The super-sleuth who spots trouble in science papers, and the puzzle of urban smog

This week, Elisabeth Bik tells us about her work uncovering potential image manipulation, and a new route for particulate pollution formation.In this episode:00:45 Seeing doubleElisabeth Bik spends her days identifying duplicated images in science papers. She tells us about her efforts, and why they’re important. Feature: Meet this super-spotter of duplicated images in science papers; News: Publishers launch joint effort to tackle altered images in research papers08:11 Research HighlightsNew insights on the mysterious Tully Monster, and how football fans can stoke air pollution. Research Highlight: Unmasking the Tully Monster: fossils help to tackle a decades-old mystery; Research Highlight: The meaty link between a city’s football matches and its foul air10:29 Understanding air pollutionParticulate pollution is a serious threat to human health, but the way that new particles form is poorly understood. This week, new research suggests a new mechanism for it to happen. Research article: Wang et al.; News and Views: Airborne particles might grow fast in cities15:09 Pick of the BriefingWe pick some highlights from the Nature Briefing, including the closest discovered black hole to Earth, and how wriggly worms are helping physicists model microscopic processes. National Geographic: Closest black hole to Earth found 'hiding in plain sight'; Physics: Worm ViscositySubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Other links:Our latest video - Infodemic: Coronavirus and the fake news pandemic Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.