Why COVID's XBB.1.5 'Kraken' Variant Is So Contagious

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January 13, 2023

Epidemiology Why COVID's XBB.1.5 'Kraken' Variant Is So Contagious A new variant of the virus that causes COVID has mutations that make it more transmissible, but vaccines are still likely to protect against severe disease By Ed Browne

Genetics Aging Is Linked to More Activity in Short Genes Than in Long Genes A detailed examination of gene activity in various organisms, including humans, reveals a new hallmark of the aging process By Diana Kwon

Plants See the Largest Flower Ever Found Encased in Amber A rare flower encased in amber is the largest one ever found and dates from around 40 million years ago By Jack Tamisiea

Sponsor Content Provided by Battelle Climate Resilience: Impactful Innovation is Needed Today What’s most needed right now are outcome-driven, scientific approaches committed to delivering breakthrough technologies and capabilities—ones that leverage the fundamental knowledge of the past and apply it in new mission-driven methods that reach beyond what is possible today.

Particle Physics Scientists See Quantum Interference between Different Kinds of Particles for First Time A newly discovered interaction related to quantum entanglement between dissimilar particles opens a new window into the nuclei of atoms By Stephanie Pappas

Weather Why California Is Being Deluged by Atmospheric Rivers California has been hit by repeated storms fueled by torrents of moisture called atmospheric rivers that will only intensify in a warming climate By Robin Meadows

Inequality The U.S. Could Help Solve Its Poverty Problem with a Universal Basic Income A universal basic income wouldn’t lead to adults leaving their jobs and could lift millions of children into a brighter future By Michael W. Howard

Climate Change Will Global Emissions Plateau in 2023? Four Trends to Watch A slow economy, clean energy spending, electric vehicles and heat pumps could offset coal combustion to level carbon emissions By Benjamin Storrow,E&E News

Engineering Flavor-Enhancing Spoons and Chopsticks Could Make Food Taste Better New types of cutlery can enhance flavors such as sweetness or saltiness for a more satisfying meal By Saugat Bolakhe

Pharmaceuticals 'Breakthrough' Obesity Drugs Are Effective but Raise Questions Drugs that reduce excess weight linked to chronic health problems have shown striking results in trials and in practice By McKenzie Prillaman,Nature magazine

Quantum Computing Are Quantum Computers about to Break Online Privacy? A new algorithm is probably not efficient enough to crack current encryption keys—but that’s no reason for complacency, researchers say By Davide Castelvecchi,Nature magazine

Astronomy A Recently Discovered Gas Cloud Near Andromeda Stumps Astronomers Clues to the origin of this enormous cloud of gas have been maddeningly vague By Phil Plait

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 326, Issue 3

BRING SCIENCE HOME Serve Illuminated Water Can you bend light--with water? Grab a flashlight, turn out the light, and find out!  Credit: George Retseck Light is fascinating! It can look like a wave or a particle; it can be red, blue or any color of the rainbow; you can even mix all the colors together to get white! It travels in straight lines and still appears to bend around objects. It can travel through air but it does not need it. Unlike sound, light can travel from distant stars through a vacuum and reach us millions of years later or it can be sent through fiber-optic cables and circle the world in less than a second! Does that sound impressive? How about pouring light from a bottle into a glass or sink? Does this sound too far-fetched to you? Try this activity and make it happen!

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