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.

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What is the chemistry behind an ammonium nitrate explosion like the one in Beirut? Who was Deborah Jin, and how did she change quantum physics? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of August 3 - 9 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's cream-of-the-crop from the world of science news, discover how scientists have found cancer in a dinosaur, and how coyote genomes are diverging between urban and non-urban populations. 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?

• What is ammonium nitrate and what happens when it explodes? by Andy Brunning at Compound Interest.

Ammonium nitrate is a fertiliser, and if handled correctly is mostly safe. However, if exposed to high temperatures and confined, it can be explosive. Our thoughts go out to those affected by the explosion in Beirut. 
Credit: Andy Brunning via Compound Interest (CC-BY-ND)

• The end is nearer for ‘Forever Chemicals’ in food wrappers by Michele Cohen Marill for Wired.
• Deborah Jin engineered new quantum states of matter — twice by Karmela Padavic-Callaghan for Massive Science.
• Really big experiments that physicists dream of by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction.
• Physicists have a massive problem as Higgs boson refuses to misbehave  by Leah Crane for New Scientist.
• Europe’s Euclid space telescope will see cosmos with panoramic vision by Dhananjay Khadilkar for Scientific American.
• 'Hyper urban' coyote genomes are growing apart their from city and rural cousins by Jaime Chambers for Massive Science.
• In northern China, scientists have found what may be the 2 billion-year-old birthmarks of Earth's first supercontinent by Huaiyu Yuan at the Conversation UK.
• Structure of the pandemic by Sarah Kearns at Annotated Science.
• Doctors diagnose advanced cancer—in a dinosaur by Gretchen Vogel for Science magazine.
• She had her own mutation, sequencing led to a treatment and major genetic discovery - then she died of COVID by Ricki Lewis for DNA Science, a PLOS Blog.

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What is a megaripple? How do sperm swim? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of July 27 - August 2 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this weeks' bumper edition of the best and brightest from the world of science news, find out how a profound lack of understanding about how science works drives the formation of conspiracy theories, and discover how 3D modelling is uncovering a possible link between the herpes virus and Alzheimer's. 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?

• Megaripple migration offers insights into martian atmosphere by Rachel Fritts for Eos.

Megaripples range from 30 centimeters (1 foot) to tens of meters across and are proof that Mars is windier than previously thought.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona (Public Domain)

• ALMA may have found neutron star in supernova remnant SN 1987A by Sci-News.com.
• arXiv-ing the history of preprints in physics by Hannah Pell for Physics Central.
• Half of Nobel prizes in science go to just five research fields by Adam Vaughan for New Scientist.
• How conspiracy theorists get the scientific method wrong by Philipp Hübl for Elephant in the Lab.
• My checklist for wrapping up summer research with students by This is What a Computer Scientist Looks Like.
• Paralyzed man has sense of touch restored by brain-machine interface by Hayden Kee for Massive Science.
• 3D brain model shows how the herpes virus can trigger Alzheimer’s disease by Jocelyn Solis-Moreira for Sciworthy.
• The re-introduction of psychedelics in medicine by Rahul Nachnani at Lions Talk Science.
• COVID genomes paint portrait of an evolving pathogen by Ricki Lewis for DNA Science at PLOS Blogs.
• From the COVID-19 frontlines: Drowning on the island by Katrina G. Gomez for Flip Science.
• Watch a 3D video reveal how sperm really swim by Charlotte Hartley for Science.
• The anglerfish deleted its immune system to fuse with its mate by Edith A. Widder for Wired.
• Electric vs. gas: Is it cheaper to drive an EV? by Brian Palmer for NRDC.
• Less toy, more workhorse: Drones get functional by John Wenz for Knowable Magazine.
• 'Real food gets ugly,' says Burger King. But what does science say? by Food Science Babe for AgDaily.
• Maillard Reaction by Steven Du for Science and Food.
• Bleached vs Unbleached Flour: What’s the Difference and Which Should You Be Baking With? by Abbey Thiel for Science Meets 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.

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