UK scientists have expressed concern that COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out in Britain may not be able to protect against a new variant of the coronavirus that emerged in South Africa and has spread internationally. From a report: Both Britain and South Africa have detected new, more transmissible variants of the COVID-19-causing virus in recent weeks that have driven a surge…
Tag: University of Reading
Solar storm forecasts for Earth improved with help from the public
Solar storm analysis carried out by an army of citizen scientists has helped researchers devise a new and more accurate way of forecasting when Earth will be hit by harmful space weather.Scientists at the University of Reading added analysis carried out by members of the public to computer models designed to predict when coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—huge solar eruptions that are…
One Mystery of Stonehenge’s Origins Has Finally Been Solved
For more than four centuries, archaeologists and geologists have sought to determine the geographical origins of the stones used to build Stonehenge thousands of years ago. Pinning down the source of the large blocks known as sarsens that form the bulk of the monument has proved especially elusive. From a report: Now researchers have resolved the mystery: 50 of the 52…
UK Halts Hydroxychloroquine Trial, Calling It ‘Useless’ for Covid-19 Patients
An anonymous reader quotes Reuters: British scientists halted a major drug trial on Friday after it found that the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine, touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential “game changer” in the pandemic, was “useless” at treating COVID-19 patients. “This is not a treatment for COVID-19. It doesn’t work,” Martin Landray, an Oxford University professor who is co-leading the…
Can Nuclear Fallout Make It Rain?
sciencehabit writes:
Radioactive fallout is rarely a good thing. But new research suggests charged particles emitted from Cold War-era nuclear tests may have boosted rainfall thousands of kilometers away from the testing sites, by triggering electrical charges in the air that caused water droplets to coalesce. The United States, Soviet Union, and other nations often tested nuclear weapons above ground in the…
Climate Crisis May Be Increasing Jet Stream Turbulence, Study Finds
The climate crisis could be making transatlantic flights more bumpy, according to research into the impact of global heating on the jet stream. From a report: Jet streams are powerful currents of air at the altitudes which planes fly. They result from the air temperature gradient between the poles and the tropics, and reach speeds of up to 250mph (400kmph). They…