The sentencing of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison on February 8 on charges of sedition and collusion with foreign forces prompted international outrage.

Lai founded the now shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper – and supporters of press freedom around the world pointed to the chilling effect the sentence would have on the media, in a city once vaunted as a beacon for press freedom in Asia.

The Moon crossed the Sun’s path on February 17, causing what is known as an annular solar eclipse. The Sun was not covered completely, but the Moon blocked enough of its light to leave a fiery ring. Unless you’re deep in the southern hemisphere, you won’t have noticed.

Skin accounts for around 15% of our body mass. It is the largest and most visible organ in the human body.

Yet many of the skin’s functions are often overlooked. It’s a sunscreen, a shield from germs, a reservoir of vitamin D and a means of tightly regulating our body temperature.

Like other countries, the UK implemented a number of initiatives to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s economic circumstances. While we know these schemes supported household finances, now we’re beginning to understand how they affected mental health.

I’m often told that degrowth, the planned downscaling of production and consumption to reduce the pressure on Earth’s ecosystems, is a tough sell. But a 36-year-old associate professor at Tokyo University has made a name for himself arguing that “degrowth communism” could halt the escalating climate emergency.

Midsummer is the time for forecasts of the size of this year’s “dead zones” and algal blooms in major lakes and bays. Will the Gulf of Mexico dead zone be the size of New Jersey, or only as big as Connecticut?

A growing number of governments and companies are adopting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions targets. These targets often evoke nature as a way to store or remove carbon from the atmosphere to counter the climate effect of other emissions.

As high global oil prices, spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, drive up the price of fuel and many other things too, there’s pressure on Australian politicians to offer some relief.

There are calls for the federal government to cut the fuel excise (currently 44.2 cents a litre) and for state governments to also respond.

Neil Young has given Spotify an ultimatum: remove the Joe Rogan Experience podcast or Neil Young walks. In a letter to his management team and label, the 79-year-old rocker lambasted Spotify for spreading Rogan’s misinformation about COVID vaccinations.

“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” said Young to his management team and record label.

Though invasive weeds can devastate native plant communities, a recent study featured in the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management shows that efforts to manage those weeds can also cause harm.

It took a global pandemic, but the critical role of messenger RNA in all of life’s functions has taken center stage in the past year with the successful rollout of mRNA vaccines to combat the SARS-Cov-2 virus.

In two new papers published the week of Jan. 17, the lab of Yale’s Wendy Gilbert sheds light on how mRNAs are born and how they regulate production of proteins inside of our cells once they reach maturity. The findings have implications not only for achieving effective doses for new vaccines, but for helping determine the biological roots of many cancers and diseases.

A common suggestion is to restore natural CO2 reservoirs on the coasts that have been destroyed in many locations during the past decades. This includes mangrove forests, salt marshes and what are known as seagrass meadows. Seagrasses are aquatic plants that thrive in shallow, light-flooded water and are anchored by their roots to the soft seabed. For many animal species, such as manatees that live in tropical waters, seagrass meadows are vital grazing grounds. At the same time, they serve as nurseries all over the world for numerous young fish.

A chewing gum laced with a plant-grown protein serves as a “trap” for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, reducing viral load in saliva and potentially tamping down transmission, according to a new study.

People choose whether to seek or avoid information about their health, finances and personal traits based on how they think it will make them feel, how useful it is, and if it relates to things they think about often, finds a new study.

Pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions are very welcome – but accurate monitoring across the globe is crucial if we are to meet targets and combat the devastating consequences of global warming.

During COP26 in Glasgow, many countries have set out their targets to reach net-zero by the middle of this century.