News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu and Layal Liverpool Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization SALVATORE DI NOLFI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Latest coronavirus news as of 12pm on 21 December Omicron variant could overwhelm health systems, says WHO chief The head of … Read more
In 1942, a peat cutter digging in a Danish bog crunched his shovel into a horned bronze helmet. Long, curving bull’s horns topped a round cap adorned with the beak and large eyes of a bird of prey. Fittings on the headgear may have made it possible to attach feathers and perhaps even a mane … Read more
Tigers can indeed change their stripes—and in the Similipal Tiger Reserve in India, many have done just that. So-called black tigers, genetic mutants that sport unusually wide and merged stripes, were extremely rare even when tigers were plentiful centuries ago. But in Similipal today, one in three are black. A new study in the Proceedings … Read more
Randy Kimble will never forget the days in August 2017 when Hurricane Harvey battered Texas. As a project scientist for integration, test and commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), he had no option to hide at home. The giant telescope, at that time already 10 years behind schedule and considerably over budget, was … Read more
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched its 31st rocket of the year early Tuesday (Dec. 21), sending a used Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station before nailing the company’s 100th landing. A new two-stage Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Launch Complex 39A here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 5:07 a.m. EST … Read more
According to the Observer’s Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, there are 11 meteor showers that are considered to be the “principal” displays of the year. In order to make the list, a particular meteor shower must produce at least 10 meteors per hour at maximum. As it turns out, within a span … Read more
Incredible advances in growing living tissue in the lab took another amazing turn in August when a blob of brain cells grew eye-like structures Technology 15 December 2021 By Clare Wilson Elke Gabriel There was a leap forward in understanding brain development in August, when lumps of neural tissue in a dish were coaxed into … Read more
By Adam Vaughan The ozone layer in late November 2021 Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, ECMWF One of the longest ozone holes on record is expected to close this Wednesday after several weeks of exposing wildlife and people in Antarctica to very high levels of ultraviolet radiation. The Montreal Protocol’s ban on the CFC gases causing … Read more
Deep under the ice of Antarctica’s Ekström Ice Shelf there is nothing but complete darkness. Well, complete darkness and a thriving ecosystem that’s existed for thousands of years, according to a new paper by researchers from the UK and Germany. “This discovery of so much life living in these extreme conditions is a complete … Read more
US vaccine maker Moderna expressed confidence Monday that its booster shot was effective against the Omicron variant, after the announcement of laboratory results it described as “reassuring”. “We’ll be able to rely on this vaccine to address the near term surge of Omicron cases,” Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna, said on a conference call. … Read more