report says governments’ goals are inadequate and need to be rapidly revised, and calls for the rapid scaling-up of the use of renewable energy and electrification of key sectors including transport, heating and industry. Continue reading...

Science

7 d. ago Experts call for new taxes on worst polluters to help poorer nations with climate crisis

Report to be discussed at Cop30 says global agreements should target carbon intensive activities and ‘ultra high net worth individuals’New taxes on the super-rich, fossil fuels, financial transactions and highly polluting and carbon-intensive activities should be explored as key ways of raising the finance needed to help poor countries, governments have been told in an influential report.The proposal is one of the top recommendations of a new blueprint for global climate finance, the Baku to Belém roadmap, drawn up by the governments of Brazil and Azerbaijan, the current and the previous president of the UN climate Cop process. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Is it true that consuming too much sugar can make you hyperactive?

There is no solid scientific proof, but it would do us all good to cut back on sweet treatsIt’s a warning passed down the generations: give a child too many sweets and they’ll be bouncing off the walls. But is there any scientific proof that sugar sends us into overdrive? Not yet, says Amanda Avery, an associate professor in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Nottingham.She says there are theories linking sugar to behavioural changes. One stems from how sugar activates the body’s reward system, triggering a burst of dopamine – the “feelgood” neurotransmitter. “Increases in dopamine levels can be linked to behavioural changes, which can include periods of hyperactivity,” says Avery. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Who decides how we adapt to climate change? | Leah Aronowsky

The question is not whether we will reshape our institutions to manage climate impacts, but howFor decades, “stopping climate change” has been the singular goal of climate politics. Across the political spectrum, from grassroots climate campaigners to elite UN negotiators, reducing carbon emissions to avoid future catastrophe has been the organizing logic of climate policies.Yet climate change has arrived and its material impacts are already being felt. This means that climate politics can no longer focus only on preventing future catastrophes. It must now also encompass struggles over how society manages climate impacts already reshaping economic and social life. Insurance markets, housing, water and land use policies, national labor markets, and local economies – all will need to be radically remade as we adapt to a changed and increasingly volatile climate.Leah Aronowsky is a historian of science and assistant professor at the Columbia Climate School Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Government doubles down on green ambition as it unveils new UK climate plan

The ‘carbon budget and growth delivery plan’ outlines policies and measures aimed at reducing the UK’s planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Politics

2 w. ago 6 reasons why you feel the cold more as you age – and how to stay warm

Growing older can prompt lots of internal changes, including an increased sensitivity to the cold.

Events

2 w. ago I am the first Indigenous journalist to exclusively interview António Guterres. How many others will listen?

A young journalist reflects on the UN leader’s responses, and hopes his messages – about human violence on an increasingly hostile planet – resonated before Cop30‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN headThere we were at the edge of the forest. The computer screen had been up for a long time, everything arranged so that nothing would go wrong; that the internet wouldn’t go down, that the computer battery wouldn’t die, and a glass of water and ice in front of me so I wouldn’t be left without words. Silence filled the other side of the camera until a figure appeared, and there he was: António Guterres, the man who speaks for the world, the secretary general of the United Nations.A few weeks earlier, I had received an invitation from Jonathan Watts of the Guardian newspaper, asking me to interview Guterres with him. I accepted. It would be my first time speaking to someone with that level of authority. But what would I ask him? Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Labour’s new deputy leader Lucy Powell says she wants Starmer to succeed but party must change – UK politics live

Powell, who was sacked from cabinet in September, says party must be ‘more principled and strategic, less tactical, and strongly guided by our values’Lucy Powell has paid tribute to former Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, saying she has some “big shoes to fill”, as she took to the stage to celebrate her win.Powell spoke about how “division and hate” has increased. She said the desire for change is “palpable”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Lucy Powell says Labour ‘must change how we do things’ after becoming new deputy leader – UK politics live

Lucy Powell says ‘we’ve let Farage and his ilk’ shape the narrative in UK politics for too longLucy Powell has paid tribute to former Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, saying she has some “big shoes to fill”, as she took to the stage to celebrate her win.Powell spoke about how “division and hate” has increased. She said the desire for change is “palpable”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Spotify: Premium music subscription price increase, how much is it, will Family, Student plans change

Spotify says the rise will help it to keep improving, but users may be rethinking their subscriptions 🎧

Society

4 w. ago ‘This is bad news’: Australian tropical rainforest trees switch in world first from carbon sink to emissions source

Researchers say carbon emissions change in Queensland tropical rainforests may have global climate implicationsSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereAustralian tropical rainforest trees have become the first in the world to switch from being a carbon sink to an emissions source due to increasingly extreme temperatures and drier conditions.The change, which applies to the trees’ trunk and branches but not the roots system, began about 25 years ago, according to new research published in Nature.Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Australian tropical rainforest trees switch in world first from carbon sink to emissions source

Researchers say carbon emissions change in Queensland tropical rainforests may have global climate implicationsSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereAustralian tropical rainforest trees have become the first in the world to switch from being a carbon sink to an emissions source due to increasingly extreme temperatures and drier conditions.The change, which applies to the trees’ trunk and branches but not the roots system, began about 25 years ago, according to new research published in Nature.Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago UK must prepare buildings for 2C rise in global temperature, government told

Climate advisers warn that current plans to protect against extreme weather are inadequateBritain must prepare for global heating far in excess of the level scientists have pegged as the limit of safety, the government’s climate advisers have warned, as current plans to protect against extreme weather are inadequate.Heatwaves will occur in at least four of every five years in England by 2050, and time spent in drought will double. The number of days of peak wildfire conditions in July will nearly treble for the UK, while floods will increase in frequency throughout the year, with some peak river flows increasing by 40%. Continue reading...

Politics

last month ‘It’s a road to destruction’: climate defenders facing surge in reprisals, says UN expert

Mary Lawlor, UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders, accuses US, UK and other governments of paying lip service to climate goals while criminalizing activistsHuman rights defenders organizing to prevent climate catastrophe are facing a surge in reprisals, as governments around the world denigrate, delegitimize and criminalize activists in spite of worsening global heating, a top United Nations official has told the Guardian.Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders since 2020, has documented hundreds of cases where states have sought to smear and silence climate defenders engaged in peaceful protest, non-violent civil disobedience and litigation. Continue reading...

Politics