Is herd immunity a viable strategy for COVID-19? What is 'Disaster Fatigue' and how does it affect how we behave? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Nov 23 - Nov 29 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's very best from science news around the world, find out what's it's like to have coronavirus and the flu at the same time, and find out exactly why Canada is allowing BP to explore in a designated marine reserve. 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?

• Herd immunity and is it a viable strategy for the COVID-19 pandemic? by Megha Machhar for Biodrivers.

Without clear information that having had the virus confers immunity, the herd immunity strategy is uncertain and potentially dangerous.
Credit: Davide Gabino via Flickr (CC BY-ND)

• Dueling infections: I had the flu and Covid-19 at the same time by Lauren Hines for STAT news.
• Zinc and COVID by Scott Gavura for Science-Based Medicine.
• mRNA Vaccines for COVID-19: The promise and pitfalls by Ken Doyle for Promega.
• For scientists studying ‘disaster fatigue,’ this has been a year like no other by Rasha Aridi for Science.
• The neuroscience behind gratitude by Mariam Melkumyan at Lions Talk Science Graduate Student Blog.
  
• People drawn to conspiracy theories share a cluster of psychological features by Melinda Wenner Moyer for Scientific American.
• The simple lab technique that changed everything by Justin Dingman for Sciworthy.
• Earth’s early atmosphere may have been toxic like the one on Venus by Leah Crane for New Scientist.
• Physicists detect solar CNO neutrinos for first time by Sci-News.com.
• The Falling Chimney paradox by Prober at Probing the Universe.
• Laser tractor beam developed to control lightning strikes by Miklos Bolza for Lab Down Under.
• Princeton scientists solve the mystery behind an enigmatic organelle, the pyrenoid by Ominy Science.
• Rethinking Black Friday to include end-of-life conversations by L.S. Dugdale for STAT news.
• The case for 'Universal Property' by James K. Boyce for Scientific American.
• Canada gives BP okay to explore in marine conservation area by Brian Owens for Hakai magazine.
• How do we protect the urban poor from food insecurity? by Urban Food Futures.
• Celebrating disabled scientists: Dorothy Hodgkin by Susanna Riley for Edinburgh University Science magazine.
• Hawai’i has a hidden reservoir by Ian Connellan for Cosmos Magazine.

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What's the link between Plinko and Chaos theory? Could playing videogames contribute to greater wellbeing? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Nov 16 - Nov 22 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's roundup of the latest news from science around the world, explore all things corona, with articles covering the vaccine, the science, and the mental health consequences the aftermath of the pandemic is having for many people, as well as what we could do to prevent another such pandemic. 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?

• How the game of ‘Plinko’ perfectly illustrates chaos theory by Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang.

On a sufficiently complicated Plinko board it becomes impossible to predictably follow the same path twice.
Credit: temptationize via Flickr (CC-BY-ND 2.0)

• Potential signs of life on Venus are fading as astronomers downgrade their original claims by Paul Voosen for Science.
• The death of a star as told to the trees by Rebecca Boyle at The Last Word on Nothing.
• Amino acids can form long before stars and planets by Sci-News.com.
• Chronically trapped in your own negative thoughts? by Jessica Beaudoin for Sciworthy.
• Study finds people who played video games for longer had greater wellbeing (but direction of causality isn’t yet clear) by Matthew Warren for BPS Research Digest.
• New Science Identifies Three Pathways To Happiness — Mattering, Autonomy, And Patience by Mark Travers for Forbes.
• Can You Get Covid-19 on an Airplane? Yeah, Probably by Adam Rogers for Wired.
• Virtual reality and the COVID mental health crisis by Brennan Spiegel for Scientific American.
• Vaccine Possibilities by Derek Lowe at Science Translational Medicine.
• Cigarette smoke increases infection severity of SAR-CoV-2 in airway cells in culture by Vincent Racaniello at Virology Blog.
• COVID-19 – how do you understand the science? by Sally Best for The Biochemist.
• How should a COVID-19 vaccine be distributed? by Jill Neimark for Massive Science.
• Bacteria are key players in vaccine research by Sarah Wettstadt for Bacterial World.
• Cesarean section and childhood infections: Causality for concern? by Gordon C. S. Smith for Ominy Science.
• For sustainable business, ‘planetary boundaries’ define the new rules by for Elizabeth Claire Alberts for Mongabay.
• Valuing 'natural capital' vital to avoid next pandemic, global experts warn by Carol Clark for eScience Commons.
• How getting kicked out of my lab kick-started my career by Kristen Vogt Veggeberg for Stories in Science.
• The synchronicity of Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung by Paul Halpern for Nautilus magazine.
• How does Flywheel Energy Storage Work?  by Rohit Imandi for Energy.jo.

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What's the deal with fluorescent squirrels? How could artificial skin help to avoid animal testing? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Nov 9 - Nov 15 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In ScienceSeeker's weekly roundup of the best science news as picked by real scientists, get the lowdown on the latest developments in understanding and fighting the coronavirus, and for a little light relief, discover the parts of the brain that dictate about what we find beautiful. 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?

• Flying squirrels glow pink under UV light: Who knew they were fluorescent? by Book of Joe.

When exposed to UV light, some species of flying squirrel fluoresce a bubblegum pink.
Credit: Clevergrrl via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

• New artificial skin helps avoid animal testing by Masataka Sasabe for It Ain't Magic.
• The chemistry of cats and catnip by Sean Lim at The Skeptical Chemist.
• One great shot: Connecting worlds by Grant Thomas for Hakai magazine.
• When privacy and health collide: the case of the pandemic by Mihai Andrei for ZME Science.
• A look at the psychological burdens of COVID lockdowns by John Timmer for Ars Technica.
• First efficacy results of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate by Vincent Racaniello at Virology blog.
• COVID Testing Explained by Lauren Nelson at A Short Scientist.
• Our brains Have two distinct “Beauty Centres”: One for art and one for faces by Emma Young for BPS Research Digest.
  
• Not too scary, not too tame: Horror experiences need to hit a “Sweet Spot” to be enjoyable by Matthew Warren for BPS Research Digest.
• How light leads to darkness: A neural link between nighttime light and depression by Nicole Mlynarkyk for NeuWrite San Diego.
• Scientists develop a "liquid biopsy" that can detect many types of cancer through a simple blood test by Ivana Marisa da Costa Martins for Massive Science.
• Science has an intellectual elitism problem by Joshua M.A. Stough for Small Pond Science.
• Riding on a magic carpet of bubbles by Chris Baraniuk for Hakai magazine.
• DNA from a mummified bishop's lungs shows tuberculosis infected humans only recently by Amanda Rossillo for Massive Science.
• A new antibiotic punctures bacterial cells and destroys a B-vitamin by Thomas. E. Schindler for Massive Science.
• Computer scientists achieve the ‘Crown Jewel’ of cryptography by Erica Klarreich for WIRED.
• Physicists Produce World’s First Beam of Neutron-Rich, Radioactive Tantalum Ions footsteps by 
Sci-News.
• Efficient appliances key to sustainable cooling in India by Sameer Kwatra for NRDC.
• Bacteria in space: why biological life support systems are the future of space travel by Elle Bethune for EUSci: Edinburgh University Science Media.
• Dust storms on Mars are tossing water from its atmosphere into space by Leah Crane for New Scientist.
• Were there rainforests in Australia’s deserts? by Natalie Parletta at Cosmos magazine.

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Which genes dictate how tall we are? Why are some animals born with two heads? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Nov 2 - Nov 8 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from science news around the world, find out why sea slugs are much prettier than their terrestrial cousins, and get the low-down on the news that a dangerous new COVID-19 variant is circulating in mink 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?

• ‘Landmark’ study resolves a major mystery of how genes govern human height by Jocelyn Kaiser for Science magazine.

Geneticists have accounted for a major share of this 'missing heritability,' at least for people of European ancestry.
Credit: Quinn Dombrowski via Flickr (CC-BY-SA 2.0)

• Polycephaly: Why some animals are born with two heads by Mikael Angelo Francisco for Flip Science.
• The extravagant pageantry of Nudibranchs by the Hakai Institute for Hakai magazine.
• It’s not just the germs — it’s also the genes by Tim Vernimmen for Knowable magazine.
• Young scientist discovers potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug molecule by Jordan Villanueva for Promega Corporation.
• Is a dangerous new coronavirus strain circulating in farmed mink? by Graham Lawton for New Scientist.
• Wondering about immunity against SARS-CoV2? by Vincent Racaniello at Virology blog.
• Vitamin D levels could help identify patients at risk of increased opioid use after surgery by Bench Press for Massachusetts General Research Institute.
• The batteries of the future are weightless and invisible by Daniel Oberhaus for WIRED.
• A new kind of battery that removes carbon dioxide from the air? by Adam Suttle for Sciworthy.
• The space heist of Bennu by Allison Kubo at Physics Central.
• Milky Way’s central bulge stars formed in single burst of formation over 10 billion years ago by Sci-News.com: Breaking Science News.
• Will the Universe remember us after we’re gone? by John Horgan at Scientific American.
• Remote-learning technology just isn't good enough and won't be soon by Justin Reich for New Scientist.
• Concept design for a user-powered, refreshable Braille e-book reader for the blind by Michael Berger for Nanotechnology News.
• Kerguelen plateau is Earth's longest continuously erupting supervolcano by David Bressan at Forbes.

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What's the science behind superspreaders? Why can't your brain resist Halloween candy? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Oct 26 - Nov 1 2020 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's curated selection of the best science news sources from around the world, find out what to ask if a COVID-19 vaccine is approved - or if you prefer lose yourself contemplating the nature of the stars in the sky. 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 science of superspreading by Martin Enserink, Kai Kupferschmidt, and Nirja Desai for Science magazine.

Studies have shown that Covid-19 is spread mostly by superspreaders - single individuals that infect many others.
Credit: pravin.premkumar via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

• Seven Key Questions to Ask if a SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine is Approved by Bruce Walker at Bench Press
• New case study shows that COVID-19-positive people don’t transfer the virus through donated eggs by Victoria Farrar for Massive Science
• The oceans contain vast mineral resources. Can the deep sea be mined without catastrophic results? by Ashley Marranzino for Massive Science.
• Sabre-toothed carnivores killed many types of prey in many ways by Hector Tejero for Massive Science.
• Loveless Lost: The Case of the Oldest Doe Identified Using Forensic Genetic Genealogy by Margaret Press, Anthony Redgrave and Samantha Blatt for ISHI News
• Giant ‘toothed’ birds flew over Antarctica 40 million to 50 million years ago by Peter A. Kloess at The Conversation UK  
• How geologists reveal the secrets of the Solar System by Tim Gregory for Scientific American.
• Are we what we hear? A reflection on sound, identity and science communication by Nat das Neves Rodrigues Lopes for Crastina.
• Smaller, more efficient tokamak could follow in ITER’s fusion footsteps by Chris Lee for Ars Technica.
• Why looking at the stars is like looking at the distant past by Mikael Angelo Francisco at FlipScience.
• Deep neural networks are helping decipher how brains work by Anil Ananthaswamy for WIRED.
• Focused Ultrasound: A Stimulating New Strategy To TreatSevere Brain Damage by Joshua Cain for Knowing Neurons 
• Brain waves with the same beat as “Call Me Maybe” induce dissociative states by Celia Ford for Massive Science 
• Why Your Brain Can’t Resist Reese’s by Dana G Smith for Elemental
• Solo stars among the genes by Emily Underwood at Knowable Magazine.
• The Robot Doctor Will See You... Eventually by Lauren Nelson at A Short Scientist
• A brief history of scientific racism - Bench Press by Bench Press at Mass General Research Institute.

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