Nature Briefing

View this email in your browser Tuesday 30 June 2020

Hello Nature readers, Today we read about a swine-flu strain with human pandemic potential found in pigs, ponder whether cosmic rays explain the handedness of life, and learn that quantum computers work better when no one’s around.

Habitat destruction is one of the main drivers of species loss. (Robin Moore/National Geographic)

Speaking in the name of nature Earlier this month, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema was appointed executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. She is the first woman from Africa to lead the intergovernmental body, and will oversee the creation of a global biodiversity agreement for the next decade. Mrema spoke to Nature about how the coronavirus pandemic has influenced negotiations, and the challenges ahead. “One could say that I have been appointed at a bad time for biodiversity, considering that the whole world is just emerging from, or still in, lockdown,” she says. “But at the same time, I see it as a major opportunity, as biodiversity is being discussed more than ever before.” Nature | 6 min read

Pigs in China carry risky swine-flu strain Scientists carrying out routine monitoring of influenza strains in China have found that pigs are widely infected with a virus with the potential to trigger a pandemic. The strain, called G4, is a genetic blend of three lineages. These include the H1N1 virus that caused the 2009 pandemic, suggesting that it might be able to adapt for human-to-human transmission. Antibody tests showed that more than 4% of humans surveyed had been exposed to G4. In its current form, the virus is not considered dangerous, but scientists warn that, given the unpredictability of influenza viruses, a vaccine should be developed. “We need to be vigilant about other infectious disease threats even as COVID is going on because viruses have no interest in whether we’re already having another pandemic,” says evolutionary biologist Martha Nelson. Science | 6 min read Reference: PNAS paper

A cosmic origin for the handedness of life Nineteenth-century biologist Louis Pasteur speculated that life’s preference for using certain organic molecules but not their mirror-image counterparts is “one of the links between life on Earth and the cosmos”. Now, two astrophysicists have a new interpretation of that connection. They say that the never-ending bombardment of Earth by cosmic rays could have led to DNA that is unerringly right-handed and amino acids that are nearly always left-handed. Cosmic rays that hit the upper atmosphere produce new particles, some of which are endowed with a preferred handedness caused by the weak nuclear force, the only fundamental force known to distinguish left from right. Over eons, that asymmetry could have trickled down to organic matter. Quanta | 6 min read Reference: Astrophysical Journal Letters paper

COVID-19 coronavirus update (Cergios/Shutterstock) The state of the vaccination race The race to develop a vaccine has been going on for almost six months. Who’s in the lead? Chemistry World offers a plain-language update on the vaccine pipeline. Its pick for leader is US biotech company Moderna’s messenger RNA-based vaccine. But it would be the first RNA vaccine for any disease to ever make it to market. Chemistry World | 8 min read How to decide who gets the vaccine Organizations including the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are debating the thorny problem of who should be the focus of the first waves of vaccinations for COVID-19. Young and healthy people — who are least at risk themselves, but might tolerate a vaccine better than older people, creating a ring of protection? Or maybe pregnant women, in whom the risk to mother and baby must be carefully weighed? Or perhaps priority should be given to people from specific ethnic groups, who are dying at a disproportionate rate? “These are tough decisions, because everybody can make a case for why somebody should be ahead of somebody else in line,” says vaccine specialist Bruce Gellin. “Nobody’s going to debate health care workers and first responders — people who are putting themselves at risk for others and keeping things moving. After that is when it gets complicated.” Science | 6 min read Doctors flag fevers and rashes among children Two studies have revealed the progress of multisystem inflammation syndrome, a dangerous side effect of COVID-19 that occurs in children and looks similar to a condition called Kawasaki’s disease. Of the nearly 300 children in the studies, 6 died. On the whole, children seem to be less susceptible to COVID-19 than are adults, and to experience milder symptoms if they do fall ill. But the researchers recommend that carers look out for fevers and rashes in children who have recently had COVID-19, or who live in areas with a lot of infections. STAT | 5 min read Reference: The New England Journal of Medicine paper 1 & paper 2

Notable quotable “Oh my goodness, this is one of us.” Physician Luis Lobon recognized his colleague, hospital worker Marie Deus, when he treated her for COVID-19. She was the first employee to die of the disease at the hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, where she worked. The moving story of her life and death weaves together how racial inequality and job insecurity contribute to the risk for many front-line workers. (STAT | 18 min read)

Features & opinion

How to put the fun into virtual conferences Organizing a virtual conference changed how sustainability researchers Christina Bidmon, Cristyn Meath and René Bohnsack think about academic exchange. “When COVID-19 hit, we optimistically thought, ‘We will take our conference virtual’,” they write. “In the process, we’ve found that, instead of thinking of online conferences as replacements-by-necessity for physical conferences that should resemble the ‘real thing’, we should try to accept them as an entirely different model of academic exchange.” They share their tips for using a conference platform, helping participants mingle and maintaining the fun factor. Nature | 4 min read

To improve quantum computers, keep away Christopher Monroe and his team spent three years setting up their quantum computer to be operated remotely. When the COVID–19 pandemic struck, those efforts paid off in an unexpected way: quantum computers work best without humans walking around the lab and producing vibrations or temperature fluctuations. Their machine “has kept running — all day, every day”, Monroe writes. “And the data have been excellent because the campus has been a ghost town.” The bigger lesson is that a remote mode of operation could hasten the development of these potentially revolutionary machines, Monroe says. Nature | 4 min read

Infographic of the week

From electric vehicles to smart grids, the path to a greener future is paved with lithium-ion batteries — lots of them. That means we need better ways to keep them cool. But the task has been hindered by a lack of a standard way to judge their thermal performance. Five engineers propose the cell cooling coefficient, a measure for the rate of heat removal from battery packs that gives manufacturers a simple way to compare products. (Nature | 8 min read)

Sure, I’ve baked some lockdown bread. I’ve even made jam. But conservation biologist William Sutherland cooked an entire Babylonian meal from a recipe chiselled on a tablet in 1750 BC — the oldest known cookbook in the world. Share your favourite old family recipe — or any feedback on this newsletter — with me at briefing@nature.com. Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing With contributions by David Cyranoski and Davide Castelvecchi

Nature Briefing

Hello Nature readers, Today we check out the view of neighbouring star Proxima Centauri from the outer reaches of the Solar System, discover GitHub’s plans to ditch coding terms that reference slavery and find out how a preference for male trees might be making hay fever worse.

These composite images each show a star (Wolf 359 on the left; Proxima Centauri on the right) as seen from two points of view, one on Earth and the other on the New Horizons probe. (JHUAPL/MSFC/NASA)

Pluto probe offers view of neighbouring star NASA’s New Horizons probe has photographed Proxima Centauri — the closest star to the Sun — from the outer reaches of the Solar System. The 2015 mission to Pluto used a technique to measure the distance of stars by how they shift in the sky between two vantage points. Such changes are normally imperceptible to the human eye, but in Proxima’s case, the star is seen clearly wobbling between New Horizon’s viewpoint and the Earth’s. In another example of astronomy from deep space, the Mars rover Curiosity will monitor the erratic star Betelgeuse while it is not visible from Earth. Nature | 6 min read

Dozens lose jobs amid NIH foreign ties probe An ongoing investigation into US researchers’ undisclosed financial ties to overseas governments has so far resulted in 54 scientists being fired or resigning, according to new data from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). The investigation began in 2018, and has led to criminal charges being brought against some prominent researchers. “It’s not what we had hoped, and it’s not a fun task,” said NIH director Francis Collins. He added that, of the violations NIH uncovered, about 70% of the researchers had failed to disclose the receipt of a foreign grant, and more than half had failed to disclose participation in a foreign talent programme. Science | 4 min read

GitHub to revise ‘master’ and ‘slave’ terms The software-development site GitHub has said it plans to replace coding terms that reference slavery. In current developer jargon, a system where a main or ‘master’ version of the code controls other copies is often described as a master-slave relationship. But GitHub chief executive Nat Friedman said the firm wants to replace these terms with neutral language. Google Chrome developer Una Kravets tweeted that she would be happy to rename the ‘master’ branch of a project ‘main’, adding: "If it prevents even a single Black person from feeling more isolated in the tech community, feels like a no-brainer to me.” BBC News | 3 min read

COVID-19 coronavirus update Brazil currently has the second highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world. (Andre Coelho/Getty) Latin American scientists join vaccine race As Latin America becomes the new epicentre of COVID-19, researchers in the region fear that vaccine breakthroughs from abroad will be too slow or inequitably shared to benefit the global south. They are forging ahead with their own vaccine-research programmes to fight COVID-19. “The only ones who are going to solve the problems in Latin America are going to be us, Latin Americans,” says Honduran microbiologist María Elena Bottazzi. “No one’s coming to rescue us.” Nature | 4 min Correcting coronavirus disparities Black Americans are dying of COVID-19 at more than twice the rate of white, Asian or Latino Americans. Nature spoke to Noha Aboelata, a doctor whose non-profit organization serves people affected by systemic inequity and poverty, about what it takes to correct disparities in this pandemic. “There’s a concern about outsiders coming in and taking biological material,” says Aboelata. “That’s especially true when we’re in an emergency situation where regulations are being relaxed— for good reason. But we do worry about what openings that will create.” Nature | 4 min Antarctic field research put on ice The coronavirus pandemic has forced the United States and United Kingdom to cancel or postpone Antarctic field research projects planned for the upcoming summer season, including a joint effort to study Thwaites Glacier — a part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet that is at risk of melting. During Antarctic summer, which runs from October to March, UK and US research stations on the continent will continue to operate, but field work at distant sites will be put on hold. “Let’s hope the data on our deployed instruments stay safe until the following year,” tweeted glaciologist Alison Banwell. Science | 3 min

Notable quotable “Given the global spread, I think we have to consider it endemic now.” Epidemiologist Azra Ghani says that, despite successes controlling the disease in some countries, it looks as though COVID-19 will continue to circulate among people. (New Scientist | 4 min)

Features & opinion

Bad hay fever? Blame ‘botanical sexism’ Horticulturalists say cities might be exacerbating people’s pollen allergies by preferentially planting male trees. Trees that produce female flowers — or both male and female ones — are often seen as a nuisance because they drop fruits and seeds. But planting more female trees instead of pollen producers could help to reduce the incidence of hay fever. Young male trees produce relatively little pollen, so their impact worsens as they mature. “If a lot of allergenic trees are planted in a neighbourhood, then the pollen load will increase over the years,” says pollen forecaster Beverley Adams-Groom. Wired | 8 min read

Quote of the day "I was so nervous when we launched. I guess the more you know about a project, the more you know about the things that can go wrong.” The Solar Orbiter spacecraft is due to make its first close pass of the Sun today — known as a perihelion — that will put it between the orbits of Venus and Mercury. Physicist Tim Horbury, who helped to build the onboard magnetometer, shares his excitement for upcoming experiments. (BBC News | 5 min read)

Last week, our playful penguin Leif Penguinson hid among the limestone ‘tufa towers’ that rise above the surface of Mono Lake in California. Did you spot the penguin? When you’re ready — here’s the answer. Flora is on holiday today, but she’ll be back tomorrow. Thanks for reading! Emma Stoye, news editor, Nature With contributions by Smriti Mallapaty and Davide Castelvecchi

Nature Briefing

Hello Nature readers, Today we thrill to hints of dark matter from the world’s most sensitive detector, explore the mathematical pitfall that plagues antibody tests and discover a power struggle in the social sciences.

The XENON1T detector. Visible is the bottom array of photomultiplier tubes, and the copper structure that creates the electric drift field. (Xenon Collaboration)

Hint of dark matter dazzles physicists The world’s most sensitive dark-matter experiment might have found a hint of the stuff — although the data it has collected so far could be a statistical fluctuation or a spurious signal. The data collected in 2017-18 by the underground XENON1T experiment have revealed an excess in the number of particles hitting its liquid xenon, with a relatively low energy. The finding suggests the possible existence of a hypothetical particle called the axion. “You cannot overstate the importance of the discovery, if this is real,” says particle physicist Adam Falkowski. But another possible explanation is the presence of radioactive impurities. An upgraded version of the detector called XENONnT could solve the riddle next year. Quanta | 6 min read Source: XENON collaboration preprint

Mathematical pitfall plagues antibody tests Even if a screening test is very accurate, if it is not 100% perfect then it will deliver some false positives and some false negatives. And the lower the infection rate, the more likely it is that a positive result is wrong. An imperfect antibody test for COVID-19, for example, could leave a lot of people thinking that they are possibly immune to the disease, when they have never even had it. Scientific American explains, with a very handy graphic, how this mind-bending fact arises. Scientific American | 3 min read

In this Nature video, we test a home testing kit that is being sent out across the United Kingdom as part of the government’s testing programme for coronavirus antibodies. And we speak to public-health researcher Christina Atchinson about the REACT (real-time assessment of community transmission) study, run by Imperial College London. (Nature | 4 min video)

Emissions surge back to bad old days In early April, the international response to the coronavirus pandemic slashed daily global carbon emissions from fossil fuels by roughly 17%. Now emissions are rebounding, with China almost back to pre-pandemic levels. The European Union is leading the way to a green recovery with a proposed US$826-billion recovery package aimed at expanding renewable-power generation, retrofitting old buildings and investing in cleaner fuels. Experts estimate that 2020’s global emissions will be down around 5% compared with last year’s — the biggest drop since the Second World War, but still not nearly enough. The New York Times | 5 min read Read more: How the coronavirus pandemic slashed carbon emissions — in five graphs (Nature, from May) Reference: Nature Climate Change paper & latest update to the supplementary data

Features & opinion

Big data revolutionizes social sciences The masses of user data collected by technology companies are providing social scientists with tools to do studies they have been dreaming about for more than a century: from the psychology of morality, to how misinformation spreads, to the factors that make some artists more successful than others. The goldmine of information has produced controversies and raised privacy concerns. And part of the community is resisting the flood in “a power struggle within the social-science camp”, says analytical sociologist Marc Keuschnigg. “Who in the end succeeds will claim the label of the social sciences.” Nature | 11 min read

Seeking the immune system’s sweet spot Many of the drugs under scrutiny for fighting COVID-19 are anti-inflammatory agents. Researchers hope that these could keep in check the runaway immune responses — called cytokine storms — that seem to cause dangerous respiratory problems in some people. But a growing number of frontline critical-care physicians are advocating a more nuanced approach. They say the goal should be to nudge people towards a ‘Goldilocks’ level of immune activity: not so hot as to cause organ failure, and not so cold that the virus can run amok. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | 14 min read

Boosting research without supporting universities is wrong-headed By failing to support their universities, countries are undermining their own plans to boost research, argues a Nature editorial. It calls for students and universities to be eligible for the same kinds of temporary emergency funding as other industries are asking for. In the meantime, senior academics need to speak up for staff on short-term contracts. And everyone should look out for students, who are the ‘guinea pigs’ for the new normal. Nature | 5 min read

A ten-year journey to publish about inequality Mass violence and unjust laws have affected the productivity of African American inventors, found economist Lisa Cook when she analysed patents filed between 1870 and 1940. But Cook came away baffled when reviewers showed no understanding of the history of Black people in the United States, or how their experiences could be meaningful to other people. The experience revealed how economics’ lack of Black representation and disdain for research about racism is inhibiting the field. The Indicator podcast | 10 min listen Reference: Journal of Economic Growth paper

Quote of the day “I ate lunch 31,000ft below the surface of the ocean on Sunday. That's crazy.” Astronaut and oceanographer Kathy Sullivan, who on 7 June became the first woman to reach the deepest known spot in the ocean, pays tribute to the ingenuity and skills of the engineers who helped to make it happen. Sullivan has a heap of other firsts to her name, including being the first American woman to walk in space. (BBC | 9 min read)

This newsletter is always evolving — tell us what you think! Please send your feedback to briefing@nature.com. Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing With contributions by Davide Castelvecchi