GoKawiilIs there no such thing as a shark? Plus, the role of videogame icon Doom in science and how people with a religious connection to glaciers are responding to their loss.
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Developers of the computer game Doom released the game's code in 1997, allowing scientists to use it as part of their research.Credit: id Software via ArcadeImages/Alamy
The classic 1993 first-person shooter Doom has also spawned a subculture in which people port the game to devices never intended to play a videogame, from satellites to digital pregnancy tests. Last month, scientists taught neurons grown on a silicon chip to play the game. “Making something silly doesn’t take any less work than making something really technical,” says software developer and PhD candidate Mars Buttfield-Addison.
Nature | 6 min read
A genomic study of dozens of species and their close relatives suggests that all sharks might not be part of the same biological group, contrary to what studies using more-limited genetic data have suggested. When researchers looked at some ‘ultra-conserved’ parts of the genome, they found that a peculiar family of sharks called Hexanchiformes might be part of an evolutionary lineage that is distinct from the group that includes all other sharks, as well as skates and rays. Such hair-splitting doesn’t keep most scientists awake at night. But accurate family trees can help researchers to chart the evolution of key traits.
Nature | 7 min read
Reference: bioRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed)
Proposals are due today from institutions and private companies who want to take on pieces of the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a world-leading weather and climate research lab housed in an iconic building in Colorado, that is being broken up by the administration of US President Donald Trump. Space-weather forecasting firm Lynker, which has a former NCAR deputy director on its leadership team, has bid for the High Altitude Observatory. “Our thinking here was that this is important and we need to save it,” says Lynker chief Scott Rayder. “These are critical functions … They need to be kept together.” US legislators could still wrangle protections for NCAR, but nothing is certain.
The New York Times | 6 min read
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