As many countries start to ease or even remove COVID restrictions entirely, there are growing concerns from researchers that this will lead governments to take their eye off the ball and crucially stop collecting and reporting vital data. In this episode of Coronapod we discuss calls from two researchers to improve COVID testing and data reporting. What do they want done differently? Why does it matter? And what could such changes mean for the future of the pandemic and public health more broadly?

World View: Tracking COVID-19 infections: time for change

World View: Commit to transparent COVID data until the WHO declares the pandemic is over

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The G20 economies spent $14 trillion dollars on recovery packages to escape the global recession driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many governments made pledges to deliver emissions reductions as part of these packages. This week, a team of researchers have analysed the spending to see if these promises were kept.

Comment: G20’s US$14-trillion economic stimulus reneges on emissions pledges

An artificial nerve cell triggers a Venus flytrap’s snap, and a fossil shows that pterosaurs in the Jurassic period were larger than previously thought.

Research Highlight: Venus flytrap snaps shut at synthetic neuron’s command

Research Highlight: The surprisingly huge reptile that prowled the Jurassic skies

This week, a team of researchers have used lab-based studies to show how learning a little about a stranger makes a person feel that the stranger knows something about them. The team took this work out of the lab and into New York City, where they showed that providing residents with knowledge about community police officers temporarily reduced crime.

Research article: Shah & LaForest

News and Views: Letters and cards telling people about local police reduce crime

Following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, we hear about the experiences of Ukranian researchers as the conflict continues, and the outpouring of condemnation from the wider academic world.

News: Global research community condemns Russian invasion of Ukraine

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Almost everything we do on the Internet is made possible by cryptographic algorithms, which scramble our data to protect our privacy. However, this privacy could be under threat. If quantum computers reach their potential these machines could crack current encryption systems — leaving our online data vulnerable.

To limit the damage of this so called 'Q-day', researchers are racing to develop new cryptographic systems, capable of withstanding a quantum attack.

This is an audio version of our feature: The race to save the Internet from quantum hackers

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Around 66 million years ago, an enormous asteroid struck the Earth, leading to the end of the time of the dinosaurs. In a new paper, a team of scientists looked at evidence from fossilised fish, and suggest it happened in springtime in the Northern Hemisphere.

Research article: During et al.

Transparency shrinks the gender pay-gap in academia, and how Tutankhamen’s meteorite-metal dagger was forged.

Research Highlight: Gender pay gap closes after salary information goes public

Research Highlight: How a space rock became King Tut’s dagger

Cool, damp nights are a critical barrier to fire progression around the world. But a recent study has revealed that the duration and intensity of nighttime fires has increased in many places, as a result of climate change. The researchers say this trend is likely to continue, hampering efforts to control blazes.

Research article: Balch et al.

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how transgenic, fluorescent fish found their way into Brazil’s watercourses, and the ecological impact of a giant oil spill in Peru.

Science: Transgenic glowing fish invades Brazilian streams

Nature News: Unprecedented oil spill catches researchers in Peru off guard

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Scientists scramble to understand the devastating Tongan volcano eruption, and modelling how societal changes might alter carbon emissions.

In this episode:

00:46 Understanding the Tongan eruption

On the 15th of January, a volcano in the South Pacific Ocean erupted, sending ash into the upper atmosphere, and unleashing a devastating tsunami that destroyed homes on Tonga’s nearby islands. Now scientists are trying to work out exactly what happened during the eruption — and what it means for future volcanic risks.

News Feature: Why the Tongan eruption will go down in the history of volcanology

08:49 Research Highlights

The genes associated with reindeers’ roaming behaviour, and how fossilised puke has thrown up new insights into pterosaurs’ stomachs.

Research Highlight: A reindeer’s yearning to travel can be read in its genes

Research Highlight: Petrified puke shows that ancient winged reptiles purged

11:29 Modelling societal changes to carbon emissions

A team of researchers have modelled what humans might do in the face of climate change, and looked at how societal, political and technological changes could alter future emissions.

Research article: Moore et al.

18:12 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, China alters its guidelines for gene-edited crops, and how Guinea worm infections have been driven down from millions of cases a year to just 14.

Nature News: China’s approval of gene-edited crops energizes researchers

Nature News: Just 14 cases: Guinea worm disease nears eradication

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.