Category: Other
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Kathy MacKinnon (1948–2023) | Nature Ecology & Evolution
Determined and generous champion of protected-areas science and policy Kathy MacKinnon’s professional life fell into three distinct and very different phases: field biologist and writer based in Indonesia; chief biodiversity specialist for the World Bank in Washington, DC; and, in ‘retirement’, as an active and hands-on chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas…
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Move over, armadillos: There's a new bone-plated mammal in town
Armadillos have long been considered to be the only living mammals that produce protective bony plates. But a new study unexpectedly shows that African spiny mice produce the same structures beneath the skin of their tails, which until now had gone largely undetected. Continue Reading News Source: www.sciencedaily.com
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Japanese government draws ire over plans to reform influential science council
Seigo Hirowatari speaking at the Japan National Press Club in February in support of the Science Council of Japan.Credit: Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO/Shutterstock Ructions between Japan’s government and the country’s influential science council (SCJ) are causing concern among researchers. The government backed away from its plans to reform the council’s constitution and its process for appointing members,…
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A cleaner route to ammonia
Douglas Macfarlane, chief scientific officer at Jupiter Ionics, hopes to produce green fertilizer.Credit: Steve Morton/Jupiter Ionics Jupiter Ionics in Melbourne, Australia, spun off from Monash University, Melbourne, in 2021. It is a curious quirk of chemistry that when lithium atoms work together, they can break one of the strongest known chemical bonds. Lithium can take…
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Author Correction: The IPDGC/GP2 Hackathon – an open science event for training in data science, genomics, and collaboration using Parkinson’s disease data
Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA Hampton L. Leonard, Anni Moore, Dan Vitale, Francis P. Grenn, Hirotaka Iwaki, Jonggeol Jeff Kim, Julie Lake, Mary B. Makarious, Michael Ta, Pilar Alvarez Jerez, Tarek Antar, Yeajin Song, Andrew Singleton, Mike A. Nalls, Sara Bandres-Ciga & Cornelis Blauwendraat Center for Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias (CARD), National Institute on Aging and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and…
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The Spinoff Prize: where are they now?
Illustration: Kotryna Zukauskaite Since The Spinoff Prize was launched in 2020, 20 companies that began life in university laboratories have earned the designation of finalist. Those start-ups continue to pursue their goals — hiring personnel, refining their technology, collecting clinical data and raising fresh funds. Here are the highlights of what a selection of these…
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The Spinoff Prize 2023
Illustration: Kotryna Zukauskaite There is a world in which quantum computers solve intractable problems orders of magnitude faster than the best current machines. Stroke — the world’s second leading cause of death — is reliably detected early enough for physicians to limit its effects. Wounds are bound not with uncomfortable stitches but with tape. And…
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Fertilizer use and ocean eutrophication
Liu and colleagues show that the contribution of food production and fossil fuel combustion to total reactive nitrogen (Nr) emissions increased from 63% to 81% between 1970 and 2018. During this time, food production became the more dominant source of total Nr emissions, increasing its share from 35% to 53%. Two-thirds of nitrogen fertilizer overuse…
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Investors overvalue companies that align with presidential policies; their mistakes ‘leave money on the table’
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Republican politicians typically favor low taxes and less regulation, which seems like a recipe for corporate profits and stock market success. In reality, however, this is not what happens. Stock markets deliver higher returns during Democratic presidencies than they do during Republican ones, and that has held true for many decades.…
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How did COVID-19 lockdown impact employment of individuals with visual disabilities?
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain New data show that while individuals with visual disabilities were slow to recover employment because of the effects of the COVID-2019 lockdown, they have made headway, depending on their level of disability, almost meeting their pre-pandemic levels. Possible reasons for their slower recovery include major safety concerns due to the shortage…