The All Blacks’ visit to Washington DC in October only strengthened American hopes of staging a Rugby World Cup and the US will be announced as host for 2031 next May, USA Rugby chief executive Ross Young said – unless World Rugby decides to go “back to the drawing board” entirely. Young spoke to the Guardian following World Rugby’s announcement of England as preferred candidate to host the women’s event in 2025, the same status for Australia for the men in 2027 and “exclusive targeted dialogue” with the US regarding 2031 and a women’s event potentially two years earlier. World Rugby chief exe ..read more

A New York-based, multi-institutional research team has found high levels of three toxic metabolites produced by gut bacteria in the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma samples of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The important findings, published in the journal Brain, further scientists’ understanding of how gut bacteria can impact the course of neurological diseases by producing compounds that are toxic to nerve cells. Previously published evidence has supported the concept that an imbalance in the gut microbiota—the community of organisms that live in the human intestines—may underly a range of ..read more

Thomas Tuchel is growing frustrated at the wastefulness that has cost Chelsea ground in the title race so he will hope his side find their shooting boots as they go up against a Wolves defence that do not give away many chances. Wolves, who themselves have been often guilty of bad finishing this season, will give a Chelsea a good test. And given how stretched Wolves’ small squad is, Chelsea’s injury problems will offer no excuse if the result does not go the visitors’ way. Paul Doyle Sunday 2pm Venue Molineux Last season Wolves 2 Chelsea 1 Referee David Coote This season G9 Y51 R2 6.11 cards/g ..read more

A 90 percent decrease in the number of NHS psychiatric beds is linked to a tripling of the total prison population, new research has revealed. Scientists at Newcastle University found that between 1960 and 2019 the number of psychiatric beds reduced by 93 percent. And over time, the prison population increased by 208 percent, and the number of female prisoners more than quadrupled. The research, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, is the first to analyze almost 60 years of annual data on NHS bed numbers and the prison population in England using time lag analysis. Integrated servic ..read more

Mark Wolfe is an energy economist and serves as the executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA), representing the state directors of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. He specializes in energy and housing affordability and related finance issues. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. The Build Back Better bill, the large social safety net and environmental spending bill being considered by Congress, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the nation’s growing wealth gap. It would raise taxes on the wealthy and large ..read more

Hydrogen trucking startup Nikola Corp. agreed to pay $125 million to settle charges that it defrauded investors by misleading them about its products and technical achievements, the US Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday. The SEC accused Nikola of violating US securities law with numerous misleading statements made in 2020 about the company’s products and its future financial prospects. The company’s founder and former CEO, Trevor Milton, was arrested earlier this year on charges that he falsely portrayed Nikola as close to releasing a functional product. “As the order finds ..read more

Scientists peering into the depths of Mars’ own grand canyon have found that water makes up as much as 40% of the ground there, an enormous amount considering its near to the hot dry equator of the Red Planet. Covering 15,800 square miles (41,000 square kilometers), the area of water is larger than the Netherlands. While Mars once had huge oceans, the particles of ice or hydrated minerals found in the top soil outside the polar reaches are all the traces that remain. 40% shatters any previous estimations of the potential for water to be found outside of the icy poles. “We found a central part ..read more

The kick-off at St James’ Park is now at 2pm rather than 2.15pm and it is not the only thing that has been moved at Newcastle. For the first time since Mike Ashley’s departure as the club’s owner in October, the Sports Direct advertising that previously covered the ground has been removed. Manchester City fear Pep Guardiola might not be there to see it following the manager’s inconclusive Covid test on Friday but, even if Guardiola is forced to watch from home, Eddie Howe could struggle to secure Newcastle’s desperately craved second win of the season. Louise Taylor Sunday 2pm Sky Sports Premi ..read more

The cochlear implant (CI) is the most successful neural prosthesis worldwide. Thanks to direct stimulation of the auditory nerve, it enables more than half a million people worldwide to hear, even though those affected were born deaf or deafened. In close collaboration, researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Freiburg have developed a method to convert the stimulation electrodes of common CIs into electrochemical sensors. With the help of this novel sensor function, the functionality of cochlear implants could be monitored directly in the in ..read more

CES, typically one of the year’s biggest tech trade shows, is moving forward with plans to host an in-person component this week despite looming threats of the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Although the event will return to Las Vegas for the first time since 2020 — marking the first major, in-person tech conference in the US since the start of the pandemic — it will look different than in pre-Covid times. To start, attendees will be required to masks, show proof of vaccination, and will have access to self-test kits. It will also close one day earlier than originally planned. The Consumer Technolo ..read more