News
- Health & Medicine
One-shot COVID-19 vaccine is effective against severe disease
The effectiveness of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine at preventing hospitalization and death holds up against a South Africa variant of the coronavirus.
- Genetics
Lizard-like tuatara carry two distinct mitochondrial genomes
Having two mitochondrial genetic instruction books, a first for vertebrates, may help explain tuatara’s unique ability to tolerate cold temperatures.
- Health & Medicine
Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine is effective, but less so with some variants
Novavax’s vaccine fends off the original coronavirus and a U.K. variant, but had more trouble with a South Africa variant.
- Animals
Naked mole-rat colonies speak with unique dialects
Machine learning reveals that these social rodents communicate with distinctive speech patterns that are culturally inherited.
- Anthropology
Humanlike thumb dexterity may date back as far as 2 million years ago
A computer analysis suggests early Homo species developed a powerful grip, giving them an evolutionary edge over some other tool-using hominids.
- Physics
Diamond holds up at pressures more than five times those in Earth’s core
Even when pummeled with lasers, diamond retains its structure, which could reveal how carbon behaves in the cores of some exoplanets.
- Health & Medicine
How coronavirus variants may pose challenges for COVID-19 vaccines
Some coronavirus mutations may make vaccines less effective, but the immune system is multifaceted and vaccines can be updated.
- Space
Crushed space rocks hint at exoplanets’ early atmospheric makeup
Experiments that heat crushed-up meteorites are helping astronomers understand what to look for in exoplanet atmospheres.
- Tech
A robot arm toting a Venus flytrap can grab delicate objects
By attaching electrodes to the plant’s leaves, researchers found a way to snap its traps shut on command.
- Climate
How much will Africa capitalize on cheap renewable energy as its power grid grows?
An analysis of the successes and failures of past electrical power projects across Africa suggests the continent isn’t likely to go green before 2030.
- Animals
A new orange and black bat species is always ready for Halloween
A new species from the sky islands of Africa’s Nimba Mountains shows bats’ colorful streak.
- Life
Giant worms may have burrowed into the ancient seafloor to ambush prey
20-million-year-old tunnels unearthed in Taiwan may have been home to creatures that ambushed prey similar to today’s monstrous bobbit worms.
