Category: Science and Nature

  • How I made my lab meetings more inclusive with a rapid-relay technique

    How I made my lab meetings more inclusive with a rapid-relay technique

    Johanna Joyce and her lab members during the flashlight part of their group meeting.Credit: Spencer S. Watson In the scientific world, where the focus is on data and results, it’s easy to overlook the human aspect — the team dynamics that are crucial for a thriving research environment. In my laboratory at the University of…

  • From the archive: Stephen Hawking’s explosive idea, and scientific spirit

    From the archive: Stephen Hawking’s explosive idea, and scientific spirit

    The Research Program Manager has a leading role in facilitating effective laboratory operations and research efforts for a cutting-edge genomics Berkeley, California (US) University of California, Berkeley

  • To understand mRNA vaccine hesitancy, stop calling the public anti-science

    To understand mRNA vaccine hesitancy, stop calling the public anti-science

    The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development of mRNA vaccines and provided proof of concept for this new approach to protect humans against infectious diseases, as well as other diseases such as cancer. However, the use of mRNA technology depends on the public’s attitude toward it. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA technology was a factor in…

  • How phase separation is revolutionizing biology

    How phase separation is revolutionizing biology

    The cells glow green under the high-powered microscope, each bedazzled with a constellation of luminous proteins and RNA that, like oil droplets in water, have huddled together through a process known as phase separation. A foundational concept in the fields of engineering, chemistry and physics, phase separation — the mechanism by which complex mixtures segregate…

  • ‘Incomprehensible’: scientists in France decry €900-million cut to research

    ‘Incomprehensible’: scientists in France decry €900-million cut to research

    Scientists in France have strongly criticized cuts to this year’s research and higher-education budgets, which were confirmed by the government last week. The cuts are just part of a reduction of €10 billion (US$10.9 billion) in overall public spending, outlined by the economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire on 18 February. The decision follows…

  • How to find meaning in your science career: six expert tips

    How to find meaning in your science career: six expert tips

    Syahirah Abdul Rahman spent five years pursuing fundamental research for her business PhD. She published her work on Malaysia’s financial markets in a leading journal. But her discovery that “only six people read it” — according to the handful of citations her paper accrued — prompted a career change. She realized that she wanted her…

  • Characterizing emerging companies in computational drug development

    Characterizing emerging companies in computational drug development

    Abstract Computation promises to accelerate, de-risk and optimize drug research and development. An increasing number of companies have entered this space, specializing in the design of new algorithms, computing on proprietary data, and/or development of hardware to improve distinct drug pipeline stages. The large number of such companies and their unique strategies and deals have…

  • Giant ‘bubble’ in space could be source of powerful cosmic rays

    Giant ‘bubble’ in space could be source of powerful cosmic rays

    Conditions in the star-forming region Cygnus OB2 are ideal for producing high-energy cosmic rays.Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Drake et al; H-alpha: Univ. of Hertfordshire/INT/IPHAS; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Spitzer Astronomers have detected an enormous gamma-ray bubble that could be a source of the Milky Way’s most powerful cosmic rays — high-energy particles that rain down on Earth from space.…

  • Why the US border remains ‘a place of terror’ for Chinese researchers

    Why the US border remains ‘a place of terror’ for Chinese researchers

    Engineer Gang Chen changed his research focus after being wrongly accused of espionage.Credit: Tony Pulsone, MIT When an engineer of Chinese descent, who wishes to remain anonymous, took a flight back to his US university from a conference in Canada in September last year, he got a surprise at a stopover in Chicago, Illinois. The…

  • Save lives in the next pandemic: ensure vaccine equity now

    Save lives in the next pandemic: ensure vaccine equity now

    Since 2022, member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) have been negotiating a new treaty — provisionally termed the Pandemic Agreement. If adopted, it would transform how the world handles pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Opinions differ on what negotiators should prioritize. But no issue has captivated public attention as much as vaccine equity…