A new test that detects the magnetic properties of malaria-infected blood appears to work well in the field, producing results quickly and relatively inexpensively.
Adding a component of human bone to perovskite solar cells (PSCs) improves their environmental safety while increasing power conversion efficiency (PCE) to around 21%, researchers report.
AAAS President Claire Fraser kicked off the 2021 virtual meeting with a quote from Winston Churchill: ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste. 'History has shown that disaster can often be the time of biggest change,’ Fraser noted. While praising the efforts of scientists in response to the Covid-19 crisis, she highlighted the damage of growing population density on Nature’s dynamic ecosystems and warned of the threats to human health and well-being. Read more in C&I Magazine.
A database of cancer vulnerability could one day allow physicians to look up personalised treatments best suited to patients based on their individual cancer genes. However, scientists working on the project have called for worldwide cooperation (Boehm et al, Nature, 2021, 589, 514) to accelerate progress, they reported at the virtual AAAS meeting in February 2021.
This book, with its wide array of fascinating examples of adhesion, should appeal to a wide scientific readership.
This book is much more than a comprehensive review of modern virology. It is a memoir of the author’s long association with this science. The author has been at the forefront of virus research for the past 50 years and has strong views on the evolution of viruses – what she calls paleovirology, the origin of gene sequences.
Forests have always been vulnerable to insect pests, fire and strong winds, but climate change can enhance these threats. A new study has quantified forest vulnerability to disturbances using satellite data on disturbance of forests, forest type, cover and conditions, climate and other factors (Nature Commun., doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21399-7). Read more in C&I Magazine.
A compound in tree resin has been attached to a nanocellulose film and shown to kill methicillin-resistant Staph. aureus (MRSA) on contact. The combination was shown to prevent MRSA bacteria from colonising a surface mimicking the environment of chronic wounds (ACS Appl. Bio Mater., 2020, 3, 4095). Read more in C&I Magazine.
Can sufficient green hydrogen be produced soon enough to solve the energy-climate change conundrum? Anthony King reports
The UK chemical industry has welcomed measures to help the sector announced in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget statement in March 2021. In particular, Sunak outlined plans for a ‘super-deduction’ that will allow companies to offset 130% of investment spending on plant and machinery against profits for the next two years, starting in April.