How to be a citizen scientist in biomedical research: Sueur, Fourneret, Espinosa : 12 min read: the Natural Partnership Project in Sustainable Agriculture
Biologist Cédric Sueur, philosopher Éric Fourneret and economist Romain Espinosa propose the concept of ‘animal capital’ to acknowledge animals’ contributions beyond the material — such as natural, social and cultural — and redefine the human-animal bond in the face of global changes and food insecurity. 12 min read is what the NPJ refers to sustainable agriculture.
Secondary schools stepped in to help a chemist prepare and analyze a mountain of calcium carbonate samples, thanks to a real research project. The technicalities of lab work and safety protocols can seem prohibitive to the inclusion of citizen scientists in chemistry, writes Murray, but barriers can be overcome if the project is planned appropriately and has a robust protocol. Murray said the world was full of budding scientists ready to make and break chemical bonds. “Their curiosity can lead you down (reaction) pathways you never expected.”
Source: Daily briefing: Heart attacks trigger deep healing sleep
A Cat Model for Understanding the Effect of Heart Attacks on the Brain: Evidence from a Meta-Origin Study of Mice and Adult Cats
The developers of artificial intelligence tools that can predict and create new structures forProteins have won the year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The tools are not perfect. Hurdles such as working out the connection between enzyme structure and function, or predicting conformational changes, have yet to be cleared. Nature spoke to specialists about the biggest challenges they are facing and what it will take to overcome them.
After a heart attack, the immune cells rush to the brain, promoting a deep sleep that heals the heart. Researchers found that mice that had suffered heart attacks spent more time in slow-wave sleep, a stage of deep sleep associated with healing. They traced the extra slumber to immune cells called monocytes, which flooded the mice’s brains and produced a protein that promotes sleep and regulates inflammation. The team found that the risk of heart problems was higher for those who slept poorly in the weeks following a blood clot in the heart.
As cats get older, their brains show signs of atrophy and cognitive decline that resemble the deterioration seen in humans more closely than do brain changes in mice. The researchers have collected health records for thousands of felines and taken brain scans for more than 50 to map events between cat and human ages. Cats could prove a valuable model for studying ageing in human brains because they live longer than mice and share an environment with their owners, and have not been as highly inbred for specific traits as dogs.
Source: Daily briefing: Heart attacks trigger deep healing sleep
Detecting Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Figures and Data: How the United States is Taking Care of the Problems of Climate Change, Climate Change and Global Warming
Publishers and technology companies are racing against each other to develop new tools that can help detection of artificial intelligence in scientific papers. The makers of tools such as Imagetwin and Proofig, which use AI to detect integrity issues in scientific figures, are training their algorithms on databases of AI-generated images to make them better at spotting dupes. “Fraudsters shouldn’t sleep well at night,” says Kevin Patrick, a scientific-image sleuth known as Cheshire on social media. “They could fool today’s process, but I don’t think they’ll be able to fool the process forever.”
And yet, during Trump’s first term, the world saw a government that ignored and undermined efforts to address some of the world’s greatest problems, such as climate change and a global pandemic. Many researchers left US federal science agencies, their place sometimes taken by lobbyists and political appointees.
The United States has now re-elected Donald Trump as president. Many researchers have told Nature that they are in despair, seeing the election result as a step backwards for facts, reason, knowledge and civility.
We are hopeful that the incoming administration will take care of the U.S. best. That means not reverting to policies from the first Trump presidency, and keeping the best of what the previous administration did.
When making regulatory decisions it’s important to respect the scientific consensus. A cornerstone of modern government is this. Policymakers and politicians retain control over decision-making, but they cannot control the facts.
Climate change is a crucial priority. During the past four years, the United States took important steps in recognizing that it is in its own interests to not stand still as global temperatures continue to increase. Through the coming transition, it has enacted policies to support industries. If those policies are repealed, people on the lowest incomes and those from marginalized communities will be among those most affected.
The agency’s work is crucial for tackling diseases and keeping standards of public- health infrastructure in low-income countries, which were especially at risk from Trump’s threat to defund it in 2020. WHO epidemiologists, clinicians, and logistics personnel help treat and control diseases in countries like Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan and Yemen. The best interests of the US are being best served by engaging with international institutions to fight diseases.
The United States has a lot to offer when it comes to science and other fields. That must continue if the country wants to maintain its strength in research and innovation, the bedrock of prosperity.