How does the new COVID drug work? Why do clouds stay in the air? ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of October 18-24 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science news, find out how we can avoid being killed by an asteroid and how scientists have simulated a star exploding on Earth. 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 nucleoside analogue antivirals combat COVID by Andy Brunning at Compound Interest

Molnupavir mimics the bulding blocks of the SARS-CoV-2 virus's genetic code.

Image credit: Compound Interest, used under Creative Commons CC-BY-ND 2.0 licence.

• Is the New Aspirin Advice a Medical Flip-Flop, or Just Science? by Tara Parker-Pope for The New York Times
• The Definition of Gene Therapy Has Changed by Esther Landhuis at Scientific American
• A 'dead' CRISPR might be a better CRISPR for targeting Alzheimer's by Charlotte Douglas at Massive Science
• If Clouds Are Made of Water, How Do They Stay in the Air? by Rhett Allain at Wired
• New study probes X-ray bursts from low-mass X-ray binaries s by Zhang Nannan at Physorg 
• Physicists Created a Supernova Reaction on Earth Using a Radioactive Beam by Michelle Starr at ScienceAlert
• Avoiding Big Rocks From Space – Asteroids Edition feat. Apophis by Locke at The Procrastinating Scientist 
• Rapid Climate Change Wiped Out Woolly Mammoths, Study Confirms at Sci-News.com

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