Inside Science Weekly Newsletter

View in browser Hello to everyone out there! Our team at Inside Science is thrilled to share our most recent stories with you. This week Haley Weiss dove headlong into the fun fluid mechanics that explain the seeming impossibility of disrupting toothpaste's stripey-ness, even after you mix it into a gray mess. To understand why it's so difficult to engineer or otherwise develop synthetic blood, read Benjamin Plackett's feature about how far the search for new sources of blood has come, and how much more development remains before it's likely to be used in transfusions. Also, related to the fabulous story from Quanta Magazine that we shared last week, is our own story on the James Webb Space Telescope, written by Will Sullivan. Not only is this incredible telescope poised to launch into space next week, it's going to travel to a unique location, the second Lagrange point, known as L2. It's that special spot, in parallel to Earth's orbit, but 1% farther away from the sun, where the telescope will eventually settle, shield itself from the sun and look deeper into the universe than humans have ever seen. Next week we will send another email with the most memorable stories and videos that we've published this year. If you had any favorite Inside Science stories or videos that you'd like to know more about, please let us know -- by email (cgorski@aip.org) or on social media. Thanks for reading, and if you enjoy this email, please share it with your friends. —Chris Gorski, Senior Editor Featured Story NASA's Next-Generation Space Telescope Will Do Science at a Special Spot A million miles from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope will provide an unprecedented view of the early universe. By Will Sullivan, Staff Writer Inside Science's Latest Stories How the Toothpaste Got its Stripes A mystery that captivated the internet has a simple answer. At least, that's what Colgate says. By Haley Weiss, Staff Writer What's Stopping Scientists from Making Viable Synthetic Blood? The centurieslong pursuit may finally be progressing, but designing ethical ways to test these products is a sizable challenge. By Benjamin Plackett, Contributor The Wondrous Physics of Spinning Tops The complex dynamics of spinning tops, such as dreidels, allow for bewildering designs and handy physics demos. By Zack Savitsky, Contributor Other Popular Stories from Inside Science Mathematicians Scrutinize the Challenge of Efficient Christmas Cookie Cutting Tom Metcalfe, Contributor New Images Reveal the Ravaged Landscape of COVID-19 Lungs in Unprecedented Detail Haley Weiss, Staff Writer Christmas Carol Talk Devin Powell, Contributor What We're Reading Omicron spreads faster than any other variant, WHO says. It's now in 77 countries By Bill Chappell, NPR The omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading faster than any previous variant, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. It seems to have a tremendously high transmission rate, and is evading the protection offered by vaccines and previous infection. It's possible that this mutated version of the virus may cause less severe disease, but that's based on an interpretation of the current data, and more information could change that view. The WHO advises that it's critical to get vaccines to more people, especially in the countries that haven't been able to vaccinate large portions of their populations, as is continuing to wear masks and take other precautions. Discovering Dr. Wu By Jada Yuan, Washington Post Renowned physicist Chien-Shiung Wu is the subject of this terrific essay, written by politics writer Jada Yuan -- who's also Wu's granddaughter. I hesitate to spoil much about this, except to say that it serves as both a profile of one of the most accomplished physicists of the 20th century and an exploration of what that means to her family. Why do thieves keep stealing catalytic converters? It's elemental By Greg Miller, Illustrated by Maki Naro, Knowable Magazine Have you heard that thieves steal catalytic converters from cars? These are the emissions-reducing devices that convert nasty compounds from exhaust into less harmful gases. But they also happen to contain significant amounts of valuable metals. This portrayal uses the techniques of a graphic novel to tell a story about science. It's creative, fun and well worth checking out. Read More from Inside Science Copyright 2021 American Institute of Physics. Inside Science syndicates its articles, columns, blogs and videos to news organizations. 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