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Japan is considering new rules to prevent the leak of sensitive technology, such as sensors.Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Japan considers new rules on research interference amid US–China tensions The Japanese government is considering tougher rules to address the risk of foreign interference in scientific research, such as more-thorough vetting of visa applications from international students and

In recent years, the notion of an insect apocalypse has become a hot topic in the conservation science community and has captured the public’s attention. Scientists who warn that this catastrophe is unfolding assert that arthropods – a large category of invertebrates that includes insects—are rapidly declining, perhaps signaling a general collapse of ecosystems across the

Eight months into the global pandemic, we’re still measuring its effects only in deaths. Non-hospitalized cases are loosely termed ‘mild’ and are not followed up. Recovery is implied by discharge from hospital or testing negative for the virus. Ill health in those classed as ‘recovered’ is going largely unmeasured. And, worldwide, millions of those still

Melissa McKenzie colouring with her daughter.Credit: Melissa McKenzie For Prabha Devan, a stem-cell biologist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad, India, transitioning to remote working during the coronavirus pandemic has been more than just an inconvenience. Not only must she try to finish her research from home but she must

Derecho, a rare storm packed with 100mph winds and power like that of a hurricane, slammed across the Midwest on Monday. The storm toppled trees and powerlines, flipped vehicles, caused widespread damage of properties, and left thousands of homes without power. It continued to move towards Chicago, Indiana, and Michigan.  The National Weather Service Storm

The Universe is expanding — for now.Credit: NASA/ESA The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) Katie Mack Scribner (2020) Scientists know how the world will end. The Sun will run out of fuel and enter its red-giant phase. Its final burst of glory will expand and engulf the closest planets, leaving Earth a charred, lifeless rock.

A recently published study revealed that fertilizers and pesticide application to cropland are now the primary sources of sulfur to the environment. Historically, the coal-fired power plants were the most significant contributor of reactive sulfur to the environment, but synthetic agricultural inputs now replace it. Acid rain, the form of precipitation that contains an increased

Protests have erupted in the US and beyond over issues such as racism and COVID-19 shutdowns.Credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP /Getty Rita Colwell is the former director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) — the first woman to hold that post — and a leader in cholera research. In her new book, A Lab of

The explosion on 4 August destroyed buildings across Beirut.Credit: Fadel Itani/NurPhoto/Getty On the evening of 4 August, Pierre Khoueiry was making birthday plans with his wife and two-year-old son when a blast shattered the windows of the family’s apartment in Beirut. About 2.5 kilometres away, in the city’s port, a powerful explosion had sent a

Mauritius citizens and groups are trying to contain the recent oil spill and protect the coastline and Mahebourg Lagoon. Thousands of Mauritians, from residents and students to environmental activists, worked non-stop last Sunday to try to reduce the damage of the oil spill on an island in the Indian Ocean when a ship had an unfortunate encounter with a reef. Due

The New Horizons mission shows that Pluto’s far-side contains a number of geological features that are puzzling scientists. Download MP3 In 2015, after a nine-and-a-half-year journey, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft raced past Pluto, beaming images of the dwarf planet back to Earth. Five years after the mission, researchers are poring over images of Pluto’s far-side,

Robotics now has an innovative application in farming, and tiny robot swarms are on the way to eliminating the need for pesticides. This could lead to a future without the need to use harmful pesticidal chemicals. With this new technology, crops can grow without having to deal with weeds. At the same time, beneficial insects and pollinators such as bees can

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here Figure 1 | A tuatara in New Zealand. Gemmell et al.4 have generated a high-quality genome sequence for the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus).Credit: Pete Oxford/NPL The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) is the last living member of the reptilian

MV Wakashio struck a coral reef in the Indian Ocean on July 25, and it has since begun leaking tons of fuel into the surrounding waters of Mauritius.  The incident prompted the Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth to announce a state of environmental agency on Friday. He also asked for help from France President Emmanuel Macron in handling

One-and-one-and-done: data from a large UK birth cohort suggest some parents kept having children until they had at least boy and one girl. Credit: Getty Human behaviour 07 August 2020 A change in the sex ratio of offspring in the United Kingdom might reflect shifting attitudes about gender. In the second half of the twentieth

A study showed that large carnivores are less inclined to attack cattle when they have painted eyes on their rumps. A significant challenge for conservation involves wild carnivores preying livestock, including the human retaliatory killing of these carnivores. Rural people in the southern hemisphere mostly bear these conflicts between humans and wildlife drive declines of large carnivores’ populations and the costs from

A health worker in Rybnik, Poland, carries a sample from a coal miner for SARS-CoV-2 testing. Credit: Omar Marques/Getty 7 August — For fast and low-cost COVID-19 testing, just spit A quick, cheap and painless test that detects SARS-CoV-2 RNA in spit could be used for mass testing. Chantal Vogels at Yale School of Medicine

A space-based sensor has detected new colonies of emperor penguins on Antarctic sea ice. Credit: Christopher Walton Ecology 07 August 2020 Images from space bolster the population count, but the birds remain vulnerable to climate change. From their vantage point high above Antarctica, sharp-eyed satellites have spotted eight previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins. The

The threat of Mont Blanc glacier collapse caused red zone imposition and evacuation on the valley region. Last Friday, an alpine resort in Italy was on high alert as officials feared that a glacier’s chunk might be dislodged from Mont Blanc massif’s slopes and plummet down the mountain. The tarmac road that leads to the

Controlling deforestation (shown here, in a tropical rainforest in the Congo Basin) could decrease the risk of future pandemics, experts say.Credit: Patrick Landmann/Science Photo Library As humans diminish biodiversity by cutting down forests and building more infrastructure, they’re increasing the risk of disease pandemics such as COVID-19. Many ecologists have long suspected this, but a

A project of ‘before & after’ photographs of glaciers in Patagonia shows the dramatic impact of global warming in the past century. Images taken in the year 1913 were replicated with their present-day equivalent, exposing the damages wrought by climate change. The Photographers Cristian Donoso dedicated the past 24 years to show these effects. For his 2018 Postcards of Ice project, he collaborated with Alfredo Pourailly

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here Controlling deforestation (shown here, in a tropical rainforest in the Congo Basin) could decrease the risk of future pandemics, experts say.Credit: Patrick Landmann/Science Photo Library The way we are changing landscapes might increase the probability of

US travel restrictions affect Iranian academics and students who wish to enter or re-enter the United States.Credit: Leah Millis/Reuters Nosratullah Mohammadi had never bothered applying to attend a scientific event in the United States. As an Afghan refugee resident in Iran since 1998, he was familiar with the US visa rejections that commonly obstruct prospective

The Ecuadorian navy encountered nearly 260 fishing vessels with Chinese flags sailing on the coast of Galapagos Islands.  According to the Island’s Governor Norman Wray, the Chinese fleet is within international waters outside the maritime border around the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador’s coastal waters.  Every year, Chinese fishing vessels come to the seas near Galapagos. This

Artificial intelligence, used by the robot shown here, is one of the three focus areas that the US National Science Foundation will prioritise in its graduate student fellowships.Credit: Yang Jianzheng/VCG via Getty The major US agency tasked with funding basic research, the National Science Foundation (NSF), raised alarm among scientists late last month when it

Imagine going to the zoo where humans, not animals, are caged. Lions and bears roam freely around you, and you may give them a treat. Many traditional zoos earn the reputation of keeping animals caged and in poor condition over the years. On the other hand, reverse zoos let the animals enjoy a cage-free environment,

These 3D-printed objects are luminous under ultraviolet light thanks to crystals of fluorescent dye. Credit: Amar Flood Materials science 06 August 2020 Crystals of physically distanced dye molecules fluoresce brilliantly in a rainbow of colours. Scientists have combined new fluorescent dyes with plastic to create some of the most brightly glowing objects ever made. Most

Credit: Daniel Grizelj/Getty International collaborations account for almost one-quarter of all publications and produce notable citations and influence. But the coronavirus pandemic is likely to choke off much of this momentum: researchers can’t meet face-to-face when would-be travellers are cautioned against flying or are banned from certain destinations. The impact of COVID-19 threatens to derail

Transmissible or zoonotic wildlife diseases increase as nature is damaged, due to the increase of bats and rats harboring pandemic pathogens such as the SARS-CoV-2. Human-induced destruction of ecosystems causes an increase in the populations of animals that carry diseases, which could cause pandemics. The Emergence of Transmissible Diseases Human societies are increasingly being infected by diseases that come from wildlife. These diseases include those caused

1. Mills, K. et al. Fisheries management in a changing climate: lessons from the 2012 ocean heat wave in the Northwest Atlantic. Oceanography 26, 191–195 (2013). Google Scholar  2. Wernberg, T. et al. An extreme climatic event alters marine ecosystem structure in a global biodiversity hotspot. Nat. Clim. Chang. 3, 78–82 (2013). ADS  Google Scholar 

Ecoplant, a leading provider of revolutionary industrial IoT solutions for compressed air systems partners with Atlas Machine & Supply Inc., a distributor and service provider of industrial air compressors to boost the compressed air system technology of U.S. factories. Eco plant aims to introduce revolutionary technologies to U.S. factories that rely on air compressors, making

Testing in Italy found that dogs and cats have SARS-CoV-2 infection rates comparable to those of humans.Credit: Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Pets’ coronavirus infection rates mirror people’s Cats and dogs are just as likely to be infected with the virus SARS‑CoV-2 as people are, according to a survey in northern Italy that is the largest study of

Humans have altered more than half of Earth’s habitable land to meet the needs of our burgeoning population1. The transformation of forests, grasslands and deserts into cities, suburbs and agricultural land has caused many species to decline or disappear, whereas others have thrived2. The losers tend to be ecological specialists, such as rhinoceros or ostriches,

Isaias has left at least five people dead after ravaging through the US’s Atlantic coast, and is now in Canada. The Effects of Isaias A tornado killed two people when it struck a North Carolina mobile home park; three more people died in Delaware, Maryland, and New York. Isaias has now moved to Canada’s southeastern region, and has

New observations show that seismometers can detect magnetic-field fluctuations linked to the Northern Lights (above, at Fairbanks, Alaska). Credit: Getty Geophysics 04 August 2020 Earthquake-monitoring stations could also help to monitor the effects of incoming solar particles. Seismometers in Alaska that normally measure trembling in the ground also pick up signals from the Northern Lights

New research urgently calls for biological control and an integrated management strategy in fighting Mimosa diplotricha, an invasive weed that threatens southern and eastern African livelihoods. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)New research urgently calls for biological control and an integrated management strategy in fighting Mimosa diplotricha, an invasive weed that threatens southern and eastern African livelihoods. Dr.

Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow (pictured, centre, receiving the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) has written to world leaders this week urging them to step up disarmament efforts.Credit: Lise Aserud/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The start of August marks an inauspicious anniversary for science, that of the first — and, so

Like all pandemics, it started out small. A novel coronavirus emerged in Brazil, jumping from bats to pigs to farmers before making its way to a big city with an international airport. From there, infected travellers carried it to the United States, Portugal and China. Within 18 months, the coronavirus had spread around the world,

 Panda is one of the most recognized symbols of conservation, as these endearing animals have been pulled out from the brink of extinction. However, studies reveal that protecting the giant panda left other predators in the habitat: leopards, snow leopards, wolves, and Asian wild dog populations showed a dramatic decline over the years.  (Photo : Pixabay)Panda is

Japan is considering new rules to prevent the leak of sensitive technology, such as sensors.Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty The Japanese government is considering tougher rules to address the risk of foreign interference in scientific research, such as more thorough vetting of visa applications from international students and researchers and requiring institutions to declare foreign sources of

In 2011, the whale watching industry was estimated to be more than 2 billion dollars, as 13 million people went whale watching. With the advent of selfies and social media, whale watching fans are expected to increase at a much higher rate over the years.  Over the years, the industry has transformed sleeping coastal communities

Spain’s lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 lasted more than 6 weeks, and put Fernando T. Maestre in the medical centre with anxiety.Credit: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty One week after giving a webinar (in Spanish) about the need to address poor mental health in academia, I was in the medical centre following several sleepless nights and

The nearly 5,000-year-old Methuselah bristlecone pine tree shows the possibility of long life and aging, and together with the oldest organisms on Earth, it shows life’s resilience and resourcefulness. The tree can be found in the White Mountains in California. A recent report states that the bristlecone pine will turn 4,851 years old this year. The

Klaus Fuchs was arrested for espionage in 1950.Credit: GL Archive/Alamy Atomic Spy: The Dark Lives of Klaus Fuchs Nancy Thorndike Greenspan Viking (2020) Klaus Fuchs is better remembered for his betrayal than for his science. The brilliant German theoretical physicist handed the Soviet Union secrets that allowed it to accelerate its cold-war work on a

Air pollution contributes to as many as 9 million premature deaths worldwide each year – twice as many as war, other violence, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. Fine particulate matter air pollution is especially dangerous: Microscopic particles readily enter the lungs, bloodstream and brain, with health effects that include infant death, reduced life expectancy for adults,

A rapidly breeding invasive blue crab species is currently wrecking the livelihood of Balkan fishermen in Albania. The menace it causes is not a pretty picture. The Blue Crab Invasion The invasive blue crab is disrupting the ecosystems of the region. Although this crustacean is native to the Atlantic Ocean, it started to emerge in

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here A female deep-sea anglerfish of the species Melanocetus johnsonii, with a male fused to her body.Edith A. Widder Genetic analysis has shed light on the notoriously bizarre mating ritual of the anglerfish. When these deep-sea fish

Credit: Getty A group of European funding agencies and research councils is calling for organizations to adopt new measures to evaluate researchers and grant proposals, expanding beyond conventional metrics such as publication records or previous grant success. The suggested measures include assessing a researcher’s output or grant proposal for its potential for economic and societal