Opposition to the Tokyo Olympics is intensifying in Japan
Vaccinations are proceeding slowly. But organisers insist the games will be “safe and secure”AS THE OLYMPIC torch passed through Hiroshima this week, organisers kept the relay away from the streets. A torch-lighting ceremony took place without spectators. Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), cancelled a planned visit. Hiroshima, along with Tokyo,…
RNA, good for vaccines, can also be used as a pesticide
May 19th 2021RIBONUCLEIC ACID (RNA), once little-known outside biological circles, has recently become the molecule de nos jours. The reason is its role in covid-19 vaccines. The RNA molecules in these encode spike, a coronavirus protein. So, when the protein-making machinery of a body cell encounters such RNA, spike is what it makes. That lets…
How to save the world’s orange groves
A bacterium threatens them. RNA may be their saviourMay 19th 2021CITRUS-GREENING disease is a bacterial infection of citrus-fruit trees, spread by insects called psyllids. It was first recorded a century ago, in China, and it has since spread widely. It can be extremely harmful. Within a decade of its arrival in Florida, for example, it…
As bitcoin lurches, Wall Street plots its way into cryptoland
To work out the fate of crypto-investing, watch what the banks do nextMay 19th 2021CRYPTO BUFFS have had a punishing week. On May 13th Tether, which issues a “stablecoin” widely used to facilitate bitcoin trading, said that just 2.9% of its $58bn-worth of coins are backed by cash reserves, feeding doubts about its dollar peg.…