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December 5, 2025—A "fire amoeba," a carbon monoxide poisoning antidote and a panel's controversial recommendation on hepatitis B vaccination. —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | | A Zhuque-3 rocket blasts off on an orbital test flight from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on December 3, 2025. Ni Yanqiang/Zhejiang Daily Press Group/VCG via Getty Images | | - A partially successful test of China's first reusable rocket, called Zhuque-3, shows that other countries are rapidly catching up with the U.S. in a race for reusable rocketry. | 5 min read
- A newly discovered "fire amoeba" pushes the boundaries of life on Earth, surviving above a piping hot 63 degrees Celsius (145 degrees Fahrenheit), higher than any other known complex form of life. | 3 min read
- An estimated 280 million metric tons of plastic waste will be dumped every year by 2040 unless we act now, a report concludes. That's equivalent to about a garbage truck full of plastic entering the environment every second. | 1 min read
- Fiber-optic cables that carry Internet traffic now are also being used to record earthquake tremors, yielding more detail than traditional seismic networks do. Such cables recently measured the 2024 Cape Mendocino quake in incredible detail. | 2 min read
- Cosmic magnification is one of the universe's weirdest optical illusions, rendering some more distant objects as bigger rather than smaller. | 4 min read
- A scientist has identified a possible astronomical explanation for the Star of Bethlehem, as described in the Bible. | 3 min read
| | Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the December meeting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images | | Vaccine advisors selected by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., voted 8-3 today to scrap a long-standing recommendation to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that all babies receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. For mothers who test negative, the panel also now recommends that a child's three-dose vaccine regimen be started no earlier than two months of age following a conversation with a health care provider about the baby's hepatitis B antibody levels, reports Scientific American editor Lauren J. Young. In the past, the CDC has nearly always adopted the recommendations of the panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). A hepatitis B infection can cause liver damage, potentially leading to liver failure or liver cancer.
Why it matters: Dozens of studies and CDC reviews have shown that the hepatitis B vaccine is safe and highly effective at preventing infections in infants. The ACIP vote breaks with a vaccine policy set in 1991.
What the experts say: "The vaccine has essentially virtually eliminated childhood hepatitis B from the United States, and so it is really devastating to think about losing that," says Yvonne Maldonado, a pediatrician at the Stanford University School of Medicine and a former ACIP member. The American Medical Association issued a statement today urging the CDC to reject the ACIP recommendation. | | | Antidote to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning | A relatively fast antidote for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning appears to be in the works, with early experiments in mice and on human blood showing promise. The newly engineered protein therapy quickly clung to carbon monoxide in mice and in human blood in test tubes. The protein has a higher affinity for CO than CO has for hemoglobin, thereby overriding and preventing carbon monoxide from reaching hemoglobin, the protein that distributes oxygen to the rest of our organs. This sponge-like effect makes it possible for our kidneys to expel the poison, commonly emitted by furnaces, water heaters, fireplaces and gas stoves, within minutes.
Why it matters: Every year, carbon monoxide causes 50,000 to 100,000 emergency room visits and 1,500 deaths in the U.S., on average. Current treatments—involving an oxygen mask or hyperbaric chamber to suffuse the body with oxygen—take much longer to work. Survivors who receive this treatment nonetheless often suffer brain damage, cardiac complications, or kidney and liver problems due to oxygen deprivation, reports freelance science writer Sara Novak.
What the experts say: "It's a very clever little molecule if it pans out" in planned larger animal and human studies, says Lance B. Becker, an emergency medicine researcher.
—Andrea Tamayo | | | | |
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- Test your science knowledge by taking this week's science quiz. Plus, here's today's Spellements puzzle. Send any missing words you find to games@sciam.com and get a shout-out in a future newsletter. In recent days, Mitch C found ullage, Louisa T found emmer and Kathleen S found esker and steek.
| | MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK | | - Scientists Just Tore Up a Major Particle Physics Theory | 2 min read
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| | For authoritative information on the number of lives saved by vaccines since 1974—largely the lives of children under the age of 5—check out the graphics in the middle of this Scientific American feature by science journalist Tara Haelle. I recently came across another useful graphic, published by Unbiased Science (led by public health scientist Jess Steier and neuroscientist Sarah Scheinman), showing the effectiveness of vaccines for whooping cough, mumps, measles, polio and other conditions. | | I hope you enjoy your weekend. Please reach out any time with feedback, comments and questions at: newsletters@sciam.com. —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor
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