Yesterday, Margaret Keenan became the first person to get the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. It was the first step in a massive project to vaccinate tens of millions of people in the United Kingdom in just a few months.
Published in “Science”
Last Thursday, Time magazine announced that 15-year-old scientist Gitanjali Rao was its Kid of the Year for 2020. Gitanjali was chosen from over 5,000 young leaders for her scientific work and for inspiring others to also create change.
In today's news roundup, Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe returns asteroid samples to Earth, China's Chang'e-5 moon mission is on its way back with lunar samples, and a series of metal monoliths have appeared and disappeared around the world.
A research lab called DeepMind has created an artificial intelligence program which has largely solved a complicated puzzle that has challenged scientists for 50 years. The success could lead to huge advances in health care.
Under Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, more of the country's Amazon rainforest has been lost in the last year than in any of the last 12 years. The loss carries serious climate effects for the rest of the world.
Among the more unusual news stories recently…protesting lawmakers throw pig guts in Taiwan's parliament, an elephant is pulled out of a well with a crane in India, and a New Zealand city is forced to replace exploding parking sensors.
A group of second-year college students have discovered hidden writing on a page from a book from the 1500s. The students found the hidden writing using a special camera system they built.
A group of researchers in Europe have announced a 3-year project to collect information about the important smells of Europe, from the 1500s to the 1900s. One part of the project will be recreating the smells of long ago.
In today's news roundup, Central America struggles to recover from two strong late-season hurricanes, violence rocks Uganda following the arrest of a candidate for president, and the famous Arecibo Observatory will be shut down because of damage.
Last Friday, Tristan da Cunha, a tiny, remote island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean announced that it was creating one of the largest protected ocean areas in the world.
On Sunday, the rocket company SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station. It's NASA's first full flight with a private American space company, and marks a big change in the way that space travel will happen in the future.