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A slice of a human brain showing the architecture of fibres connecting different regions.Credit: Markus Axer and Katrin Amunts, INM-1, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Human Brain Project wraps up
Despite €600 million (US$650 million) of funding and a decade of research, the Human Brain Project did not achieve its goal of simulating the whole brain in a computer. It was an aim that many scientists regarded as far-fetched in the first place, and critics suggest that fragmentation and limited collaboration meant that the project failed to capitalize on its size. Nevertheless, the mega-project stacked up some impressive achievements, including the Human Brain Atlas — a ‘Google Maps for the brain’.
New coronavirus variant exceedingly rare
Researchers are racing to determine whether a highly mutated SARS-CoV-2 variant, BA.2.86, will be a global concern — or much ado about nothing. The variant was linked to a handful of cases in Israel, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States. Although the lineage seems to be exceedingly rare, it is very different from other circulating variants and has several changes in its spike protein, a key focus of the body’s immune response to the virus. Most scientists do not expect BA.2.86 to have an impact as large as Omicron’s. “I don’t think anybody needs to be alarmed by this,” says viral evolutionary biologist Jesse Bloom. “The most likely scenario is that this variant fizzles out.”
How health research can cut emissions
A series of 146 sustainable practices could help health research to reduce the field’s hefty carbon footprint. Laboratory cold storage is one of the largest energy consumers in the field, and lab research worldwide accounts for nearly 2% of global plastic waste. A report, commissioned by UK health-research funder Wellcome, suggests staff networks, campaigns, measurement tools and certification programmes that could reduce energy use and waste.
Features & opinion
Pocket calculators changed the world
The modern computer’s handheld predecessor is an innovation 42,000 years in the making, writes software developer Keith Houston in Empire of the Sum. The book is a breezy mathematical tour through the development of number systems, ancient counting aids, mechanical calculators and microchips, says Nature technology editor Jeffrey Perkel in his review. It’s also a story of human history and innovation, discussing the contributions of people such as engineer Curt Herzstark, inventor of a peppermill-like mechanical calculator, and ‘human computer’ Katherine Johnson, whose calculations were essential for NASA’s first space missions.
Why scientists shouldn’t eschew failure
It’s important to push back against the dominant narrative in academia that success is the rule and failure is a crime, say scientists who have bounced back from setbacks. Sometimes, failure can be a springboard to leap into a satisfying career path — and sharing experiences “takes a little bit of the stress off, so [people] can relax a little bit and just do their best”, says microbiologist Kati Geszvain, who “crashed and burned” on exams in her first PhD programme. Stop pondering what could go wrong and start thinking about what to do when it inevitably does, suggests molecular biologist Pearl Akazue. “Lots of things will not be within your power.”
The organoids that mirror menstruation
Clusters of endometrial cells taken from the lining of the uterus — or from menstrual blood — can, if cultured long enough, self-organize into structures that respond to stimuli in ways that echo what happens in the uterus. These ‘organoids’ are giving scientists new insights into the marvelous, little-understood biological processes that underlie menstruation. They could lead to new treatments for period-related conditions such as endometriosis, new birth-control methods and a deeper understanding of the early stages of pregnancy. “I think it’s going to revolutionize the way we think about reproductive health,” says biomedical engineer Juan Gnecco.
MIT Technology Review | 15 min read
Infographic of the week
Rain formation is an intricate process that starts with supercooled water droplets freezing as they come into contact with an ice-nucleating particle. What remains unclear is how clouds produce enough of these nucleating particles to make rain. Researchers who observed tens of thousands of droplets in the lab have discovered that approximately 60% split and release particles during freezing. (Nature | 6 min read, Nature paywall)
