What's new with the coronavirus? Why is planting trees sometimes not a good thing? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Jan 20 - 26 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's picks of the best news from science newsmakers, explore the science and projections around the latest zoonotic pandemic, and find out whether there could be life on the newest Earth-like planet discovered by the TESS telescope. 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 viruses behind colds and flu by Andy Brunning at Compound Interest.



While coronavirus is not responsible for the yearly misery of colds and flu, it's transmitted in a similar way.
Credit: Andy Brunning via Compound Interest (CC-BY-ND)

• Scientists predict Wuhan's outbreak will get much worse by Megan Molteni for WIRED Science.
• Novel coronavirus outbreak: an update by Jon Otter for Reflections on Infection Prevention and Control.
• Novel Coronavirus outbreak, update part 2 by Jon Otter for Reflections on Infection Prevention and Control.
• What are the symptoms of the new coronavirus and how deadly is it? by Jessica Hamzelou for New Scientist.
• Technology has made it easier to fake scientific results. Is a cultural shift required to fix the problem?  by Bhavya Singh for Massive Science.
• The full-service paper mill and its Chinese customers by Leonid Scheider at For Better Science.
• What my PhD taught me by Amy Csizmar Dalal at This is what a computer scientist looks like.
• Planting trees can have its downside by Nick Carne for Cosmos magazine.
• Mass tree planting along India’s Cauvery River has scientists worried by Nanditha Chandraprakash for Mongabay.
• Living near major roads linked to risk of dementia, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and MS by Science Beta.
• Astronomers find huge amount of oxygen in ancient dwarf star by Sci-News.com.
• Could there be life on the first Earth-sized, habitable zone planet found by NASA’s TESS? by Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang.
• Killer whales show us the meaning of menopause  by Vikki Smith for My Science Game.
• The dead speak! Scientists re-create voice of 3000-year-old mummy by Erin Malsbury for Science.
• What is Chernobyl like today? by Sabrina Stierwalt for Scientific American.
• Is Celery Really A ‘Negative-Calorie’ Food? by Mikael Angelo Francisco for FlipScience. 

Check back next week for more great picks.

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