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Inside the hall that will house the large scintillator counter. Yemilab is built 1,000 metres underground in an old mine.Credit: Kangsoon Park and Eunkyung Lee
Test for controversial dark-matter claim
South Korea’s new Yemilab will try to replicate experiments that seem to prove the existence of dark matter. Signs of the mysterious substance, which is thought to account for 85% of the Universe’s mass, were found in a lab in Italy. But for more than two decades, no one has been able to definitely replicate the results. Yemilab will also hunt for elusive particles called neutrinos to prove some of their properties. “If both [experiments] will deliver only null results, we should seriously start rethinking the Universe,” says particle physicist Nicola Rossi.
India’s lethal heat ramps up
India is experiencing more, longer and hotter heatwaves because of climate change. This week the temperature in Delhi hit 52 ℃ — the third year in a row the country has been hit by a late-spring extreme heatwave. An analysis suggests that climate change made these extreme temperatures 45 times more likely to happen. “There is strong evidence from our research that the heatwaves are going to start earlier in the year and extend later into the season,” says climate scientist Krishna AchutaRao.
Reference: World Weather Attribution analysis
‘Smart’ antibiotic spares the microbiome
An antibiotic called lolamicin targets disease-causing Gram-negative bacteria without disturbing healthy gut bacteria. Broad-spectrum antibiotics against these pathogens wreak havoc on the gut microbiome and can allow potentially deadly Clostridioides difficile to take over. Mice infected with antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria survived after being given lolamicin, whereas almost 90% of those that didn’t receive the drug died within three days. Lolamicin did not seem to disrupt the gut microbiome and spared mice from C. difficile infections.
Features & opinion
How astronauts train for Moon-walking
A volcanic field in Arizona at night, illuminated only by a giant spotlight was the site of the biggest dress rehearsal yet for NASA astronauts preparing for their 2026 Moon mission. They will be the first people to set foot on the lunar surface in more than half a century. During four simulated Moon walks, the astronauts collected 38 kilograms of rocks and soil — all as carefully planned by the ‘science scrum’, the researchers working in the science back room. “We can’t just say we want that rock,” said geologist José Hurtado. “We have to elucidate why we want that specific rock and why it ties back to our priorities.”
Mock spacesuits and a tool cart mimic the equipment that Artemis astronauts might use on the surface of the Moon.Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel
Who owns your voice?
Last week, actor Scarlett Johansson complained that the voice of an OpenAI chatbot was intended to imitate hers. Artificial intelligence tools can easily clone voices or faces, which aren’t covered by copyright laws — and publicity-rights laws often don’t extend to non-famous people. Some scholars want to recognize ‘intimate privacy’ as a US civil right to protect people’s likenesses, for example, from being used in deepfake porn. Others caution that hastily written laws might infringe on freedom of speech or could be misused. A photo app, for example, could include in its terms of service the “unrestricted, irrevocable license to make use of the user’s likeness”, says legal analyst Meredith Rose.
How to solve the myopia epidemic
More screen time and indoor activities during the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated an already troubling trend: more and more people have myopia, or short-sightedness. Spending more time outdoors during childhood is a simple solution for curbing myopia. But getting kids outdoors can be a tough sell, says ophthalmologist Nathan Congdon, particularly in urban areas or in societies with a strong emphasis on academic achievement. Some researchers are working on ways to bring the outside in, with glass classrooms, special lighting and nature-themed wallpapers. Delivering light directly into the eyeball is another strategy, though researchers disagree on what type of light is most beneficial and why.
Source: Ref. 2
