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After eating, a female gloomy octopus (left) tosses away empty shells. This requires an unusual position of the tube-shaped structure called the siphon, suggesting that the throw is deliberate.Credit: P. Godfrey-Smith et al./PLOS ONE (CC BY 4.0)
Octopuses chuck shells at each other
Octopuses are known for their solitary nature, but in Jervis Bay, Australia, the gloomy octopus (Octopus tetricus) lives at very high densities — and this seems to trigger an unusual behaviour. Researchers watched more than 20 hours of undersea footage and caught the creatures throwing things at each other, something that’s never been seen before. “We weren’t able to try and assess what the reasons might be,” cautions ecologist and study co-author David Scheel. But throwing, he says, “might help these animals deal with the fact that there are so many octopuses around”.
Low chance of finding SARS-CoV-2 ancestor
SARS-CoV-2 and bat coronaviruses shared an ancestor just a few years ago, finds a genome analysis presented at the 7th World One Health Congress in Singapore on 8 November. But it will be very difficult to find, in bats, the direct ancestor of the virus that causes COVID-19. Coronaviruses swap chunks of RNA with each other, a process called recombination. SARS-CoV-2’s direct ancestor probably formed from several viruses, and has been recombining and mutating in bats ever since. Given how much time has passed, the chances of identifying it “are almost nil”, says evolutionary virologist Edward Holmes. “That ship has sailed.”
How electric pulses help people walk again
Neuroscientists have identified the nerve cells responsible for helping paralysed people to walk again, opening up the possibility of targeted therapies that could benefit a wider range of people with spinal-cord injuries. In a trial, nine people with different levels of paralysis — including three who had no sensation in their legs — were helped to walk again by a technique known as epidural electrical stimulation (EES), which delivers electrical pulses to nerves in the lower spine. Five months into the trial, four people no longer need the EES to be switched on to walk. Neuroscientists used machine learning to identify the lower-spine nerve cells that make EES work and confirmed their findings in mice.
Building global health equity together
As the chief editor of Nature India, I have had the opportunity to spotlight India’s research solutions to real-world problems. Some of the most pressing are in health care: tuberculosis, maternal and infant mortality, vector- and water-borne diseases, malnutrition, hygiene and sanitation, and antimicrobial resistance remain major issues. Delivering health care to more than one billion people compounds these challenges. India’s thriving science and research ecosystem offers many examples of how the country is rising to tackle these issues. But health research must happen in collaboration with the communities being served.
That’s why I’m delighted to be one of the judges for something new from Springer Nature: the Inclusive Health Research awards. These awards, established in partnership with Takeda and offering three prizes of €20,000 (US$20,000) each, celebrate those who are driving a more inclusive approach to health research and, in doing so, promote a future of greater health equity globally.
Learn more about the awards — and enter them yourself, or recommend them to a colleague — on our website. We welcome entries from anyone directly engaged in activities connected to health research, and especially from those located in low- and middle-income countries or representing underserved communities. Applications close on 6 January.
Features & opinion
Time to curb the data brokers
A new book by law scholar and librarian Sarah Lamdan unpacks the roles of data brokers: companies such as RELX and Thomson Reuters that trade in information ranging from academic research to financial data. Lamdan argues that some of their activities harm individuals and society, and erode democracy. Her solution is for public infrastructure that would deliver essential information without sacrificing personal privacy. But her call to action falls short of offering a clear path forwards, writes reviewer and information scientist Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe.
How to design a better lab coat
A lab-gear maker who hated his own lab coat has pledged to banish the ill-fitting and impractical elements of the classic geek garment. Flame-resistant material, a more protective collar and stretchy cuffs that don’t catch on glassware are among the innovations planned by Derek Miller’s company, Genius Lab Gear, after an informal survey revealed that nine out of ten respondents disliked the iconic white garb. “I was not prepared for how emotional people got about the problem,” says Miller.
Image of the week
Astronomy photographer Andrew McCarthy caught Tuesday’s lunar eclipse by using two telescopes: one to capture intricate detail on the surface and the other to capture the rich tones created by Earth’s shadow across the Moon. (Andrew McCarthy/cosmicbackground.io)
