What would Earth look like to alien astronomers? How will coronavirus vaccines cope with the new strains? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of Jan 04 - Jan 10 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

Welcome to this week's cream-of the-crop from the world of science news! In our picks for this week, learn all about the giant fanged birds that once ruled the sky, and learn how 2020 was the hottest year on record, but a great year for progress in green energy in cities. 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 would Earth look like to alien astronomers? by Nathaniel Scharping for Discover magazine.

“What if there were intelligent beings on another planet? And if they were looking at the Earth, which of those star systems could they be living in that would enable them to see Earth?”
Image Credit: Kevin Gill via Flickr. 

• Say goodbye to 2020 with the year’s top 10 Hubble photos by Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang.
• Designing an airplane that can fly on Mars! by Giulia Carla Bassani for Sciworthy.
• How fast can scientists find the new coronavirus strains? by Megan Molteni for Wired.
• COVID-19 is setting back the lives and careers of young scientists by Francesco Zangari for Massive Science.
• Viral mutations may cause another ‘very, very bad’ COVID-19 wave, scientists warn by Kai Kupferschmidt for Science.
• Variants and vaccines by Derek Lowe at Science Translational Medicine.
• A crash course on RNA vaccines by Gertrude. U. Ray for the Virology Blog.
• Cat-agorizing cat owners to reduce environmental harm caused by domestic house cats by Brianne Palmer for Envirobites.
• Smoke pollution disrupts the flight of painted lady butterflies by Adithi Ramakrishnan for Massive Science.
• Researchers discover new state of matter: Liquid glass by Sci-News.com.
• Climate change: 2020 was the joint hottest year on record by Adam Vaughan for New Scientist.
• States and cities are driving climate and clean energy progress by Kit Kennedy for NRDC.
• Podcast: The double standard by Shankar Vedantam and Emily Pronin for The Hidden Brain.
• Podcast: Giant, toothed birds once ruled the skies by Christie Taylor and Peter Kloess for Science Friday.
• New psychology research suggests “deep acting” can reduce fatigue and improve your work life by Eric W. Dolan for Psypost.
• Neuroimaging study sheds light on how to clear thoughts from your brain’s working memory system by Eric W. Dolan for Psypost.
• Un-consciousness by Donovan Cronkhite for NeuWrite San Diego.
• Succinate is the key to muscle communication during exercise by Sree Rama Chaitanya for Massive Science.
• Scientists Observe Cells Responding To Magnetic Fields For First Time by David Bressan for Forbes.
• Body clocks and light levels: some plants just aren’t morning people by Katie Pickup for EuSci.

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Check back next week for more great picks!