Could the Olympics be an evolutionary event for the coronavirus? How did the Delta variant come about? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of July 19 - July 25 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's edition of the best and brightest from science news around the world, explore how the film Tenet addresses entropy and Maxwell's demon, and find out how two cups of coffee could reduce the risk of renal cancer. 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 Olympics could be a Covid-19 ‘super-evolutionary event’ by Adam Rogers for Wired.

Whenever you get many people together, there’s the opportunity for large outbreaks—not just super-spreading events, but also multiple generations of transmission, and the infections can then be passed on when people return home,” says Sarah Cobey, an epidemiologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Chicago.
Credit: Jota @ BRAZIL via Flickr (Public Domain)

• Podcast: The Rise of Delta by Tim Harford for More or Less: Behind the Stats.
• Oncolytic viruses: Models and assays for developing viruses that can kill cancer by Johanna Lee for Promega Connections.
• How the film Tenet explores entropy, information, and Maxwell's demon by Hannah Pell for Physics Central.
• Astronomers spy possible moons in the making in a distant star system by Daniel Clery for Science.
• Mutations in white blood cells weaken immunity to infectious diseases by Jayati Sharma for Massive Science.
• Two compounds in your morning coffee could help fight renal cancer by Shawna Stanwood for Massive Science.
• Doctors can use a person's descriptions of a picnic scene to measure their language skills after a stroke by Alberto Osa García for Massive Science.
• What did ancient people eat? Scientists find new clues in old pottery by Caroline Wilke at Knowable Magazine
• Dogs will ignore you if they know you are lying, unlike young children by Christa Lesté-Lasserre for New Scientist.
• The first atomic bomb created this ‘forbidden’ quasicrystal by Marisa Sloan for Discover Magazine.
• Podcast: Slimy cells stop sinking by Jesse Noar at BacterioFiles.

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Does the Moon have an atmosphere...and a tail? What does your dog's chewing behaviour say about their intelligence? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of July 12 - July 18 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's physics-flavoured edition of the best from the world of science news, find out whether asteroid impacts could be instrumental in creating life, and discover early physicists' dreams of nuclear-powered space flight. 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?

• Surprise: The Moon doesn’t just have an atmosphere, but a tail, too by Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang.

Sodium atoms are knocked out of the Moon’s atmosphere by the Sun, creating a tail.
Credit: James O’Donaghue, Based on work by Jody K Wilson (CC BY SA)

• Dust is the surprisingly ordinary culprit behind a supergiant star's unusual dimming by Briley Lewis for Massive Science.
• Exploding stars may have assaulted ancient Earth by Daniel Clery for Science.
• Physicists’ early dreams of nuclear powered spaceflight by Hannah Pell for Physics Central.
• Could impact from asteroids eventually create life? by Joy Batty in Sciworthy.
• Your dog's chewing behavior might be a sign of their intelligence by Nechama F. Sammet Moring for Massive Science.
• Why honeybees never ask for directions by Christopher Castillo at SustainableNano.
• ‘Inflammation Clock’ can reveal body’s biological age by Max Kozlov for Scientific American.
• Vaccines for kids, a global surge in cases, and more coronavirus news by Eve Sneider for WIRED.
• A whale of a virus story by Vincent Racaniello in Virology Blog.
• Mining Wikipedia to unveil emergent interdisciplinary knowledge by the Donostia International Physics Center.

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How can ice be bendy? What does Sweden's Covid strategy tell us about ageism? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of July 5 - July 11 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best in class from the world of science news around the world, discover the opioid responsible for face recognition and find out what the heaviest, smallest white dwarf found to date means for science. 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?

• New kind of ice is so bendy it can curl and uncurl without breaking  by Leah Crane for New Scientist.

When grown in tiny strands, ice can bend and then snap back into its original shape. These microfibres are the most flexible form of ice ever made.
Credit: pdh96 via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

• Evolution of a bacterial protein into a virus-like, RNA binding capsid by Vincent Racaniello in Virology Blog. 
• What Sweden’s Covid failure tells us about ageism by Carl-Johan Karlsson in Knowable magazine.
• An opioid made in the brain is crucial for remembering other people by Czarina Ramos for Massive Science.
• Podcast: Your brain does something amazing between bouts of intense learning by Karen Hopkin at Scientific American Podcast: 60-Second Science.
• What the heaviest, smallest white dwarf ever found means for science by Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang.
• Ancient magneto-rotational hypernova fuelled high levels of metals in unique star by Sci-News.com.
• Cheers to greener beer by Lauren Nelson at A Short Scientist.
• New ‘mirror’ fabric can cool wearers by nearly 5°C by Alex Viveros for Science magazine.
• Fields medals are concentrated in mathematical ‘families’ by Clara Moskowitz and Shirley Wu for Scientific American.
• Academia should incentivize mathematicians to make their work more accessible by Rebecca Lea Morris for Massive Science.

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How does class affect how much sleep you get? Could sugary drinks be causing colon cancer in young people? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of June 28 - July 4 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's cream of the crop of science news from around the world, discover the unsung hero behind every coronavirus survival story: our immune systems, and explore the growing link between gut microbiome and mental 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 great sleep divide by Katherine Ellison for Knowable magazine.

Inadequate sleep among low-income adults and racial minorities contributes to higher rates of illnesses, including cardiovascular disease and dementia.
Credit: Jeffery Bennett via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

• A year ago, Black physicists at Fermilab demanded change. What’s happened? by Jeffrey Mervis for Science.
• Colon cancer is rising in younger adults. Do sugary drinks play a role? by Nicholas Bakalar for The New York Times.
• Paper wasps can recognize each other's faces, some broods more than others by Hayden Waller for Massive Science.
• The heroes you don’t hear about: Our immune system by Zahra Nasser for Science Borealis.
• How your gut microbiome influences your mental health by Shekhar Kedia for Bacterialworld.
• Alan Magee and the St. Nazaire Railroad Station by Russell Hobbie at Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology.
• World Firefly Day: Shining more light on glo-ing innovations by Riley Bell for Promega Connections.
• Graphene was found in a meteorite! by Tony Jia for Sciworthy.
• Black holes swallow neutron stars in a single bite, new results suggest by Maddie Bender for Scientific American.
• Why cast regolith could be our key to lunar base construction by Miklos Bolza for Lab Down Under.
• Clean energy for clean transportation in India by Sameer Kwatra and Nitish Arora for NRDC.
• Which crops can survive drought? Nanosensors may offer clues by Keith Gillogly for Wired.

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Check back next week for more great picks!

What's the connection between lobsters and telescopes? What's the science of sugar syrups? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of June 21 - June 27 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's edition of the best and brightest from the world of science news, discover the extremely important physics behind beer-mat flipping, and meet 'Dragon Man', a controversial new ancient human fossil specimen. 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 lobster eyes can help astronomers get a wider view of the Cosmos by Claire Bugos for Discover Magazine.

The unique positioning of lobster eyes enables an 180-degree field of view, and has been mimicked to improve telescopes.
Credit: Henry Burrows via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

• Cosmic hand hitting a wall by Chandra X-ray Observatory.
• Physicists show that flying beer coasters will flip 0.45 seconds into flight by Jennifer Ouellette for Ars Technica.
• The science behind cooking sugar syrups for candy making by FoodCrumbles.
• The great fish-oil debate continues by Jason Wermers for NutriBites.
• Southern England has a small but thriving population of Australian red-necked wallabies by Maria Gatta for Massive Science.
• 'Dragon man' claimed as new species of ancient human but doubts remain by Alison George for New Scientist.
• Delta variant triggers dangerous new phase in the pandemic by Kai Kupferschmidt and Meredith Wadman for Science magazine.
• A mining code for the Deep Sea by Elham Shabahat for Hakai magazine.
• Sustainable polymer nanocoatings: An innovative concept by Raj Shah, Tad Koga and Blerim Gashi for Nanowerk.
• Retracted papers continue to circulate on social media, spreading misinformation by Rebecca Lea Morris for Massive Science.

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.

Check back next week for more great picks!