GoKawiilCareers coaches shed some light on multi-stage interviews for roles in industry. Plus, a man’s ability to make sperm has been restored by a testicular-tissue transplant and the deadly toll of a ‘disease of the built environment’.
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Developing sperm cells (blue; artificially coloured) fill the centre of seminiferous tubules (orange), which form the human testis.Credit: Susumu Nishinaga/Science Photo Library
A man’s ability to make sperm has been restored after a transplant of tissue samples that were removed from one of his testicles and frozen 16 years earlier, when he was ten years old. The samples were taken shortly before he received chemotherapy treatments that put his fertility at risk. Whether the sperm collected from the transplanted tissue can successfully fertilize an egg, and produce a healthy baby, remains to be seen. But the achievement could mark the beginning of a new wave of fertility treatments, scientists say.
Nature | 5 min read
Reference: medRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed)
Earlier this month, the US government approved a plan to launch a giant mirror into orbit to reflect sunlight onto shadowed parts of Earth — the first of a planned 50,000 mirror-bearing satellites. Reflect Orbital, the start-up behind the plan, say that this ‘manufactured daylight’ could increase agricultural productivity, aid natural-disaster relief efforts and allow solar panels to make electricity at night. But many astronomers are worried that the mirror beams will interfere with sensitive telescopes and increase light pollution.
Nature | 5 min read
The UK government has finally revealed how it will slash overseas development funding by 40% in 2027 to increase spending on national defence. Programmes in some of the poorest countries, including Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania, will be worst hit. “Some of the UK’s most enduring development partnerships are receiving cuts of up to 92%,” noted legislator Sarah Champion in her role as chair of the cross-party committee that oversees international development. “It is chilling to consider the consequences of these decisions.”
Science | 7 min read
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