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3D CT scan of the chest of a patient with Covid-19 showing multifocal ground glass opacities in both lungs.

People infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 (lungs of a person with the disease shown) have a nearly twofold increased risk of cancer-related death, data show.Credit: Rajaaisya/Science Photo Library

COVID and flu can ‘wake up’ cancer

Common respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 or flu can awaken dormant cancer cells in mice. When a tumour grows, some cells can detach, travel round the body and ‘hide’ in tissues such as the lungs after treatment. Researchers found that the release of an immune molecule called interleukin-6, triggered by respiratory illnesses, wakes up these dormant cells — but only for a short time. This means that the infections do not directly cause cancer, but make it more likely that a future threat could revive the disease.

Nature | 5 min read

Reference: Nature paper

Neutrino detection in miniature

Physicists have caught neutrinos from a nuclear reactor using a device weighing just a few kilograms. Detecting neutrinos usually requires the particles to collide with an electron, proton or neutron — an extremely infrequent event that requires detectors weighing tonnes or even thousands of tonnes. With the new ‘mini’ neutrino-detector, called CONUS+, researchers report having seen around 395 collision events in 119 days of operation. The technique opens new ways to stress-test the known laws of physics and to detect the copious neutrinos produced in the hearts of collapsing stars.

Nature | 5 min read

Reference: Nature paper

Satellite to map Earth in stunning detail

NISAR — an astonishingly high-resolution satellite — launched yesterday on a mission to map changes on Earth’s surface in unprecedented detail. A collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation, NISAR will track everything from sinking croplands to crumbling ice sheets and flood-ravaged terrain. For NASA, the excitement of the launch is tinged with worry that the drastic cuts to the agency’s budget proposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump will make NISAR one of the last major Earth-observing satellites that the agency builds for years.

Nature | 6 min read

Allergens punch holes in airway cells

The sneezing, itchy eyes and coughing elicited by some allergens are caused by proteins creating holes in airway cells. Researchers found that two proteins in the mould Alternaria alternata, which causes allergic reactions in about 5% of people, trigger the airway inflammation seen during allergic reactions. Together, the proteins, called Aeg-S and Aeg-L, create a pore in the membranes of cells lining the nose, throat and lungs. This allows calcium ions to enter the cells, which triggers an immune response that causes the symptoms of allergy.

Nature | 4 min read

Reference: Nature paper

Features & opinion

‘What does a cell know of itself?’

Inspired by largely-forgotten early 20th-century experiments, a small group of scientists are investigating ‘aneural’ memory. Their question: can individual cells ‘remember’ certain stimuli and adapt their behaviour accordingly? Their research has produced some evidence that cells from slime moulds to human kidney cells can ‘learn’, which hints that chemical patterns within cells could constitute some form of memory. But getting wider acceptance might be a challenge — the scientific definition of ‘memory’ is largely based on behaviour, which can’t always be observed in single cells.

Quanta | 13 min read

Reference: Nature Communications paper

Futures: science fiction from Nature

A scientist and their spaceship find ways to procrastinate in Things I miss about civilization.

Nature | 6 min read

One and a half leagues under the sea

Between 6,000 and 9,000 metres below the surface of the Pacific ocean lives a complex community of creatures that seem to use bacteria-derived methane as a source of energy. These organisms, including tubeworms and bivalve molluscs, form part of the deepest complex ecosystem ever discovered — far beyond the reach of the sun’s light. “This ecosystem is populated by very strange animals,” says geobiologist and study co-author Dominic Papineau. “I think it's a remarkable finding to discover a new ecosystem on Earth that was never really conceptualized to exist before.”

Nature Podcast | 33 min listen

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“When I walk away from one of these conversations, I feel a little more confident. A little more motivated. A little more ready to write. And maybe that’s enough.”

Chemical biologist Angela Steinauer workshopped a research proposal using an artificial intelligence chatbot. The trick, she says, is staying engaged, being specific and constantly questioning the chatbot’s output. (Nature | 7 min read)