When you should throw away expired reagents

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Researchers have discovered a huge cave on the Moon, near where the Apollo astronauts landed more than 50 years ago. A 100-metre opening leads to a cave 45 metres wide and up to 80 metres long — a promising site for a future lunar base that would be protected from extreme temperatures, radiation and meteorites. The hundreds of pits known to dot the Moon are thought to be ‘skylights’ into lava tubes formed during the Moon’s volcanically active past.

The Guardian | 6 min read

Reference: Nature Astronomy paper

“I honestly feel like this is ultimately going to be a civil war in the community,” says glaciologist Jeremy Bassis about proposals to protect vulnerable ice sheets from collapse in order to slow sea-level rise. Some glaciologists want to slow ice melt from glaciers by building underwater ‘curtains’ that protect the ice from warming waters, or by drilling holes in ice to pump out water and heat. Others say the proposals are too costly or dangerous to consider, or that they could distract from the essential work of slashing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Science | 6 min read

Reference: Glacial Climate Intervention white paper

Warm-blooded animals that live on islands tend to have a slower metabolic rate, reproduce more slowly and live longer than their mainland counterparts. This could help them to survive with fewer resources but makes them more vulnerable to extinction when humans disturb their habitats or introduce invasive species. Researchers compared animals’ metabolism with their status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and found a strong correlation between a slower metabolic rate and an increased risk of extinction.

Scientific American | 4 min read

Reference: Science Advances paper

Features & opinion

Some lab reagents, such as salts, can last almost indefinitely. Others — antibodies and PCR master mixes, for example — can work decades beyond their best-before date, as long as they are correctly stored. But it might be worth testing an old reagent on a previously analysed sample or comparing it with a fresher version. “If it’s a situation where it’s a more precious sample or there’s a more urgent need, we might be more cautious,” says pharmaceutical researcher Sofia Kinton.

Nature | 7 min read

Prairie dogs have figured out how to build well-ventilated tunnels — and cats twist their bodies when falling so they land upright. These feats of ‘physics’ knowhow, innate to many animals, are now being explored and celebrated by the emerging field of animal behaviour physics.

Knowable Magazine | 6 min read

Reference: Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics paper

Biochemist Maxine Singer, who led calls to regulate early gene-splicing and then defended the technology in public, has died aged 93. Singer co-authored a 1973 letter to Science that raised concerns over gene splicing because it could create organisms “with biological activity of an unpredictable nature”. The letter eventually led to a voluntary moratorium — the first in the history of science — on splicing experiments. Singer played a key role in shaping guidelines for biotechnology, and later became a plain-spoken advocate for the field and for science education in general.

The New York Times | 6 min read

Infographic of the week

Trince — a spinoff company from Ghent University — has won the Spinoff Prize, an award from Nature Research and Merck. Its technique uses light to pierce a temporary hole in a cell’s membrane, so that molecules can make their way inside for therapy or research. The approach aims to be easier, cheaper and more effective than viral vectors, and more gentle than using an electric current to disrupt cell membranes. (Nature | 8 min read)

Read more about the Spinoff Prize shortlist of companies that were recognized by a panel of judges as having extraordinary potential.