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UK election: three research priorities for the next government
Unless more equitable ways of funding UK universities are found, students could end up with fewer places to choose from.Credit: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty “Shock delay to net-zero pledges turns UK from climate leader to laggard.” This unflattering headline from a 2023 Nature editorial gives a flavour of the disconnect between the UK government and scientific community…
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Western scientists more likely to get rejected papers published — and do it faster
Academics hope to publish their research in journals (shown), but their initial submissions are often rejected.Credit: Getty Like actors and writers, researchers experience their fair share of rejection. Scientists submit their work to journals, hoping that it will be accepted, but many manuscripts are rejected from their authors’ top-choice publication and eventually get accepted by…
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Enhancing human mobility research with open and standardized datasets
Human mobility research intersects with various disciplines, with profound implications for urban planning, transportation engineering, public health, disaster management, and economic analysis. Here, we discuss the urgent need for open and standardized datasets in the field, including current challenges and lessons from other computational science domains, and propose collaborative efforts to enhance the validity and…
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Nature and art collide in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize
Bringing together artists from different disciplines as they turn their focus to the natural world, the National Archives of Australia presents the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize exhibition. Acting Director-General Brooke Anderson says National Archives is proud to once again partner with the South Australian Museum to exhibit a range of thought-provoking works. “We are…
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‘Epigenome editor’ silences gene that causes deadly brain disorders
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease is a rare brain disorder caused by misfolded proteins, which can be suppressed by a new editing system.Credit: Zephyr/Science Photo Library A molecular-editing tool that’s small enough to be delivered to the brain shuts down the production of proteins that cause prion diseases, a rare but deadly group of neurodegenerative disorders. The system…
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How blockbuster obesity drugs create a full feeling — even before one bite of food
The drug liraglutide, sold under the brand names Victoza and Saxenda, binds to molecules in a certain brain region to trigger a feeling of fullness.Credit: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Sipa USA/Alamy People taking Wegovy and similar weight-loss drugs often feel full, even when they sit down to a meal and haven’t taken a single bite. Now, scientists have…
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Corvallis Science & Nature: Native Plants and Berries for Birds
Just like that, it’s almost July. With the students gone, Corvallis is settling into its sleepy summer season, and that means a slowdown in events around town. Luckily, our local nonprofits step up this time of year, to fill in some of the gap left as the university goes quiet. This week, volunteers are needed…
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We work for Nature. This is why we’re striking
Image: Mark Thomas When salaries don’t keep pace with inflation, a passion for science doesn’t pay the bills On Thursday 20 June, the science journal Nature published its 8,017th issue. Like its 8,016 predecessors, this latest issue contained cutting-edge papers from across the disciplines of science. But last Thursday was historic for the journal not because of…
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The mass public’s science literacy and co-production during the COVID-19 pandemic: empirical evidence from 140 cities in China
Abstract How to prevent and resolve COVID-19 pandemic and similar public health crisis is a significant research topic. Although research on science literacy has been involved in dealing with public health crisis, there is a lack of empirical tests between the mass public’s science literacy and co-production during COVID-19 pandemic. With the empirical evidence from…
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Is science’s dominant funding model broken?
Model PI? Leonardo DiCaprio plays astronomer Randall Mindy, with Jennifer Lawrence as his graduate student Kate Dibiasky, in the disaster satire Don’t Look Up.Credit: Bluegrass Films/Entertainment Pictures/Alamy It’s a well-trodden path for most people who aspire to a career in academic research: you first earn a PhD, then take a succession of fixed-term contract jobs.…