164 articles from FRIDAY 2.10.2020

Aerosol instrument starts measurement campaign in European airspace

SRON's aerosol instrument SPEX Airborne is spreading its wings again. On October 2, it will start a series of measurement flights across Europe onboard a Falcon-20 research aircraft. SPEX Airborne will measure aerosols in the atmosphere—tiny dust particles that can disrupt measurements of the greenhouse gas CO2. In time, SPEX is intended to go into space as part of the European SCARBO mission.

Vaccine ingredients could be hiding in small molecule libraries

Many vaccines include ingredients called adjuvants that help make them more effective by eliciting a stronger immune response. Identifying potential adjuvants just got easier, thanks to an approach described by scientists at Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) and colleagues in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Fears for Joe Biden after Trump tests positive for Covid

White House rushes to assess spread of virus in top US ranks in week of presidential debateCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA scramble is under way in Washington to determine how far coronavirus infection has spread in the top ranks of US leadership after Donald Trump tested positive, in a week that included a presidential debate, political rallies and White House...

This scientist made a Google Doc to educate the public about airborne coronavirus transmission

The evidence that the coronavirus spreads through the air has been mounting for months. However, the official guidance from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control is still that droplets are the main route of transmission. In fact, the CDC changed its website last month to acknowledge airborne transmission as a route for covid-19 infections, then removed the new guidance just...

The Outcome: A newsletter about making the election safe again

Elections are a technology. I don’t mean just that they rely on technology, although cybersecurity, voter data, misinformation, and online advertising are all central to how today’s elections are fought. I mean elections are themselves are a technology—an essential mechanism in the running of a healthy society. Elections enable power to alternate between different factions without civil war;...

Trump's positive Covid test was a surprise that many saw coming

The president has been cavalier throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Now, a month before the election, this changes everythingDonald and Melania Trump test positive for coronavirusCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt is likely to go down as the biggest “October surprise” in the history of US presidential elections. Yet anyone who was paying attention could have seen...

Researchers unveil sensor that rapidly detects COVID-19 infection

One feature of the COVID-19 virus that makes it so difficult to contain is that it can be easily spread to others by a person who has yet to show any signs of infection. The carrier of the virus might feel perfectly well and go about their daily business—taking the virus with them to work, to the home of a family member, or to public gatherings.

Covid-19 and the climate crisis are part of the same battle | Jeffrey Frankel

To survive the challenges we must reinforce respect for science and nature, sensible public policy and the interconnected worldFrom early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, a common refrain has been, “At least maybe now we will get serious about addressing climate change.” One can certainly see the logic behind this thinking. The terrible toll the pandemic has taken should remind us of the...

A factor limiting recovery from bleaching in corals

A joint research team has examined the effect of pre-exposure to heat stress on the capacity of symbiotic algae to infect cnidarian hosts using the Aiptasia (sea-anemone)-zooxanthellae (algae) model system. They discovered that the symbiotic algae lose their capacity to infect the host once they are exposed to heat stress. These results suggest that recovery from bleaching can be limited by the...