Biggest science news of 2021: Jian-Wei Pan leads China’s quantum computing mission to two major quantum supremacy successes

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In July, the University of Science and Technology of China announced it had surpassed Google’s claimed quantum supremacy achievement. China’s ambitious quantum computing efforts are all under the oversight of one man, Jian-Wei Pan Technology 15 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes Xinhua/Alamy GOVERNMENTS and companies around the world are racing to build a useful quantum … Read more

Biggest science news of 2021: Tomato becomes first CRISPR-edited food to go on sale to public

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In September, GABA-enriched tomatoes in Japan became the first foods modified by CRISPR gene editing to go on sale to the public Technology 15 December 2021 By Michael Le Page Courtesy of Sanatech Seed They may look ordinary, but in September these tomatoes became the first CRISPR-edited food to go on sale to the public. … Read more

The major science-fiction films that get botany spectacularly wrong

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By James Wong Michelle D’urbano WHAT with everything that has happened this year, I have found myself at home watching the box more often than usual. That was especially true recently when I was laid up in bed for three weeks with covid-19. I spent my time largely watching my favourite genre of film: science … Read more

Kenneth Libbrecht interview: A grand unified theory of snowflakes

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Snowflakes can form in either a plate or column shape, but no one understood why – until physicist Kenneth Libbrecht investigated. His theory is the result of two decades making snow in the lab Humans 15 December 2021 By Kenneth Libbrecht Courtesy of Kenneth Libbrecht SNOWFALL in Pasadena, California, is so rare, it’s almost unheard … Read more

The secret life of cheese: How marvellous microbes create its flavour

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We have been making cheese for millennia, but researchers are only now getting to grips with how bacteria, fungi and viruses combine to create its characteristic flavours and textures Life 15 December 2021 By Alison George WHEN it comes to finding new and exotic species, there is no need to travel to the rainforest or … Read more

Biggest science news of 2021: DeepMind solves 98.5 per cent of human protein structures using its AlphaFold model

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In July, DeepMind announced that its AlphaFold model had worked out how most of the proteins in our bodies fold. Pushmeet Kohli tells New Scientist that there is more to come Technology 15 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes A 3D model of a fruit fly protein from DeepMind DeepMind IT TOOK decades for scientists to … Read more

Zero-gravity beds and flame-grilled “truth”: The 2021 Feedback awards

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Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Humans 15 December 2021 Josie Ford 2021, eh? While undertaking the end-of-year reordering of our extensive piling system, we are tempted to file the past 12 months under “see 2020”. But leafing through our leaves with moistened forefinger, we find … Read more

Animal research: Tips from pet rat owners could improve lab rat welfare

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Owners’ insights on the behaviour of their pet rats could help researchers improve the welfare of rats in the laboratory Life 20 December 2021 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre A rat in a research laboratory fotografixx/Getty Images Laboratory rats might live better lives if they had cages that let them stand up, climb and romp about, according … Read more

Physicists Claim They’ve Quantum Entangled a Tardigrade With a Qubit. But Have They?

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A team of physicists claims to have entangled a superconducting qubit and a tardigrade, moving the freezing, tiny, and well-controlled world of quantum into the “hot and wet” systems of life.   However, the results described in this preprint paper are not quite so cut and dried, and many quantum researchers are arguing that the … Read more

NASA Releases Ghostly Sounds Recorded at Ganymede by The Juno Probe

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In another context, Jupiter‘s moon Ganymede might have been a planet. As the largest moon in our Solar System, it’s one of the most intriguing locations in the neighborhood. Which is great, because it just so happens that Jupiter probe Juno is in the vicinity. Now, it’s sent back some curious noises.    On 7 June … Read more