What next-gen Covid-19 vaccines might look like
By Bob Holmes From building up defenses in the nose to slowing down a virus’s ability to make copies of itself, scientists are rolling out a raft of creative approaches to fighting infection Read more
From the archives
Little blobs — think lava lamps — that spontaneously form and disappear within our cells have captivated scientists ever since their discovery more than a decade ago. The blobs may play a role in processes from nerve-cell communication to cancer — but scientists are now trying to figure out if they live up to the initial hype, Elie Dolgin writes for Nature. For an in-depth look at the beginnings of the blob revolution, see our story.
Tiny liquid droplets are driving a cell biology rethink
By Alla Katsnelson A recently recognized biophysical feature in the fluid of living cells has biologists thinking afresh about how cells carve up their space Read more
What we’re reading
Pork precautions
Livestock shows are a time for farmers and breeders to put forth their best examples of porcine perfection. Unfortunately, the fairs are also ideal for any emerging swine flu viruses to pass from pig to pig and pig to person. For Science, Jon Cohen follows a team of researchers as they move through hog shows across the USA, looking and testing for signs of illness. The effort has offered crucial insights into how swine flu travels, while fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect between the veterinarians and scientists swabbing snouts and the people raising and showing the pigs.
Green screen
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, yet you wouldn’t necessarily know that from watching TV shows and films. Some organizations are trying to change that, Becca Warner writes for BBC Future. The premise: Weaving climate change into our fictional narratives doesn’t just reflect reality better, it can also be a force for good. Whether it’s heat-wave plot lines on Grey’s Anatomy or solar panels in a background shot, entertainment can be a powerful way to influence behavior, research suggests. Plus, hope, humor and subtlety may be a better way to increase awareness than the classic disaster and post-apocalyptic wasteland flicks.
We will rock you
When extraordinary “marsquakes” shook the red planet last year, a unique witness was there. NASA’s InSight spacecraft, which deployed the first seismometer on Mars in 2018, has detected more than 1,300 seismic events, spurring new insights (ahem) into the makeup of the planet. The truly big ones dropped in 2021: There were two meteorite impacts, plus a record-breaking 4.7-magnitude quake this May. “This is a beautiful gift given by Mars,” the team leader told Nature’s Alexandra Witze. But the gifts are bittersweet: A dust storm smothering InSight’s power-providing solar panels means the lander’s days are numbered.
Art & science
CREDIT: JOSÉ MANUEL MARTÍNEZ LÓPEZ / QUÍMICA TECH, MEXICO
Making waves
Who is to say that a chemical compound can’t be beautiful — and an outsize influencer in modern medicine to boot? These mesmerizing waves are crystalized sulfanilamide, a kind of antibiotic that burst onto the medical scene in the early 1900s. Sulfanilamide was a regular part of powders and tablets, and then a US pharmaceutical company made a drinkable version in 1937. The raspberry-flavored concoction included diethylene glycol — a poisonous solvent sometimes used in antifreeze — and killed more than 100 people. The deaths and the investigation that followed led to the passage of the 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which required drugs to be proven as safe before sale.
This particular fragment reminiscent of FDA history was dissolved in water and visually captured by José Manuel Martínez López of Química Tech, Mexico. The photo is only 0.279 mm wide and one of many in the NanoArtography Contest currently running on Instagram. Vote for your favorite by November 14 and learn more about how the photographers composed their tiny, artful scenes.
