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News at a glance: Hong Kong’s high COVID-19 death rate, Biden’s ‘test and treat,’ and a ResearchGate lawsuit | Science

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THERAPEUTICS Big COVID-19 trial notches another effective drug The world’s largest study of COVID-19 treatments has yielded another drug that can reduce mortality. On 3 March, researchers with the United Kingdom’s Recovery trial announced that baricitinib, an oral drug that dampens an overactive immune system and is commonly used by people with rheumatoid arthritis, reduced … Read more

News at a glance: Relaxed U.S. mask guidance, kids’ COVID-19 vaccine, and Facebook’s ‘F’ on climate misinformation | Science

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COVID-19 CDC relaxes guidance on wearing masks in public The often-acrimonious U.S. debate over wearing masks entered a new phase last week when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) loosened its guidance and suggested about 70% of the population could jettison them. The turnabout comes as the Omicron wave ebbs and scientists consider … Read more

News at a glance: African vaccine factories, centipede-inspired robots, and Antarctic pollution | Science

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COVID-19 Africa builds mRNA vaccine capacity The drive to help African countries produce vaccines with messenger RNA (mRNA) technology got big boosts last week from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the company BioNTech. The success of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines made by the Pfizer-BioNTech collaboration and Moderna led to intense global demand, but African countries … Read more

News at a glance: New FDA chief, nighttime wildfires, and endangered koalas | Science

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CONSERVATION Koalas declared endangered as wolves get reprieve The iconic koala is now endangered in parts of Australia, the government announced last week. The status of the marsupial was changed from threatened, on the advice of an expert panel that blamed dwindling numbers on habitat loss from land clearing and bush fires, droughts and heat … Read more

News at a glance: Iran’s nuclear research, monkey flights, and an accused professor reinstated | Science

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ASTRONOMY Astronomers organize to combat satellite interference The International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced a new center last week to address the burgeoning constellations of satellites that may interfere with ground-based observations. A U.N. committee also said it would consider the issue—a first step toward international regulations. The constellations, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, aim to provide … Read more

News at a glance: Mysterious space filaments, damaged dinosaur tracks, and edible worms | Science

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ASTRONOMY Telescope reveals plethora of mysterious Milky Way filaments One of the most detailed pictures yet of the center of the Milky Way has revealed nearly 1000 mysterious strands that slash across the plane of the galaxy, 10 times more than previously known. The image, released last week by South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope array, … Read more

News at a glance: Welcoming STEM students, a silent radar satellite, and China’s gene-edited crops | Science

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GEOSCIENCE Orbiting radar mapper goes dark The head of the European Space Agency said last week the agency may accelerate the launch of its next Earth-observing radar satellite, after a power supply anomaly caused one of its two orbiting radar satellites, Sentinel-1B, to go dark for more than 1 month. Since its launch in 2016, … Read more

News at a glance: A volcanic eruption, a fired president, and long-distance hares | Science

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VOLCANOLOGY Eruption in Tonga is biggest in 30 years As officials assessed the extent of death and damage caused by last week’s rapid, violent volcanic eruption in Tonga, scientists began to piece together the global impact of the rare event. The explosion at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai on 15 January caused a tsunami and likely created … Read more

News at a glance: Warmest oceans yet, a pig-to-human heart transplant, and the world’s largest breeding colony of fish | Science

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ECOLOGY Huge icefish colony found Scientists aboard an Antarctic research cruise have discovered the most extensive breeding colony of fish anywhere. In February 2021, while towing video cameras and other instruments close to the sea floor in the Weddell Sea, the RV Polarstern came upon thousands of 75-centimeter-wide nests, each occupied by a single adult … Read more

News at a glance: A new GMO food label, ancient lice’s secrets, and battling COVID-19 falsehoods | Science

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ASTROPHYSICS Webb telescope embarks on new era in astronomy The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope—NASA’s most expensive science mission ever—is already more than halfway to its new post 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. Launched on 25 December 2021 from French Guiana, the 6.5-meter telescope is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope; it … Read more