Science

Sputnik V: Why hasn’t the West embraced Russia’s covid-19 vaccine?

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Scepticism in Western countries around Russia’s vaccine reflects politics not science – the Sputnik V vaccine has the highest protection against symptomatic disease of any covid-19 vaccine Health 10 December 2021

Evolution Gym Sculpts Novel Robot Bodies and Brains

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Roboticists often copy nature, crafting humanoid robots for household chores, worm-style machines for crawling through tunnels and four-legged contraptions that look like cheetahs for running and leaping. But they usually design an animal-like robot body first and then train an AI to control it. In living creatures, though, the body and brain evolve together to … Read more

New Zealand smoking ban: Will it work if it ignores vaping?

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Outlawing the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2008 and mandating low-nicotine cigarettes for others will help New Zealand reach its smoke-free vision, but vaping will still be an issue Health | Comment 10 December 2021 By Alice Klein Cigarettes may soon be difficult for young people in New Zealand to access Roberto Sorin/Shutterstock … Read more

4D printing: Hackers could sabotage components to cause catastrophic failures

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Attackers could gain access to printers and manipulate designs of parts such as aircraft propellers in ways that are difficult to detect Technology 10 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes 4D printed ceramic samples on display at a tech fair Xinhua / Alamy Stock Photo 4D printing, a new technology that creates parts that change shape … Read more

Animal behaviour: Plumage colour predicts whether turkeys are bold or fearful

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Domesticated turkeys in Nigeria come in a variety of colours, and those with lavender-coloured feathers are more fearful than black-feathered birds Life 10 December 2021 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre A domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) with dark plumage Graham Prentice/Alamy The feather colours of certain kinds of turkeys can predict how they cope with life on the … Read more

NASA Launches IXPE, a New X-ray Space Telescope

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SpaceX successfully launched its 28th rocket of the year early Thursday morning (Dec. 9), ferrying an X-ray observatory into space for NASA. A used Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at 1 a.m. (0600 GMT) from Pad 39A here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). The mission marked the fifth … Read more

Drought: Plants prioritise keeping their flowers cool during hot, dry weather

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Under heat and water stress, plants sacrifice their leaves to keep their sexual organs cool – a strategy that we could harness to protect crops from climate change   Life 10 December 2021 By Richard Kemeny A field of soya bean plants Shutterstock / kuludi In hot, dry weather, plants sacrifice their leaves to … Read more

Cataract Surgery Linked to Lower Risk of Developing Dementia, Even 10 Years Later

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Cataract surgery is often undertaken to reverse the natural decline in vision as we get older. Now, a new association study underscores the wider benefits such a procedure can have on one’s health – especially when it comes to reducing dementia risk.   Cataracts are cloudy areas that develop in the lens of the eye … Read more

Reprogrammable Eutelsat Quantum Satellite Shifts Missions on the Fly

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Companies, governments and other customers will soon be able to directly access instruments on a satellite and assign them new missions on the fly. According to program manager Frédéric Piro, the Eutelsat Quantum, which blasted into space from Kourou in French Guiana this summer, is the world’s first commercial satellite that can be fully reprogrammed … Read more