In this episode:
Schistosomiasis is a serious parasitic disease that affects millions of people, who become infected when they come into contact with contaminated water. To prevent the spread and reinfection of this disease, researchers trialled an environmental intervention that removed plants from lakes in Senegal. These plants act as food for freshwater snails – intermediate hosts for the disease. Results showed that this reduced disease levels, and that the plants could be composted to increase agricultural yields, suggesting this approach could be used to improve health and the economy.
Research article: Rohr et al.
News and Views: A sustainable way to control the parasitic disease schistosomiasis
How artificial intelligence can predict the art that people will find memorable, and the protein-based, shock-absorbing gel that can stop projectiles in their tracks.
Research Highlight: Memorable artworks are easy to predict
Research Highlight: Supersonic ‘bullets’ are softly captured by a protein gel
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, an update on Chandrayaan-3, India’s latest attempt to land a craft on the Moon - and birds that use anti-bird spikes to build nests.
Nature News: India's Moon lander successfully launches — but biggest challenge lies ahead
The Guardian: Crows and magpies using anti-bird spikes to build nests, researchers find
Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
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Huge dataset shows 80% of US professors come from just 20% of institutions
Complex synthetic cells bring scientists closer to artificial cellular life
Missing foot reveals world’s oldest amputation
Audio long read: Hybrid brains – the ethics of transplanting human neurons into animals
How to make water that's full of holes
Do protons have intrinsic charm? New evidence suggests yes
Nature's Take: what's next for the preprint revolution
Why low temperatures could help starve tumours of fuel
Massive Facebook study reveals a key to social mobility
Coronapod: the open-science plan to unseat big Pharma and tackle vaccine inequity
How humans adapted to digest lactose — after thousands of years of milk drinking
How researchers have pinpointed the origin of 'warm-blooded' mammals
Ancient mud reveals the longest record of climate from the tropics
Higgs boson at 10: a deep dive into the mysterious, mass-giving particle
Coronapod: detecting COVID variants in sewage
Higgs boson turns ten: the mysteries physicists are still trying to solve
Ed Yong on the wondrous world of animal senses
Norovirus could spread through saliva: a new route for infection?
Audio long read: These six countries are about to go to the Moon
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