Quote A huge radio telescope in Puerto Rico has collapsed after decades of astronomical discoveries. The US National Science Foundation (NSF) said the telescopes 900-ton instrument platform fell onto a reflector dish some 450ft (137m) below. It came just weeks after officials announced that the t.
by The Conversation on Tuesday January 19 2021
Image by Actionvance, via Unsplash
By Corey A. Bradshaw, Daniel T. Blumstein, and Paul Ehrlich, forThe Conversation
Anyone with even a passing interest in the global environment knows all is not well. But just how bad is the situation? Our new paper shows the outlook for life on Earth is more dire than is generally understood.
[Ed. January 13, 2021] reviews more than 150 studies to produce a stark summary of the state of the natural world. We outline the likely future trends in biodiversity decline, mass extinction, climate disruption and planetary toxification. We clarify the gravity of the human predicament and provide a timely snapshot of the crises that must be addressed now.
[co-author: Martika Harper, MS.]
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immense impact on clinical trials in the US. Many clinical trials have been suspended or stopped due to the demands of the pandemic. Not only does interruption of these trials leave participants at a standstill with treatment, but it also negatively impacts other stakeholders like sponsors and researchers. The pandemic has put a damper on research funding as well as treatment options for at-risk participants. Many researchers and institutions have been impacted in three main areas: financial losses, having to redirect research focus, and adapting to a new clinical trial process.
By Rebecca Trager2021-01-20T14:35:00+00:00
The new US president Joe Biden has named several preeminent researchers to his science team and raised the status of the presidential science adviser to a cabinet-level position. The news has thrilled science groups and research advocates across the country.
Just days before his 20 January inauguration, Biden announced key members of his White House science team, including Eric Lander, a geneticist who currently serves as the president and founding director of the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, as his pick for science adviser.
If confirmed by the Senate, Lander will also become director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Biden has made the decision to promote this position to a cabinet-level one for the first time in the post’s history.
Researchers sampling coral colonies on Christmas Island (Kiritimati) in 2019.Kristina Tietjen
Coral reefs serve important ecological functions, from providing habitat for countless species to protecting shorelines from erosion. Reef-dependent fisheries are also a vital source of food and income for hundreds of millions of people in tropical island nations where coral reefs are valued at $6.8 billion annually.
The pressing concerns of climate change have placed the long-term health of the world’s coral reefs in jeopardy. However, new research inspires hope as some corals managed to survive a recent and globally unprecedented heatwave.
“Understanding how some corals can survive prolonged heatwaves could provide an opportunity to mitigate the impact of marine heatwaves on coral reefs, allowing us to buy time as we work to limit greenhouse gas emissions,” said lead author Danielle Claar, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington who completed the work as doctor