Science
As COVID-19 surges in Europe, governments protect profits over lives
By Johannes Stern and Alex Lantier, 29 October 2020
If the resurgence of COVID-19 across Europe is not halted, it is a matter of a few weeks before hospitals are overrun and masses of people cut off from treatment.
Australian environmental scientists face mounting censorship
By Frank Gaglioti, 27 October 2020
A report found that scientists in the government and private sectors are frequently compelled to modify their research and prevented from publicly-revealing their concerns.
COVID’s deadly toll on people with Alzheimer’s and dementia
By Benjamin Mateus, 26 October 2020
Deaths from dementia have been catastrophic as the isolation and lockdowns of nursing homes have led to cessation of vital support and treatment for this vulnerable layer of the population.
COVID-19 “long-hauler” phenomenon presents in children and teens as schools reopen against expert advice
By Katy Kinner, 26 October 2020
New data is surfacing that suggests children can be saddled with chronic and debilitating post-viral illness after even mild cases of COVID-19.
OSIRIS-REx spacecraft touches an asteroid, attempts sample collection
By Don Barrett, 23 October 2020
High drama unfolded to a worldwide audience Tuesday as the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made a safe and seemingly successful “touch and go” sample collection from its target, asteroid 101955 Bennu. It will return a sample from the asteroid to Earth in September 2023.
Record wildfires continue to expand across Colorado
By Anthony del Olmo, 23 October 2020
Colorado erupted this week as the main hotspot for wildfires in the western United States. Firefighting resources are being stretched thin as fires continue to break out late in the season.
Record-breaking Colorado wildfires prompt mass evacuations
By Eddie Haywood, 22 October 2020
The Cameron Peak fire, which ignited on August 13 near Fort Collins, has blazed through more than 200,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire in the state’s history.
Trump steps up fascist agitation, targeting Fauci
By Barry Grey, 21 October 2020
Fauci has already become a target of far-right Trump supporters. He and his wife have received death threats by email, phone and text message.
COVID-19 pandemic surges in Turkey as government continues to hide data
By Barış Demir and Ulaş Ateşçi, 19 October 2020
The government is allowing the virus to spread, citing false data to refuse any demands for lock-downs and suppress growing anger and concern within the working class.
Melting glaciers threaten catastrophic consequences for humanity
By Daniel Jakob, 19 October 2020
Global warming has already resulted in continual and worldwide loss of glacial ice, and the concurrent melting of the permafrost ground layer is approaching irreversibility.
Tesla: The cognizable, knowable scientist and visionary
By Joanne Laurier, 15 October 2020
Written and directed by Michael Almereyda, Tesla is a drama about the life of Serbian-American engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), a remarkable figure. Ethan Hawke plays Tesla.
The Great Barrington Declaration: Capitalism’s global policy of herd immunity
By Benjamin Mateus, 14 October 2020
Super spreading events are the primary mode of transmission for COVID-19 infections. The recent declaration at Great Barrington, Massachusetts, attempts to establish herd-immunity as a global policy that will have catastrophic consequences for the working class.
With more than 1 million dead, who have been the victims of the coronavirus pandemic?
Part two
By Benjamin Mateus, 10 October 2020
More than 1 million people globally have succumbed to COVID-19. The working class has faced the brunt of this pandemic, with all indications that the worst is still to come.
The California wildfires: A disaster of capitalism and climate change
By Rafael Azul and Peter Ross, 10 October 2020
Even as record-breaking fires rage across the US West Coast, the ruling class has refused neither to address the climate crisis nor protect those in the path of destruction.
Research into black holes awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics
By Bryan Dyne, 9 October 2020
Black holes are one of the most esoteric predictions of the general theory of relativity and they play a key role in galactic evolution across the Universe.
Trump administration continues assault on endangered species
By Adria French, 19 September 2020
Recent changes to the Endangered Species Act “to lower regulatory burdens” are driving several species toward extinction.
The precedents for disease eradication through international cooperation
Part two
By Frank Gaglioti, 16 September 2020
Vaccines have been successfully developed for both polio and the measles, but global elimination of the diseases lags.
New cases of COVID-19 reach a one-day high of nearly 308,000 worldwide
By Benjamin Mateus and Patrick Martin, 15 September 2020
The number of new cases of COVID-19 hit a new one-day high of nearly 308,000 worldwide, bringing the global total to almost 30 million cases and 930,000 deaths. The United States alone will reach 200,000 deaths by mid-week.
The precedents for disease eradication through international cooperation
Part one
By Frank Gaglioti, 15 September 2020
An examination of the historical record demonstrates that infectious diseases like COVID-19 can be eliminated.
Smoking in the age of COVID: Some immunological considerations
By Henry Hakamaki, 12 September 2020
Smoking and e-cigarettes are directly associated with increased risk of infection by the novel coronavirus.
The pseudoscience behind the right-wing drive to force schools to open
Part two
By Benjamin Mateus, 2 September 2020
The ruling elites and their legion of state and local officials are furiously pushing to open schools and universities. However, recent published studies have provided ample evidence that school openings will drive the pandemic toward a second, potentially larger, wave.
The pseudoscience behind the right-wing drive to force schools to open
Part one
By Benjamin Mateus, 1 September 2020
The ruling elites and their legion of state and local officials are furiously pushing to open schools and universities. However, recent published studies have provided ample evidence that school openings will drive the pandemic towards a second potentially larger wave.
Mounting evidence of COVID-19 reinfection
By Henry Hakamaki, 31 August 2020
Several recent studies suggest that survivors of the coronavirus can come down with a second case after recovering from a first infection.
The origins and evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
By Frank Gaglioti, 24 August 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is a once in a century event, a trigger event, that has exposed the deep contradictions and terminal decay in the capitalist organization of world resources.
Who is Scott Atlas, Trump’s new adviser on the COVID-19 pandemic?
By Benjamin Mateus, 18 August 2020
Dr. Scott Atlas, a former neuroradiologist and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution was selected as the new presidential adviser on the pandemic to “counter” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading US epidemiologist.
The coronavirus pandemic and capitalism
Russia’s vaccine intensifies global struggle for profits and geopolitical advantage
By Barry Grey, 13 August 2020
Vladimir Putin’s announcement Tuesday that Russia has officially approved a COVID-19 vaccine has intensified the global conflict between national powers and pharmaceutical giants to be the first to mass produce and market a vaccine for the deadly virus.
Three missions to Mars are now under way
By Don Barrett, 31 July 2020
Spacecraft from China, the United Arab Emirates and the United States have been successfully launched on trajectories that will take them to Mars by next February.
Antarctic ice sheet melting could accelerate rapidly, leading to catastrophic rise in sea level
By Philip Guelpa, 27 July 2020
If all the Antarctic ice were to melt, sea levels would rise by approximately an additional 60 meters (nearly 200 feet).
Canadian medical experts provide ideological justification for homicidal back-to-work drive
By Laurent Lafrance, 25 July 2020
Exploiting their professional qualifications to give their arguments credibility, the experts have fully endorsed the corporate elite’s reactionary dictum: “The cure cannot be worse than the disease.”
The nationalist hijacking of the race for a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus
By Benjamin Mateus, 24 July 2020
Vaccine nationalism is driving the fury to capitalize on being the first nation to produce a viable cure against the coronavirus.
White House in disarray as coronavirus numbers explode
By Patrick Martin, 16 July 2020
The one-day total of infections has set a new record of 71,670 and deaths are once again climbing.
The COVID-19 vaccine and the drive for profit
By Frank Gaglioti, 8 July 2020
As the pandemic rages across the planet, the struggle to develop a vaccine has become an urgent task. But the vaccines will be weaponized for geopolitical purposes, not to provide the treatments equitably on a global scale.
Scientist warns Istanbul earthquake could kill hundreds of thousands
By Ozan Özgür, 7 July 2020
Earthquake experts internationally agree that an earthquake of at least magnitude-7 is likely in the next 10 years in Istanbul.
Contact tracing and capitalism’s response to the pandemic
By Benjamin Mateus, 27 June 2020
As the globe rapidly approaches ten million cases of COVID-19, the United States continues to ignore any public health measures to contain the pandemic.
Pandemic’s negative impact on Australian scientific research future could last decades
By John Mackay, 19 June 2020
Research in the university sector is expected to decrease by at least $3 billion in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The World Health Organization comes under new US attack for its relationship to China
By Benjamin Mateus, 9 June 2020
China and the WHO are useful scapegoats for the systematic neglect of the health and lives of millions of people on the part of the Trump administration and other imperialist governments
White House Coronavirus Task Force effectively ended by Trump
By Bryan Dyne, 3 June 2020
Now that all fifty states have begun reopening in some form, the pandemic is considered over by the US ruling elite even as coronavirus infections and deaths continue to climb.
Democratic Governor Whitmer lifts major COVID-19 restrictions in Michigan
By Kevin Reed, 3 June 2020
The announcement rescinds the stay-at-home order, along with a series of other restrictions even though most of the state remains in the “flattening” phase of the pandemic.
Canada’s governments ignored 2006 pandemic preparedness report
By Dylan Lubao, 3 June 2020
The 550-page “Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector” is further proof that the COVID-19 pandemic was both foreseeable and foreseen.
Microsoft to replace MSN news production workers with artificial intelligence
By Mike Ingram, 3 June 2020
Dozens of workers will be replaced with artificial intelligence software that will automatically select content and manage news production.
SpaceX launch of astronauts marks new stage of the privatization of space exploration
By Bryan Dyne, 2 June 2020
The fact that the event was so heavily promoted by SpaceX founder and billionaire Elon Musk, the American media and President Donald Trump should give the excitement around the launch pause.
Discredited policy of coronavirus “herd immunity” placed in stark relief
By Benjamin Mateus, 1 June 2020
Much of the population of the globe remains susceptible to coronavirus infection, exposing the pursuit of herd immunity as a horrifically deadly policy.
Dow Jones hits 25,000 as pandemic death toll reaches 100,000
By David North, 27 May 2020
The Wall Street surge anticipates the shutdown of all restraints on corporate operations and capitalist profiteerring.
Reports question undercounting of COVID-19 deaths in US and globally
By Bryan Dyne, 27 May 2020
There is increasing evidence that the actual fatalities caused by the pandemic are up to three times the numbers officially reported.
Executives of vaccine developer Moderna cash in, cut corners
By Benjamin Mateus, 26 May 2020
In March, while the global economy was facing an implosion, CEO Stéphane Bancel became a billionaire based on the valuation of his nine percent stake in the publicly traded company.
Hydroxychloroquine: New scientific study refutes the quack-in-chief
By Benjamin Mateus, 23 May 2020
President Trump claimed this week he had been taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure. His statements demonstrate both ignorance and hostility to science.
Capitalism vs. science: The lessons of the 36-hour Moderna vaccine frenzy
By Benjamin Mateus, 20 May 2020
It took just 36 hours for the media’s frenzied promotion of a “breakthrough” treatment for the coronavirus to collapse under its own weight.
Spike in Kawasaki-like disease linked to coronavirus in France and Italy, one child dies
By Will Morrow, 18 May 2020
This is a damning indictment of capitalist governments internationally which are reopening schools and asserting that the virus does not harm children.
Market and profits impede COVID-19 vaccine effort
By Frank Gaglioti, 18 May 2020
The discovery of the genetic structure of the virus was the first step in the drive for a vaccine. It was also the starting gun for companies fighting for the bonanza that will fall to the successful candidate vaccine.
The Trump administration vs. science
By Patrick Martin, 15 May 2020
The president’s attack on his top coronavirus advisor, Anthony Fauci, is part of an appeal to the most backward and reactionary forces to support the deadly policy of “reopening” the US economy.
Children in US and UK dying from syndrome linked to COVID-19
By Jacob Crosse, 9 May 2020
At least two children in the US and one in the UK have died from the newly identified Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, which is believed to be related to COVID-19.
Human challenge trials are being pushed to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus
By Benjamin Mateus, 5 May 2020
Purposefully exposing volunteers to the coronavirus after they have been given an experimental vaccine is fraught with tremendous risks to the patients themselves and the population at large.
Thirty years of the Hubble Space Telescope
By Bryan Dyne, 2 May 2020
While it has been a public relations boon for NASA, Hubble’s true importance lies in its continued and vast contributions to astronomy.
Coronavirus antibody tests lack validity and sufficient accuracy to offer reliable guarantee of immunity
By Benjamin Mateus, 28 April 2020
One of the most well-known attempts to justify sending workers back to offices and factories, based on a supposed antibody count, comes from the discredited Santa Clara study, as it has come to be known.
Star Trek: Picard—The prospects of an aging icon
By Lee Parsons, 18 April 2020
Set late in the 24th century, Star Trek: Picard concluded its 10-episode season in March to generally favourable reviews, if a mixed reception from the faithful.
Science vs. Trump: The dangerous promotion of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19
By Benjamin Mateus, 13 April 2020
Neither chloroquine nor hydroxychloroquine has been proven to deliver any benefit against the impact of the coronavirus.
World Health Organization warns against premature ending of social distancing measures
By Bryan Dyne, 8 April 2020
The warnings come as the number of deaths worldwide approaches 82,000 and the number of officially confirmed cases burst past 1.4 million.
An ominous warning ignored by governments
Netflix’s Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak
By Toby Reese, 1 April 2020
As the US became an epicenter of the current pandemic last week, the series jumped into the top ten most-viewed on Netflix.
UK Johnson government denounced for COVID-19 “herd immunity” policy
By Robert Stevens, 16 March 2020
For all its belated and half-hearted denials, the government’s actions prove that it is intent on not lifting a finger to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Computer modeling can assist in efforts against the Covid-19 pandemic
By Benjamin Mateus, 6 March 2020
Advances in computer modeling of the pandemic come up against the unwillingness of national governments to devote the resources necessary to fight it.
2020 began with the hottest January in recorded history
By Philip Guelpa, 26 February 2020
One of the major consequences of human-induced climate change is sea level rise, which threatens coastal flooding and the displacement of hundreds of millions of people.
Latest UN plan to address catastrophic decline in biodiversity—more empty platitudes
By Philip Guelpa, 1 February 2020
Earth faces the sixth mass extinction of life on the planet, and all the capitalist system can provide is another toothless document.
Trump administration ramps up campaign to abolish strong data encryption in aftermath of Pensacola terror shooting
By Kevin Reed, 21 January 2020
The administration, following in the footsteps of the Obama White House, is moving to attack privacy rights protected by the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution.
Australia: Climate change and the bushfire crisis
By Frank Gaglioti, 4 January 2020
“Long-term climate change in Australia is an undeniable reality.”
Research explains how the measles virus destroys immune “memory”
By Frank Gaglioti, 27 December 2019
The measles virus is particularly dangerous as it wipes out immunity previously acquired after exposure to other microbes in a process known as “immune amnesia.”
Skin Deep, Journey in the Divisive Science of Race, by Gavin Evans
By Philip Guelpa, 9 December 2019
The overwhelming weight of scientific research demonstrates that “race” does not exist as a valid biological category, but is a social construct.
Four years after the Paris Agreement
UN report calls for “radical transformations” to avert global climate catastrophe
By Bryan Dyne, 27 November 2019
Rising global greenhouse gas emissions demonstrate the inability to address climate change under capitalism.
Social inequality in Early Bronze Age Europe
By Philip Guelpa, 12 November 2019
Genetic and archaeological data indicate that social stratification in Europe during the third and second millennium BC was more complex than previously thought, and may indicate the origins of later, slave-based ancient societies.
Eleven thousand scientists warn of climate emergency
By Daniel de Vries, 11 November 2019
Forty years of climate negotiations among capitalist governments have done nothing to alter the trajectory towards environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.
Google announces a new breakthrough for quantum computing
By Bryan Dyne, 26 October 2019
By exploiting the quantum properties of matter at an atomic level, quantum computing represents a potentially gargantuan leap in computing power over ordinary machines based on integrated circuits.
Nobel Prize in Physics awarded for research in cosmology and exoplanets
By Bryan Dyne, 11 October 2019
This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics focuses on the deeper understanding of humanity’s place in the cosmos that has been developed over the past six decades.
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded for research in cellular responses to oxygen
By Benjamin Mateus, 10 October 2019
Everyone understands the general need for oxygen, but how cells actually use it has not been well understood.
As US vaping-related lung illnesses soar, FDA found negligent in enforcing e-cig regulations
By Benjamin Mateus, 7 October 2019
A report issued by the NIH’s drug abuse section highlights the dramatic rise in vaping among teenagers; 37.3 percent of 12th graders reported they had vaped in the past 12 months.
Study predicts significant outbreaks of measles in Texas due to low vaccination rates
By Gary Joad, 2 October 2019
Texas, the second most populous state, grants the greatest number of vaccine exemptions for personal philosophical and religious reasons of any state in US.
The only solution to climate change is world socialism
the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, 19 September 2019
The millions marching against global warming must turn to the international working class to solve the unfolding environmental catastrophe.
Stunning discovery of pre-human fossil skull in Ethiopia
By Frank Gaglioti, 19 September 2019
As a near complete skull 3.8 million years old, the find opens the road to future research that will allow scientists to look back to more primitive species, while being able to reassess the transition to true humans.
Video: Paleoanthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie explains the significance of the discovery
19 September 2019
The video shows the area in Ethiopia where the human-like skull of Australopithecus anamensis, known as MRD, was found and explains its significance.
Hubble Space Telescope detects water vapor on habitable-zone exoplanet
By Bryan Dyne, 13 September 2019
The discovery is another step toward finding a world with an environment, and possibly life, on a planet outside our Solar System.
The issues raised by climate change in the wake of Hurricane Dorian
By Bryan Dyne, 9 September 2019
The destruction caused by Hurricane Dorian further supports the prediction that global warming will cause more destructive tropical storms.
New human species discovered in the Philippines
By Frank Gaglioti, 21 August 2019
The latest find adds to our knowledge of the complex evolutionary path of human-like species and fills an important gap in our understanding.
Fifty years since the first Moon landing
By Patrick Martin, 20 July 2019
The first Moon landing remains an epoch-making scientific, technical and organizational achievement.
Multiple studies demonstrate global warming is melting glaciers faster
By Philip Guelpa, 24 June 2019
The accelerating rate of ice melting occurring around the world is a grave warning that climate change is rapidly reaching the point at which its catastrophic consequences will be felt by billions of people.
A million species threatened with extinction, UN-backed report warns
By Daniel de Vries, 14 May 2019
The comprehensive study of biodiversity called for “transformative change” to protect nature and humanity.
First imagery of black hole by the Event Horizon Telescope
By Bryan Dyne, 11 April 2019
The results from the planet-wide array of radio telescopes are the first direct measurements of the structure of a black hole and its surrounding environment.
Bone marrow transplant removes HIV from a second patient
By Benjamin Mateus, 29 March 2019
The “London patient” will be considered cured if free of the virus for three to four more years.
Ocean degradation accelerated by global warming
By Henry Allan, 19 March 2019
The decline in oceanic oxygen caused by climate change is at least as dangerous to marine life as ocean acidification.
The Youth Climate Strike and the fight against global warming
By Bryan Dyne, 14 March 2019
That the demonstration planned for Friday has evoked a broad response is an indication of both the serious nature of the ecological crisis and the radicalization of youth all over the world.
Opportunity rover completes 15 years of Martian exploration
By Bryan Dyne, 15 February 2019
The Mars rover has provided an immense wealth of scientific knowledge and served as the eyes for tens of millions of people to view the landscapes of another world.
Science and social crisis in 2019
By Bryan Dyne, 19 January 2019
A series of major scientific breakthroughs demonstrate the potential for the progressive development of humanity, even as capitalism drags mankind into war and barbarism.
Scientific breakthrough promises to increase agricultural productivity by 40 percent
By Philip Guelpa and Thomas H. Douglass, 9 January 2019
Newly announced research on photosynthesis in plants, the basis of nearly the entire food chain on the planet, shows that advances in science and technology can abolish hunger and the danger of famine.
New Horizons completes flyby of Ultima Thule
By Bryan Dyne, 4 January 2019
Ultima Thule is 6.4 billion kilometers from Earth, the most distant astronomical body ever explored by a spacecraft.
Academics and students oppose Cambridge University appointment of eugenicist Noah Carl—Part 2
By Thomas Scripps, 31 December 2018
This is the second and concluding part of a series on the political significance of the appointment by Cambridge University of eugenicist Noah Carl as a research fellow.
Academics and students oppose Cambridge University appointment of eugenicist Noah Carl—Part 1
By Thomas Scripps, 29 December 2018
This is the first of a two-part series on the political significance of the appointment by Cambridge University of eugenicist Noah Carl as a research fellow.
Moon targeted for further exploration, orbiting space stations and militarization
By Henry Allan and Bryan Dyne, 27 December 2018
The development of the Lunar Gateway cannot be seen outside the context of the plan to create a “Space Force” as the sixth branch of the US military and the growing militarization of space in general.
Greenland ice sheet melting at an accelerating rate due to global warming
By Philip Guelpa, 14 December 2018
Data obtained from ice cores taken from the Greenland ice sheet reveal that the past decade has seen the fastest melt rate in 350 years.
Last light for the Kepler space telescope
By Bryan Dyne, 1 December 2018
The first and most productive space telescope designed to find planets beyond our Solar System has been retired after exhausting its fuel supply.
NASA InSight mission successfully lands on Mars
By Bryan Dyne, 28 November 2018
InSight will spend the next two years studying the tectonic activity, internal heat flow and interior rotation of the Red Planet.
World vertebrate populations have fallen 60 percent since 1970
By Bryan Dyne, 1 November 2018
The latest Living Planet Report demonstrates the far-reaching implications of human activity on both the climate and the degradation of the natural environment.
Japanese space agency lands two rovers on surface of asteroid
By Bryan Dyne, 26 September 2018
Although an asteroid was first landed on in 2001, the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission is the first to successfully deploy rovers on the surface of one.
Waste plastics poison the food chain and contribute to global warming
By Philip Guelpa, 7 September 2018
A variety of recent research highlights the ways in which the huge amounts of discarded plastic products are harmful to the environment and human health.
Follow the WSWS