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Pipes for Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are loaded onto a ship at a German port, June 1, 2021. Stefan Sauer/picture alliance via Getty Images Lena Surzhko Harned, Penn State The recent U.S.-Russia summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin suggests that a controversial Russian natural gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, is a done deal. If completed as …

Chinese engineers pose after welding the first seamless rails for the China-Laos railway in Vientiane, Laos, June 18, 2020. Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua via Getty Images Blake Alexander Simmons, Boston University; Kevin P. Gallagher, Boston University, and Rebecca Ray, Boston University China is shaping the future of economic development through its Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious multi-billion-dollar international push to better …

Megan Clement, The Conversation The European Medicines Agency has said that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective, and not associated with an increased overall risk of developing blood clots. The regulator conducted a review of the vaccine after a small number of people developed blood clots in Europe after receiving the vaccine. Thirteen countries suspended the use of the …

Abedin Taherkenareh/AAP Jessie Moritz, Australian National University Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a Middle East expert from the University of Melbourne, has now been held by the Iranian government for almost two years. She was arrested in September 2018 and then convicted of spying and sentenced to ten years’ jail. She has denied all allegations against her, and the Australian government rejects the …

Shutterstock Jodie L. Rummer, James Cook University; Bridie JM Allan, University of Otago; Charitha Pattiaratchi, University of Western Australia; Ian A. Bouyoucos, James Cook University; Irfan Yulianto, IPB University, and Mirjam van der Mheen, University of Western Australia The Pacific Ocean is the deepest, largest ocean on Earth, covering about a third of the globe’s surface. An ocean that vast …

Gustavo Frazao Sebastian Leuzinger, Auckland University of Technology CC BY-ND Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz What would happen if we cut down the entire Amazon rainforest? …

Rahaf Aldoughli, Lancaster University When I picture Syria, the first thing I see in my mind’s eye are the statues of the late Syrian president, Hafez al-Assad, in military attire – there’s one in almost every square. But it’s not just statues in the urban spaces, this muscular image of the nation permeates popular culture – Syria is symbolically depicted …

Nature (2020) doi:10.1038/d41586-020-02632-7 English article   Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty أنتجت الأقمشة الصناعية حوالي 5.6 مليون طن من الألياف الدقيقة منذ عام 1950، مسببةً تلوثًا لليابسة والماء على حد سواء فعند غسل الأنسجة الصناعية، مثل الصوف القطبي والنايلون، تتساقط منها أليافٌ بلاستيكية دقيقة. وقد كشفت أبحاث سابقة عن وجود هذه الألياف الدقيقة في العديد من الأنظمة الإيكولوجية المتنوعة، لكن هذه هي …

Richard Whitcombe/Shutterstock Víctor Resco de Dios, Universitat de Lleida El cambio climático es consecuencia de las emisiones indiscriminadas de gases con efecto invernadero procedentes, principalmente, de la quema de combustibles fósiles. Las actividades humanas emiten 11 gigatoneladas de carbono (GtC) anuales. A día de hoy, la mitad de estas emisiones nos salen gratis desde el punto de vista climático: 3 GtC …

F8 studio/Shutterstock Carmen Álvarez Domínguez, UNIR – Universidad Internacional de La Rioja El reciente anuncio de Oxford suspendiendo el ensayo clínico con la vacuna para SARS-CoV-2 debido a un efecto adverso denominado Mellitis transversa, una inflamación de la médula espinal, tras un análisis rutinario de un voluntario vacunado, es una buena noticia por varias razones. Primero, refleja que las agencias …