The highlights of the year
Ten years of discovery of the Higgs boson with the Pulitzer Center: a new global vaccine network to provide the South with independent ideas
In April, we heard about a team investigating the pros and cons of face-to-face meetings being replaced by virtual meetings. They showed that people meeting virtually produced fewer creative ideas than those working face-to-face, and suggest that when it comes to idea generation maybe it’s time to turn the camera off.
The Black Death is estimated to have killed up to 60 percent of Europe’s population. The origin of the wave of disease remains unclear despite extensive research. In June, we heard from a team who used a combination of techniques to identify a potential starting point in modern-day Kyrgyzstan.
Ten years ago, scientists announced that they’d found evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle first theorised to exist nearly sixty years earlier.
To celebrate this anniversary, we reminisced about what the discovery meant at the time, and what questions are left to be answered about this mysterious particle.
In this episode of Coronapod we investigated a radical new collaboration between 15 countries — co-led by the WHO, and modelled on open-science — that aims to create independent vaccine hubs that could supply the global south. The project was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04482-x
The discovery of a missing foot and the nature of astronomy: A new explosion discovered by a two-dwarf star in Borneo
A skeleton with a foot missing was discovered in Borneo in the month of September. The researchers behind the find say that the person who had their foot removed may have had access to antiseptic compounds.
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Astronomers recorded this supernova nearly 850 years ago and its remains are stunning. Should COVID-19 vaccines be given yearly, and what are the five best science books of the week?
Robert Fesen, an astronomer for 30 years, says that he has never seen a fireworks display like this before. The remnant of a standard supernova contains a dense web of gas and dust unlike what was left over from a standard explosion. It was probably produced by two white-dwarf stars slamming together, creating an explosion that was documented by Chinese and Japanese astronomers nearly 850 years ago.
Vaccinating against COVID-19: How to speak to the computer screen at 62 words per minute thanks to an implanted brain device
US scientists are split about a proposal to vaccinate people against COVID-19 annually, similar to the protocol for flu jabs. It is thought that it will simplify the country’s vaccine schedule, which may encourage more people to get their vaccinations. Others aren’t convinced about the timeline, because COVID-19 surges aren’t as seasonal as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 spawns new variants at a much faster rate. It is not known whether future jabs should be targeted against one variant or against more than one strain.
A woman who cannot speak because of the paralysing effects of motor neuron disease was able to communicate at a rate of 62 words per minute — three times the previous best — thanks to a brain implant. The device that was implanted into the woman’s motor cortex gave her information about how she was trying to speak to a computer screen. Philip Sabes, a neuroscientist and not involved in the study, says that the performance in the paper is already at a level which many people who cannot speak would want. People are going to want this.
Andrew Robinson’s pick of the top five science books to read this week includes the trans-Atlantic correspondence between James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis — the inventors of the Gaia hypothesis, in which all organisms on Earth and their non-living surroundings are viewed as a complex, interacting system — and an illustrated study of parasitic worms.
The amino acid serine slows diabetes-induced nerve damage in mice. There isn’t a way to treat nerve damage caused by diabetes in humans. Researchers found that diabetic mice have an imbalanced serine metabolism, which generates compounds that are toxic to neurons. “If we fed a serine-enriched diet to the diabetic mice as they were getting older, we could mitigate the onset of sensory neuropathy,” bioengineer Christian Metallo tells the Nature Podcast.
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00264-1
Red hair is on its way out: a geneticist’s perspective on improved bacterial genomes for magnetic resonance imaging in rural settings and small clinics
The rumour that red hair was on its way out has been greatly exaggerated, says geneticist Katerina Zorina-Lichtenwalter. (National Geographic | 6 min read)
Researchers have engineered bacteria with synthetic genomes to be immune to viral infection. The team changed the machinery that makes the bacterial code so that it can not be inserted by a virus, meaning thebacteria can speak a different language. It is hoped that the technique could be used to decrease the sharing of genes.
Magnetic resonance imaging is a standard technique in clinical care. Some people living in low and middle-income countries are not allowed to use this technology. To address this, new types of smaller MRI scanners are being designed that are more affordable and practical for use in rural settings or small clinics. A researcher working on one of these systems tells us how to improve it and make it available to everyone.
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, there are new claims of room-temperature superconductivity and the development of embryos from two male mice.
