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| Cells in the brainstem and the vagus nerve help to maintain a delicate balance between molecular signals that promote inflammation and those that dampen it. (Voisin/Phanie/Science Photo Library) | |||||
A master dial for the immune systemScientists have identified cells in the brainstem of mice that sense immune cues from the periphery of the body and act as master regulators of the body's inflammatory response. The study "shows that there is a whole layer of biology that we haven't even anticipated", says immunologist Ruslan Medzhitov. Experiments revealed two groups of neurons in the vagal nerve that respond to pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory immune signals respectively. These neurons send messages to the brain, allowing it to monitor, and possibly modify, the immune response as it unfolds. How the brain sends signals back to the immune system remains unclear. Nature | 5 min readReference: Nature paper | |||||
Peer-review plagiarism could be widespreadDozens of cases of identical phrases found in peer-review reports across 19 journals could be just "the tip of the iceberg" of plagiarism, say the researchers. In the worst example, a single quote appeared in 50 review reports. The amount of duplication increased every year between 2021 and 2023, though it's unclear whether this is because the number of open-access peer-review reports increased during this time or whether it indicates a growing problem. Scientific publishers say they are taking action to prevent reviewer misconduct. Nature | 6 min readReference: Scientometrics paper | |||||
'Wall of death' run could keep astronauts fitRunning around a giant wooden barrel — dubbed the 'wall of death' by the motorbike stunt performers who use it for fairground acts — could keep people fit on the Moon. Under Earth's gravity, it's impossible to run around the cylinder without falling down. But in tests that simulated the much lower lunar gravity by suspending participants from a bungee cord, people could run around the horizontal walls. A few laps a day should be enough to stave off bone and muscle wasting, the researchers suggest. The Guardian | 4 min readReference: Royal Society Open Science paper | |||||
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| Lunar explorers could be housed in circular habitats whose walls double as vertical running track. (Alberto E. Minetti et al./R. Soc. Open Sci. (CC BY 4.0)) | |||||
Scientist grilled at COVID-origins hearingIn the latest of a series of public hearings convened by US politicians to spar over the origins of COVID-19, infectious disease specialist Peter Daszak was interrogated over his ties to China and inconsistencies in testimonies and documents. Daszak has been a lightning rod in the COVID-19 origins debate: he heads a non-profit organisation that studied bat coronaviruses with a virology lab located in Wuhan, China, where the first COVID-19 cases were reported. The hearing's intense scrutiny could disincentivize other US scientists from proposing collaborations with colleagues in China and other countries, a process that is considered essential for pandemic prevention, says health-law specialist Lawrence Gostin. Nature | 7 min read | |||||
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Gender discussions don't need to be toxicIn a Nature Podcast special, three researchers cut through the misinformation around sex and gender in search of a positive future for this long-neglected area of research. "There's almost an inherent tension between the drive to simplification that gives experimental methods their power and the recognition of the complexity of sex and gender," says biomedical researcher Stacy Ritz. It's important not to abandon the comparison of males and females in biomedical studies, but researchers need to find the appropriate level of nuance, adds neuroscientist Peg McCarthy. "What I would really love is for the studies to at least have this reporting of how they actually categorized the individuals or the animals," says jurist and bioethicist Florence Ashley. Nature Podcast | 59 min listenRead more in Nature's special collection on sex and gender in science | |||||
Why is exercise good for us?Physical activity is a fundamentally stressful process that our body has learnt to benefit from. "With each bout of exercise, you provoke an anti-inflammatory response," says exercise researcher Bente Klarlund Pedersen. Scientists are starting to untangle the elaborate 'choreography' of cellular processes that exercise triggers. This could eventually help clinicians to develop tailored exercise prescriptions for people with chronic diseases — or even develop therapeutics that mimic some of the health-boosting effects. "That's not to say that we will have exercise in a pill, but there are certain aspects of exercise that could be druggable," says exercise physiologist Bret Goodpaster. Nature | 12 min read | |||||
How to conserve BarbieBarbie and other plastic toys don't age well. The material they are made from deteriorates over time, leading to afflictions such as 'sticky leg syndrome': tacky deposits or white blooms of exuded plasticisers — additives that make plastics softer. "One school of thought is that you just leave it and you keep [the doll] in an enclosed area so that dust and dirt doesn't settle on [it]," says conservation scientist Brenda Keneghan. "The other school of thought is that you do remove the plasticiser [marks], with the knowledge that more is going to come over the years." Chemistry World | 12 min read | |||||
Quote of the day"The big names in science quickly become unknown. But through your students you maintain a presence in future generations, and they go on and on and on."In 2002, electrochemist Allen Bard said that scientists' true legacy lies in the people that they worked with and mentored. Bard died in February, aged 90. (Nature | 5 min read) | |||||
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What matters in science | View this email in your browser Monday 11 December 2023 Hello Nature readers, Today, we gaze at what might be the largest known protein, learn about the first global deal on limiting emissions from food production and discover how publishing pressures create unusually prolific authors. A structure prediction for a massive protein discovered by computational biologist Jacob West-Roberts and his colleagues. (West-Roberts, J. et al./bioRxiv ) Not...
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