What lessons can we learn from the face-eating cancer decimating Tasmanian devils? Why do old people hate new music? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Sept 23 - Sept 29, 2019 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's bumper edition of the best stories from the world of science news, discover why whales don't have saliva and get in-the-know about the THC vaping brands that are causing lung problems in the USA. 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?

• Tassie devils hold clue to how cancer conceals itself by Paul Biegler for Cosmos magazine.

  

  The aggressive facial cancer responsible for the decimation of the Tasmanian devil population provides clues as to how human cancers hide themselves.
  Credit: John via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

• Why don’t whales have saliva? by Stephen Fleischfresser for Cosmos magazine.
• Keeping wild meat on the table by Barbara Fraser for CIFOR Forest News.
• Salty about coastal walls by Mary Grace Lemon for Envirobites.
• Hunting for a cure: Huntington’s Disease (Part two) by Madeeha Hoque for Seeking Science.
• Step away from the immunosuppressant drugs — antibodies are on the case! by Sukalp Muzumdar for Massive Science.
• Dank Vapes, TKO and other THC vaping brands are linked to illnesses, C.D.C. says by Denise Grady for the New York Times.
• U.S. alerts travelers to Tanzania about possible unreported Ebola by Helen Branswell for STAT news.
• Which artificial sweetener is the safest? by Sean Lim at The Skeptical Chemist.
• How collaboration unlocks learning and lessens student isolation by Mindshift at KQED News.
• Curious kids: Why do old people hate new music? by Frank T. McAndrew for The Conversation UK.
• Positive reinforcement using operant conditioning by Maze Engineers.
• Behavioral outcomes in rodents from CRISPR gene-editing by Ana Zdravic at Maze Engineers
• We can talk about climate change with stories of kindness, fairytales, and hope by Maryam Zaringhalam for Massive Science.
• Don’t axe forests – make them edible by Jagannath Adhikari for Cosmos magazine.
• New studies warn of cataclysmic solar superstorms by Jonathan O'Callaghan for Scientific American.
• Was dark matter really created before the Big Bang? by Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang.
• Space-tolerant Micronauts by Alise Muok and Ariane Briegel at Small Things Considered.
• TESS spots its first tidal disruption event by Sci-News.com.
• A strange new type of crystal is made of fluid tied into knots by Leah Crane for New Scientist.
• Quantum computer bests all conventional computers in first claim of ‘supremacy’ by Adrian Cho for Science magazine.
• Photograph this by Matthew Partridge at ErrantScience.

Check back next week for more great picks!

Could eating urchins help reverse ecosystem collapse? How does origami inspire shape-shifting electronics? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Sept 16 - Sept 22, 2019 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's roundup of the creme de la creme of science news, find out why Acid and Coke are a dangerous combination for marine life, and explore the most massive neutron star ever discovered. 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?

• Eating urchins: Can gourmet diners reverse the collapse of an ecosystem? by Alastair Bland for Hakai magazine.

  

  Urchins can be voracious and invasive predators, but a new food craze may be the answer to controlling the problem.
  Credit: walknboston via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

• The decline of nature’s song by Ian Connellan for Cosmos magazine.
• Acid and Coke: A dangerous combo for marine life by Jess Mackie for Hakai Magazine.
• ‘From possibility to certainty’: Climate strikers seek action to avert disaster by Imelda Abano for Mongabay.com.
• As climate crisis deepens, wildlife adapts, maybe with lessons for us by Mongabay.com.
• A fluke find: Uncovering an evolutionary oddity in the guts of herbivorous fish by Miklos Bolza at Lab Down Under.
• Pterosaurs were monsters of the Mesozoic skies by By Michael B. Habib for Scientific American.
• One in 16 US women were forced into having sex for the first time by Clare Wilson for New Scientist.
• A newly identified protein may be the key to vanquishing the common cold by Simon Makin for Scientific American.
• This simple structure unites all human languages by David Adger for Nautilus magazine.
• Origami inspires shape-shifting microelectronics by Laurie Winkless.
• Can we make nanoparticles more sustainable? by Joe Buchman at Sustainable Nano.
• What happens when we dance our data? by Victoria Palacin, Laura Perovich, Rosalie Norris Rahul Bhargava for MIT Center for Civic Media.
• How fast is the universe expanding? Incompatible answers point to new physics by Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang.
• Astronomers find most massive neutron star ever discovered by Sci-News.com.
• Weighing in: Physicists cut upper limit on neutrino’s mass in half  by Jennifer Ouellette at Ars Technica.
• Veil of dust from ancient asteroid breakup may have cooled Earth by Joshua Sokol for Science magazine.

Check back next week for more great picks!

Does the discovery of water on a habitable-zone planet mean we've found Earth 2.0? What weird bubbles have been found at the centre of the Galaxy? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Sept 9 - Sept 15, 2019 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's selection of the best articles and posts from the world of science news, find out why bees are getting punched to make ice cream, and explore the risk of oil spills from long-forgotten sunken ships. 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?

• There is a pair of weird, gigantic bubbles at the centre of our galaxy by Leah Crane for New Scientist.

  

  The bubbles are just visible as the smoky smudges above and below the bright central line of the galaxy.
  Credit: Caption - New Scientist, Image - South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (CC BY-ND 3.0)
• First water detected in the atmosphere of a habitable-zone planet by John Timmer for Ars Technica.
• Draw your own circuits with liquid metal by Charlie Crowe at Chembites.
• Guest post by Dan Wallace: A machine learning system playing a game to super-human levels, using only plastic boxes and beads by Dan Wallace for Dr. Mirjam S. Glessmer's blog.
• Small sea lions with big personalities by Bethany Augliere for Hakai magazine.
• The four faces of Twitter user’s activity around science by Adrián A. Díaz-Faes for Elephant in the Lab.
• This bee gets punched by flowers for your ice cream by Gabriela Quirós for KQED Science.
• A kangaroo unlike those we know by Ian Connellan for Cosmos magazine.
• Extinction, empathy, endings, beginnings by Tamsin Edwards at All Models Are Wrong, a PLOSOne blog.
• As shipwrecks rust, oil spills are imminent by Chloe Williams for Hakai magazine.
• Hachimoji DNA: The eight-letter genetic code by Tent Tangpradabkul at Gem-net blog.
• New proto-dinosaur found in Colorado by Brian Switek for Scientific American.
• How the body’s nerves become accomplices in the spread of cancer by Kelly Servick for Science magazine.
• Experimenting with Resilience: Lessons from Grad School by Susanna Harris for Promega Connections.
• Crowdsourcing sharks: a citizen science success story by Alina Spera for Envirobites.

Check back next week for more great picks!

Call for Editors! Become part of the most comprehensive source of science coverage.

Looking for a new challenge or opportunity in 2019?

When it comes to reporting science, the mainstream media can struggle, and often falls into sensationalism, undermining its message. ScienceSeeker is therefore an essential resource, enabling readers to access knowledge that helps make sense of the headlines. We aggregate the most comprehensive list of science blogs, written by a community including top scientists. Every week, our volunteer editors scour what’s been reported to distil it down to the most essential content. We’ve got a vibrant team - but we're still short in some areas.

Would you like to join us? E-mail sciseekers AT gmail DOT com if you're interested or have any questions. Read on for more details:

What is ScienceSeeker?

ScienceSeeker is a unique science blog aggregator that brings together over 2,400 blog sites (and growing!). It emerged as part of the ScienceOnline movement that has energized the science communication community in recent years. Although ScienceOnline is now defunct, ScienceSeeker continues on a sustainable basis thanks to the sterling effort of its volunteer supporters. For more details about what we do and who we are, see our 'About' page.

What does an editor do?

A ScienceSeeker editor commits to spending some of their valuable time reading science blogs or listening to science podcasts and selecting the newest developments in science every week. The commitment depends on circumstances. An especially busy person might be able to make selections from their general reading. An enthusiastic editor might dedicate three hours a week or more to select the most relevant content. Each editor usually focuses on a limited set of subject areas to restrict the time they have to invest, although there are opportunities to help build ScienceSeeker's platform. The goal of this recruitment exercise is to add to the team of editors so that the effort can be shared more broadly.

Who are we looking for?

We are currently interested in expanding the coverage on science discoveries in the areas of podcasts, psychology, neuroscience, mathematics, cell biology, biotech and public health. We also welcome help with curating and/or creating content for our YouTube channel. If you are fond of reading and/or listening to science, it’s your chance to contribute to science outreach by highlighting those pieces you think the society needs to be aware of!

What’s in it for you?

At a general level, it’s rewarding to make an input into a community. In this case you’re helping create an authoritative voice on science that supplements and corrects conventional media coverage. You’re also boosting the reach of individual blogs that might not otherwise be read by many people.

At a personal level, being a ScienceSeeker editor is a relatively low-effort activity that looks good on your résumé. There are also great benefits that arise from the effort invested in reading ScienceSeeker blogs. For scientists and writers, ScienceSeeker blogs often showcase ideas, research and styles of communication that you might not otherwise have encountered that can prove useful in your paid work. And whoever you are, ScienceSeeker blogs are interesting and entertaining – reading them is not a bad way to spend time at all!

Is there a closing date?

No. The ScienceSeeker team is continually evolving, and as such we always welcome enquiries from prospective editors.

Has AI really developed a drug by itself? How is the Indian salt industry damaging wildlife? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Sept 2 - Sept 8, 2019 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this weeks' edition of the best from the world of science news, find out how unbroken forest may be the key to a sustainable palm oil industry, and how failure to accurately assess the baseline population size of a species may mean that we also fail to identify when they are becoming endangered. 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 the hype, AI has not developed a new drug without human input.
Credit: Mike MacKenzie via www.vpnsrus.com (CC BY 2.0)

• Has AI discovered a drug now? Guess. by Derek Lowe at Science Translational Medicine.
• Connected forests key to more sustainable palm oil industry: report by Lauren Crothers for Mongabay.com.
• Life’s too salty for these shorebirds by Colin Daileda for Hakai magazine.
• Sometimes we don’t even know what we’ve lost by Brandon Keim for Anthropocene magazine.
• Raw is risky: Two more deaths from brucellosis in Africa by Doug Powell at barfblog.
• Failure to condemn: A global health crisis targeting women affects us here by Qanta A. Ahmed for Scientific American.
• Happy 230th birthday, Enceladus, our solar system’s greatest hope for life beyond Earth by Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang.

Check back next week for more great picks!

Why are environmental defenders being murdered in Latin America? How are Brazilian protestors fighting back against Bolsonaro over the Amazon wildfires? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 26 - Sept 1, 2019 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best from the world of science news, delve deeper into the catastrophic wildfires that ravage the Amazon, and find out how having a positive outlook may extend your life expectancy. Possibly two subjects that are mutually exclusive! 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?

• Latin America saw most murdered environmental defenders in 2018 by Sarah Engel for Mongabay.com.

  

  Julián Carrillo, an indigenous leader from the Mexican state of Chihuahua, was murdered on Oct. 24, 2018.
  Credit:Amnesty International/Marianne Bertrand via Mongabay.org (CC-BY-ND)

• Amazon fires trigger protests worldwide by Jill Langlois and Elisângela Mendonça for Mongabay.com.
• U.S. recycling industry is struggling to figure out a future without China by Christopher Joyce for KQED Science.
• Scientists rescue historical data taken on floating ice island by Jenessa Duncombe at Eos.
• The one source of perfect crystals by Derek Lowe at Science Translational Medicine.
• How do we know how small an elementary particle is? by Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang.
• Being an optimist may help people live past 85 by Jacquelyn Corley at Scientific American.
• These sea slugs dine while they do it by Sandrine Ceurstemont at Hakai magazine.

Check back next week for more great picks!