Scientists

As rising temperatures melt glaciers, meltwater can accumulate and form lakes nearby. These bodies of water represent a natural hazard because of the floods they cause if they overflow. Researchers have estimated that 15 million people are at risk from these floods, and more than half of them live in just four countries: India, Pakistan, Peru and China. The research is published in Nature Communications.

Early this morning, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. The authorities have reported thousands of deaths and extensive material damage. A second earthquake has occurred further north than the previous one.

News of cancer vaccines proliferate in the media, yet only one such vaccine has been approved - against metastatic prostate cancer - and is no longer in use. However, only one as such has been approved - against metastatic prostate cancer - and it is no longer in use. Are the attention and hopes justified? What do they consist of and how are they similar to traditional ones? Are they preventive or therapeutic? Can they be universal or will they be extremely personalised? How much will they cost? This is what we know today.

Researchers have analysed the efficacy of the meningococcal serogroup B vaccine (4CMenB, Bexsero) in more than 1,500 children under five years of age in Spain. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that full vaccination was effective in preventing invasive meningococcal disease of both serogroup B and other serogroups in this child population. The vaccine, which had been sold privately in Spain since 2015, had already been included by several autonomous communities in their vaccination schedules. Last December, the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS) approved its inclusion in the vaccination schedule for the whole of Spain.

Beta-blockers (β-blockers) are drugs to treat heart conditions that are also used for anxiety. According to research published in PLOS Medicine, periods of treatment with these drugs are associated with a lower risk of being charged by the police with a violent crime - a 13% lower risk than periods without treatment. The research, which included nearly 1.5 million people in Sweden between 2006 and 2013, does not support the use of these drugs to treat anxiety.

Nature's ban on publishing papers written by ChatGPT has brought several debates to the table: is it ethical to use it to produce science texts, and if so, should it sign them? Just as we don't make the Word proofreader a co-author of our articles, let's not make fools of ourselves by giving these new tools the status of co-authors as if they had an entity of their own.

A meta-analysis of 42 studies from 15 countries, including Spain, concludes that the covid-19 pandemic caused learning delays in school-aged children and a loss of knowledge equivalent to 35% of the learning of a school year. The research, published in Nature Human Behaviour, highlights that these effects persisted over time.

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) International Health Regulations Committee on Emergencies has decided to maintain the covid-19 pandemic as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) after meeting last Friday.

A study published in PLOS Medicine estimates that the implementation of sugary drinks taxes in the UK in 2018 was associated with an 8 % reduction in obesity in English girls aged 10-11, particularly among those living in more deprived areas.

The rate of death by suicide in Spain has increased between 2018 and 2021, according to a report presented today by the Complutense University of Madrid, the Centre for Biomedical Research in Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM) and the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, which points to the influence of the pandemic in this increase. In 2021, a total of 4,003 people died from this cause, 5.5% more than in 2018. During the pandemic, mortality by suicide was greater among people living in large cities and provincial capitals. The report, which includes data from 2000 to 2021, also shows the increase in deaths by suicide that occurred during the period of the economic crisis, from 2008 to 2014.