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Glow-in-the-dark sharks
Scientists have found three species of sharks living in the deep waters off the east coast of New Zealand that glow in the dark. Many marine animals can produce light through a process known as bioluminesce, but this is the first time that the phenomenon has been observed in the kitefin shark (Dalatias licha), the blackbelly lanternshark (Etmopterus lucifer) and the southern lanternshark (Etmopterus granulosus). At a length of up to 180 centimetres, the kitefin the biggest luminous vertebrate known. The glowing underbellies could camouflage the sharks from predators from below, disguise them when approaching prey or help to illuminate the dark ocean floor.
Reference: Frontiers in Marine Science paper
‘Elite’ researchers dominate citation space
Just 1% of scientists capture more than one-fifth of all citations globally — and the inequality is growing. Researchers assessed more than 26 million scientific studies in the Web of Science database, published by more than 4 million international researchers between 2000 and 2015. The increasing number of collaborations might explain some of the effect. “It highlights that teams are nearly ubiquitous,” says informatics researcher Cassidy Sugimoto.
Scientists call for mother’s release
Some 90 of Australia's leading scientists and doctors, including two medicine Nobel laureates, have signed a petition calling for the pardon of a woman convicted of killing her 4 infant children. The petition points to new evidence that two of the children inherited a mutation in a gene called CALM2, which can cause sudden cardiac death. Kathleen Folbigg has been in prison since 2003.
Reference: EP Europace paper
Features & opinion
Fieldwork at your fingertips
With face-to-face interviews on hold, social scientists are turning to digital diaries and deep dives into YouTube audience interactions instead. Four members of a social-science laboratory in Australia explain how they quickly redesigned their methods and started experimenting with creative digital techniques.
Are we breaking the planet’s heat pump?
In a gorgeous (but somewhat processor-intensive) visual feature, The New York Times explores the Gulf Stream and the evidence that climate change is slowing the deep Atlantic currents that power it. Last week, research revealed that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation — a current that underpins much of the world’s weather — is now at its weakest state in 1,000 years. The results could be storms and heatwaves in Europe and sea-level rises on the east coast of the United States. “We’re all wishing it’s not true,” says palaeoceanographer Peter de Menocal. “Because if that happens, it’s just a monstrous change.”
The New York Times | 14 min read
Tech firms give DNA data storage a boost
A small but growing group of researchers advocates for DNA as a sustainable, stable replacement for energy-hungry data centres. These efforts got a lift last November, when a coalition of computing and biotech firms, including Microsoft and Western Digital, announced that they were forming the DNA Data Storage Alliance (DDSA). The low-hanging fruit for DNA data storage is data that are written once and read rarely, if ever. That’s because DNA remains stable for a long time, but data access — through sequencing and data analysis — is slow.