Brazil's National Museum Gutted by Fire
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SEVEN DAYS The news in brief HEALTH STDs on the rise The incidence of several sexually transmitted diseases is rising steadily in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and RICARDO MORAES/REUTERS Prevention (CDC) said on 28 August. Nearly 2.3 million cases of gonorrhoea, syphilis and chlamydia were diagnosed last year, up from 2.1 million in 2016. The number of people diagnosed with gonorrhoea jumped by 67% between 2013 and 2017; syphilis diagnoses rose by 76% and chlamydia by 22%. Without prompt treatment, these infections can cause infertility and stillbirth, and increase the risk that a person will contract HIV. The CDC also says that the bacteria that cause gonorrhoea are Brazil’s national museum gutted by fire becoming more resistant to antibiotics. A huge fire devastated Brazil’s National Hemisphere. It’s not yet clear what caused Museum in Rio de Janeiro on the evening of the fire, but the lack of a sprinkler system, the ENERGY 2 September. Many of the archaeological finds dilapidated state of the building and the failure and historical memorabilia — some 20 million of the two fire hydrants closest to the museum Carbon-free energy items in all — are now feared to have been have all been blamed for the extent of the The California state legislature destroyed; museum officials told local media damage. Brazil’s education minister, Rossieli passed a bill on 29 August that as little as 10% of the collection might Soares, told reporters on 3 September that the that would require the state to have survived. The 200-year-old building federal government would spend an initial 15 generate 100% of its electricity housed several landmark collections, including million reais (US$3.6 million) to restore the from carbon-free sources by Egyptian and Greco-Roman artefacts and the structure and rebuild its collection, and would 2045. It would also increase oldest human-skull fossil found in the Western seek international help. the state’s existing carbon-free- electricity mandate for 2030 from 50% to 60%. Governor in Hinxton, UK. According of the investigation at Sanger, Japan’s exclusive economic Jerry Brown must now sign to The Guardian, which and that it would “await the zone southwest of the islets, the bill before it can become reported on the investigation outcome of that process before where foreign research vessels law. Once the regulation on 29 August, ten former commenting further”. require permission to operate. is enacted, California will and current staff members According to Japan’s coast become the second US state have accused leaders at Research-ship clash guard, the ship — managed to establish such a policy. the institute of bullying, Japan’s foreign ministry by South Korea’s National Hawaii was the first, enacting mistreatment of staff and lodged a complaint with the Institute of Fisheries Science a similar mandate in 2015. gender discrimination. The South Korean government (NIFS) in Busan — dropped Massachusetts, New Jersey, complaints include allegations on 28 August, after a Korean a black object into the sea and New York and Washington DC against the institute’s director, research ship was spotted left the zone before noon. The are also considering carbon- geneticist Michael Stratton. near a group of small islands NIFS has confirmed that the free-electricity mandates. The investigation will “ensure that both countries claim ship was conducting marine full and proper exploration as their own. The islets, research on that day, but gave EVENTS of these allegations”, an known as Dokdo in Korea no details of its location or institute spokesperson and Takeshima in Japan, are activities. Bullying probe said. The institute is owned controlled by South Korea, An investigation into by the Wellcome Trust, but sit in a joint fishing zone Salk lawsuit claims allegations of bullying is which unveiled a landmark where the nations’ claims also A California court has thrown under way at the prestigious anti-bullying policy in May. overlap. Japan asserts that the out a retaliation claim in a Wellcome Sanger Institute The trust said that it is aware ship, Tamgu 20, was seen in gender-discrimination lawsuit 10 | NATURE | VOL 561 | 6 SEPTEMBER 2018©2018 Spri nger Nature Li mited. All ri ghts reserved. ©2018 Spri nger Nature Li mited. All ri ghts reserved. SEVEN DAYS THIS WEEK against the Salk Institute that the spacecraft needs to including decaying into two for Biological Studies. On survive. When the dust abates, photons. In June, researchers 30 August, a judge dismissed NASA will listen for signals revealed that they had also molecular biologist Beverly from the rover, and send it seen the Higgs interact with Emerson’s claim that the messages, for at least 45 days. the top quark. The bottom- institute in La Jolla, California, The agency will continue to quark decay, announced on let her contract expire in listen in a more passive mode 28 August, is expected by December 2017 because of until at least January 2019. By theory, but the signal had been the suit she had filed that July. then, the Martian summer difficult to single out from the The court also ruled that a will have given way to autumn many other processes that can ALEXANDROS MICHAILIDIS/SHUTTERSTOCK key piece of evidence for the at Opportunity’s landing also produce those particles. claim — an e-mail from Salk’s site. That change in seasons former president, Elizabeth interview on the radio station could kick up windstorms Retraction report Blackburn, suggesting that France Inter. Hulot (pictured), and clear any dust coating the A Chinese university has litigation might hurt Emerson’s a popular environmental rover’s solar panels. The recent concluded that the authors of career — is confidential activist who became Macron’s Martian dust storm is one of a controversial gene-editing material that should not go environment minister last May, the most extensive ever seen on paper that was later retracted before jurors. Emerson alleges had declined previous offers the red planet. did not intend to deceive that systemic bias at the to join government, saying the scientific community. institute limited her pay and that he had more influence RESEARCH The paper detailed how an professional advancement and as an activist. But a year after enzyme called NgAgo could blocked her from resources taking the job, Hulot expressed Higgs decay edit genomes with similar such as research funding. The frustration with the slow pace The ATLAS and CMS accuracy to the CRISPR–Cas9 gender-discrimination trial is of progress in politics, and said experiments at the Large gene-editing system (F. Gao scheduled for 7 December. that short-term demands on Hadron Collider (LHC) et al. Nature Biotechnol. 34, government detracted from have observed a previously 768–773; 2016). But the PEOPLE its ability to tackle long-term undetected way in which the paper’s main finding was issues such as climate change Higgs boson can decay — into within months challenged French minister and the decline of biodiversity a particle called the bottom by scientists who failed to François de Rugy, speaker of and natural resources. quark, and its antiparticle. The reproduce the results. On the French National Assembly, experiments, based at CERN, 2 August last year, the authors was appointed France’s SPACE Europe’s particle-physics agreed to retract the paper. environment minister on laboratory outside Geneva, Last week, Hebei University 4 September. De Rugy is a Mars-rover vigil Switzerland, discovered of Science and Technology former green-party politician NASA is waiting for a massive the Higgs, a key part of the in Shijiazhuang announced who switched to President dust storm on Mars to ebb mechanism that gives other that its investigation found Emmanuel Macron’s party, before attempting to waken the particles their masses, in no basis for thinking that the La République En Marche, in sleeping Opportunity rover, 2012. LHC researchers have original experiments should last year’s legislative elections. the agency said on 30 August. accumulated evidence of be republished. (Nature’s His predecessor, Nicolas Hulot, The 14-year-old rover went the particle decaying into a news team is editorially resigned his post on 28 August silent on 10 June, after the variety of products, following independent of Nature during a dramatic live storm obscured the sunlight theoretical predictions, Biotechnology.) TREND WATCH CANCE-DUG PAYMENTS One-third of 344 oncologist researchers involved in drug trials HTTPS://DOI. published in leading oncology journals failed to fully disclose payments An analysis of cancer-drug trials sponsor during the period of the from companies that sponsored the studies. published in leading journals trial. Under the US Affordable finds that about one-third of US Care Act, such payments must be Disclosed Undisclosed authors failed to fully disclose declared by drug companies in the Lancet: Haematology ET AL. JAMA ONCOL. ET payments from trial sponsors. publicly available Open Payments Journal of Clinical Researchers led by Cole Wayant, database. The researchers cross- Oncology a meta-researcher at Oklahoma referenced these payments with Lancet: Oncology ORG/10.1001/JAMAONCOL.2018.3738 (2018). ORG/10.1001/JAMAONCOL.2018.3738 State University in Tulsa, searched conflict-of-interest declarations for cancer drugs approved made by the authors in the SOURCE: C. WAYANT SOURCE: C. WAYANT by the US Food and Drug journal articles, and added up JAMA Oncology Administration between January the total amounts disclosed and New England Journal 2016 and August 2017. They undisclosed for each article. of Medicine then looked for related clinical Of the 344 oncologist authors Lancet trials and identified the key for whom the researchers had publication for each trial. For any data, 110 (32%) had not fully Overall US physician-oncologist authors disclosed payments from the named on a study, Wayant’s team sponsor.