What (maybe) dictates men's sex drive? What can a smoky bar teach us about social distancing? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Sept 7 - 13 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's edition of the very best from science news around the world, explore how our unique vaccine responses affect vaccine design and testing, and travel to Mars to visit the ancient neighbours, who may have used sulphur as an energy source. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• Mens' sex drive may rise and fall due to one brain enzyme by Christopher Bergland for Psychology Today.

Male sexual desire may be driven by the brain's aromatase (CYP19A1) enzyme.
Credit: jazzmoon12 via Flickr (CC-BY 2.0)

• 5 ways our immune responses to COVID vaccines are unique by Paul Gill and Menno van Zelm for The Conversation US.
• What a smoky bar can teach us about the '6-foot rule' during the COVID-19 pandemic by Byron Erath, Andrea Ferro, Goodarz Ahmadi, and Suresh Dhaniyala for The Conversation UK.
• Education promotes cognitive reserve against dementia… but only if you’re white. by Justina Avila-Rieger for AlzScience.
• Mediterranean diet can improve glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes by Douglas Badenoch for The Diabetes Elf.
• Protein affects 10 billion blood cells a day by Vered Smith for Science Connected magazine.
• Early Martian life may have used sulfur as an energy source by Brooke Carruthers for Sciworthy.
• Podcast: How do we know what things in space are made from? by Allen Versfeld at The Urban Astronomer.
• New gravitational-lensing study hints at problems for dark matter models by John Timmer for Ars Technica.
• Path dependence and tipping points by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction.
• One of quantum physics’ greatest paradoxes may have lost its leading explanation by George Musser for Science.
• A barcode of Earth’s climatic past by Cosmos magazine.
• Leftovers are a food-waste problem by Christopher Intagliata for Scientific American.
• Nectar robbery by short-tongued bees is throwing off delicate pollination cycles by Lila Westreich for Massive Science.
• You can't tell a chimpanzee's age by its gray hairs by Laura Martinez-Inigo for Massive Science.
• Mapping extreme microbes in the Amazon’s Boiling River by Attabey Rodriguez Benitez for Massive Science.
  
• Symbiotic fungi can save farm crops during droughts by Niko Carvajal Janke for Sciworthy.
• Today in chemistry history: August Kekulé and the structure of benzene by Andy Brunning for Compound Interest.
• Finding answers in the secretive carbon fibre industry by Miklos Bolza at Lab Down Under.

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How far away is quantum internet? How should we decide who gets a Covid-19 vaccine first? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 31 - September 6 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's bumper edition of the very best on what's happening in science around the world, find out how implementing indigenous wisdom could have helped to prevent the coronavirus, and find out just how pseudoscientists get away with spreading misinformation. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• Physicists create city-sized ultrasecure quantum network by Anil Ananthaswamy for Scientific American.

The development of quantum networks has been hard going, but scientists have demonstrated a new model that connects users 8km away.
Credit: IBM Research via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

• Podcast: Meet GW190521—a black-hole merger for the record books by Jennifer Ouelette for Ars Technica.
• Clean energy path to economic recovery in rural India by Anjali Jaiswal and Madura Joshi for NRDC.
• Conductive cables control carbon by Jesse Noar and Vincent Scholz at BacterioFiles.
• How to drive a car upside down: The physics of Formula One racing by Hannah Pell at Physics Central.
• Space X Dragon: Engineering of the Dragon that conquered human private spaceflight industry!!! by Ratnadeep Das Choudhury for The Dynamic Frequency.
• How to decide who should get a COVID-19 vaccine first by Jim Daley for Scientific American.
• Coronavirus caused by ‘unbalancing’ of nature: Q&A with Indigenous leader Levi Sucre Romero by Francesca Edralin for Mongabay.
• Can you catch COVID-19 from your neighbor’s toilet? by Jocelyn Kaiser for Science magazine.
• Yeast could soon make psilocybin cheaper than their magic mushroom cousins can by Sarah Laframboise for Massive Science.
• Microbial secrets of sourdough by Bob Holmes for Knowable magazine.
• Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) by Natalie Fey and Chris Adams at Picture It Chem.
• New wireless monitors let premature babies have skin-to-skin contact even in the NICU by Akshata R. Naik for Massive Science.
• Excess weight may increase your risk of dementia by Nicholas Bakalar for The New York Times.
• New wireless monitors let premature babies have skin-to-skin contact even in the NICU by Akshata R. Naik for Massive Science.
• Why you should be adding salt to your cocktails by Celine Bossart/Saveur for Saveur.
• How pseudoscientists get away with it by Stuart Firestein for Nautilus magazine.
• Severe cyclones may have played a role in the Maya collapse by Lakshmi Supriya for AGU EOS.
• Podcast: 074 Actual Cannibal Salamanders by Tom Major and Benjamin Michael Marshall at Herpetological Highlights.
• American mastodons migrated across vast distances due to warming climate, DNA study says by Sci-News.com.

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What's the lowdown on Musk's Neuralink? Are probiotics a scam or a superfood? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 24 - 30 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best of the best of science news from around the world, find out about the genetically modified mosquitos released in Florida to curb mosquito population, and take an exciting glimpse into African cultural astronomy, and its implications for perceptions of women. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• Despite a flashy design, Elon Musk's Neuralink has little substance by Thiago Arzua for Massive Science.

The new brain-machine interface has yet to set itself apart from its forerunners.
Credit: Bill Smith via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

• New treatment for rheumatoid arthritis shows great promise by Pernelle Chan for Sciworthy.
• Are you Yoda or Darth Vader? by Brian Gallagher for Nautilus magazine.
• Podcast: Probiotics: Scam or superfood? by Wendy Zukerman and Gimlet at Science Vs.
• The Notre-Dame cathedral fire deposited one metric ton of lead into surrounding neighborhoods by Hannah Thomasy for Massive Science.
• Don't bank on herd immunity to save us from COVID-19 by Sara May Bergstresser for Massive Science.
• Report finds COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted dementia patients by Maya Gosztyla for AlzScience.
• COVID-19 ups the chances of dying from a broken heart by Glen Pyle for LifeOmic.
• Preparing for the vaccine results by Derek Lowe at Science Translational Medicine.
• SARS-CoV-2 reinfection: What does it mean? by Vincent Racaniello at Virology Blog.
• SpaceX satellites’ effect on night sky can’t be eliminated, astronomers say by Jon Brodkin for Ars Technica.
• #BlackInAstro: A glimpse into African cultural Astronomy by Briley Lewis for Astrobites.
• Ask Ethan: Why don’t light and gravitational waves arrive simultaneously? by Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang.
• Podcast: Liftoff #131: Windex for rockets by Jason Snell and Stephen Hackett at Relay FM’s Liftoff .
• Tantalizing oddity found in exotic atom—but physicists aren’t hyping it by Adrian Cho for Science.
• 255 – GE mosquito release in Florida by Kevin Folta and Meredith Fensom for Talking Biotech Podcast.
• How science communication can challenge conspiracy theories in times of Covid-19 for Elephant in the Lab.
• Nanotechnology for explosives trace detection by Michael Berger for Nanowerk.
  
• Old donor organs renewed with senolytic drugs by Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.
• The microbiome 'educates' skin cells to produce allergic responses, study suggests by Miklos Bolza for Lab Down Under.

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Is sitting the new smoking? How is CRISPR helping to regrow neurons in diseased brains? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 17 - 23 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's cream-of-the-crop of the best science news from around the world, explore how HPV tricks your immune system, and find out why Flat Earth theory, although wrong, isn't necessarily stupid. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• Is sitting the new smoking? by A Short Scientist.

A growing body of evidence links long periods of sitting with poor health outcomes, but why is this?
Image Credit: sunshinecity via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

• New research uses CRISPR gene editing to grow new neurons in diseased brains by Sahana Sitarama for Massive Science.
• Experimental blood test can find cancer DNA years before typical methods by Victoria Le for Massive Science.
• How HPV tricks your immune system by Risha Banerjee for Science Connected magazine.
• Do plant-based proteins lower cardiovascular disease risk? by Kara McIver for Nutribites.
• A new shapeshifting species of tardigrade with spiky eggs stumps scientists by Zena Jensvold for Massive Science.
• Encouraging news about coronavirus immunity by Derek Lowe at Science Translational Medicine.
• Musings on music: Seven insights from psychology by Emma Young for BPS Research Digest.
• Gene expression maps reveal brain changes from autism mutations by Angie Voyles Askham for Spectrum.
• Something smells fishy: categorizing odors in the brain by Masataka Sasabe for It Ain't Magic.
• Invasive species are pushing close to the boundaries of protected areas by Fanni Daniella Szakal for Massive Science.
• Flat Earth “science”: wrong, but not stupid by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction.
• Fossil leaves show high atmospheric carbon spurred ancient 'Global Greening' by Kevin Krajick at State of the Planet.
• These Bacteria are Out of This World: Human Pathogens on the International Space Station by Rachel Sidebottom for Small Things Considered.
• Q+A: Are supercapacitors ready to step out of batteries’ shadow by Britt Faulstick for Drexel University News Blog.
• Marine energy: Tides by Manel Camacho for Adventures in Oceanography and Teaching.

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What's the lowdown on the Russian coronavirus vaccine? Why did cats start hanging around humans? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 10 - 16 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science news, find out whether there's such a thing as a 'male or female brain', and explore the surprising ways that a little social interaction can impact your health. ScienceSeeker editors' favourite posts within their respective areas of interest and expertise also cover many other important and exciting topics. Why not have a read, inform yourself, and indulge your scientific curiosity?

• The Russian vaccine by Derek Lowe at Science Translational Medicine.

Russia is the first country to come out with a Coronavirus vaccine - but should this speedy result be viewed as a success or with caution?
Credit: Dr. Partha Sarathi Sahana via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

• Vaccine contrasts and massive volunteer mobilization: Covid-19 vaccine race, month 8 by Hilda Bastian at Absolutely Maybe, a PLOS blog.
• What does COVID-19 do to your gut microbiome? by Sophie Strosberg for Massive Science.
• The coronavirus crisis as an opportunity for an innovative future by Nebojsa Nakicenovic for IIASA.
• Coronavirus, anti-vaxers, misinformation...Are we ever going to learn? by Meenakshi Noll for The Scrutinizer.
• Do obesity and abnormal liver function magnify coronavirus symptoms? by Rakshanda Sajeed for Sciworthy.
• The truth about trusting science by Ashley Piccone for Astrobites.
• New research on Nipah virus finds the virus spreads rapidly as patients approach death by Marnie Willman for Massive Science.
• Why did ancient cats begin hanging around humans? by Rebecca Dzombak for Massive Science.
• Are there ‘male’ and ‘female’ brains? Computers can see a distinction, but they rely strongly on differences in head size by Cordelia Fine & Carla Sanchis Segura for The Conversation US.
• The neuroscience of viewing your past like a fly on the wall by Christopher Bergland for Psychology Today.
• Can we outrun dark energy in the race to see the Universe? by Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang.
• Dawn’s close-up look at an active Ceres by Richard A. Lovett for Cosmos.
• This new tiny biomedical device makes diagnosing cancer types easier by Jessica Ray for Sciworthy.
• Shining a light on breast cancer (literally) by Michael Marand for Oncobites.
• The surprising ways little social interactions affect your health by David Robson for New Scientist.
• The shape of a glass can influence how much we drink by Matthew Warren for BPS Research Digest.
• Recycling coffee grounds for science by Alice Chi Phung for Science and Food.

To indulge your curiosity even more, follow us on Facebook or Twitter for honourable mentions of great posts that didn't quite make our #SciSeekPicks list this week. Want #SciSeekPicks to help satisfy your scientific curiosity every week? Sign up here for regular notification emails.

Check back next week for more great picks!