14 articles from SATURDAY 18.3.2023

Two new species of yeast named after Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips

Discoveries that could help diabetics titled in honour of activist and journalist murdered in AmazonScientists in Brazil have found two new species of fermenting yeasts and named them after journalist Dom Phillips and activist Bruno Pereira, the two men murdered last year in the Amazon rainforest.The discovery came from four isolates of the Spathaspora species, according to a paper published in...

‘The fungal awakening’: how we came to love (and fear) fungi

After centuries of fear and disdain, mushrooms are having their moment. From sci-fi smash hits to drug trials, an emerging league of mycophiles are bringing fungi out of the shadowsGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastSome people are drawn to beautiful birds. Others are enamoured with orchids. There are those who are mesmerised by the kaleidoscopic swish and...

‘A wake-up call’: total weight of wild mammals less than 10% of humanity’s

From elephants to tigers, study reveals scale of damage to wildlife caused by transformation of wildernesses and human activity The total weight of Earth’s wild land mammals – from elephants to bisons and from deer to tigers – is now less than 10% of the combined tonnage of men, women and children living on the planet.A study by scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science,...

‘It’s inexcusable.’ WHO blasts China for not disclosing potential data on COVID-19’s origin

The infectious disease epidemiologist who oversees the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) program on emerging diseases and zoonoses began Sunday morning with a start: A researcher contacted her and said colleagues had uncovered crucial new data from China that speak to the origin of the pandemic. The researcher told Van Kerkhove—who was preparing to leave her home in Geneva for a...