39 articles from SATURDAY 10.4.2021

Nasa preparing to attempt first controlled flight on another world

The Ingenuity helicopter, which arrived on the red planet in February, is expected to take to the skies on WednesdayNasa is gearing itself up to attempt the first controlled flight on another planet next week, with the tiny Ingenuity helicopter set to take flight on Mars.The helicopter is expected to take to the skies next week with Wednesday being the earliest time scheduled. Continue...

Why are there still so few black scientists in the UK?

There have been many reports but little action: UK university science departments need to do more to fix their serious diversity problem‘Not built for minorities to succeed’: black scientists on academia’s race problemThe Nobel laureate poet Sir Derek Walcott once said that the English language is nobody’s special property: “It is the property of the imagination.” Much the same could...

‘Not built for minorities to succeed’: black scientists on academia’s race problem

Three senior academics in medicine, chemistry and physics share their experiences and thoughts on how to improve underrepresentationWhy are there still so few black scientists in the UK?Dr Yolanda Ohene, 29, is a biophysicist at the University of Manchester. After an undergraduate degree in physics at Imperial College London she went on to research at masters level and co-founded Minorities in...

Global Covid vaccine rollout threatened by shortage of vital components

Pharmaceutical firms warn of delays to items such as the large bags in which vaccine cells are grownCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageVaccine-makers around the world face shortages of vital components including large plastic growbags, according to the head of the firm that is manufacturing a quarter of the UK’s jab supply.Stan Erck, the chief executive of Novavax –...

Kintsugi helped me to understand my brother's death

The Japanese artform, based on a belief that a repaired pot can be stronger, taught me about tragedy and the ability to overcome itMy brother died at the age of 10, when I was eight. When I was nine, I shushed my best friend for mentioning him. At 11, I forced myself to stop turning my head away when we drove past a cemetery. And at 16 I spoke his name aloud for the first time, although it was...

A bug’s life: how a volunteer army is putting Britain’s wildlife on the record

Amateur nature recorders are providing vital data on beetles, soldierflies and a host of lesser-known insectsAshleigh Whiffin’s day job as assistant curator of entomology is to look after National Museums Scotland’s vast collection of preserved insects. But her passion for the creatures doesn’t end when she goes home; in her spare time she spends hours recording and verifying sightings of a...

St. Vincent awaits new volcanic explosions as help arrives

Cots, tents, and respirator masks poured into the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent as officials expected to start distributing them on Saturday, a day after a powerful explosion at La Soufriere volcano uprooted the lives of thousands of people who evacuated their homes under government orders.

All aboard! Next stop space...

Several hundred people have already booked their tickets and begun training for a spectacular voyage: a few minutes, or perhaps days, in the weightlessness of space.

Better metric for thermoelectric materials means better design strategies

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have shown that a quantity known as "thermoelectric conductivity" is an effective measure for the dimensionality of newly developed thermoelectric nanomaterials. Studying films of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes and atomically thin sheets of molybdenum sulfide and graphene, they found clear distinctions in how this number varies with...

Personalized cancer vaccine is safe, shows potential benefit against cancer

A personalized cancer vaccine developed with the help of a Mount Sinai computational platform raised no safety concerns and showed potential benefit in patients with different cancers, including lung and bladder, that have a high risk of recurrence, according to results from an investigator-initiated phase I clinical trial presented during the virtual American Association for Cancer Research...

Resilience against replay attacks in computer systems

From power grids and telecommunications to water supply and financial systems, digital data controls the infrastructure systems on which society relies. These complex, multi-tier systems depend on layered communications to accomplish their tasks. Researchers from Italy has developed the first predictive control scheme that can help distributed networks with multiple agents not only identify these...

The impact of chemotherapy on immune cells in the tumor microenvironment

Research from Queen Mary University of London has revealed novel insights into the effects of chemotherapy on the tumour microenvironment (TME). The study, published today in Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, found that chemotherapy enhances the anti-tumour actions of immune cells within the TME and their ability to support immune responses...

Victoria records first overseas coronavirus case since hotel quarantine overhaul

The state began accepting international arrivals on Thursday after two-month suspension caused by outbreaks linked to hotel quarantine programVictoria has recorded its first overseas Covid-19 case in hotel quarantine since resuming international flights.The state began accepting international arrivals on Thursday following a two-month suspension caused by outbreaks linked to its hotel quarantine...

New Zealand migrant workers suffer agony of Covid-driven family separation

People who emigrated before the pandemic struck have found themselves marooned from family for more than a yearSee all our coronavirus coverageJacinda Ardern’s government has been urged to end months of misery for migrant workers in New Zealand and reunite families separated by Covid-19.Hundreds of migrants who moved to New Zealand in the months before March last year were unable to bring their...