scientists

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In Russia, Old Guard of Scientists Fear Prison

It's 'spy mania' as the Kremlin seeks to rigorously protect hypersonic technology

(Newser) - It's a dangerous time to be a scientist in Russia, the Wall Street Journal reports. By its count, at least a dozen leading researchers have been arrested in the last six years, including six since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. One common denominator: Many of the detained scientists have...

China Boots Scientist Who Shared COVID Data From Lab

Zhang Yongzhen later said he'd been allowed back in after sit-in

(Newser) - The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China said he was allowed back into his lab after he spent days locked outside, sitting in protest. Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post early Wednesday that authorities had "tentatively agreed" to allow him and his...

Scientists Find 'Super Cool' Way to Spy on Insects
'Super Cool' Mapping
Tracks Down Tiny Invaders
NEW STUDY

'Super Cool' Mapping Tracks Down Tiny Invaders

Airborne laser mapping could speed tracking of invasive insects, study finds

(Newser) - Scientists in search of insects can spend 1,000 hours checking roughly 10,000 trees across 40 acres. Or, with a more convenient approach, they can do the same in about an hour. More and more, researchers are turning to remote sensing technology to ease the burden of searching landscapes...

'Once-Unthinkable' Ways We Can Cool the Planet

Scientists are turning to solutions like mechanical trees and brightening clouds

(Newser) - Reversing course on climate change requires a global reduction in GHG emissions that we're just not keeping pace with—and per the Wall Street Journal , desperate times call for desperate measures, at least to some scientists. The urgency of the times has prompted them to think way outside the...

Scientists Say We're Not in the 'Age of Humans'

Committee of geologists votes down Anthropocene, citing overly narrow definition

(Newser) - The Anthropocene or age of humans will for now remain an unofficial unit of geological time. A committee of scientists has voted down the idea of the Anthropocene epoch marked by humans' significant impact on the planet after some 15 years of debate. A panel of experts was convened in...

'Dolly the Sheep' Scientist Is Dead at 79
'Dolly the Sheep'
Scientist Is Dead at 79
obituary

'Dolly the Sheep' Scientist Is Dead at 79

Scotland's Ian Wilmut set off a global discussion on the ethics of cloning

(Newser) - Ian Wilmut, the cloning pioneer whose work was critical to the creation of Dolly the sheep in 1996, has died at age 79. The University of Edinburgh in Scotland said Wilmut died Sunday of Parkinson's disease, per the AP . Wilmut ignited a global discussion about the ethics of cloning...

Scientists Find World's Largest Bacterium 'By Far'

Discovery in Caribbean swamp is big enough to be seen by the naked eye

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the world's largest bacterium in a Caribbean mangrove swamp. Most bacteria are microscopic, but this one is so big it can be seen with the naked eye. The thin white filament, approximately the size of a human eyelash, is "by far the largest bacterium known...

Scientists Object After Paper Takes a Shot at Researchers

German tabloid placed blame for pandemic holiday restrictions, with photos

(Newser) - A group representing Germany's main scientific organizations has accused the country's biggest-selling newspaper of contributing to public hostility against scientists during the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement Monday, the Alliance of Scientific Organization criticized a recent report by the Bild tabloid for singling out three researchers who had...

Chemistry Nobel Awarded for Work in a 'Difficult Art'

Benjamin List of Germany and Princeton's David MacMillan win for new way of building molecules

(Newser) - The Nobel Prize for chemistry has been awarded to German scientist Benjamin List of the Max Planck Institute and Scotland-born scientist David WC MacMillan of Princeton University. They were cited for their work in developing a new way for building molecules known as "asymmetric organocatalysis." The winners were...

She Released Video of Raid on Her Home. Now, the Cops' Video

Police bodycam footage released after fired Fla. data scientist Rebekah Jones put up her own online

(Newser) - Police bodycam video taken of the Monday raid at fired data scientist Rebekah Jones' home was released Thursday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, with the agency saying it did so after its agents were "vilified" following Jones posting her own footage . Per NBC News , the police video...

After Iranian Scientist Is Killed, 'Serious Indications' Emerge

Benjamin Netanyahu had mentioned Mohsen Fakhrizadeh before, said 'remember that name'

(Newser) - Iran's foreign minister is alleging the killing of a scientist linked to the country's disbanded military nuclear program has "serious indications" of an Israeli role. Mohammad Javad Zarif made the statement Friday on Twitter, per the AP . "Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today," Zarif...

China: We're Ready to Start Detaining Americans

'It's a real game-changer'

(Newser) - Chinese officials say they're ready for a dangerous game of tit-for-tat, the Wall Street Journal reports. They're telling Washington that China may round up US nationals there unless charges against Chinese military-affiliated scholars in America are dropped. The warnings, sent through several channels—including Beijing's US Embassy—...

Welcome to the 'Anthropause'
Our Strange Era
Now Has a Name
in case you missed it

Our Strange Era Now Has a Name

Scientists say it's time for an in-depth study of animals during the pandemic

(Newser) - Jellyfish gliding through the calm waters of Venice, Italy. Wild mountain goats "running rampant" in a small Welsh town. Deer seen in "usually bustling areas" of Toronto. At least anecdotally, there's evidence of animals advancing during our absence, for which scientists have coined a new term: the...

After 4 Years, NASA Scientist Held in Turkey Returns Home

Serkan Golge was convicted of involvement in 2016 coup against Erdogan

(Newser) - Former NASA scientist Serkan Golge, detained on terrorism charges in Turkey, is back on American soil for the first time in four years. The Turkish-American arrived with his family in Washington early Tuesday, some seven months after President Trump said he'd secured a deal for his release, per the...

Most People's 'Worst Nightmare' Has Landed in America

It's called the 'murder hornet,' and here's why

(Newser) - So-called "murder hornets"—with their spiked mandibles and venomous stingers—are not visitors you want to have around. And yet, they're here. The New York Times reports that two Asian giant hornets have been spotted in northwest Washington State and a full hive across the border in...

Dr. Fauci to Get 'Enhanced' Security After Threats

Scientist on front lines against virus also getting 'unwelcome communications from fervent admirers'

(Newser) - He's become one of the most familiar faces in the effort to fight the coronavirus—maybe a little too familiar. Justice Department officials said Wednesday that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director who's become a household name due to his appearances at...

'Shocking' Find Made at Government Labs

PETA demands an audit at all National Institutes of Health laboratories

(Newser) - Mice cooked to death. Primates holed up in a room with 24-hour-a-day lights. An owl, denied veterinary care, that dies in a cage. These are among the 31 incidents uncovered through a freedom-of-information request about animal-welfare failures in government labs in 2018 and 2019—labs where official inspections are never...

Plan to Edit Baby Genes May Have 'Created New Mutations'

MIT Technology Review is far from impressed

(Newser) - Looks like a highly controversial attempt to create HIV-immune babies didn't work out and may have even gone wrong, the Guardian reports. This according to an MIT Technology Review report on the work of Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who sparked outcry with his plan to edit the embryonic genes...

Discovery Points to Invisible 'Fifth Force' of Nature

Researchers in Hungary spot a mysterious proton

(Newser) - They're calling it X17—and it might help solve a great mystery of nature. Scientists in Hungary say they've twice stumbled on the previously unknown particle while seeking evidence of a "fifth force" guiding our visible universe, CNN reports. "X17 could be a particle, which connects...

11K Scientists: 'Planet Earth Is Facing a Climate Emergency'

Declaration suggests 6 critical steps to take

(Newser) - More than 11,000 scientists from 153 countries have signed a declaration that doesn't beat around the bush: They declare "clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency." In the declaration from the Alliance of World Scientists, published in the journal BioScience , the scientists...

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