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Grady, pictured at two weeks old, is the first primate born using sperm from a tissue-grafting technique.Credit: OHSU
First primate born using sperm from tissue transplanted into dad
A baby rhesus macaque named Grady is the first primate to be born using a technique that could help boys made infertile by cancer treatment to become fathers later in life. Researchers created Grady using sperm from tissue harvested from her father’s testicles when he was young, and then grafted onto his body as an adult. The method offers promise for boys who received damaging cancer treatments before they were old enough to produce sperm that could be frozen.
Physicists see new difference between matter and antimatter
After decades of searching, an experiment at the Large Hadron Collider has spotted CP violation in the charm flavour of quark. Physicists observed the broken symmetry — which researchers had predicted and which fits with the standard model of particle physics — in the decays of particles called D mesons. The discovery reveals one of the mechanisms behind one of physics’ biggest mysteries: why is the Universe dominated by matter, instead of antimatter (or no matter at all)?
Trump spooks universities with free-speech policy
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that requires public universities to certify that they are following free-speech protections laid out in the First Amendment of the Constitution, or risk losing federal research funds. Details of how the Trump administration will implement the order are still fuzzy, especially given that public universities are already bound by the First Amendment. “It reads to me more like a declaration and a message to some parts of the voting population than an actual regulatory or legal change,” says political philosopher Sigal Ben-Porath.
‘Deep regret’ over quake-causing power plant
A South Korean government panel has concluded that a 2017 earthquake that injured 135 people was probably caused by an experimental geothermal power plant. The ‘enhanced geothermal system’ plant worked by injecting fluid at high pressure into the ground to fracture the rock and release heat. The ministry announced that it would dismantle the power plant, restore the site to its original condition and repair infrastructure in the hardest-hit area.
FEATURES & OPINION
Evolving society: why humanity coheres
Three books — by biologist E. O. Wilson, entomologist Mark Moffett and sociologist Nicholas Christakis — argue that the key to understanding our distinctiveness lies in how societies evolved. All of them showcase solid science engagingly, says reviewer Agustín Fuentes — but all share blind spots when it comes to engaging with current evolutionary theories.
Podcast: Abandon the concept of statistical significance
The 0.05 threshold for the P value “is an accident of history, believe it or not',' says statistician Regina Nuzzo in this week’s Nature Podcast. The arbitrary cutoff for ‘statistically significant’ and ‘statistically non-significant’ results is dangerous because of the powerful sway such dichotomies hold on the human mind, say statistician Blake McShane, who has co-authored a call to embrace uncertainty.
Nature Podcast | 25 min listen
Read more: Scientists rise up against statistical significance
Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on iTunes or Google Podcasts.
Source: V. Amrhein et al.
INFOGRAPHIC OF THE WEEK
The gorgeous infographic from How to build a Moon base (from October), illustrated by Maciej Rębisz, has won an Award of Excellence from the Society of News Design. To celebrate, we’re offering it to you as a free PDF download to print and enjoy.
SCIENTIFIC LIFE
Six easy ways to manage your time better
Make a plan, learn to say ‘no’ and don’t panic if your experiments fail. Those are among six time-management tips for scientists offered up by Andrew Johnson and John Sumpter, based on their experience as scientists and supervisors.
PhDs: show this to your friends and family
“Since I began graduate school, the people in my life have been divided into two categories: those who understand what undertaking a PhD is like and those who don’t,” says neurotoxin researcher Kate Samardzic. She provides a list of things friends and family need to know about their hard-working future doctors, including “please don’t ask us when we’ll finish”!
IMAGE OF THE WEEK
Planetary scientist Megan K. @planetary_megan created this illustrated summary of a talk by New Horizons scientists Alan Stern, Jeffrey Moore, William Grundy, Simon Porter and William McKinnon at the 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas this week. Her other illustrated notes from the conference are well worth checking out, as are planetary geophysicist James Tuttle Keane’s.
