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Science

Why pharma firms are going to Earth’s orbit in search of new cancer drugs

A space capsule 300 miles above us is growing the tiny crystals of a potential cancer drug in microgravity Roughly 300 miles above our heads, three washing machine-sized capsules are orbiting the Earth. Inside one of them, tiny crystals of a potential cancer drug are being grown in the weightlessness of space. The others are testing heat protection materials and navigation systems for when the capsules plunge back through Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. Together, they represent a small but significant step towards what some hope will become a lucrative new industry: manufacturing drug

The Guardian
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Politics

Rogue UK energy bosses and brokers face crackdown on mis-selling

Exclusive: Ofgem to be given powers to issue fines and rein in bonuses for executives who ‘reward themselves while customers suffer’ Energy bosses in the UK will have their bonuses curtailed when suppliers and brokers break the rules under a crackdown on mis-selling. Through the energy independence bill, which will be introduced on Wednesday, Ofgem will be given new powers to order compensation, impose fines and ban rogue operators that have pushed businesses and households into overpriced contracts. Continue reading...

The Guardian
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Science

The next global pandemic could be brewing on a mink farm in Utah – and little is being done to stop it | George Monbiot

Mink farms are the perfect petri dishes for deadly flu strains to emerge. Yet officials appear to be protecting business interests over human lives Could this be ground zero? Could it be the spot where the next pandemic begins? It’s certainly a candidate, not least because the chain of events that could trigger a plague far worse than Covid-19 looks like the opening sequence of a disaster movie. A really bad disaster movie, in which the levels of carelessness and turpitude defy belief. A report by the investigative news service ProPublica reveals that bird flu has been raging in a mink farm in

The Guardian
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