Joe Pinkstone

Exc: Patrick Vallance is using £50m of taxpayer money to revolutionise clinical trials in the UK to speed up drug discovery

The science minister wants to save the NHS by using the “wartime approach” to drug discovery that was a success during the Covid pandemic

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12...

Exc: Net zero ‘glass tax’ to drive up wine and beer prices. Announcement on final EPR prices expected today

Heatwaves ‘will trigger net zero meltdown’ Electric cars and heat pumps among technologies at risk of breaking down or exploding

The heatwave is in full force and high temperatures are always bad news for the power grid

And Net Zero tech like EVs, solar panels and heat pumps are making this worse, a report warns

With 45C summers on the cards there is work to be done to prevent power cuts

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06...

The risks of bombing Iran’s nuclear mountain An attack on the underground Fordow plant could release toxic chemicals into the atmosphere

Trump is reportedly considering joining the attacks on Iran and will likely target the "nuclear mountain" Fordow facility — where weapons-grade uranium is suspected of being made

What happens if the US *does* destroy the site with a "bunker buster"?

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

Climate change ‘could lead to 45C summers in Britain’ Extreme temperature is ‘possible’, says Met Office as it gives 50-50 chance of 40C-plus in next 12 years

An important study from the Met Office has looked for the first time at what summers in the UK will look as climate change continues to cook the planet

Fairly stark findings of 45C temperatures and month-long heatwaves

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06...

“They will question whether it is ethical to do so. The UK pays some of the world’s lowest prices for branded medicines"

But Dame Kate Bingham, former vaccine tsar, warns the UK's notoriously tight budget for new drugs could undermine the plan

KB: "There is a risk pharma companies will not run clinical trials on innovative drugs here in the UK if there is no prospect of patients ever getting access to those drugs"

NHS Trusts to get more funding based on clinical trial success

Scientists and industry welcomed the announcement that more patients will have access to experiemntal drugs

The NHS is a vast database and unique resource, and this step is long overdue

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06...

I’m back at work today covering all things science at The Telegraph after a few months of enforced absence while the NHS patched me up after taking a fall from my bike on the way to the office.

Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, so please reach out as usual with any stories!

Foot and mouth risk ‘at highest ever level’ Experts raise UK threat to medium following outbreak of the disease in a water buffalo herd in Germany

Exc: Risk of foot and mouth disease arriving in the UK is the highest it has ever been

Gov scientists have raised the risk to "medium" after cases in water buffalo herd in Germany

First time ever above "low" due to "great concern" over German situation

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01...

Why using your phone behind the wheel could be legal in self-driving cars Drivers watching videos on a phone or reading a magazine ‘can regain control of vehicle in 10 seconds’

Exc: Using a mobile phone behind the wheel could be legal in self-driving cars in the future

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01...

Covid jab scientists develop bubonic plague vaccine amid fears of next pandemic Oxford team reports hopeful results in trials as military experts say UK should stock supplies of Black Death inoculation

Oxford team behind the AZ Covid jab are making a plague vaccine. Early data now suggests it works

Gov military scientsts at Porton Down recently warned of a rising risk of AMR Y. pestis — a super Black Death ☠️

UK currently does not have an approved plague jab

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01...

Firefighters spend record amount of money rescuing cats in wake of pandemic pets boom London Fire Brigade spent £536,224 assisting with animal incidents in 2024

Firefighters are rescuing more cats than ever before

LFB spent more than £300k saving cats on 716 rescues between Jan 1 and Oct 31

Cat rescues have more than doubled since 2020

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12...

Rocket scientist’s cast iron pan threatens to topple Le Creuset New and improved Dutch ovens boost heat distribution and lead to quicker cooking

Rocket science-inspired cast iron pans 🚀🥘

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12...

Six ways to make your traditional Christmas Day healthier You don’t have to give up any of your favourite foods to keep your waistline from bulging

Time to integrate nuts, mulled wine and a post-dinner dance into the Christmas Day schedule

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12...

‘Little blue pill’ could be replaced by discreet form of Viagra The erectile dysfunction drug may soon be available to Britons in a thin film that dissolves on the tongue

Is this the end of the little blue pill?

"Discrete" dissolvable Viagra is set to come to the UK in the next few years

Trademarks reveal the manufacturer is gearing up to bring the product to Britain soon

In today's @telegraphnews.bsky.social newspaper:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12...

The enemy of my enemy etc etc

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07...

The study has ben criticised for providing a blueprint for how to make a pandemic and comes as the UK Government is ramping up biosecurity protections

Patrick Vallance said "the world is waking up" to the threat of man-made diseases as weapons

Scientists under fire for publishing flu recipe for next pandemic in top journal Experts warn about biosafety implications of releasing blueprint for creating mutated virus

Just *two* single mutations can turn bird flu into a pandemic-causing pathogen, a study has found

A sample of bird flu which infected a person in the US via a cow was genetically tweaked in a lab and, it turns out, it is very easy to make it extremely dangerous

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12...