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Daily briefing: Meet the species new to science in 2020
A fist-sized lemur, a mushroom unearthed near Heathrow airport and a primate species with a penetrating gaze. Plus, precious Moon ice and what the last-minute Brexit deal means for science.
Several upcoming Moon missions will explore, for the first time, its poles. Some scientists are keen to ensure that the ice there is explored without being contaminated, because it holds possible clues to the early history of the Moon and Earth. Others want to mine the ice as fuel for rockets at future lunar bases. “Right now, we’ve got some scientists saying we can’t go anywhere near it because we’re going to ruin it,” says geoscientist Clive Neal. “And others say we need it, so we’re just going to go for it.”
Researchers were relieved over the news that the United Kingdom and the European Union had reached a last-minute trade deal on 24 December — ending more than four years of uncertainty over their relationship after Brexit. The deal has wide-ranging impacts for scientists — most importantly, it means that UK researchers will take part in Europe’s €85-billion (US$106 billion) flagship research programme, Horizon Europe.
The fist-sized Jonah’s mouse lemur (Microcebus jonahi) and a mushroom (Cortinarius heatherae) unearthed near one of the world’s busiest airports are among the biological delights freshly described by science over the past year. There is even a newly identified primate species with lush fur and a penetrating gaze: Trachypithecus popa of Myanmar.
Critics have raised questions about India’s decision to give emergency approval to a vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech without the results of a phase III trial to determine efficacy and safety. The country has also authorized the AstraZeneca–Oxford vaccine. The Bharat vaccine will be used as a “back-up… if there is an emergency need, in clinical trial mode” in case of a surge in a more transmissible variant of the virus, government medical adviser Randeep Guleria told The Indian Express.
The future of a long-awaited World Health Organization (WHO) mission to investigate the origins of COVID-19 is uncertain after China refused entry to mission team members. The investigation was set to begin yesterday, but China says their visas have not yet been approved. “I’m very disappointed with this news,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But I have been in contact with senior Chinese officials. And I have once again made it clear that the mission is a priority for WHO and the international team.”
• The COVID vaccine developed by Moderna, which was authorized by US regulators last month, can provide protection against COVID-19 within two weeks of the first dose, according to the results of a large clinical trial. (Reference: New England Journal of Medicine paper)
• Almost all French COVID cases during the first stage of the pandemic evaded detection despite a nationwide surveillance programme. Researchers modelled transmission between mid-May and late June and found that nine residents with COVID-19 symptoms went undetected for every person confirmed to have the disease. (Reference: Nature paper)
• An analysis of COVID-19 data from 41 countries has identified 3 measures that each substantially cut viral transmission: school and university closures, restricting gatherings to no more than 10 people and shutting businesses. But adding stay-at-home orders to those actions brought only marginal benefit. (Most countries closed schools and universities in quick succession, making it impossible for the team to disentangle the effects of each type of closure.) (Reference: Science paper)
An agreed system for measuring funding of green projects in poorer nations will be crucial to achieving action on climate change in 2021, argues a Nature editorial. The COP26 meeting — widely seen as the world’s last chance to take meaningful, unified action on climate change — is less than a year away. “There needs to be a meeting of minds so that all sides can be confident there is accuracy and accountability,” says United Nations climate finance adviser Selwin Hart.
Microbiologist and immunologist John Moore highlights the decades of basic research that paved the way for COVID vaccines to be developed in record time. (STAT | 6 min read)
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