Study highlights mRNA-based vaccines and therapies. A new Zika vaccine candidate has the potential to protect against the virus with a single dose, according to a research team led by scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. As reported in Nature this week, preclinical tests showed promising immune responses in both mice and monkeys. “We observed rapid and durable protective immunity without adverse events, and so we think this candidate vaccine represents a promising strategy for the global fight against Zika virus,” said Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, a professor of Infectious Disease at Penn. “We hope to start clinical trials in 12 to 18 months.”

Prompted by the recent Zika virus outbreaks in Latin America and some parts of the United States, scientis...

Multiple Colors Output on Voile through 3D Colloidal Crystals with Robust Mechanical Properties

“Fast fashion” might be cheap, but its high environmental cost from dyes polluting the water near factories has been well documented. To help stem the tide of dyes from entering streams and rivers, scientists report in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a nonpolluting method to color textiles using 3D colloidal crystals.

Dyes and pigments are chemical colors that produce their visual effect by selectively absorbing and reflecting specific wavelengths of visible light. Structural or physical colors – such as those of opals, peacock feathers and butterfly wings – result from light-modifying micro- and nanostructures...

W. Mtangi et al., Control of Electrons’ Spin Eliminates Hydrogen Peroxide Formation During Water Splitting, Journal of the American Chemical Society (30 January 2017). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b12971

A big obstacle in the production of hydrogen through water splitting is that H2O2 is also formed, which affects the efficiency stability of the reaction and the stability of the production. Researchers have now succeeded in controlling the spin of electrons in the reaction and thereby almost fully suppress the production of hydrogen peroxide in the electrochemical cell.

Led by professors Bert Meijer (Eindhoven University of Technology) and Ron Naaman (Weizmann Institute), the researchers are the first to have specifically investigated the role of the spin – the internal magnetic moment – of electron...

Something slammed into the surface of Mars 1 million years ago, hitting a volcano or lava plain. This impact ejected rocks into space. Fragments of these rocks crossed Earth’s orbit and fell as meteorites. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Houston

Analysis of a Martian meteorite found in Africa in 2012 has uncovered evidence of at least 2 billion years of volcanic activity on Mars. This confirms that some of the longest-lived volcanoes in the solar system may be found on the Red Planet. Shield volcanoes and lava plains formed from lava flowing over long distances, similar to the formation of the Hawaiian Islands. The largest Martian volcano, Olympus Mons, is nearly 17 miles high. That’s almost triple the height of Earth’s tallest volcano, Mauna Kea, at 6.25 miles...