September 19, 2023: Finally a vaccine for RSV, dams around the world are at risk of collapse and Scientific American gets a new look. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | After a decades-long search, two vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have finally arrived for older adults. In May the FDA approved Glaxo-Smith-Kline's Arexvy, the first RSV vaccine for adults 60 and older, and Pfizer's Abrysvo for the same age group. GSK said its vaccine is 94 percent effective against severe disease and 83 percent effective against symptomatic disease in adults 60 and older. Pfizer said its vaccine is 86 percent effective against severe disease.
How it works: The new vaccines target the "F protein," the main attachment point where the virus fuses to the host cell, enters and hijacks the cell to reproduce itself. But the F protein isn't stable: as soon as it fuses to the cell it changes shape. And only targeting the "prefusion" shape effectively neutralizes the virus. Researchers figured out the structure of both forms of the protein and then screened more than 13,000 mouse antibodies until they found one that effectively neutralized RSV's prefusion version and stopped the virus in its tracks.
Beyond RSV: The RSV vaccine work paved the way for determining the spike protein structure of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, and enable Moderna, Pfizer and other companies to develop a COVID vaccine in record time. The era of protein-structure-based vaccine design—starting with figuring out a pathogen's protein structure and building a vaccine around it—has begun. | | | This week, two dams along the Wadi Derna river valley in northeastern Libya collapsed during Storm Daniel, a Mediterranean cyclone that dropped up to 16 inches of rain over parts of the North African country in a 24-hour period. The current death toll is above 5,000. The destroyed dams, first constructed in the 1970s, had reportedly not been maintained since 2002. A 2021 U.N. report assessed more than 50,000 large dams around the world, and found that many countries' dams are, on average, older than age 50 and are at increasing risk of failure. Why this matters: Most of the world's large dams were built between about 1950 and 1985. These dams are important infrastructure that provide reliable drinking water, agricultural irrigation, flood control and electricity. Yet dams have a limited life span, degrade over time and require upkeep. This includes in the U.S., which has the second-highest number of large dams in the world after China and where the average large dam is 65 years old. As climate change spurs more intense storms and flooding events, more dams will be at risk of failing.
What can be done: Regular maintenance, reinforcements and retrofitting can extend a dam's safe operation well past 100 years and bring a structure up to current standards, say experts. But many dams don't receive routine repairs and are not aging gracefully. Just making the recommended fixes to most U.S. dams would cost an estimated $157.5 billion. Investing in dams, creating early-warning systems and bolstering emergency planning are key. | | | Maxar satellite imagery shows a coastal highway and buildings after the catastrophic flooding that struck the Libyan city of Derna. Credit: Maxar Technologies/Getty Images | | | • A tectonic collision followed by the breakup of a supercontinent around 1.3 billion years caused an eruption of pink diamonds onto Earth's surface. | 4 min read | | | • NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew through a giant solar outburst of charged particles called a coronal mass ejection. | 3 min read | | | • A large portion of the American public enjoys seeing harm or misfortune befall those with whom they disagree politically. According to new research by Steven Webster, an assistant professor of political science at Indiana University-Bloomington, both sides of the political divide express joy when bad things happen to their political counterparts. Plus, "it is the most ideologically extreme partisans—the ones who vote in candidate-determining primaries—who are most likely to express schadenfreude," he writes. | 4 min read | | | Scientific American's logo has undergone subtle shifts, large leaps and occasional bouts of nostalgia since the magazine first launched in 1845. And we're still evolving! Our new logo (plus new magazine design) debuts today online with the October 2023 issue of the magazine. It was designed by Luke Hayman and colleagues from the design studio Pentagram. Read more about how our new look evolved here. | | | Readers of this newsletter have particularly sharp eyes. I'm sure some of you spotted our new newsletter logo at the top of this email. Let me know what you think! | Yes, logos and newsletters are always evolving. You can reach out to me anytime with feedback or suggestions: newsletters@sciam.com. See you tomorrow! | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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