Omicron's Surprising Anatomy Explains Why It Is Wildly Contagious

Trouble viewing? View in your browser. View all Scientific American publications.

    

February 11, 2022

Microbiology Omicron's Surprising Anatomy Explains Why It Is Wildly Contagious Specific mutations hide the COVID variant from the immune system and give it a new route into more cells By Megan Scudellari

Animals Answering an Age Old Mystery: How do Birds Actually Fly? Equally surprising is the fact that we still do not know how birds actually stay airborne. By Emily Schwing | 06:14

Sports Olympic Ski Jumping: Falling or Flying in Style? An interplay of gravity, lift and drag allows athletes to soar astonishingly far through the air By Amy Pope,The Conversation US

Climate Change Earth Could Surpass Ability of Ecosystems to Recover from Warming Scientists outlined the risks of climate inaction ahead of a major IPCC report later this month By Sara Schonhardt,E&E News

Education How to Be a Great Leader in Science Building a positive research environment requires intention, support and a belief that kindness isn't weakness By Alison L. Antes

Artificial Intelligence AI Outraces Human Champs at the Video Game Gran Turismo The program also challenges certain assumptions about self-driving cars By Sophie Bushwick

Policy There Is Nothing Normal about One Million People Dead from COVID Mass media and policy makers are pushing for a return to pre-COVID times while trying to normalize a staggering death toll By Steven W. Thrasher

Astronomy Possible Third Planet Spotted around Proxima Centauri, Our Sun's Nearest Neighbor Star Proxima d might be only a quarter the mass of Earth, potentially making it one of the smallest worlds yet discovered beyond our solar system By Mike Wall,SPACE.com

Policy Eric Lander's Departure Is a Step toward Safer Workplaces in Science The investigation into Lander's management shows the importance of equitable leadership and strong protections By Andrew A. Rosenberg

Particle Physics How to Levitate Ice--With Science New research leverages old physics to turn ice pucks into hovercraft By Joanna Thompson

Renewable Energy White House Rolls Out $5 Billion Electric Vehicle Charging Program The announcement unleashes a flood of federal money to states for the construction of a national network of charging stations By Arianna Skibell,E&E News

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Health & Medicine, Volume 4, Issue 1

ADVERTISEMENT

FROM THE ARCHIVE Why Is Omicron So Contagious? The new coronavirus variant may be better than other versions at avoiding human immune defenses—but that ability may change in different countries By Charles Schmidt | December 2021

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us