37 articles from SATURDAY 6.3.2021

Four new hacking groups have joined an ongoing offensive against Microsoft’s email servers

A Chinese government-linked hacking campaign revealed by Microsoft this week has ramped up rapidly. At least four other distinct hacking groups are now attacking critical flaws in Microsoft’s email software in a cyber campaign the US government describes as “widespread domestic and international exploitation” with the potential to impact hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide....

Kathleen Folbigg: how genetics could lead to a pardon for 'Australia's worst female serial killer'

She has always maintained her four children died of natural causes. Now 90 scientists argue she may be rightLeading scientific experts are petitioning for the pardon of the woman dubbed Australia’s worst female serial killer, arguing that all four of her children had rare genetic conditions that could explain their deaths.Kathleen Folbigg is in jail for killing her children as infants between...

The epic battle with cancer's 'Death Star'

Forty years after the mutant genes that cause the deadliest cancers were discovered, drugs that target them could be approvedIn the early 1980s, Channing Der was just beginning his career as a scientist at Harvard Medical School when he happened upon a discovery that would change the course of cancer research. At the time, the holy grail of cancer biology was discovering so-called oncogenes –...

Rapid 3D printing method moves toward 3D-printed organs

A research team is a 3D printing method called stereolithography and jelly-like materials known as hydrogels to develop a 3D printing method that's 10-50 times faster than the industry standard. The team says its progress toward 3D-printed human tissue and organs -- biotechnology that could eventually save countless lives lost due to the shortage of donor organs.

Study reveals how egg cells get so big

The process of egg formation in fruit flies relies on physical phenomena analogous to the exchange of gases between balloons of different sizes, according to a new study by biologists and mathematicians.

We read books to my daughter from birth, which enriched all our lives

A difficult pregnancy meant the only item I dared buy for my unborn child was a book. When she arrived we read it to her every dayNine years ago, I gave birth to a little girl. And now that little girl has grown into a bookworm. It began, as all stories about books should really begin, in a bookshop. I was several months pregnant and I picked up an American picture book I had never come across...

As the Texas power crisis shows, our infrastructure is vulnerable to extreme weather

On Valentine’s Day, a rare burst of Arctic air spread across the central US and into Texas, dropping temperatures there into the single digits and nearly causing the state’s power grid to collapse. A state known for its abundant energy resources saw widespread failures of natural-gas and electricity systems that left more than four million Texans without power for days. The proximate cause...

Free rapid Covid tests available for all businesses in England; Tibetan leader Dalai Lama gets vaccine shot

Contradictory death figures in Russia; WHO warns against relaxing guard due to vaccinesFrom Pfizer to Moderna, the companies making billions from vaccinesEU indecision led Cyprus to allow in UK visitors, says ministerUp to a million long Covid patients may need treatment after pandemicNadiya Hussain urges British Bangladeshis to get Covid vaccineSee all our coronavirus coverage 10.47am GMT...

Study marks major milestone for Louisiana coastal plan

A nearly $2 billion plan to divert water and sediment from the Mississippi River to rebuild land in southeastern Louisiana—considered the cornerstone of the state's efforts to protect its rapidly eroding coast—has passed a major milestone with the publication of the long-awaited Army Corps of Engineers environmental impact study.

Deeper understanding of host-dependent long-distance movement of viruses in plants

Some plant viruses systemically infect plants and cause huge losses in yield though our understanding of how systemic infections occur is largely unknown. A new study from the College of Biological Sciences at China Agricultural University provides extends our understanding of how virus-host interaction determines the systemic spread of a virus in different plant hosts.

From Pfizer to Moderna: who's making billions from Covid vaccines?

The companies in line for the biggest gains – and the shareholders who have already made fortunesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe arrival of Covid-19 vaccines promises a return to more normal life – and has created a global market worth tens of billions of dollars in annual sales for some pharmaceutical companies.Among the biggest winners will be Moderna and...

"Magic sand" might help us understand the physics of granular matter

Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have studied the properties of mixtures of silicone-coated "magic sand", a popular kid's toy, and normal sand. Silicone-coated sand particles were found to interact with each other only, and not with other sand particles. The team discovered that adding silicone-coated sand beyond a certain threshold leads to an abrupt change in...

Innovative flat optics will usher the next technological revolution

A research group led by KAUST Associate Professor Andrea Fratalocchi has discovered that silicon nanoshapes act as feed-forward neural networks with the ability to be trained in a supervised learning model to perform user-defined tasks at lightspeed. The new flat optics opens the door to a major technological revolution by offering small, cheap, flexible alternatives to current processors and to...

One size doesn't fit all when it comes to products for preventing HIV from anal sex

After 'trying on' three placebo methods for the delivery of a rectal microbicide, study participants said they could see all of them - a douche, rectal suppository and fast-dissolving rectal insert - fitting into their daily lives. These results, which also identified the product attributes most important to participants, underscore the importance of developing a range of HIV prevention products...

Watching the brain learn

Understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying brain "plasticity" is crucial for explaining many illnesses and conditions. Neurocientists from Göttingen University and University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) managed to repeatedly image synapses, tiny contact sites between neurons, in awake adult mice. They are the first to discover that adult neurons in the primary visual...

Perseverance Mars rover: Nasa releases first-drive review

Vehicle had no problem going 6.5 metres, turning and backing up, then photographed its own wheel marks on planet’s surfaceNasa’s Mars rover Perseverance has taken a short drive two weeks after touching down, mission managers have said.The six-wheeled, car-sized probe went 6.5 metres (21.3 feet) during a half-hour test within Jezero crater, an ancient lake bed and river delta. Continue...

Italy says decision to block 250,000 doses of Covid vaccine from Australia was 'not a hostile act'

Foreign affairs minister says Europe ‘ravaged’ by coronavirus and Italy is working according to EU regulationGermany voices concern over Italy’s block of vaccine export to AustraliaCoalition to expand quarantine facility amid fears of Covid vaccine disruptionItalian officials say the decision to block a shipment of 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine destined for Australia...