Trade: Synthetic alternatives to endangered wildlife products being developed
Roughly a million species are threatened with extinction, according to a major international study published last year. And trade and personal use by people is the second leading driver behind habitat destruction, the research established.Conservation agency, Cites (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)...
CITES is a terminally ill patient in need of serious attention – conservationists
Customs officials in Singapore made a grisly discovery last April at a port on the island’s southern coast. Inside shipping containers supposedly transporting frozen beef from Nigeria to Vietnam, they found bloodstained sacks stuffed with 14 tonnes of scales stripped illegally from pangolins — scaly anteaters endemic to Africa and...
How to stop restaurants, gyms from driving up coronavirus infections
In cities worldwide, coronavirus outbreaks have been linked to restaurants, cafes and gyms. Now, a new model using mobile-phone data to map people’s movements suggests that these venues could account for most Covid-19 infections in US cities.The model, published this week, also reveals how reducing occupancy in venues can significantly...
Game-changer: New drug more effective in preventing HIV infection in women
A single shot given every two months has proved to be more effective than a daily pill at preventing HIV in women, researchers reported this week, an advance that medical experts hailed as ground-breaking in the fight against the deadly virus that causes AIDS.The finding that the long-acting drug would...
Scientists criticise use of unproven Covid-19 drugs in India
In India, which has the world’s second-largest Covid-19 outbreak, there is a desperate need for effective treatments. But researchers are concerned about how the country’s drug regulator is handling potential therapies.The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved several repurposed drugs for ‘restricted emergency use’ for treating the disease,...
Cheap and rapid coronavirus testing to be available soon
The imminent large-scale rollout of rapid coronavirus tests promises to aid public health responses to Covid-19 — but a rapid home test remains elusive.New SARS-CoV-2 rapid tests, which can deliver results in a matter of minutes in the field rather than taking days in clinical diagnostic laboratories, are starting to...
China set to retrieve first Moon rocks in 40 years
Later this November, a Chinese spacecraft will travel to the Moon to scoop up lunar rocks for the first time in more than 40 years. The mission, named Chang’e-5, is the latest in a series of increasingly complex trips to the lunar surface led by the China National Space Administration...
Need to redesign open science for Asia, Africa and Latin America
Last year, my colleagues and I organised a webinar on open science with a focus on Indonesia. One participating university experienced blackouts owing to a faulty electricity grid. At another, a generator exploded. At a third, political riots had damaged buildings.Perhaps most people reading this article would find such constraints...
10,000 reasons why you are tall or short
For height, DNA is largely destiny. Studies of identical and fraternal twins suggest up to 80 per cent of variation in height is genetic. But the genes responsible have largely eluded researchers.Now, by amassing genome data for four million people—the largest such study ever—geneticists have accounted for a major share...
Ancient dog DNA reveals 11,000 years of canine evolution
Human history is for the dogs. The largest-ever study of ancient genomes from the animals suggests that where people went, so did their four-legged friends — to a point. The research also identified major regional shifts in human ancestry that left little mark on dog populations, as well as times...
