Biotech fit for the Red Planet: New method for growing cyanobacteria under Mars-like conditions

NASA, in collaboration with other leading space agencies, aims to send its first human missions to Mars in the early 2030s, while companies like SpaceX may do so even earlier. Astronauts on Mars will need oxygen, water, food, and other consumables. These will need to be sourced from Mars, because importing them from Earth would be impractical in the long term. In Frontiers in Microbiology, scientists show for the first time that Anabaena cyanobacteria can be grown with only local gases, water, and other nutrients and at low pressure. This makes it much easier to develop sustainable biological life support systems.

Study questions whether pubs can effectively prevent COVID-19 transmission risk

A new first-of-its-kind study has questioned whether pub operators can effectively and consistently prevent COVID-19 transmission—after researchers observed risks arising in licensed premises last summer.

Large-scale study finds genetic testing technology falsely detects very rare variants

A technology that is widely used by commercial genetic testing companies is "extremely unreliable" in detecting very rare variants, meaning results suggesting individuals carry rare disease-causing genetic variants are usually wrong, according to new research published in the BMJ.

Drinking, smoking, and drug use linked to premature heart disease in the young

Recreational drinking, smoking, and drug use is linked to premature heart disease in young people, particularly younger women, finds research published online in the journal Heart.

Ageism and sexism barring grandmothers from initiatives to save newborn lives in Global South

Ageism, sexism, and Western ideals of the nuclear family have excluded grandmothers from national and international policy initiatives to save newborn lives in the Global South, suggests an analysis published in the online journal BMJ Global Health.

Enormous ancient fish fossil discovered in search of pterodactyl remains

Fossilised remains of a fish that grew as big as a great white shark and the largest of its type ever found have been discovered by accident.

Harnessing socially distant molecular interactions for future computing

Could long-distance interactions between individual molecules forge a new way to compute?

New physics rules tested on quantum computer

Aalto researchers have used an IBM quantum computer to explore an overlooked area of physics, and have challenged 100-year-old notions about information at the quantum level.

Membrane building blocks play decisive role in controlling cell growth

Lipids are the building blocks of the cell membrane. In addition to their structural function, some lipids also play a regulatory role and decisively influence cell growth. This has been investigated in a new study by scientists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). The impact of the lipids depends on how they are distributed over the plasma membrane. The study was published in The Plant Cell.

Neanderthals and Homo sapiens used identical Nubian technology

Long held in a private collection, the newly analyzed tooth of an approximately nine-year-old Neanderthal child marks the hominin's southernmost known range. Analysis of the associated archaeological assemblage suggests Neanderthals used Nubian Levallois technology, previously thought to be restricted to Homo sapiens.

Bacterial degradation of the MYC oncogene: A new cancer treatment strategy?

Scientists at Lund University have discovered how E. coli bacteria target and degrade the well-known oncogene MYC, which is involved in many forms of cancer. The study is now published in Nature Biotechnology.

Commuters are inhaling unacceptably high levels of carcinogens

A new study finds that California's commuters are likely inhaling chemicals at levels that increase the risk for cancer and birth defects.

Invasive flies prefer untouched territory when laying eggs

A recent study finds that the invasive spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) prefers to lay its eggs in places that no other spotted wing flies have visited. The finding raises questions about how the flies can tell whether a piece of fruit is virgin territory—and what that might mean for pest control.

Managing crab and lobster catches could offer long-term benefits

The UK's commercial fishing industry is currently experiencing a number of serious challenges.

Comet or asteroid: What killed the dinosaurs and where did it come from?

It forever changed history when it crashed into Earth about 66 million years ago.

A machine-learning approach to finding treatment options for COVID-19

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, doctors and researchers rushed to find effective treatments. There was little time to spare. "Making new drugs takes forever," says Caroline Uhler, a computational biologist in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Institute for Data, Systems and Society, and an associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "Really, the only expedient option is to repurpose existing drugs."

Russian cargo ship launched to International Space Station

An unmanned Russian cargo ship launched successfully Monday with a load of supplies for the International Space Station.

New Zealand virus outbreak is first of UK variant: officials

Two new coronavirus infections which sent New Zealand's biggest city into lockdown Monday are due to the UK variant of the disease, the first to be detected in the country, officials said.

In one US city, coronavirus vaccines for everyone 18 and over

Most countries are still only vaccinating the elderly and healthcare workers, but one US town hit hard by the coronavirus is already offering doses to everyone age 18 and over.

UK rolls out hotel quarantine for 'high risk' country returnees

The UK government will on Monday introduce mandatory hotel quarantine rules for arrivals from dozens of countries deemed "high risk" for coronavirus variants, as it tries to stop new strains spreading.

Red Sea coral reefs 'under threat' from Israel-UAE oil deal

Israeli environmentalists are warning that a UAE-Israeli oil pipeline deal threatens unique Red Sea coral reefs and could lead to "the next ecological disaster".

Nissan says not in talks with Apple on self-driving cars

Japanese auto maker Nissan said Monday it is not in talks with Apple to develop self-driving cars, a week after Hyundai also denied reports it was discussing the top-secret project with the US tech giant.

Zimbabwe receives first vaccines from Sinopharm in China

Zimbabwe has received its first COVID-19 vaccines with the arrival early Monday of an Air Zimbabwe jet carrying 200,000 Sinopharm doses from China.

No new community cases found in New Zealand since lockdown

As people in Auckland adjusted to a new lockdown on Monday, health officials said they'd found no evidence the coronavirus had spread further in the community, raising hopes the restrictions might be short-lived.

Major Australian media company strikes Google news pay deal

Seven West Media has become the largest Australian news media business to strike a deal with Google to pay for journalism in a partnership announced Monday before the nation's Parliament considers draft laws to force digital giants to pay for news.

Strange creatures accidentally discovered beneath Antarctica's ice shelves

Far underneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there's more life than expected, finds a recent study in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

Parents say COVID-19 has disrupted children's dental care

A third of parents say the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to get dental care for their children, a new national poll suggests.

Capuchin monkey genome reveals clues to its long life and large brain

An international team of scientists has sequenced the genome of a capuchin monkey for the first time, uncovering new genetic clues about the evolution of their long lifespan and large brains.