News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Acclaimed as a mathematical genius, Ada Lovelace is said to have understood the potential of the first computer blueprints better than their inventor. A serendipitous friendship with the mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer Charles Babbage brought her in contact with his early ideas for mechanical calculators and a preliminary prototype for a general-purpose computer. … Read more
By Gege Li Photos Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) MAGNIFICENT adventures are captured in this selection of images from the ongoing Lights and Shadows exhibition, organised by the Royal Geographical Society in London. The scenes from travels and expeditions on display are taken from the society’s historic image collection, and reveal the marked progress of … Read more
Swarms of tiny “xenobots” can self-replicate in the lab by pushing loose cells together – the first time this form of reproduction has been seen in multicellular organisms Life 29 November 2021 By Carissa Wong Swarms of tiny living robots can self-replicate in a dish by pushing loose cells together. The xenobots – made from … Read more
The second hottest planet ever found is being pulled into its star faster than any planet we have seen before Space 30 November 2021 By Jonathan O’Callaghan Artist’s impression of a hot planet transiting in front of its parent star ESA/ATG medialab, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO A gas giant exoplanet has been found that orbits … Read more
As extreme weather events in Canada and around the world are linked to human-made climate change, there is one story that continues to be left out: the connection between climate change and the products we purchase. Recent research shows that across a product’s life cycle – from raw material extraction through manufacturing, distribution, use … Read more
Two supermassive black holes have been discovered just 1600 light years apart, and they are likely to collide in about 250 million years Space 30 November 2021 By Leah Crane The two bright spots in this image are dense groups of stars, each with a supermassive black hole at the centre ESO/Voggel et al. A … Read more
Parts of the Arctic are now predicted to be rain-dominated as early as 2060, two decades faster than previously expected Environment 30 November 2021 By Adam Vaughan Icebergs are seen from NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) research aircraft on September 7, 2021 near Upernavik, Greenland Mario Tama/Getty Images Climate change could see the Arctic switch … Read more
Evidence suggests that vaccine booster programmes can take people’s covid-19 protection to unexpectedly high levels, but we don’t yet know how effective existing vaccines will be against the omicron variant Health 30 November 2021 By Clare Wilson A road sign in Buckinghamshire, UK, in mid-November Maureen McLean/Shutterstock While the emergence of the omicron variant has caused concern worldwide, … Read more
Vaccine-makers are already adapting vaccines to fight the omicron coronavirus variant, but it will probably already have swept the world by the time these arrive Health | Analysis 30 November 2021 By Michael Le Page A health worker holds a vial of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine CHAMILA KARUNARATHNE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Is omicron better at evading existing vaccines than … Read more
US biotech company Moderna on Friday announced promising data from an early-stage human trial of its mRNA flu shot, based on the same technology used in its successful COVID-19 vaccine. The experimental flu shot was found to be safe, and successfully evoked high levels of antibodies in 180 people at all dosage levels, in … Read more