A new study of the U.K. and South Africa variants of SARS-CoV-2 predicts that current vaccines and certain monoclonal antibodies may be less effective at neutralizing these variants and that the new variants raise the specter that reinfections could be more likely. The study was published in Nature today (March 8, 2021). A preprint of the study was first posted to BioRxiv on January 26, 2021. The study’s predictions are now being borne out with the first reported results of the Novavax vaccine, says the study’s lead author David Ho, MD....

According to a new scientific study from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, some cancer cells can deploy parallel mechanisms to evade the immune system’s defenses as well as resist immunotherapy treatment. Breast cancer cells are able to replicate and metastasize by suppressing the action of killer T-cells and hindering the ability of the immune system to flag tumor cells for destruction, the researchers found. “We know that breast cancer typically doesn’t respond well to immunotherapy, and we wondered if there’s an intrinsic mechanism enabling breast cancer cells to escape the immune system,” says first author Ms....

A NASA camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured a unique view of the moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month. The series of test images shows the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth. The images were captured by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope on the DSCOVR satellite orbiting 1 million miles from Earth....

In this Hubble Space Telescope image, researchers revisited one of Hubble’s most iconic and popular images: the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation. Here, the pillars are seen in infrared light, which pierces through obscuring dust and gas and unveils a more unfamiliar — but just as amazing — view of the pillars. The better-known image is of the pillars in visible light: In this ethereal view the entire frame is peppered with bright stars and baby stars are revealed being formed within the pillars themselves....

Stem cells have the ability to turn into different types of cell. Now, in research published in Cell Stem Cell and funded by the Medical Research Council, scientists at the University of Exeter’s Living Systems Institute, working with colleagues from the University of Cambridge, have developed a method to organize lab-grown stem cells into an accurate model of the first stage of human embryo development. The ability to create artificial early human embryos could benefit research into infertility, by furthering understanding of how embryos develop, and the conditions needed to avoid miscarriage and other complications....

It’s not just heavy drinking that’s a problem — even consuming alcohol within weekly low-risk drinking guidelines can result in hospitalization and death, according to a new study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Moderate drinkers “are not insulated from harm,” write researchers led by Adam Sherk, Ph.D., of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. The Canadian government’s low-risk drinking guidelines state that women should consume no more than about 10 drinks per week and men no more than 15....

An international study led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists found that the global mean sea-level rise could exceed 1 meter by 2100 and 5 meters by 2300 if global targets on emissions are not achieved. The study used projections by more than 100 international experts for the global mean sea-level changes under two climate scenarios – low and high emissions. By surveying a wide range of leaders in the field, the study offers broader assurance about its projections for the ranges of future sea-level rise....

Currently, much of the thinking around risks posed by volcanoes follows a simple equation: the bigger the likely eruption, the worse it will be for society and human welfare. However, a team of experts now argues that too much focus is on the risks of massive yet rare volcanic explosions, while far too little attention is paid to the potential domino effects of moderate eruptions in key parts of the planet....

Lake Trasimeno is located in central Italy, around 20 km (12 miles) west of Perugia, and encompasses an area of around 128 sq km (50 square miles). It is shallow, only reaching a maximum depth of around 6 meters (20 feet), although the lake’s water level varies depending on meteorological and climatic conditions. In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite image, captured on August 6, 2022, the lake’s emerald green color is most likely due to the presence of phytoplankton....

With a population of over 8 million people distributed over an area of around 780 sq km, New York City is the most densely populated major city in the US. Situated on one of the world’s largest natural harbors, New York City is composed of five boroughs. In this image, captured on August 26, 2019, the island of Manhattan is visible in the center, bounded by the Hudson, East, and Harlem rivers....

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that, on behalf of the agency, the U.S. Marshals Service conducted a mass seizure of FDA-regulated spices and food additive products held for sale under insanitary conditions. Specifically, these food products were exposed to widespread rodent infestation as well as other pests, such as live and dead insects. The seizure was completed today at Lyden Spice Corporation in Miami, Florida. The food products seized at the property include more than 25,000 boxes/bags of bulk ready-to-eat spices and food additives, such as monosodium glutamate, crushed red chili, and sesame seeds....

The surface of the main dune field is characterized by a series of dark-toned polygonal patterns. These may be the result of seasonal frost processes. Several of the steeper dune slopes, pointing in the downwind direction, host narrow furrows suggesting the start of gully formation. The crater floor contains a variety of textures, including lobate and striped patterns that indicate seasonal thaw caused by sublimating ice. Broad downslope movement of materials on the crater slopes opposite the dune field superficially resemble gullies, except that they are generally not defined by distinctive alcoves, incised channels, or sediment aprons....

A humble soil bacterium called Ralstonia eutropha has a natural tendency, whenever it is stressed, to stop growing and put all its energy into making complex carbon compounds. Now scientists at MIT have taught this microbe a new trick: They’ve tinkered with its genes to persuade it to make fuel — specifically, a kind of alcohol called isobutanol that can be directly substituted for, or blended with, gasoline. Christopher Brigham, a research scientist in MIT’s biology department who has been working to develop this bioengineered bacterium, is currently trying to get the organism to use a stream of carbon dioxide as its source of carbon, so that it could be used to make fuel out of emissions....

Nearly a year since the world first learned of the novel coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19, many questions remain about SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind this pandemic: Where did it come from, how did it spread so widely and rapidly, and how can we stop similar outbreaks in the future? Recently, EcoHealth Alliance, a global nonprofit working at the intersection of animal, environmental and human health, announced the establishment of an international task force to investigate these questions as part of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission....

Sensor network GNOME publishes comprehensive data in Nature Physics for the first time — Nine stations in six countries involved. An international team of researchers with key participation from the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) has published for the first time comprehensive data on the search for dark matter using a worldwide network of optical magnetometers. According to the scientists, dark matter fields should produce a characteristic signal pattern that can be detected by correlated measurements at multiple stations of the GNOME network....

News stories of food fraud, such as beef being replaced with horse meat, and cheaper fish being branded as premium fillets, have led people to question if what is on the label is actually in the package. To combat food adulteration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducts regular, random inspections of these products. Although current molecular techniques, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), are highly accurate, these analyses can take hours to days, and are often performed at off-site labs....

“Meteorological seasons” follow the changing of the calendar, month to month, and are based on the annual temperature cycle – seasonal temperature variations modified by fluctuations in the amount of solar radiation received by Earth’s surface over the course of a year. For instance, the meteorological season of spring begins each year on March 1 and will end on May 31. However, “astronomical” seasons happen because of the tilt of Earth’s axis (with respect to the Sun-Earth plane), and our planet’s position during its orbit around the Sun....

With a successful mRNA coronavirus vaccine, 24 products in the pipeline, and a tenfold increase in its stock price since January 2020, Boston-based Moderna gives new meaning to lightning-speed innovation. Employing just 1,500, the company was able to tap into public-private partnerships to play a major role in what has been nothing less than a vaccine revolution—navigating a complex path and rolling out millions of vaccine doses less than a year after the start of a global pandemic....

Modern observations show that Messier 59 is an elliptical galaxy, one of the three main kinds of galaxies along with spirals and irregulars. Ellipticals tend to be the most evolved of the trio, full of old, red stars and exhibiting little or no new star formation. Messier 59, however, bucks this trend somewhat; the galaxy does show signs of star formation, with some newborn stars residing within a disc near the core....

Hubble studied NGC 6891 as part of efforts to gauge the distances to nebulae, and to learn more about how their structures formed and evolved. NGC 6891 is made up of gas that’s been ionized by the central white dwarf star, which stripped electrons from the nebula’s hydrogen atoms. As the energized electrons revert from their higher-energy state to a lower-energy state by recombining with the hydrogen nuclei, they emit energy in the form of light, causing the nebula’s gas to glow....