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Glasses cast with commercial moulds.

Researchers have modified amino acids and peptides and then coaxed it into a transparent glass. Here they demonstrate moulding it into sea-shell shapes.Credit: R.Xing et al./Science Advances (CC BY 4.0)

3D-printable glass made from proteins

Chinese researchers have transformed amino acids and peptides — the building blocks of proteins — into glass. The technique involved modifying the ends of the amino acid and peptide molecules, then melting and supercooling the material. The result is transparent, colourless, 3D-printable, biodegradable glass. But it wouldn’t be suitable for applications such as drinks bottles, because the liquid would cause it to decompose.

Nature | 3 min read

Reference: Science Advances paper

Stressed plants ‘cry’ in ultrasound

Thirsty or stressed plants produce ultrasonic clicks that, when processed to make them audible to humans, sound like popping popcorn. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants that needed water, or that had recently had their stems cut, produced up to roughly 35 clicks per hour. Well-hydrated and uncut plants made only about one sound per hour. The noises possibly come from air bubbles forming or breaking in the plants’ xylem, the tubes that transport water and nutrients from the roots to the stems and leaves. The sounds could be used to monitor plants in farming and horticulture.

Nature | 4 min read

Reference: Cell paper

T. rex had lips

Analysis of the teeth and skull of this king of the dinosaurs showed that, unlike its more recent relatives, the crocodiles, Tyrannosaurus rex probably had lips covering its formidable teeth. Most lizards have lips to keep their tooth enamel moist and their delicate dentition protected, and palaeontologists have wondered for years whether T. rex was lippy like a lizard or lipless like a croc. “These authors have given T. rex a facelift,” says vertebrate palaeontologist Steve Brusatte.

Nature | 3 min read

Reference: Science paper

The science of California’s record snow

California’s recent parade of storms is driven by atmospheric rivers — long, narrow plumes of moist air that travel from the tropics to higher latitudes. When these ‘rivers in the sky’ sweep over mountainous regions they condense into clouds that produce heavy rain and snow. As the atmosphere warms, atmospheric rivers are likely to become more frequent and hold more moisture. California’s swings between wet and dry periods are “becoming amplified due to climate change”, says atmospheric scientist Andrew Schwartz.

Nature | 4 min read

Reference: Journal of Hydrometeorology paper

Infographic of the week

GAPS IN REPRESENTATION. Analysis of 375 research papers on the fairness of AI showed a lack of diversity among authors.

Source: Ref. 1

A lack of racial and gender diversity could be hindering the efforts of researchers working to improve the fairness of artificial-intelligence (AI) tools in health care, such as those designed to detect disease from blood samples or imaging data. “It’s important these inequalities are brought to our awareness because if AI [systems] are full of biases, they can be used in a way that reproduces health inequity, which is really problematic,” says health ethicist Kristine Bærøe. (Nature | 4 min read)

Reference: medRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed)

Features & opinion

A trans scientist’s advice for academia

“There is a significant ‘time tax’ involved in diversity, equity and inclusion work — it can pull the focus away from research work,” says neuroscientist and science outreach director Atom Lesiak. It’s easy to lose sight of goals in the service of others, Lesiak says, so focus on developing the skills you want to build your career on. They also recommend to other trans and gender-nonconforming scientists to leave a paper trail when issues such as harassment arise, and find people who can help to build a community of support. Most importantly, aspiring allies and those in leadership positions need to be prepared to listen, be brave in their advocacy and be willing to challenge their own beliefs.

Nature | 8 min read

Futures: War of the Latitudes

A traveller seeks the truth in a climate-altered future in the latest short story for Nature’s Futures series.

Nature | 5 min read

Podcast: A molecular syringe for cells

Researchers have repurposed a bacterium’s tiny syringe-like structure to inject proteins — including a cancer-killing toxin and the gene-editing Cas9 protein — directly into human cells. The bacterium’s delivery system is “like little spring-loaded syringes”, molecular biologist Feng Zhang tells the Nature Podcast: once it recognizes a cell, it punctures a hole in the recipient cell’s membrane and releases the payload. The bacterium naturally targets insect cells, so the team re-engineered it to recognize other species’ cells. The method could overcome a big challenge in modern medicine: namely, ensuring that therapeutics are delivered into the precise cells that need to be treated.

Nature Podcast | 25 min listen

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Quote of the day

“Often, the louder the voices, the lower the evidence base.”

The issues that became most contentious and entrenched during the pandemic were the ones where the evidence base was weakest, says Patrick Vallance, who has come to the end of his five-year tenure as chief scientific adviser to the UK government. (Nature | 6 min read)