Nature shows how to do it: Photosynthesis is a process used by plants to create energy-rich organic compounds, usually in the form of carbohydrates, and oxygen (O2) from carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) driven by light. If we succeeded in mimicking this process on a large scale, numerous problems of humanity would probably be solved. Artificial photosynthesis could supply the Earth with fuels of high energy density such as hydrogen, methane or methanol while reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and slowing down climate change.

"The results for tolerability, safety, and the immune response to the vaccine candidate are very promising," explains Prof Marylyn Addo. The antibodies which developed against the virus were still detectable after six months. Addo is convinced, "With this, a single vaccine could provide lasting protection against Ebola." The infectious disease specialist, who works for the German Center for Infection Research at the University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg, led the trial in Hamburg. A total of 158 healthy adult volunteers were tested in Hamburg, as well as at the partner sites in Geneva (Switzerland), Lambaréné; (Gabon) and Kilifi (Kenya).

Earlier this year scientists presented evidence for Planet Nine, a Neptune-mass planet in an elliptical orbit 10 times farther from our Sun than Pluto. Since then theorists have puzzled over how this planet could end up in such a distant orbit.

New research by astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) examines a number of scenarios and finds that most of them have low probabilities. Therefore, the presence of Planet Nine remains a bit of a mystery.

"The evidence points to Planet Nine existing, but we can't explain for certain how it was produced," says CfA astronomer Gongjie Li, lead author on a paper accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is the leading cause of viral encephalitis (infection of the brain) in Asia. There is no specific treatment for Japanese encephalitis (JE) which can cause death or serious long-term disability, and WHO recommends JEV vaccination in all areas where the disease is recognized as a public health priority. A study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases suggests that current vaccines may fail to protect individuals against an emerging strain of the virus.

Analyzing medical death rate data over an eight-year period, Johns Hopkins patient safety experts have calculated that more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical error in the U.S. Their figure, published May 3 in the BMJ, surpasses the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) third leading cause of death -- respiratory disease, which kills close to 150,000 people per year.

The Johns Hopkins team says the CDC's way of collecting national health statistics fails to classify medical errors separately on the death certificate. The researchers are advocating for updated criteria for classifying deaths on death certificates.

A genetic variation associated with obesity and appetite in Labrador retrievers - the UK and US's favourite dog breed - has been identified by scientists at the University of Cambridge. The finding may explain why Labrador retrievers are more likely to become obese than dogs of other breeds.

At least 30 percent of antibiotics prescribed in the United States are unnecessary, according to new data published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with Pew Charitable Trusts and other public health and medical experts.

Tiny electronic sensors and devices that can be implanted in the body and then dissolve almost without a trace are getting closer to reality. Scientists have tested several biodegradable materials, including DNA, proteins and metals, for making transient electronics. Now one team, reporting in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, has taken another step toward this goal. They created a dissolvable device component out of egg proteins, magnesium and tungsten.

Thermally-based industrial chemical separation processes such as distillation now account for 10 to 15 percent of the world's annual energy use. Slaking the global thirst for energy could therefore get a substantial boost from improved technologies for producing fuels, plastics, food and other products with reduced inputs of energy.

An effective vaccine against the virus that causes genital herpes has evaded researchers for decades. But now, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago working with scientists from Germany have shown that zinc-oxide nanoparticles shaped like jacks can prevent the virus from entering cells, and help natural immunity to develop.

Results of the study are published in The Journal of Immunology.