With their “Blursday” blend of tedium, isolation and increased social media use, successive lockdowns have created the perfect conditions for viral lies to sneak onto our screens and leak into our minds. When these lies call into question the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, they threaten the entire global strategy for pandemic recovery: namely, mass immunity.

Poetically enough, Cambridge scientists fighting the rising tide of vaccine misinformation have turned to vaccine theory itself to inform their approach. Their “psychological vaccines” generate a kind of mental immune response, which the researchers hope will help social media users better detect, deflect, and dismiss falsehoods about COVID-19 vaccines.

Vegan diets are subject to similarly strong beliefs as vaccines, with some claiming they’re healthier, and others insisting they’re harmful. We’ve cut through the noise on that one. And, if you’re looking for reasons to feel thankful this week, you could do worse than learning how astronomically lucky we are to have been granted the chance to evolve upon a continually inhabitable planet.

If you have your own strong views about this email, we’d love to hear about them – please take part in our short newsletter survey.

Alex King

Commissioning Editor, Science + Technology

Alexander Limbach/Shutterstock

COVID-19 misinformation: scientists create a ‘psychological vaccine’ to protect against fake news

Sander van der Linden, University of Cambridge; Jon Roozenbeek, University of Cambridge

A 'psychological vaccine' has proven effective in countering belief in COVID-19 conspiracies.

Vegan diets are becoming increasingly popular. RONEDYA/ Shutterstock

Is a vegan diet healthier? Five reasons why we can’t tell for sure

Keren Papier, University of Oxford; Anika Knüppel, University of Oxford; Tammy Tong, University of Oxford

Recruiting more vegans for studies in the future will help us understand how this diet affects health.

xtock / shutterstock

Earth has stayed habitable for billions of years – exactly how lucky did we get?

Toby Tyrrell, University of Southampton

I simulated the climate on 100,000 exoplanets to find out.

Science + Technology

Health + Medicine

Environment + Energy

Arts + Culture

Business + Economy

Politics + Society

 

Featured events

New perspectives on COVID-19

Cardiff University, CUBRIC, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, Cardiff, CF14 0UP, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Cardiff University

Queer New York

Online, Birmingham, Warwickshire, B15 2TT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Birmingham

Attraction explained: The science of how we form relationships

East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Anglia Ruskin University

Experience of being a LGBT advisor to the Government Equalities Office

East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Anglia Ruskin University

More events
 

Contact us here to have your event listed.

For sponsorship opportunities, email us here