SEVEN DAYS The news in brief

PO LICY

US antibiotic ban

PHELAN M. EBENHACK/AP PHOTO

US farmers are no longer
allowed to feed medically
important antibiotics to
their livestock merely to
enhance growth, according
to regulations implemented
on 3 January. The rules
from the US Food and Drug
Administration are part of
an effort to fight the spread
of antibiotic resistance by
limiting use of the drugs
to cases in which they are
deemed medically necessary.
US sales of medically
important antimicrobials
approved for use in food-
producing animals rose by
26% from 2009 to 2015.

Peanut policy
Infants who are at risk of
developing peanut allergies
should be fed foods that
contain peanuts by six months
of age, an advisory panel of
the US National Institutes of
Health said on 5 January. The
recommendation follows a
large randomized clinical trial
showing that children with a
high risk of peanut allergy as
infants were 81% less likely
to later develop an allergic
reaction if their diets had
included peanuts until the age
of 5. In 2010, the same NIH
panel did not offer guidance on
consuming peanuts to forestall
allergies, it said, because of “a
lack of definitive studies”.
Fetal-tissue threat
The US government should
restrict or eliminate support
for research that uses human
fetal tissue obtained from
abortions because it is of little
use to medicine, a special
panel of the US House of
Representatives concluded
on 3 January. Scientists,
who reacted strongly to the
report, say that the research is
crucial to the development of
therapies against Parkinson’s
Famed SeaWorld killer whale Tilikum dies
Tilikum, one of the best-known killer whales captive-whale shows at SeaWorld’s site in San
at the SeaWorld chain of marine-mammal Diego, California, finished on 8 January, to be
parks, died on 6 January aged 36, the company replaced by more “natural” displays. Similar
announced. The killer whale (Orcinus orca), changes are planned for sites in Texas and Florida
which lived at the park in Orlando, Florida, and in coming years. Separately, it was announced
had been linked to the deaths of three people, was that the oldest known killer whale — a 105-year-
the subject of Blackfish, a 2013 documentary that old wild female nicknamed Granny — is
drove much opposition to SeaWorld’s captive- presumed dead, having been last sighted with its
whale programme. Controversial choreographed pod in the North Pacific in October.
disease and the Ebola virus, Wilhelm Society, conducted regulator. Phil Williamson, a
and for vaccine development. research on brain samples researcher at the University
But the Republican-majority from people with mental of East Anglia in Norwich,
panel claimed that such disabilities killed by the Nazi UK, made complaints about
arguments are “misleading regime. Such samples became inaccuracies in the piece,
and false”. The panel urged part of the MPG’s tissue entitled ‘Ocean acidification:
Congress to investigate the collections. Over the next yet another wobbly pillar
feasibility of using tissue from three years, the committee of of climate alarmism’ by
stillborn and pre-term infants historians will investigate the columnist James Delingpole
instead. See page 133 for more. society’s archives and tissue (see P. Williamson Nature
collections to find out who was 540, 171; 2016). But regulator
EVEN TS involved in the research and to IPSO has ruled that many of
uncover the identities and fate the claims in the piece were
Nazi-science probe of victims. opinion rather than fact, and
Germany’s Max Planck that other points disputed
Society (MPG) announced on Fact and opinion by Williamson were not
7 January that it has assigned a A climate scientist’s complaint significantly misleading or
committee of five international about an article in The inaccurate.
historians to investigate Spectator magazine that
the crimes of its Nazi-era claimed “marine life has Mystery Go player
scientists. During and after the nothing whatsoever to fear” A mystery player of the
Third Reich, members of the from ocean acidification has complex strategy game Go
MPG’s predecessor, the Kaiser been rejected by the UK press that won a string of online

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 SEVEN DAYS THIS WEEK

matches against the world’s

NASA/JPL-CALTECH

best was revealed last week

to be an updated version of
the artificial-intelligence
(AI) program AlphaGo.
AlphaGo, created by the
Google-owned company
DeepMind in London,
last year beat a top human
competitor in a moment
hailed as a milestone for AI.
Known only by the name
Master(P), the mystery player
had won some 50 matches
since late December, leading
experts to suspect that it was
an AI rather than a human.
On 4 January, DeepMind
chief executive Demis
Hassabis revealed on Twitter
that Master(P) was a new
prototype of AlphaGo. See
page 142 for more.
SPACE
NASA missions
NASA announced on
4 January that it will send two
missions to visit asteroids next
decade. Lucy, to be launched
in 2021, will visit six Trojan
asteroids, which orbit the Sun
on either side of Jupiter and
are thought to be remnants of
early Solar System material.
Psyche, to be launched in 2023
(pictured, artist’s impression),
will visit the metallic asteroid
Psyche, which might be
the exposed core of a failed
early planet. The agency
also announced a much-
anticipated astrophysics
TREND WATCH
SOURCE: UCU/YOUGOV
COMING UP
14 JANUARY
After a series of weather
delays, SpaceX’s
Falcon 9 rockets are
scheduled to return to
service, to launch a set
of communications
satellites. One of
the rockets failed in
September and launches
were put on hold.
go.nature.com/2iw795y
mission, the Imaging X-ray Paris climate agreement.
Polarimetry Explorer, to He emphasized that the 16–19 JANUARY
launch in 2020. The probe will economic trends underlying Astronomers and
study polarized light coming the expansion of clean-energy instrument scientists
from black holes, neutron development will continue come together to share
stars and other cosmic worldwide. “This should not ideas for telescope-
phenomena that cannot be be a partisan issue,” Obama data calibration at the
directly studied. wrote. “It is good business European Southern
and good economics to lead a Observatory’s 2017
EN ER GY technological revolution and Calibration Workshop
define market trends.” in Santiago, Chile.
Obama talks energy go.nature.com/2iv3ucm
The clean-energy economy China’s green move
has gained “irreversible” China will invest 2.5 trillion
momentum, US President yuan (US$361 billion) in and burning of the fossil fuel
Barack Obama wrote in renewable energies by 2020, has been a key cause of the
a policy piece published as part of its continued bid to debilitating smog that has
by Science on 9 January shift away from coal power, blighted northern regions over
(B. Obama Science http:// the country’s energy agency the past month.
doi.org/bwzg; 2016). Citing announced on 5 January.
data from the International Renewables, including wind, T ECH NOLO GY
Energy Agency, Obama noted solar, hydro and nuclear power,
that global greenhouse-gas will account for about 50% of UK laser weapon
emissions remained flat while new electricity generation by The UK military has awarded
the global economy grew in 2020. Last year, China became a £30-million (US$37-million)
2015, and that businesses the world’s biggest generator contract to produce a
have joined governments of solar power. It is also the prototype laser weapon.
in supporting the 2015 world’s largest coal consumer, The Ministry of Defence
announced on 5 January that
a consortium led by European
missile maker MBDA would

UK RESEARCHERS CONSIDER LIFE ABROAD test the potential of ‘directed

British universities seem less attractive to academics after the vote to energy’ technology and aim
leave the European Union, according to a trade-union survey.
A survey of more than to demonstrate a weapon in
1,000 UK-based university staff As a result of the Brexit vote, are you more or less likely 2019. If successful, the first
suggests that Britain’s vote to to consider leaving the UK higher-education sector? laser weapons could come into
leave the European Union could More likely Neither more nor less likely service in the mid-2020s, the
drive an academic exodus. Some Less likely Don’t know ministry said. The US military
40% say they are more likely to has been experimenting with
consider leaving the UK higher- UK citizen
such technology for decades,
education sector as a result. The and in 2014 successfully tested
proportion among non-UK EU Non-UK a ship-mounted laser weapon
citizens was 76%. Many have said EU citizen in the Gulf. The system, called
they feel less welcome in Britain Non-EU LaWS, has been authorized
after the vote; the poll indicates the citizen for use against targets such as
widespread nature of this feeling. 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% boats and drones.
The survey was commissioned by
the London-based University and UK citizen, 828 respondents; Non-UK EU citizen, 176 respondents;
Non-EU citizen, 48 respondents. NATURE.COM
College Union. For daily news updates see:
www.nature.com/news
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