Science Magazine – March 24, 2023 issue: This color-enhanced scanning electron microscopy image shows Ti2CCl2 MXenes grown by chemical vapor deposition. The two-dimensional layers of this material grew perpendicular to the substrate and then folded into microspherical structures. Ion intercalation between two-dimensional MXene sheets has potential for energy storage and other applications.

A new pandemic origin report is stirring controversy. Here are key takeaways

Workers in hazmat suits carry rubbish bins at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market — Workers disinfected Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in March 2020, but not before a Chinese research team collected samples there that would reveal the presence of SARS-CoV-2–susceptible mammals.

Virology database cuts off—and then reinstates—scientists who found and analyzed data collected 3 years ago by team in China

Earth at higher risk of big asteroid strike, satellite data suggest

Image with rings showing crater width on map of Kazakhstan — If Zhamanshin crater in Kazakhstan is 30 kilometers wide (red ring) instead of 13 kilometers (black ring), as a new study suggests, the impact that made it would have been far more fierce.

“It would be in the range of serious crap happening.”

At a basic level, humanity’s survival odds come down to one thing: the chances of a giant space rock slamming into the planet and sending us the way of the dinosaurs. One way to calibrate that hazard is to look at the size of Earth’s recent large impact craters.

Science Magazine – March 17, 2023 issue: An alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris) walks to a breeding pond in the Alps, France. Many amphibians have a cryptic upper side but a normally concealed, conspicuous underside. These hidden signals have evolved for several reasons, including as a warning display to would-be predators.

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART

Conceptual illustration: a giant heart opens up on a hinge to reveal several gauges. Three of them, labeled HDL, LDL, and ApoB, display low levels. One, labeled Ceramides, displays high levels and is vibrating and letting off steam. Three tiny scientists stand at the foot of the heart, and one shines a flashlight on the Ceramides gauge.

Lipids called ceramides may be better predictors of cardiovascular problems than cholesterol. Doctors and pharma are waking up to their potential

Bacteria require phase separation for fitness in the mammalian gut

The gut microbiota is critical for human health. Understanding how beneficial bacteria colonize the gut enables medical interventions that promote gut health. Krypotou et al. discovered a mechanism that enhances the fitness of a commensal bacterium in the gut.