In 2021, COVID-19 vaccines were put to the test. Here’s what we learnedVaccines can’t single-handedly end the pandemic, but they are still essential in the fight against the coronavirus. By Science News Staff
We preview the long-delayed Hong Kong legislative elections and explore whether Boris Johnson’s mistakes are starting to take an electoral toll. Plus: Mark Rutte’s record-breaking Dutch coalition and an initiative bringing major art works to regional Italian galleries.
America’s central bank plans to pinch off its massive bond-buying programme much faster in a bid to stall inflation; our correspondent says it is perhaps a late-arriving signal—but a promising one.
Loneliness is a growing problem in the rich world but seems particularly acute among American men. And why aged artists are increasingly taking over the December music charts.
An explanation for giant ice structures on Pluto, and dismantling the mestizo myth in Latin American genetics.
In this episode:
00:46 The frozen root of Pluto’s polygonal patterns
In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons probe sent back some intriguing images of Pluto. Huge polygonal patterns could be seen on the surface of a nitrogen-ice ice filled basin known as Sputnik Planitia. This week, a team put forward a new theory to explain these perplexing patterns.
Research article: Morison et al.
06:15 Research Highlights
How Pamplona’s bull-running defies the dynamics of crowd motion, and self-healing microbial bio-bricks.
Research Highlight: Running of the bulls tramples the laws of crowd dynamics
Research Highlight: It’s alive! Bio-bricks can signal to others of their kind
09:06 How the mixed-race ‘mestizo’ myth has fostered discrimination
The term ‘mestizo’ emerged during the colonial period in Latin America to describe a blend of ethnicities – especially between Indigenous peoples and the Spanish colonizers. But this label is a social construct not a well-defined scientific category. Now researchers are challenging the mestizo myth, which they say is harmful and has a troubling influence on science.
Feature: How the mixed-race mestizo myth warped science in Latin America
17:22 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how interrupted sleep could be a route to creativity, and the development of vaccines to target respiratory syncytial virus.
New Scientist: Interrupting sleep after a few minutes can boost creativity
Boomers Daily 