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Hello Nature Index readers, Amid the challenges of the pandemic, researchers have published important advances in areas such as quantum computing, superconductivity, and ageing. We look back at some of these stand-out studies, ranked by Altmetric attention score, which measures coverage from media outlets and social media channels. Of course, attention isn't always a positive thing - these lists include two controversial studies that drew public criticism, one related to autism and the other to AI. Also this week, a video that explores the various mutations of COVID-19. |
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The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus seems to be acquiring mutations at a rapid rate. Sara Reardon and Dominic Smith from Scientific American explain what the new variants are, how they arise and are transmitted, and what they could mean for the new vaccines. The clip below features the N501Y mutation, estimated to have first emerged in the UK in September 2020, and the E484K mutation, first identified in South Africa. Watch the full video. | ||||||||||||||||||
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You can lead a reader to an article, but how do you make them click? This study, written up by Science, confirms that your paper getting some attention on Twitter doesn’t mean that anyone is actually reading it. A review of 1.1 million Twitter links to published research articles found that half drew no clicks and only about 10% received more than 10. So even if your Altmetric score says your article has reached an audience of millions, the vast majority of this audience will probably do no more than scan a tweet about it, if that. In the case of preprints, even those who go so far as to read a journalistic write-up of your research are unlikely to appreciate that it’s not been verified, because only three in five media outlets bother to mention that fact, according to this study in Health Communication, written up by Times Higher Education. The general lack of understanding of the scientific process has been a constant lament among scientists during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the hope that the crisis will lead to better understanding seems a forlorn one. This working paper from the US National Bureau of Economic Research looks at 2018 survey data from individuals who were exposed to epidemics in their country of residence between the "impressionable" ages of 18-25 in 138 countries. An epidemic’s effect "significantly reduces trust in scientists and in the benefits of their work," the authors conclude. This distrust translates into lower compliance with health-related policies, such as lower rates of vaccination in children. The authors say a key reason for the reduced trust is that people with little knowledge of the scientific process see scientists disagreeing with each other, or disputing the findings of studies, and interpret these exchanges as indicators of widespread bias or dishonesty in the scientific community. It appears science has more work to do to explain itself. |
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You have been sent this email because you have signed up to receive the Nature Index newsletter. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. Nature | The Springer Nature Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom Nature | Shiroyama Trust Tower 5F, 4-3-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan Nature Research, part of Springer Nature. © 2020 Springer Nature Limited. All rights reserved. |