New Scientist Australian Edition 13-Jun-20

Virtual events Climate change in the time of pandemic Climate change may seem like too big an issue to deal with at the moment, but it is impossible to ignore. Climatologist Mark Maslin shows us how we can rebuild the global economy after covid-19 and save our planet from climate change, all while improving everyone’s lives, at 6pm BST on 18 June. newscientist.com/events Podcasts Weekly Are covid-19 vaccinations even possible? Plus, a new paper by astrophysicist Brian May – better known as the lead guitarist of Queen – and Greta Thunberg’s pop debut. newscientist.com/podcasts Newsletter Health Check Our free newsletter brings you a monthly round-up of all the health and fitness news you need to know. newscientist.com/sign-up/health Video Healthy gut, happy mind The bacteria in your gut are vital to…

EVEN Boris Johnson has got in on the act. UK scientists were on the verge of creating commercially viable miniature nuclear fusion reactors for export, the prime minister told his party faithful last year, announcing a £200 million funding boost, adding: “I know they have been on the verge for some time. It is a pretty spacious kind of verge.” Another variant of that gag appears in our survey of recent developments in the field (see page 30). Nuclear fusion’s reputation as a technology whose time never quite arrives precedes it, often by decades. And not without reason. JET-EURO fusion, the UK-based collaboration to which the prime minister was referring, traces its origins to the then European Community’s decision to fast-track fusion research in 1971. ITER, the grand international fusion…

THE UK government hadn’t reported the number of people outside of hospitals and care homes being tested for covid-19 for more than two weeks when New Scientist went to press. On 23 May, the government cited difficulties with data collection, but the suspension in reporting was later put down to the fact that it had been double counting some people who had had more than one test. Asked when the publishing hiatus would end, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) didn’t say and referred New Scientist to its website. The quality and transparency of official statistics on coronavirus testing in the UK have been called into question over the past two months. A target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April was only met by…

THE easing of lockdown restrictions in the UK has prompted growing concern from those taking extra precautions because they are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. On 31 May, the UK government announced that so-called shielders in England and Wales could now leave their homes. But what is the evidence behind the idea of shielding vulnerable people, and is it really safe for this to now stop? Many countries have told those thought to be at higher risk from coronavirus due to illness or age to take extra safety precautions. But because this virus is so new, advice has largely been based on people’s best judgements, rather than scientific evidence, and the details of the advice has varied between countries. The UK has been unusual in distinguishing between two groups of…

SOCIALISING indoors with more than one household during the covid-19 crisis remains too risky, according to discussions by the UK government’s scientific advisers. The UK government has said it is mulling allowing people to meet in bubbles of up to 10. All those in such groups must socialise only with members of the bubble, to limit viral spread. The government’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) has been tasked with seeing if people could be permitted to mix indoors with one other household, to give isolated people more social contact and to help parents and carers with childcare. However, at a meeting on 14 May, members of SAGE firmly cautioned against introducing bubbles until a strong test-and-trace programme is in place, New Scientist has learned. Minutes of an earlier SAGE…

CONFIRMED cases of covid-19 have surged in South America in recent weeks. As daily infections surpassed those in Europe and the US, the World Health Organization declared the region the pandemic’s “new epicentre” on 22 May. More than a million cases of coronavirus and 60,000 deaths had been registered as of 7 June in Latin America, which includes countries in Central and South America and Mexico. Many are struggling with poor healthcare systems and vast economic inequalities. While countries across Europe are slowly lifting lockdown restrictions and reopening borders, coronavirus cases are still surging in South America despite lockdowns across most of the region. “Just in the past week, there were 732,000 new cases globally, and of these, more than 250,000 new cases were in Latin American countries, a serious…