Divisive COVID 'Lab Leak' Debate Prompts Dire Warnings from Researchers

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May 27, 2021

Public Health Divisive COVID 'Lab Leak' Debate Prompts Dire Warnings from Researchers Allegations that COVID escaped from a Chinese lab make it harder for nations to collaborate on ending the pandemic — and fuel online bullying, some scientists say By Amy Maxmen,Nature magazine

Environment Court Orders Shell to Slash Emissions in Historic Ruling The Dutch verdict is the first to compel a private company, rather than a government, to curb greenhouse gases By Maxine Joselow,E&E News

Policy & Ethics Limit on Lab-grown Human Embryos Dropped by Stem Cell Body The International Society for Stem Cell Research relaxed the famous 14-day rule on culturing human embryos in its latest research guidelines By Nidhi Subbaraman,Nature magazine

Biology How This Zombie Fungus Turns Cicadas into Horror-Movie Sex Bots Researchers explore how an amphetamine and a psychedelic help parasitic fungi spread their spores through insects' doomed mating attempts By Rachel Nuwer

Space Are We Doing Enough to Protect Earth from Asteroids? Scientists lost one of their best tools with the demise of the Arecibo telescope By Sarah Scoles

Conservation Will Probiotics Save Corals or Harm Them? Bacteria are helping corals in lab tests, but risks rise as treatments are applied in the wild By Elizabeth Svoboda

Policy & Ethics The Rise of Neurotechnology Calls for a Parallel Focus on Neurorights Chile is leading the way with a bill that offers protections against abuses and inequities that could arise from technologies that augment human capacities By Nayef Al-Rodhan

Climate A Better Way to Cool Ourselves A new technique doesn't deprive us of fresh air. And because it uses less energy, it's good for the climate as well By Forrest Meggers,Dorit Aviv,Adam Rysanek,Kian Wee Chen,Eric Teitelbaum

Public Health How Dangerous Are New, Fast-Spreading Coronavirus Variants? Key questions remain about how quickly B.1.617 variants can spread, their potential to evade immunity and how they might affect the course of the pandemic By David Adam,Nature magazine

Natural Disasters The Longest Known Earthquake Lasted 32 Years The "slow slip" event preceded a devastating 1861 quake of at least magnitude 8.5 in Sumatra By Stephanie Pappas

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 324, Issue 6

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