No. 1Cosmology
Canadian telescope detects faint hydrogen glow from the distant universe
CHIME, a radio telescope in British Columbia, has for the first time picked up the faint radio glow of hydrogen from the distant universe using only its own data. Earlier work had to be compared against galaxy surveys from other telescopes. The signal comes from when the universe was about five billion years old, and it was pulled from 94 nights of 2019 observations. The team spent more than a year testing that it wasn't a false alarm. They also estimate that roughly two per cent of the universe's hydrogen was neutral and atomic then. Nearly seven years of data remain, and the team hopes to reach back to when the universe was three billion years old.
No. 2Public health
Proposed census changes could hurt health research, an epidemiologist argues
The Trump administration wants three changes to the U.S. Census. It would drop questions on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, exclude anyone who is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident, and change how it decides where people like college students and seasonal retirees live. Social epidemiologist Nancy Krieger, writing in an opinion piece for STAT, says this would be a serious problem. Her reasoning is that race and ethnicity data underpin how researchers track illness and death. Federal programs also use those data to decide who qualifies for help and where resources go. This is one expert's argument about changes that haven't passed, not a finished policy.
Why it mattersConsider how the numbers behind health tracking and federal aid could change if these proposals go forward.
Full story at STAT →No. 3Outbreaks
Did Russia follow reporting rules after a lab worker's death?
The question is whether Russia met its obligations under a global treaty after a laboratory worker died. The treaty has 197 signatories, Russia among them. It requires countries to report any death that could be an early sign of a coming outbreak. The summary we have doesn't describe the death itself or say what Russia did or didn't report, so the answer isn't clear from it.
No. 4Medicine
Review finds drugmaker gifts to doctors raise inappropriate prescribing
A Cochrane review pooled dozens of earlier studies on how the pharmaceutical industry influences medical practice. It found that gifts and payments to doctors increased inappropriate prescribing and the number of prescriptions written, likely pushing up health care costs. Advertising and education aimed at doctors may also raise inappropriate prescribing. They probably increase prescription numbers and may raise costs. Policies that restrict or manage company-doctor interactions probably improved prescribing. Evidence was too thin to say whether free samples and similar promotions affect which drugs hospitals put on their formularies.
Why it mattersYou can better judge how much a doctor's financial ties might matter, and why disclosure and conflict-of-interest rules have evidence behind them.
Full story at STAT →No. 5Space
NASA tests experimental heat shield materials on a departing cargo ship's trash
When the Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft left the International Space Station, it carried 12 small capsules from the KREPE-3 experiment, designed by University of Kentucky students. As the vehicle breaks apart in the atmosphere, the capsules will eject and measure temperature, pressure, motion, magnetic field and light. Satellite signals will send the data live to researchers. The materials include old shuttle-style ceramic tile, a 3D-printed shield, and a stitched carbon-fiber family called MERINO that is a candidate for Mars missions. One capsule tests an umbrella-shaped deployable shield. Results aren't reported yet.
Why it mattersYou can see how NASA is getting real flight data on future Moon and Mars heat shields cheaply, by using a trip the spacecraft was making anyway.
Full story at NASA →