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Researchers first spotted this rocky outcrop in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica, in early February.Credit: Gui Bortolotto
A scientific expedition has discovered an uncharted island off the coast of Antarctica. The island is big enough to be visible by satellite but is covered in the remnants of the retreating ice sheet, making it hard to spot from space. As glaciers have retreated in West Antarctica, they have released pressure on Earth’s crust, allowing it to rebound and rise. Data from the new island could help researchers determine how fast the continent is lifting.
The push to decentralize Hungary’s cultural treasures has reached its 200-year-old natural-history museum. The government wants to move the museum’s rich collection from Budapest to the small town of Debrecen in the country’s east. Scientists have been campaigning against the move, citing the potential negative effects on research and the loss of experienced staff, most of whom have said they would not relocate.
The United Kingdom has another new science minister — a position that has seen a revolving door of appointments, firings and resignations in recent years. Non-scientist Amanda Solloway sits lower in the government hierarchy than previous science ministers and seems to have been handed a less-powerful version of the role. Some see the change as a sign that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his influential adviser Dominic Cummings would prefer to guide science policy from the top.
Features & opinion
One of the world’s most cited and productive mathematicians, Louis Nirenberg, died on 26 January, aged 94. Nirenberg transformed the field of partial differential equations, and was known as a poser of problems that stretched the limits of research in mathematics and beyond.
Gabriel Waksman set up a native-tree-planting programme to offset the carbon emissions of travel associated with his career as a biologist. Academics, scientists and even people attending the same conference can contribute to themed groves in the highlands of Scotland. And, unlike with far-flung carbon-offset schemes, UK-based donors can choose to plant the trees and verify the benefits themselves.
From bouncing back from failure to knowing when to quit, immunologist John Tregoning and computational biologist Jason McDermott outline ten tips for overcoming “the biggest choke point in an academic career … moving from doing someone else’s research to getting other people to do yours”. With cartoons!
PLOS Computational Biology | 18 min read
Do you fancy all of the fun of a chemistry conference with none of the travel? Try the #RSCposter twitter conference — 24 hours of online-only science shenanigans starting on 3 March.
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Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing
Retreating glacier reveals uncharted island in Antarctica
