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The International Space Station is home to the Cold Atom Lab — one of the coldest places in the known Universe.Credit: NASA
Quantum matter in the coolest place in space
Physicists have made a Bose–Einstein condensate on the International Space Station. (Bose–Einstein condensates form when clouds of atoms are chilled to just above absolute zero and they coalesce into a single macroscopic quantum object.) The results are a proof-of-principle showing that the Cold Atom Lab can successfully exploit the microgravity of space in ways that should allow scientists to create phenomena that would be impossible on Earth. The US$100-million facility is on track to become the coldest place in the known Universe.
Go deeper with the expert view in the Nature News & Views article.
Credit: JPL/NASA
Hear more about the the Cold Atom Lab, plus other top stories, in the Nature Podcast. (22 min listen)
Hong Kong security law concerns academics
Last month, China’s central government approved plans to enact a national security law in Hong Kong. The decision follows a year of protests in the city, which lawmakers say the new law is going to stop. The law hasn’t been written yet, but some academics are concerned that it will lead to government interference in research, restrict international collaborations and increase self-censorship. Others think research will be unaffected.
Microsoft joins face-recognition moratorium
Following similar announcements by IBM and Amazon, Microsoft has said that it will not sell facial-recognition technology to police departments in the United States until the technology is regulated at national level. The company has not said whether it would sell the technology to federal agencies or to law-enforcement agencies in other countries. “When even the makers of face recognition refuse to sell this surveillance technology because it is so dangerous, lawmakers can no longer deny the threats to our rights and liberties,” says technology and civil liberties lawyer Matt Cagle.
COVID-19 coronavirus update
Children account for fewer than 2% of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the United States.Credit: Jaime Reina/AFP/Getty
Healthy arteries could protect kids
Researchers have proposed a new theory for why children avoid the worst complications of the new coronavirus, such as excessive blood clotting that leads to heart attacks and stroke. Such complications are linked to malfunction in the cells that line blood vessels, called the endothelium. Scientists have found that SARS-CoV-2 can infect endothelial cells. They posit that because endothelial cells deteriorate with age, children’s vessels might be able to cope with a viral attack better than many adults’ can.
AI tools to tame the literature
Developers hope that tools for processing natural language will help biomedical researchers and clinicians to find the COVID-19 papers that they need.
Features & opinion
The search for microbial dark matter
The vast majority of microbes have still never been cultured in the lab. This microbial ‘dark matter’ could hold useful enzymes, new antimicrobials and other therapeutics. Researchers are developing technologies to find and grow microbes that have previously been unculturable.
Scientists tackle motion sickness
Motion sickness has been affecting humans since time immemorial — and driverless cars, megaskyscrapers and virtual reality have introduced yet more ways to make our vestibular systems miserable. Last year, researchers held the first international conference on motion sickness in Iceland — a country that knows a thing or two about the perils of life at sea. Icelandic journalist Egill Bjarnason explores the latest research into motion sickness and its influence on the culture and well-being of his home nation.
Where I work
Chris Wilson is an archaeologist at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.Credit: Iain Bond for Nature
In this photograph, taken at Pomberuk, or Hume Reserve, on the River Murray, archaeologist Christopher Wilson sits on what had been the base of a rainwater tank built by the local Aboriginal people between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. The Ngarrindjeri community is working with the local council to conserve the area, and is regrowing native plants, such as the umbrella bush (Acacia ligulata) seen in the background, to prevent erosion. “As a proud member of the Aboriginal Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Latje Latje Nations… this site inspires me because my people have occupied this landscape for tens of thousands of years,” says Wilson. “As I go through the layers of excavation, I’m also pulling back the layers of my history, my culture and my identity.” (Nature | 2 min read)
