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New guidelines list three categories of image manipulation, ranging from “beautified” figures to those that have been altered with an intent to mislead.Credit: Getty
Publishers unite to tackle doctored images
Eight major publishers have issued joint guidelines for how journal editors can spot and deal with suspicious images or data. The best-practice recommendations list three categories of image manipulation, ranging from “beautified” figures to those that have been altered with an intent to mislead. The guidelines — from a group that includes Elsevier, JAMA, Wiley and Springer Nature — offer detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to deal with doctored images.
China will stop funding foreign coal
Last week at the United Nations General Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad. It’s a bold pledge from the biggest public funder of international coal plants, which joins the G7 group of major economies in promising to halt such financing. However, China is still heavily reliant on coal for its own energy needs. Despite the country’s plans to become carbon neutral by 2060, its domestic coal production has nearly tripled since 2001.
BBC | 4 min read & Nature | 4 min read
The planet with three suns
A bizarre feature in a distant star system might be caused by the first known planet that orbits three stars. GW Orionis is surrounded by a spiralling disc of gas and dust — typical for a young star system. But this disc is split into rings, and the outer ring is tilted at an angle. Detailed modelling of the system suggests that the best explanation is a giant gassy planet carving out its orbits in its first million years of existence. “It may be the first evidence of a circumtriple planet carving a gap in real time,” says astronomer Jeremy Smallwood.
The New York Times | 4 min read (intermittent paywall)
Reference: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society paper & Science paper
Features & opinion
Chris Maddaloni for Nature
Once upon a time in science
Spouses Alison Twelvetrees, a neuroscientist, and molecularbiologist Daniel Bose are two of the many researchers who have taken on the epic challenge of launching their own laboratories. Over the past three years, Nature reporters have documented, in real time, their journey through a pandemic and a personal crisis. In part one of this three-part story, Ali and Dan reflect on their painful solution to the ‘two body problem’ of being an academic couple, and try to attract the funding to keep their jobs.
Can we fix research culture?
From hypercompetition to career instability, much has been written about the problems of academic research culture. But the question of how to fix it has proven to be a Gordian knot, because of the complex network of interactions between researchers, funders, institutions, publishers and others. With a focus on chemistry in the United Kingdom, Chemistry World offers a special looking at what’s wrong with research culture and how to improve it.
Chemistry World | Full collection
Image of the week
This ×10 magnified photograph of a pollen grain on a crocus flower petal was an Image of Distinction in the 2021 Nikon Small World photomicrography competition. “My photography is more reality-based,” said Krebs in January. “I’ve always been drawn to subjects that are more recognizable for the common person, like pollen.”Charles Krebs/Nikon Small World
