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Feeling the burn • A year into the pandemic, people are exhausted – and calmer times still seem far off

New Scientist Australian Edition

UK variant gets nastier • The race is on to eliminate variants of the coronavirus that are more transmissible and evade immune protection, says Michael Le Page

How to tweak the vaccines • It is now clear that the virus is evolving to evade the protection from vaccines and natural immunity. Here’s what needs to be done, says Michael Le Page

Next-generation vaccines that are nearing approval

How well do vaccines stop people catching and spreading coronavirus?

Global vaccine inequality • Mass immunisation may not happen until 2024, if at all, in places

Should you get a covid-19 vaccine if you are pregnant or breastfeeding? • With little data available, women will have to weigh up the risks and benefits themselves, says Clare Wilson

Africa leads HIV prevention effort • Half the people taking PrEP to reduce risk of HIV infection are in African nations

AI can predict the emotions a painting will evoke in us

Placenta is full of mutated cells dumped by embryo

Soft-skin robot can tell a hug from a poke or punch

Brain simulation on the cheap • Video game graphics cards could be used for low-cost digital models of brains

New whale species found hiding in plain sight

Russian mystery solved by unusual avalanche

Sharks’ scales may boost acceleration towards prey

First flowers may have been early bloomers

Speaker’s hands influence listeners

Mole rat groups chirp in their own accent

Really brief

See-through wood: knotty issue solved

Plastic in soil has impacts that are akin to those of drought

Evolution of thumb shaped human story

Vaccines for all • The fastest way to end the covid-19 crisis is for countries to put the interests of the world ahead of their own, says Seth Berkley

Cosmological calculations • Studying the universe and the flow of fluids may seem worlds apart, but they involve some of the same equations, writes Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Your letters

Nature’s tree art

Deep in the earth • Beneath the frills of Netflix’s The Dig lies real treasure in the reimagined version of how the UK’s Sutton Hoo site was excavated, says Francesca Steele

New ways to love art • Museums and galleries are finding more personal ways to wow audiences during the pandemic, writes Simon Ings

Don’t miss

The Star Wars empire strikes back • State-of-the-art special effects combined with a compelling story make The Mandalorian very much to be savoured, says Bethan Ackerley

Heading for burnout? • As the pandemic wears on, many of us are feeling burned out – but there are things we can do to protect ourselves. Caroline Williams reports

Front-line burnout

Forget burnout, I’m bored-out

Enough of experts? • We’re reliant on specialist knowledge to guide us through the coronavirus pandemic – so it is more important than ever to understand what expertise is and where it comes from, Roger Kneebone tells Richard Webb

1 1 Hope or Hype? • Hydrogen has long been a candidate for a clean fuel revolution. Can it finally make the grade? Adam Vaughan investigates

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