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Each time questions have been asked, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has answered them. This week we’ve seen new US trial results bring further good news, writes Michael Head. Again, the vaccine has been shown to be safe, and working well in older people. Except that, for this vaccine, which has been under the media spotlight like no other before it, things are never simple. No sooner had these results been released than it emerged they might
be based on out-of-date data. Now there’s another question to be answered. All this amid an ongoing struggle to boost vaccine confidence in many parts of the world.
Speaking of coming up with answers, the standard model of particle physics has withstood every test thrown at it since it was assembled in the 1970s. However, experiments at Cern have potentially uncovered an anomaly the model can’t explain. This could be evidence of a new force in nature that’s yet to be properly discovered.
Meanwhile, a team at Lund University in Sweden has found a way of smuggling tiny nanodiamonds inside cells, which can be used to label and observe parts of the cells interior and assist with research into conditions such as cancer.
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Rob Reddick
Commissioning Editor, COVID-19
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Here we go again!
ap-travel / Alamy Stock Photo
Michael Head, University of Southampton
These results can help allay previous concerns in Europe about a lack of trial data for older people.
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Particle collisions are starting to reveal unexpected results.
vchal/Shutterstock
Harry Cliff, University of Cambridge; Konstantinos Alexandros Petridis, University of Bristol; Paula Alvarez Cartelle, University of Cambridge
If the finding really is the result of new fundamental particles then it will finally be the breakthrough that physicists have been yearning for for decades.
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SciePro/Shutterstock
Elke Hebisch, Lund University
Nanodiamonds aren't just cellular bling: they could be used to better understand the development of cancer in our cells.
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Politics + Society
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Paul Whiteley, University of Essex; Harold D Clarke, University of Texas at Dallas; Marianne Stewart, University of Texas at Dallas
More voters trust the Conservatives with the pandemic – and the pandemic is the most important issue of the day.
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Matt Walsh, Cardiff University
Funding cuts will force the national broadcaster to implement a root and branch reorganisation.
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Karen Leong, Arizona State University; Karen Kuo, Arizona State University
US culture has long represented Asian American women as sexually seductive – showing how victims' gender and race cannot be separated when attacked by white male violence.
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Brian McQuinn, University of Regina
Ten years after the Arab Spring, hope has given way to turmoil as Libyans have watched duelling governments and armed groups fight over the country's oil riches. Is a new chance for peace afoot?
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Environment + Energy
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David Burslem, University of Aberdeen; Christopher Philipson, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; Mark Cutler, University of Dundee
Scientists in Malaysia monitored a forest for 20 years after deforestation.
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Stephen Carr, University of South Wales
Low-carbon alternatives for steelmaking are numerous – but which will be ready in time?
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Joelle Gergis, Australian National University
The NSW floods are a textbook example of the theoretical impacts we can expect on Australian rainfall as climate change continues.
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Health + Medicine
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J. Alexander Navarro, University of Michigan
Americans were tired of social distancing and mask-wearing. At the first hint the virus was receding, people pushed to get life back to normal. Unfortunately another surge of the disease followed.
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Science + Technology
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Bev John, University of South Wales; Martin Graff, University of South Wales
It might be more helpful to talk about excessive use of social media in relation to degrees of harm rather than as "disorder" in terms of addiction.
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Business + Economy
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Bogdan Costea, Lancaster University; Peter Watt, Lancaster University
Working 95-hour weeks are the result of a culture that has melded two obsessions: top employers and gratifying the self.
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Arts + Culture
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Ewa Hanna Mazierska, University of Central Lancashire
From festivals to awards, generating buzz can increase the gross earnings of a film and even increase investment in a country's film industry.
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Featured events
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Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Bangor University
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Lecture Theatre 1, Richmond Building, Portland Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3DE, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Portsmouth
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East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Anglia Ruskin University
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Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Cardiff [Caerdydd GB-CRD], CF10 3BA, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Cardiff University
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