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Ancient beetle species found in fossil faeces
The only known members of an extinct family of beetles have been found in the fossilized faeces of a Triassic reptile. Several Triamyxa coprolithica were spotted in the coprolite, some still sporting their delicate legs and antennae. Researchers used synchrotron microtomography to construct a 3D image of the interior of dung presumed to have been excreted by Silesaurus opolensis, an ancestor of the dinosaurs.
Reference: Current Biology paper
Promising live-parasite malaria vaccine
An experimental vaccine containing live malaria parasites protected nearly all recipients from infection in a small clinical trial. People were given a shot containing Plasmodium falciparum parasites, along with drugs to kill any parasites that reached the liver or bloodstream, where they can cause malaria symptoms. Participants were then intentionally infected with malaria three months later to test the vaccine’s efficacy. Producing this type of vaccine on the scale needed to combat malaria would present a challenge: the parasites would have to be harvested from mosquito salivary glands and then stored at extremely low temperatures.
Features & opinion
Flood research must help those most at risk
Decades of research have shown that the greatest burdens of flooding fall on the most vulnerable — both in low-income nations and in poor parts of wealthy countries. Communities with higher incomes often receive more aid after disasters, note environmental social scientist Miyuki Hino and environmental-planning researcher Earthea Nance, yet those living in poverty generally lose most when the floods come. They call for better data and metrics at the intersection of flood risk and social justice.
Futures: Check your pockets
Ever left something important in your pocket before it went in the wash? A magician’s forgetfulness morphs into a dangerous (and funny) mistake in the latest short story for Nature’s Futures series.
Podcast: The crop scientist who fed billions
Yuan Longping, the ‘father of hybrid rice’, died on 22 May, aged 90. He led the development of the higher-yielding crop against the backdrop of a turbulent century. In 1999, it was estimated that the production increases brought about by hybrid rice fed an additional 100 million people in China each year. Historian Shellen Wu tells the Nature Podcast about Yuan’s life and the impact of his research.
Nature Podcast | 26 min listen
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