Science

The first wave of COVID-19 vaccines are unlikely to end the pandemic, the UK vaccines chief has told Sky News. The UK has 340 million doses of six prototype vaccines in its stockpile – more than any other country. But Kate Bingham, who heads the Vaccine Taskforce, said uncertainties remain over how much protection they

Facebook has updated its policies to prohibit content that “denies or distorts the Holocaust” – just two years after Mark Zuckerberg suggested such posts were permissible under freedom of speech. The social network says it will also re-direct anyone who searches for Holocaust denial to “credible information” on another page. Both updates will begin later

The Duchess of Sussex has spoken about the “almost unsurvivable” online abuse she experienced in a podcast to mark World Mental Health Day. Appearing alongside her husband Prince Harry on the popular Teenage Therapy podcast, Meghan said she was told that “in 2019, I was the most trolled person in the entire world – male

Scientists say they have discovered the fastest possible speed of sound. Researchers found soundwaves travelled at 36km per second in solid atomic hydrogen. That is about twice the speed at which they can travel through diamond – the hardest known material in the world. Image: You can hear a train through the tracks more quickly

The contact-tracing app for England and Wales has only sent one alert about a coronavirus outbreak in a venue since it was launched two weeks ago, despite being used for millions of check-ins, Sky News has learned. Department of Health officials said that the system was still in its infancy and was not expected to

A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton called Stan has sold for £24.5m at auction, breaking an all-time record. Named after Stan Sacrison, the amateur palaeontologist who discovered it in South Dakota in 1987, Stan is 40ft long and 13ft high. It sold for $31.8m (£24.5m) at Christie’s auction house in New York on Tuesday, making it the

The world’s richest countries could be back “close to normal” by late 2021 if a coronavirus vaccine is found, Bill Gates has said. But the Microsoft co-founder warned that this is the “best case” scenario, as it still remains uncertain whether any vaccines will work. The 64-year-old, who in April stepped down from the board

A US congressional report has accused Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google of monopolising the digital market and recommended antitrust laws be used to break up these companies. The 449-page report criticises how the technology giants have purchased competitors to retain their market dominance and for designing services in preference of their own revenues rather than

A team of palaeontologists headed by experts from the University of Edinburgh has discovered a new species of toothless, two-fingered dinosaur. Multiple complete skeletons of the feathered species – named Oksoko avarsan – have been unearthed in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, providing critical clues about evolution. The dinosaurs, which were omnivorous and grew to about two-metres

Apple is expected to finally unveil the iPhone 12 and a handful of other products at a special event later. The company showed off a range of new gadgets including Apple Watches and iPads in its September event, but for the first time in years didn’t release a new iPhone. Today’s launch is being held

Donald Tump has tweeted that he is “feeling great” as he continues to recover from coronavirus. The US president also wrote that he was “looking forward” to the next presidential debate against his Democratic rival Joe Biden on 15 October in Miami. However, an earlier post by the president which falsely claimed COVID-19 is less

The developers of a potential COVID-19 antibody treatment have moved trials to a third phase, hailing “rapid achievement” with no safety concerns to date. The world’s largest vaccines player, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Vir Biotechnology said their trial programme was also to be expanded across new sites in North America, South America and Europe. The pair

Apple is taking a former business partner to court for allegedly stealing and reselling more than 100,000 devices which it had been hired to dismantle and recycle. GEEP Canada received more than 500,000 devices between January 2015 and December 2017, which the iPhone-maker had contracted it to dismantle and recycle. However, an investigation by Apple

Researchers are looking at whether the common cold could offer some protection against contracting coronavirus. A recent study at Yale University found that rhinovirus – the most frequent cause of a cold – could jump-start the body’s antiviral defences, providing protection against the flu. They discovered that the presence of rhinovirus triggered production of the

A cargo ship has been launched to the International Space Station with a special food delivery for astronauts. The American global aerospace company Northrop Grumman launched its capsule from the Virginia Coast on Friday. It contained a 360-degree camera designed for spacewalking, radish seeds for growing, and an assortment of meats and cheeses for feasting.

COVID-19 antibodies in blood plasma donations appear to drop within just months of symptoms emerging, a study has warned. The NHS has been using plasma as a treatment for coronavirus infections, and the number of people receiving donations has quadrupled in the last month. But the health service says it still needs more donations and