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Bubbles of oxygen are produced on the surface of a polymetallic nodule.Credit: Geiger Laboratories, Northwestern University
Deep-sea robots will hunt for ‘dark oxygen’
Researchers have unveiled plans to investigate the mysterious production of ‘dark oxygen’ — large amounts of the gas that seem to be coming from a region in the ocean that’s too deep for sunlight to power photosynthesis. The team have developed a suite of instruments that they’ll use to probe the sea floor in the region where dark oxygen was originally discovered later this year. Among their prime suspects for the source of this enigmatic gas are polymetallic nodules, which might catalyse water-splitting reactions, and microbes.
The secrets of the centenarians
An ongoing study of more than 160 centenarians — people who’ve reached the age of 100 or older — in Brazil is offering clues about the limits of human longevity. Many of these super-agers didn’t have particularly healthy diets, and had limited access to high-end medical care, which suggests that their secrets might instead lie in their genomes. Early data show that many of these super-agers have a diverse genetic ancestry — a mix of European, African and Native American heritage — which could contribute to their resilience. Researchers are now attempting to identify specific genetic variants, and immune and biochemical markers, that might grant some people a longer life.
Astronomers breath sigh of relief in Chile
A proposed green hydrogen plant in Chile that astronomers said would cause devastating light pollution and atmospheric turbulence near some of the world’s most powerful telescopes has been cancelled. The plant was slated to be built just 5 kilometres from the mountain that is home to the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope ― one of the most advanced optical telescopes in the world. The plant’s builder had said it would generate around 5,000 jobs and save at least 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
Features & opinion
The big benefits of a little exercise
Wearable devices — which capture brief, everyday movements such as running for the bus or taking the stairs — are showing that even small amounts of exercise have meaningful health benefits. “We’re in a bit of an awkward situation because if we are to take the wearable-based evidence at face value, we will have to release guidelines that will be recommending lower amounts” of minimum physical activity, says population-health researcher Emmanuel Stamatakis. But changing the recommendations requires careful consideration: researchers don’t want to tacitly endorse longer periods of inactivity, which might be just as important for health as how much a person exercises.
Wikipedia needs you
“Everything about Wikipedia is a worship of expertise,” its co-founder Jimmy Wales said in an interview with Nature earlier this month. That’s the part of the approach that makes it so valuable — and one of the reasons why researchers should take the time to get involved, argues a Nature editorial. As the web gets ever more polarized and swamped with untrustworthy content, “editors who are fair and civil, and who know how to weigh up evidence, are sorely needed,” says the editorial.
What was learnt from Challenger
Forty years ago today, the space shuttle Challenger exploded after launch, killing the seven astronauts on board. “The shock was visceral, immediate,” says historian Ron Doel, who was at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory that day. An independent commission’s unstinting revelations about the safety failures that led to the event left their mark on the space programme. “The joke about space missions is, they don’t get launched until there’s a pile of paperwork that’s as high as the rocket,” says astronomer and former NASA scientist Pauline Barmby. But space exploration remains dangerous. “‘Lessons learnt’ is difficult, isn’t it, since the systems themselves are not static but continually evolving,” says Doel. “We're not using Apollo technology anymore; lessons won't necessarily apply.”
