The AlphaGalileo Blog 06/05/2020
May eNews
Key Coronavirus research
1. Coronavirus in the Swedish media study - high public confidence in researchers and healthcare professionals
Published by Vetenskap & Allmaenhet
For three out of four Swedes, the news media is their primary source of information about the new coronavirus. In terms of the visibility of different professional groups in the media coverage, Swedes have the highest confidence in doctors and researchers, while there is a lower level of confidence in government officials. These are the findings of a new survey undertaken by the Swedish non-profit organisation VA (Public & Science).
Read the article
2. New Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Mapped Out
Published by Institute for Basic Science, South Korea
IBS scientists report a high resolution gene and reveal many viral RNAs with unknown functions and modifications.
Read the article
3. Economic damage could be worse without lockdown and social distancing – study
Published by the University of Cambridge, UK
The worst thing for the economy would be not acting at all to prevent disease spread, followed by too short a lockdown, according to research based on US data. Researchers argue for at least an eight-month “structured lockdown”, skewed toward keeping “core sector” workers as productive as possible.
Read the article
4. Correlations in COVID-19 Growth Point to Universal Strategies for Slowing Spread
Published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Many months since the first COVID-19 outbreak, countries continue to explore solutions to manage the spread of the virus. Chaos theory researchers analyzed the growth of confirmed cases across four continents to better characterize the spread and examine which strategies are effective in reducing it, and their results, published in Chaos, found the virus commonly grows along a power law curve.
Read the article
5. COVID 19 treatments and vaccines: the importance of rigorous science
Published by McGill University, Canada
Ethicists from Carnegie Mellon and McGill universities are calling on the global research community to resist treating the urgency of the current COVID-19 outbreak as grounds for making exceptions to rigorous research standards in pursuit of treatments and vaccines. Their paper, published online in Science, provides recommendations for conducting clinical research during times of crises.
Read the article
Editor's picks
ARIACOV: action research project in support of the African response to the Covid-19 epidemic
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) - 29/04/2020
An action research project in support of the African response to the Covid-19 epidemic (ARIACOV) has just been funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) as part of the "Covid-19 - Health in Common" initiative. This two-year project aims to support the authorities of Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Senegal in developing and strengthening national strategies to respond to the epidemic.
Read the article
Atmospheric tidal waves maintain Venus’ super-rotation
Hokkaido University - 17/04/2020
Images from the Akatsuki spacecraft unveil what keeps Venus’s atmosphere rotating much faster than the planet itself.
An international research team led by Takeshi Horinouchi of Hokkaido University has revealed that this ‘super-rotation’ is maintained near the equator by atmospheric tidal waves formed from solar heating on the planet’s dayside and cooling on its nightside. Closer to the poles, however, atmospheric turbulence and other kinds of waves have a more pronounced effect. The study was published online in Science on April 23.
Read the article
Image of the month
Odor experts uncover the smelly chemistry of lemur love: Potential sex pheromones used by male lemurs for “stink flirting” are influenced by testosterone levels
University of Tokyo - 09/04/2020
Three chemicals with floral, fruity scents are likely essential ingredients in the natural cologne male ring-tailed lemurs use to attract a mate. Experts in odor communication say these chemicals could be the first fully identified sex pheromones in primates.
Read the article
Latest image of the month
AlphaGalileo is a specialist service for the media and research organisations. Media need references to access the full service and news contributors pay for access.
Access to others with an interest in research can subscribe for limited access as a 'Reader' user.