News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
How does an animal as big as a semitruck move around? That’s a question scientists have long asked about sauropods, the largest known dinosaurs, which may have weighed as much as 70 tons. Did they walk like a giraffe, picking up their two left and right legs in a dignified march? Or like an elephant, … Read more
The GOES-T satellite is ready to take its place as part of the U.S.’s most sophisticated weather and environmental observation system. The satellite, which will be operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will launch on Tuesday (March 1) aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasting off from Cape Canaveral … Read more
Microsoft had big plans when it purchased Minecraft, the immensely popular open-world ‘sandbox’ game, back in 2014 for US$2.5 billion. Among them was to invest heavily in an educational revolution – the gamification of learning. It’s not hard to imagine how the logic-based mechanics of Minecraft’s construction system could help teach knowledge and practical skills in fields … Read more
Not every human disease can be tackled with a pill or shot. Some disorders would ideally be treated by delivering molecular payloads—like modified viruses carrying gene-editing tools—into defective cells, where they could rewrite target genes. Despite some early successes, researchers are still struggling to get this approach to work. Now, researchers say they have found … Read more
The small Maryland biotechnology company Novavax has finally joined the ranks of high-profile COVID-19 vaccine developers after winning emergency authorizations in recent days for its candidate. The decisions by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission make the company’s product the first protein-based vaccine green-lighted by those bodies and opens it to broad … Read more
We’ve been offered new tantalizing glimpses of what to expect from the standalone spin-off series “The Book of Boba Fett” in a TV advertisement for the show. There are now a total of five teasers: 1. “Reign,” 2. “Message,” 3. “The Return,” 4. “Ready” and 5. “Authority” (in order of when they were released) all … Read more
A few days ago, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would provide 500,000 free at-home COVID tests to city residents through community centers. This step toward more equitable testing came days after a heated exchange between White House spokesperson Jen Psaki and a National Public Radio reporter in which Psaki scoffed … Read more