Using a method developed for HIV, scientists have identified stable T cell vaccine targets in SARS-CoV-2.These stable targets, known as highly networked epitopes, are highly likely to be stable in different variants of the virus.The results provide a path forward for a broadly protective COVID-19 T cell vaccine. HIV is one of the fastest-mutating viruses known to humankind. But HIV’s ability to mutate isn’t unique among RNA viruses — most viruses develop mutations, or changes in their genetic code, over time....

Walking on two legs has long been a defining feature to distinguish modern humans, as well as extinct species on our lineage (aka hominins), from our closest living ape relatives: chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. This new research, based on an analysis of fossil leg bones, provides evidence that a hominin species (believed to be either Paranthropus robustus or early Homo) regularly adopted highly flexed hip joints; a posture that is associated with climbing trees in other non-human apes....

India’s official forest surveys indicate that the country’s 1.2 billion people are managing to preserve its rich forests, even in the face of growing demands for timber and agricultural land. However, Ranjit Gill, a senior official of the Forest Survey of India, states that the nation’s forests have been overestimated and that illegal felling of teak and sal trees in the northeast of the country has devastated forests. India’s biennial survey, the India State of Forest Report 2011, by the FSI, part of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, estimated that forests cover 692,027 square kilometers of the country, which is about 23% of India’s land area....

With meteorological summer just underway, some parts of the Northern Hemisphere were already feeling the heat in early June 2021. In particular, the early-season heat has been scorching countries across the Middle East. The map above shows air temperatures in the region on June 6, 2021. The map was derived from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model and depicts air temperatures at 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) above the ground....

A team from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has brought us closer to this chameleon reality, by way of a new system that uses reprogrammable ink to let objects change colors when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) and visible light sources. Dubbed “PhotoChromeleon,” the system uses a mix of photochromic dyes that can be sprayed or painted onto the surface of any object to change its color — a fully reversible process that can be repeated infinitely....

One in 10 people may have clinically relevant levels of potentially infectious SARS-CoV-2 past the 10 day quarantine period, according to new research. The study, led by the University of Exeter and funded by Animal Free Research UK, used a newly adapted test which can detect whether the virus was potentially still active. It was applied to samples from 176 people in Exeter who had tested positive on standard PCR tests....

The papers are published in The Astrophysical Journal and the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and show that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch late next year, will reveal hidden galaxies. Powerful lights called ‘quasars‘ are the brightest objects in the universe. Powered by supermassive black holes up to a trillion times the mass of our Sun, they outshine entire galaxies of billions of stars. Simulations led by Science PhD candidate, Madeline Marshall, show that while even NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope can’t see galaxies currently hidden by these quasars, the James Webb Telescope will be able to get past the glare....

Robotic surgery, also known as robot-assisted surgery, enables surgeons to conduct a variety of complicated operations with more precision, flexibility, and control than traditional approaches allow. Robotic surgery is often associated with minimally invasive surgery, which involves procedures carried out through small incisions. It’s also occasionally employed in certain traditional open surgical procedures. The most common clinical robotic surgical system consists of a camera arm and mechanical arms with surgical tools attached....

Researchers at Stanford University are developing a new insulin formulation that begins to take effect almost immediately upon injection, potentially working four times as fast as current commercial fast-acting insulin formulations. The researchers focused on so-called monomeric insulin, which has a molecular structure that, according to theory, should allow it to act faster than other forms of insulin. The catch is that monomeric insulin is too unstable for practical use....

Electrons race along the surface of certain unusual crystalline materials, except that sometimes they don’t. Two new studies from Princeton researchers and their collaborators explain the source of the surprising behavior and chart a course for restoring conductivity in these remarkable crystals, prized for their potential use in future technologies including quantum computers. The studies were published in the journal Science. For the past 15 years, a class of materials known as topological insulators has dominated the search for the materials of the future....

The result is an AI bot named ClaRAN that scans images taken by radio telescopes. Its job is to spot radio galaxies—galaxies that emit powerful radio jets from supermassive black holes at their centers. ClaRAN is the brainchild of big data specialist Dr. Chen Wu and astronomer Dr. Ivy Wong, both from The University of Western Australia node of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR). Dr. Wong said black holes are found at the center of most, if not all, galaxies....

The Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (WPI-ICReDD) has successfully demonstrated the wider application of a computational method known as the Artificial Force Induced Reaction (AFIR) method in predicting pericyclic reactions with high stereoselectivity using just the structure of the target product molecule. The accurate prediction of a molecule’s stereochemistry—i.e., the 3D arrangement of its constituent atoms—is unprecedented for such an automated reaction path search method. This study serves as proof of concept that the AFIR method has the potential to discover novel reactions with specific stereochemistry....

For nearly 100 years, scientists thought they understood everything there was to know about how metals bend. They were wrong. Materials science and engineering researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have demonstrated that the rules of metal-bending aren’t so hard and fast after all. They described their findings on August 9 in the journal Nature Communications. Their surprising discovery not only upends previous notions about how metals deform, but could help guide the creation of stronger, more durable materials....

The hottest and most massive stars don’t live long enough to disperse throughout the galaxy. Instead, they can be found near the clouds of gas and dust where they formed — and where they will explode as supernovae after a few million years. They huddle in tight clusters with other young stars or in looser groupings called OB associations, a name reflecting their impressive populations of rare O- and B-type stars....

Sports scientists from the University of Lincoln, UK, compared the average weights lifted by two groups over six weeks: one using a traditional training method of a “one rep max” — the maximum weight an athlete could lift — and one using a load velocity profile, where the weights were tailored so they lift either more or less at each session. All who used the load velocity profile became stronger despite lifting less overall during the six-week period....

The new technique, pioneered by Imperial College London scientists, could reduce the need to use fossil fuels to create chemicals, plastics, fibers, and fuels. Currently, many useful chemicals are produced from fossil fuels, which require mining, are of limited supply, and disrupt the carbon cycle. An alternative is to engineer microorganisms like Escherichia coli (E. coli) and cyanobacteria to more sustainably produce the chemicals directly from atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, many of the chemicals that can be produced this way are toxic to the microorganisms, reducing their ability to make large quantities in a cost-effective way....

“It’s a new general strategy for a vaccine. Rather than targeting the microbe, we target a mosquito protein that influences the environment where the microbe is transmitted,” said Erol Fikrig, chief of the infectious diseases section at Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study, published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. Malaria is one of the most lethal infectious diseases worldwide, with several million cases occurring each year and nearly a half million deaths....

In our interactions with others, we may not always behave in an ideal manner. When we realize that our actions have caused harm, we often experience feelings of guilt. This unpleasant feeling drives us to take corrective action, such as offering an apology or accepting responsibility. This is why guilt is viewed as a significant moral emotion, as long as it serves an adaptive purpose – meaning it is appropriate and proportional to the situation....

Many British butterflies and moths have been responding to warmer temperatures by emerging earlier in the year and for the first time, scientists have identified why this is creating winners and losers among species. The findings will help conservationists identify butterfly and moth species most at risk from climate change, the researchers say. Shrink in numbers The study, led by the University of York, found that emerging earlier in the year may be benefitting species that have multiple, rapid breeding cycles per year and are flexible about their habitat (such as the Speckled Wood butterfly), by allowing them more time to bulk up in numbers before winter and expand their range towards the north....

A Type Ia supernova is a thermonuclear explosion of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf star with a companion star orbiting one another, also known as a binary system. In the Universe, Type Ia supernovae are the main production sites for iron-peak elements, including manganese, iron, and nickel, and some intermediate-mass elements including silicon and sulfur. However, researchers today cannot agree on what kind of binary systems triggers a white dwarf to explode....