At least 70 research teams, including some in Canada, are racing to develop potential pandemic vaccines within a year — an accelerated pace in an unprecedented search for an end to humanity’s lockdowns. So far, the number of vaccine developers that have shifted from lab studies in animals to early-stage clinical trials in human volunteers can be…

Elected officials should lean heavily on scientific evidence and advice from doctors to maintain the trust of Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new public opinion study. A nationwide survey conducted by York University’s department of disaster and emergency management asked Canadians about the social impacts of the novel coronavirus. The survey found…

Scientists have observed the biggest supernova — stellar explosion — ever detected, the violent death of a huge star up to 100 times more massive than our sun in a faraway galaxy. The supernova, releasing twice as much energy as any other stellar explosion observed to date, occurred about 4.6 billion light years from Earth in a…

Ukrainian emergency officials said Tuesday they have extinguished forest fires in the radiation-contaminated area near the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, but acknowledged that grass was still smouldering in some areas. Hundreds of firefighters backed by aircraft have been battling several forest fires around Chornobyl for the past 10 days. They contained the initial blazes, but…

For earthquake scientists, having hundreds of millions of people off the streets and out of the skies is providing a bonanza of data about the planet. All those planes, trains and automobiles that aren’t running because of stay-home policies meant to fight the spread of COVID-19 have cut noise pollution in some cities by more…

Biologists and wildlife-rehabilitation volunteers are being warned not to handle bats during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the possibility of infecting millions of the flying mammals in North America. The Canadian Wildlife Health Co-Operative (CWHC) is about to recommend the suspension of fieldwork involving bats, said University of Winnipeg biologist Craig Willis, one of the wildlife disease experts developing this new advice. The…