Can your gravitational pull affect your pool game? Does superdeterminism kill free will? Find out in ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of December 13-19 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science news, find out the latest on the omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2 and what 'zombie garbage' is. 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?

• Omicron Update by Derek Lowe at Science
• Can Your Gravitational Pull Affect Your Game of Pool? by Rhett Allain for Wired

Ball games are all about physics - including gravity!

Photo by Nils Johan Gabrielsen on Unsplash

• Does Superdeterminism save Quantum Mechanics? Or Does It Kill Free Will and Destroy Science? by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction
• The Future Is Full of Zombie Garbage by Michael Allen for Hakai Magazine
• New Source of Organic Phosphorus Identified, Could Play Vital Role in Phytoplankton and Microalgae Growth by Ron Jefferson for The Science Times 

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How bad is Omicron? How can you prepare for a solar flare? ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of December 6-12 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science news, find out whether masks really half your chance of getting Covid-19, and why people are increasingly stealing catalytic converters. 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 bad is Omicron? Some clues are emerging, and they’re not encouraging by Kai Kupferschmidt and Gretchen Vogel at Science
• Does wearing a mask halve your chances of getting Covid-19? by Tim Harford for BBC Radio 4 - More or Less: Behind the Stats
• Sleep Quality of Older Adults Could Reflect to Neural Connection Status and Cognitive Functions by Ron Jefferson for The Science Times
• Solar Flare Preparation: What You Should Do in Case It Hits Earth, Ignites a Geomagnetic Storm? by Ron Jefferson for The Science Times 
• Planetary Nebula: Misnamed But Not Misunderstood at Chandra X-ray Observatory

Planetary Nebulas: NGC 6302, IC 418, NGC 3242, NGC 7662, NGC 7027, and NGC 2371.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIT/SAO/J.Kastner; Optical: NASA/ESA/AURA/STScI/Univ. Washington, B.Balick

• Astronomers Spot Double-Helix Structure in Messier 87 at Sci-News
  
• Laser Breaks Liquid into Uniform Droplets by Rachel Berkowitz for APS Physics
• To See Proteins Change in Quadrillionths of a Second, Use AI by Karmela Padavic-Callaghan for Wired
• Why do thieves keep stealing catalytic converters? It’s elemental by Greg Miller and Maki Naro at Knowable Magazine
• Once Shunned in Antarctica, Female Scientists Are Now Doing Crucial Polar Research by Naomi Oreskes at Scientific American

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What do we know about the omicron COVID-19 variant? Why will scientists struggle to help salmon? ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of November 29-December 5 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science news, find out how Toy Story does rockets better than reality, and whether the universe's expansion breaks the speed of light. 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?

Buzz goes through some huge gs! 

Photo by Stuart Timms on Unsplash

• Why Buzz Lightyear’s Rocket Launch Looks Better Than Reality by Rhett Allain at Wired
• Does the expansion of the Universe break the speed of light? by Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang
• Gas Giant Planets Like Jupiter, Saturn Orbiting V1298 Tau Star Could Reach Final Size At Very Early Stages of Evolution by Aubrey Clarke for The Science Times
• Omicron Time by Derek Lowe at Science
• Touching a nerve: How neuroscience could advance our understanding of cancer by Joanna Lewin at Cancer Research UK
• First the Fire, Then the Fungus by Roberto Kolter at Small Things Considered 
• BLT: A Treatment More Therapeutic Than The Sandwich by Savanna Ledford at Lions Talk Science
• Scientists Are Running Out of Salmon to Study by Brian Owens at Hakai Magazine
• Using Databases to Find Scholarly Sources by Melissa Martin at Promega Corporation

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.

When did life start in the Universe? Why do leaves make the chemicals that make them turn red and brown? ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of November 22-28 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science news, find out how online video streaming affects the climate, and how dangerous the latest coronavirus variant is. 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?

• When Did Life Start in the Universe? by Avi Loeb for Scientific American
• B.1.1.529: How dangerous is the new variant found in South Africa? by Adam Vaughan at New Scientist
• How We Almost Eradicated Polio by Sonam Lhamo at Lions Talk Science
• Evolution-Proofing Antibiotics by Vilhelmiina Haavisto at Small Things Considered
• Does Netflix Cost the Earth? by Lauren Nelson at A Short Scientist
• Anthocyanins by John Carlos Baez at Azimuth

Anthocyanins are one type of chemicals that make give autumn leaves their colour.

Photo by Susan Jones on Unsplash

• Are Instagram’s Aesthetic Moms Hindering Kids’ Development? by Amelia Tait at Wired
• Brain Injury, Infection, and Inflammation - What could possibly go wrong? by Mariana Pacheco Blanco for Immunobites
• Why Are There So Many Kinds of Phytoplankton? by Saima Sidik at Hakai Magazine
• Invasive species are threatening Antarctica’s fragile ecosystems as human activity grows and the world warms by Dana M Bergstrom and Shavawn Donoghue at The Conversation
• A butterfly's wings are the perfect mold to grow neurons on by Reinack Hansen at Massive Science
• CERN Physicists Detect Collider Neutrinos for First Time at Sci-News.com

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How and when was glass first made? What game is drug research most like? ScienceSeeker's picks of the best posts for the week of November 15-21 2021 #SciSeekPicks #SciComm.

In this week's best and brightest from the world of science news, find out some of the potential explanations why diplomats around the world are falling ill from 'Havana Syndrome' and get the lowdown on the new Covid drugs that are actually looking useful. 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 3 Best Explanations for the Havana Syndrome by Sabine Hossenfelder at Backreaction
• The ancient origins of glass by Caroline Wilke at Knowable Magazine

Glass is a vital material - but when and how did it originate?

Photo by Leutrim Fetahu on Unsplash

• New Covid Drugs Are Here—and They Could Change the Pandemic by Adam Rogers at Wired
• Is drug R&D more like poker or chess? by Robert Plenge at Plengegen
• A new drug reduces risk of psychosis relapse in patients with dementia by Soren Emerson at Massive Science
• How mRNA Opens the Cell Door—the Janitor Holds the Key by Sarah Anderson at Illinois Science Council
• Nectar-inhabiting microbes: a bittersweet coexistence by Vilhelmiina Haavisto at the Microbial Menagerie 
• In the Midst of a Salmon Crisis, Alaska Native Villages Band Together by Maia Wikler for Hakai Magazine

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