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Jellyfish are about 95% water, making them some of the most diaphanous, delicate animals on the planet. But the remaining 5% of them have yielded important scientific discoveries, like green fluorescent protein (GFP) that is now used extensively by scientists to study gene expression, and life-cycle reversal that could hold the keys to combating aging. Jellyfish may very well harbor other, potentially life-changing secrets, but the difficulty of collecting them has severely limited the study of such “forgotten fauna....

Achieving classical herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may not be attainable, according to a new perspective published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. However, widespread use of currently available public health interventions to prevent and control COVID-19 will enable resumption of most activities of daily life with minimal disruption, the authors note. Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, David M....

The trial, called Outcomes Related to COVID-19 treated with Hydroxychloroquine among Inpatients with symptomatic Disease (ORCHID), began after lab studies and preliminary reports suggested that hydroxychloroquine — commonly used to treat malaria and rheumatic conditions like arthritis — might have promise in treating SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL) Clinical Trials Network of NHLBI started the trial in April at 34 hospitals across the United States and enrolled 479 of the expected 510 patients....

Remdesivir was developed for Ebola and has antiviral activity for coronaviruses. Northwestern Medicine has enrolled its first participants in a new international clinical drug trial for COVID-19. The drug being tested is remdesivir, a novel anti-viral drug developed to treat Ebola and which has subsequently been found, in animal models, to have antiviral activity against coronaviruses including MERS and now SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the drug in hospitalized adult patients diagnosed with COVID-19....

Experts from Durham University in the UK and Yunnan University and Guizhou University in China conducted research and discovered that the fossils, previously believed to be the oldest Bryozoans, are actually green algae. This implies that Bryozoans, which were tentacle-bearing animals that lived in underwater colonies resembling skyscrapers, are millions of years younger than previously estimated and only emerged during the Ordovician period (480 million years ago). This makes them the only group of fossil animals not to appear in the Cambrian “explosion”, a rapid burst of evolution 40 million years earlier....

These advancements in electric propulsion technology have the potential to revolutionize the space industry in the same way that innovations in terrestrial transportation, such as cars, trains, and aircraft, have transformed their respective industries. Electric propulsion is a technique utilizing electromagnetic fields to accelerate a propellant and generate thrust that propels a spacecraft. Space agencies have pioneered electric propulsion technology as the future of space exploration. Already, several space missions have successfully been completed using electric propulsion devices, such as gridded ion thrusters and Hall thrusters....

Operation IceBridge—an airborne mission to map polar ice—recently made several flights out of the McMurdo and Amundsen-Scott South Pole stations, giving researchers greater access to the interior of the icy continent. For the ninth year in a row, flights over Antarctica have turned up ample science data, as well as spectacular images.

Based on optical matter, new machines could be used to move and manipulate tiny particles. Researchers have developed a tiny new machine that converts laser light into work. These optically powered machines self-assemble and could be used for nanoscale manipulation of tiny cargo for applications such as nanofluidics and particle sorting. “Our work addresses a long-standing goal in the nanoscience community to create self-assembling nanoscale machines that can perform work in conventional environments such as room temperature liquids,” said research team leader Norbert F....

Nanette Malsol, chair of the Parties of the Nauru Agreement (PNA), a management body for sustainable fisheries representing eight nations in the Oceania regions, states that the commission had failed to take its responsibilities seriously regarding the fate of tuna. The PNA has called for a stop of the overfishing of bigeye tuna, but delegates preferred to discuss how much overfishing to allow instead of finding ways to end it....

Lead author of the project, University of Portsmouth PhD student Roy Smith, discovered the mystery creature amongst fossil collections housed in the Sedgwick Museum of Cambridge and the Booth Museum at Brighton that were assembled when phosphate mining was at its peak in the English Fens between 1851 and 1900. These fossils found while workmen were digging phosphate nodules were frequently sold to earn a little bit of extra money....

Scientific instrument made at McGill reveals liquid-like properties of a solid substance. McGill University researchers have gained tantalizing new insights into the properties of perovskites, one of the world’s most promising materials in the quest to produce a more efficient, robust, and cheaper solar cell. In a study published in Nature Communications on October 31, 2019, the researchers used a multi-dimensional electronic spectrometer (MDES) – a unique instrument hand-built at McGill – to observe the behavior of electrons in cesium lead iodide perovskite nanocrystals....

The scientists published their findings in the journal Brain. While doing Einstein’s autopsy, Thomas Harvey, a pathologist, removed the physicist’s brain and preserved it in formalin. Harvey then took dozens black and white photos of it before it was cut up. He separated it into 240 blocks and took tissue samples from each. The autopsy revealed that Einstein’s brain was smaller than average, and the analyses showed the normal changes that happen with aging....

Professor Wonho Choe from the Department of Physics and his team identified the main principle of neutral gas flow in plasma, known as ‘electric wind’, in collaboration with Professor Se Youn Moon’s team at Chonbuk National University. Electric wind in plasma is a well-known consequence of interactions arising from collisions between charged particles (electrons or ions) and neutral particles. It refers to the flow of neutral gas that occurs when charged particles accelerate and collide with a neutral gas....

The research provides new insight for astronomers searching for signs of life around these dead stars by examining the impact that their winds will have on orbiting planets during the star’s transition to the white dwarf stage. The study concludes that it is nearly impossible for life to survive cataclysmic stellar evolution unless the planet has an intensely strong magnetic field — or magnetosphere — that can shield it from the worst effects....

Previous studies have suggested that political polarization is increasing in the United States, causing conflicts between individuals with different political beliefs. This polarization could potentially affect how people perceive each other, such as their initial impressions based on facial appearance. While research has looked at the relationship between facial impressions and interpersonal behavior, few studies have examined the connection between facial impressions and political party affiliation. To explore how political partisanship might influence face impressions, Cassidy and colleagues conducted two experiments involving 275 undergraduate college students....

The researchers published their findings in the journal Current Biology. Protostomes have historically been defined by the order in which they develop a mouth and an anus as embryos. However, gene-expression data suggests that this is incorrect. There might be a need to rename the protostome class of animals. There are tiny differences in how embryos develop in the different branches in the tree of life, which can lead to monumental changes in adults....

NASA will accept feedback until December 1 on the draft request for proposals for the LTV Services (LTVS) contract, which is now ready for industry to review. The draft outlines NASA’s expectation for use of the LTV on the lunar surface in the 2028 timeframe. After taking industry feedback into account, NASA plans to issue a final request for proposals by early 2023. Lara Kearney is the manager of the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) and Human Surface Mobility (HSM) Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston....

Scientists have called for a legally-binding treaty to ensure Earth’s orbit isn’t irreparably harmed by the future expansion of the global space industry. In the week that nearly 200 countries agreed to a treaty to protect the High Seas after a 20-year process, the experts believe society needs to take the lessons learned from one part of our planet to another. The number of satellites in orbit is expected to increase from 9,000 today to over 60,000 by 2030, with estimates suggesting there are already more than 100 trillion untracked pieces of old satellites circling the planet....

CRISPR: More than just for gene editing? Researcher finds a new use for revolutionary gene-splicing tool; Electrochemical CRISPR platform could lead to a quick blood test for disease identification through detection of important nucleic acids, HPV or Parvo. The gene-editing tool CRISPR has been heralded as a scientific miracle destined to eradicate diseases from sickle-cell anemia to cancer, or decried as “the genetic scissors that tailor the human gene pool,” an ethically risky technology driving us toward a designer babies....

Man Versus Machine: Can AI Do Science? Over the last few decades, machine learning has revolutionized many sectors of society, with machines learning to drive cars, identify tumors and play chess – often surpassing their human counterparts. Now, a team of scientists based at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), the University of Munich, and the CNRS at the University of Bordeaux have shown that machines can also beat theoretical physicists at their own game, solving complex problems just as accurately as scientists, but considerably faster....