News Briefing - Week of August 3, 2020

Three Stories: NASA launches their 9th rover to Mars to collect soil and rock samples in search of fossils or signs of past life. The ultimate goal is to bring these samples back to Earth analyze them. This is the third launch for Mars this month, with China and United Arab Emirates also launching missions to Mars as well.  Eastern Tropical Pacific reefs demonstrate resiliency to warming temperatures. A 44-year long study showcases no change in coral reef abundance between Baja California and the Galapagos Islands. The reason why? These corals grow quickly and are symbiotic with heat tolerant algae. The findings on these Eastern Pacific reefs may help inform the future for coral reef survival in other parts of the world.  A huge breakthrough in the fight against “Citrus Greening,” a disease that is wiping out citrus trees all around the world, has just occurred. California researchers have identified a gene in an exotic Australian citrus fruit, called a fingerlime, that produces a peptide that acts like a natural antibiotic in the tree that makes it resistant to citrus greening. This natural antibiotic is now being synthesized in the lab to be sprayed on the citrus trees to help stop the negative impacts of this devastating disease.  https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02257-w?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=2a2293db4f-briefing-dy-20200730&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-2a2293db4f-44498949  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200723143637.htm  https://www.npr.org/2020/07/27/895775625/exotic-australian-fruit-may-help-save-floridas-citrus-industry