Lurks

A study has found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can remain in the lungs for up to 18 months post-infection, challenging the notion that it’s undetectable after initial recovery. This persistence is linked to a failure in the innate immune system. The research, confirming the existence of ‘viral reservoirs’ similar to those in HIV, highlights the role of NK cells in controlling these reservoirs. This discovery is crucial for understanding long COVID and the mechanisms of viral persistence. A groundbreaking study reveals that…

A few years ago, the researchers decided to put a superconducting metal called strontium ruthenate in their crosshairs. Its structure is similar to that of a mysterious class of copper-based “cuprate” superconductors, but it can be manufactured in a more pristine way. While the team didn’t learn the secrets of the cuprates, the material responded in a way that Ali Husain, who had refined the technique as part of his doctorate, didn’t understand.Husain found that ricocheting electrons were sapped of their energy and…

Image: NetflixIt’s never good when your TV stops working—for many reasons, some of which Netflix itself could quickly rattle off. But it’s really never good when the forces of nature around you start acting very oddly, as we see in this new clip from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail’s new Netflix film, Leave the World Behind.The clip, which was revealed as part of Geeked Week, ends with a little tease of the rest of the movie, suggesting that a few too many deer in the yard is hardly the most off-putting thing it contains.…

via Redbox Entertainment Nobody was expecting cinematic excellence from The Fanatic, which saw slumming former A-lister John Travolta sign up for another low-rent action thriller, with the added curiosity factor of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst co-writing the script and directing. The only memorable thing about the movie is Travolta’s astonishingly terrible wig, which we completely understand was a deliberate stylistic choice, albeit one so attention-grabbing that it managed to steal the attention away from…

By the early ’90s, ecologists had amassed enough time-series data sets on species populations and enough computing power to test these ideas. There was just one problem: The chaos didn’t seem to be there. Only about 10 percent of the examined populations seemed to change chaotically; the rest either cycled stably or fluctuated randomly. Theories of ecosystem chaos fell out of scientific fashion by the mid-1990s.The new results from Rogers, Munch and their Santa Cruz mathematician colleague Bethany Johnson, however,…

A woman dressed up as Marianne, a woman symbol of the French republic since the 1789 revolution, holds a French flag during a May Day demonstration in Marseille, southern France, May 1, 2022. Two landmark new studies in France are busting myths about immigration, at a time when xenophobic far-right discourse has gained ground, highlighting that immigration is melting into society but also pointing out persistent discrimination against some groups with…

We often think of plants as sedate, tranquil organisms that can't help but keep to themselves. But not all plants are harmless wallflowers.Carnivorous plants, as the name suggests, eat prey – mostly bugs, but also small animals, and other nutrient-rich matter.  While the whole idea seems vaguely nightmarish at first, these "ecologically unique" plants need our protection just like any other threatened organism; and we're still finding examples of these carnivores we've never even noticed before.In the latest such…

via IFC Midnight The serial killer thriller is an enduringly popular genre, and has been for decades, but even the most ardent of supporters may not be aware that one of the year’s best examples has already been and gone, with Watcher flying almost completely under the radar. Writer and director Chloe Okuno’s feature-length debut premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and quietly scored a theatrical release earlier this month where it brought in just shy of $2 million at the box office, but even a…