Jennifer Barton of the University of Arizona has spent years developing a tiny imaging device, about 0.8 millimeters in diameter, to image the fallopian tubes and detect the earliest signs of ovarian cancer. The first use of the device in a volunteer participant, as part of a pilot clinical trial, marks a milestone in this process, which could ultimately change ovarian cancer screening protocols forever.

UCLA bioengineers have created a new type of petri dish in the form of microscopic, permeable particles that can dramatically speed up research and development (R&D) timelines of biological products, such as fatty acids for biofuels. Dubbed PicoShells, the picoliter (trillionth of a liter), porous, hydrogel particles can enable more than one million individual cells to be compartmentalized, cultured in production-relevant environments, and selected based on growth and biomass accumulation traits using standard cell-processing equipment.

eLTER announces its call for funded Transnational Access (TA) and Remote Access (RA) for scientists working in the areas of biodiversity, biogeochemistry, hydrology or socio-ecological research. All 39 sites in 19 countries are equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation to enable comprehensive ecological measurement and experimental campaigns. The long-term data on those sites is available to compare with or to be used as a reference. Likewise, state-of-the-art socio-economic research is conducted at several of them. IT facilities are provided for data upload, storage and processing. Financial support is available. For a full list of the sites, which were selected to represent all European biogeographic zones, please visit the eLTER PLUS TA/RA call for proposals webpage.

The English Channel prevents many rockpool species "making the jump" from Europe to the UK, new research shows.

What does a “resilient” forest look like in California’s Sierra Nevada? A lot fewer trees than we’re used to, according to a study of frequent-fire forests from the University of California, Davis.

Mild symptoms, poor knowledge of nearby testing sites, and certain demographic factors have been identified as barriers to COVID-19 testing, according to a new study of more than 4 million adults in the UK published this week in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health by Christina M. Astley of Boston Children’s Hospital, US, and colleagues from King’s College London. Testing is a crucial component of the COVID-19 public health response, even as countries roll out vaccination campaigns. In the UK, free PCR COVID-19 tests are offered to people with any of three symptoms: a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or a change in their sense of smell or taste. However, more than a quarter of people in the UK reporting these symptoms don’t get tested.

A new study of British households finds that, while overall alcohol purchases did not change after COVID-19 lockdown measures began in 2020, purchases did increase for households in socially disadvantaged areas and for households that normally buy more alcohol. Peter Anderson of Newcastle University, England, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on January 19, 2022.

As measured through Facebook shares/reshares, attention on climate change flagged during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave in Spring 2020

Changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet volume lag climate changes, such that today's climate could still be affecting its size in thousands of years' time