News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
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
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
From Earth’s vantage point in one of the Milky Way’s spiral arms, the structure of our galaxy is pretty difficult to reconstruct. That’s because gauging the distance to something in space when you don’t know its intrinsic brightness is really, really hard. And there are a lot of objects in the Milky Way whose brightness … Read more
After a decade of documenting and observing Indonesian shrews on the island of Sulawesi, researchers have published their findings and detailed 14 new species – the biggest discovery of new mammals listed in a single paper since 1931. Specifically, we’re talking about 14 new endemic species of the shrew genus Crocidura. Using genetic and … Read more
An incredibly sophisticated piece of malware developed by the Israeli tech firm NSO Group works by creating an entirely separate computer inside the memory of an iPhone, allowing attackers to snoop and steal data Technology 16 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes The hack targeted iPhones Photo by Richard Drew/AP/Shutterstock NSO Group, an Israeli tech firm, … Read more
China’s 50th orbital launch of 2021 sent a new data relay satellite into orbit on Monday (Dec. 13) to support the country’s space station and crewed missions. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at (1609 GMT, or 12:09 a.m. local time Dec. 14), successfully sending … Read more
Researchers have just identified a security flaw in a software program called Log4J, widely used by a host of private, commercial and government entities to record details ranging from usernames and passwords to credit card transactions. Since the glitch was found last weekend, the cybersecurity community has been scrambling to protect applications, services, infrastructure and … Read more
A long-awaited, 16-year study of an orbiting pair of spinning neutron stars has yielded the most wide-ranging tests yet of Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity. Unsurprisingly, the general theory of relativity, as it’s called, passed all the tests—a sign of its soundness, but also a null result that leaves physicists looking for clues to develop … Read more
In an incredible historic first, a human-made spacecraft has swooped in and made contact with the Sun. On 28 April 2021, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe actually flew into and through the solar corona, the upper atmosphere of the Sun. Not only did it live to tell the tale – proving the efficacy of Parker’s high-tech … Read more
A law intended to tackle anonymous trolls on social media is unlikely to stop online bullying, but it could allow Australian government ministers to continue a trend of suing their critics Technology | Analysis 7 December 2021 By Alice Klein Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on 2 December 2021 MICK TSIKAS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Australia’s prime minister Scott … Read more