Exoplanets: Ultra-hot gas giant orbits its star once every 16 hours

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

The Holiday ‘Buying Season’ Can Have a Catastrophic Cost, And Not to Your Wallet

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

Supermassive black holes: Two nearby giants are heading for a collision

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

Arctic: Region may switch from snow to rain-dominated by 2060

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

Covid booster shots: Third vaccine doses are pushing protection to unexpected heights

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

Omicron variant: Can we adapt covid-19 vaccines fast enough to make a difference?

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

An mRNA Flu Vaccine Just Delivered Positive Phase 1 Trial Results

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

Gene-edited food: UK plans to embrace technology shouldn’t harm animal welfare, say ethicists

Gene-edited foods may one day be sold in UK shops, but ethicists warn that using the technology in livestock may exacerbate animal welfare issues if, for example, it leads to the creation of disease-resistant animals that can be housed together more densely Environment 1 December 2021 By Adam Vaughan Gene editing could exacerbate animal welfare … Read more

Haast’s eagle: Extinct New Zealand bird was part-eagle part-vulture

The Haast’s eagle had a beak and talons suited for capturing live prey, but its skull was adapted for ripping out organs Life 1 December 2021 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre An artist’s impression of Haast’s eagle Katrina Kenny For more than a century, scientists have wondered whether a huge carnivorous bird that went extinct around 600 … Read more