Universal flu clue
A protein found in every kind of flu virus might make a vaccine that will protect against flu once and for all. An immune response to the protein, which was discovered last year, protected mice, at least partly, against every family of flu known to attack humans (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ).
China biodiversity plan
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Nearly one-quarter of Chinese territory is set to be designated a protected area, according to China鈥檚 first . The plan, which was announced this week, is based in part on . It identifies 32 priority areas of biodiversity covering 23 per cent of the country.
Double robo-op
In a world first, a man in Montreal, Canada, has had his prostate removed entirely by robots. One wielded the knife, guided remotely by surgeons, while the other, named McSleepy, provided anaesthesia. Each has worked separately before, but this was their first team effort.
M枚bius double helix
Clever chemistry has made a M枚bius strip from chunks of double-stranded DNA. A team at Arizona State University in Tempe made a 鈥渙ne-sided鈥� ribbon of DNA that is 11 double-helix strands wide. They say it could be used for more complex nanostructures (Nature Nanotechnology, ).
Earth vision
Two German satellites have flown within 350 metres of each other to create a high-resolution 3D image of mount Etna, Italy. The image is part of a project to create a high-precision 3D model of the entire surface of the Earth.